Student Feature: Trina Rentmeister

Meet Trina!

Name: Trina Rentmeister

Hometown: Yellowknife

Months/years practicing yoga:  Started with Judy when she was at the Racquet Club – 10-15year?  Ask Judy!

Favourite class offered at Taiga: Power. I like the way the class combines many poses into a sequence to create a flow of beauty.

What is your favourite yoga posture and why?  Bird of Paradise pose.  Balancing and twisting and stretching all at the same time. 

What are you working on in your practice? Someday I would like to master the Hand Stand.

What keeps you coming back to Taiga?  Great Atmosphere and Qualified Instructors!  Peace and Tranquility.

Trina in a beautiful Bakasana (Crow Pose)

What words of wisdom do you have for the Taiga community?   Yoga is a practice you can do all your life, at any age!  A regular yoga practice keeps our body in shape, your muscles strong and your mind at peace to be able to cope with daily life. I am very proud to be a mother of yogis.  They enjoy it as much as I do and it is nice to go together as a family.  My husband is my next challenge – to get him hooked!  Thanks Taiga!

Student Feature: Anne-Elisabeth Fauvel

Meet Anne-Elisabeth!

Hometown:  Yellowknife, since 1989. Originally from France.

Years Practicing Yoga: I have been practising yoga on and off since 2003, but more seriously since 2009.

My Yoga Journey:  I started yoga out of curiosity and because I had recurring sciatica issues.  It wasn't long before I noticed that the benefits were way beyond my physical problems.  There are no words adequate to describe how much it helped me in my daily life and much deeper, on my whole outlook on life.  Facing the challenges of raising one of my sons who has disabilities and is now a young adult, yoga has helped me being able to take a step back from the stress and daily challenges.

For the first time in my life, I started to hear: just sit in stillness, be aware of your breathing, be aware of the present moment, enjoy "being" instead of constantly doing and doing.  I was raised with the idea that doing things right was to be always busy and productive.  Sitting and pausing was considered a waste of time.  Yoga practice is helping me accept things as they are and not always something that has to be changed.

The asanas are wonderful to release all the blockages and physical tightness we accumulate every day and to release a calming flow of energy; and the meditation is wonderful to decrease the overload of mental stimulation we don't need.  It's almost like pushing a reset button.  It's like forgetting all the outer layers and going back to the very core of what we are and what has always been.  It is very grounding.

Favourite Yoga Pose and why?  Being on my feet most of the day in my full-time job at home, my favourite poses are siddhasana and hip openers like fire log pose and shoelace pose.  It releases so much tension in the hips (and also in the mind) to be able to just sit on the floor crossed legged.

Favourite class at Taiga:   I love all the classes and I love the variety.  The teachers are very pleasant and competent.

What keeps you coming back to Taiga: Taiga Yoga is to me like a little oasis of peace and calm.  I spent 10 months recently in Montreal and tried many different yoga studios with renowned teachers.  I have to say that Taiga and its' teaching staff is the one I prefer and I was missing it.  None of the studios I tried had the variety found at Taiga.  I also love the temperature of the studio on those cold and dark YK winter nights.  Peeling off all those sweaters and parkas and having a good stretch is wonderful.

Word of wisdom:  No matter your physical condition, don't be worried to try yoga.  If all you can or want to do is sit or lay in savasana, it will be a good practice and a good pause in your day.  I think it was John Lennon that said: "Life is what happens to us while we are busy making other plans."  Yoga help with dropping those other plans and enjoying what is happening.

Student Feature: Susan Craig

Meet Susan!

Name:  Susan Craig

Hometown:  Brampton, Ontario, but have lived in the Northwest Territories for 30 years (on January 6). Lived 8 years in Rankin Inlet and almost 22 years in Yellowknife.

How long have you been practicing yoga?:  11 months

Favourite class offered at Taiga:   I have 2: 1) Yin. I find the practice beneficial and centering 2) Breathe and Stretch (although Linda is on a break from teaching this), the practice works out the mid-week kinks!

What is your favourite yoga posture and why?:   You mean other than Savasana??? ;-) I enjoy anything that opens my hips. That is definitely where I hold my stress as I sit most of the day. I also enjoy the inversion positions whether it be a supported shoulder stand or feet up the wall.

Tell us a bit about your yoga journey:   I first started yoga about 6 years ago as part of an employee wellness program with the Federal Government. It was a 4 week free session and then an interested group paid to continue another 4 weeks. I didn’t do yoga again until about a year ago when I was visiting my sister in Ontario and went to a class with her. I felt so much better after the session. In January 2016 I joined the Yoga for Beginners workshop with Kumari Karunaratne and, as they say, the rest is history. I have gone from 1 class a week to 4 or 5 per week and when I’m on holidays I look for classes I can drop in on.

What keeps you coming back to Taiga?:   I feel so much better after a class than before a class. I have lost weight and gained flexibility. I used to suffer from nightly leg cramps and a sore back – both are gone!

What words of wisdom do you have for the Taiga community?:   Make each practice your own. Acknowledge your frame of mind and set a purpose for the practice. The purpose doesn’t have to be grandiose, but try to get something out of every session.

Namaste!

Student Feature: Suki Sutendra

Meet Suki!

Name: Suki Sutendra
Hometown: Yellowknife (originally from Sri Lanka)
Months/years practicing yoga: 2 1/2 years at Taiga

Favourite class offered at Taiga: I like all of the classes as each provides me with a different type of accomplishment.

What is your favourite yoga posture and why?

One-Legged King Pigeon (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana) and Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana) are my favourite poses as they relieve me of my daily tension and stress. I also feel that these two poses allow me to get the maximum benefits for my body.

Tell us a bit about your yoga journey.

My parents introduced me to yoga as a child. I continued doing yoga through my teen years, but as studies and work took more time, I ended up not having time for yoga. At that time I did not realize the value of yoga to one's emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health. When I came to Yellowknife, I learned about Taiga. When I first went to Taiga, I felt that I was reconnecting with a piece of my life that I had not realized I was missing. After reconnecting with yoga, I have noticed positive changes in my well being.

What keeps you coming back to Taiga?

The instructors are very knowledgable and helpful. They share their experiences quite well and create a positive vibration that motivates me to come everyday. I now can't be without missing any classes, so I am at Taiga at least 5 days a week. Also each class provided by Taiga has its own style, and I encourage everyone to try all of them at least once. 

What words of wisdom do you have for the Taiga community?

I take great joy in taking all of the classes at Taiga. After attending Taiga for almost 3 years, I find that Yoga is not only about poses - it changes you for the better by not only improving your physical health, but takes you further on your spiritual path through self reflection and self awareness. 

I want to encourage everyone to give Yoga a try. Once you start you will notice improvements to your overall well being. 

Namaste

Suki