My journey with movement started as a young child when my overly optimistic mother thought I would be good at traditional Persian dancing. When that didn’t go well (and trust me, it really, really didn’t), I switched to sports all the way into my angsty teen years. I went to a dance high school where I thankfully found some rhythm, and my second left foot turned into a fully functioning right foot. I was 16 when I found yoga, me and a few of my dancer friends, insecure and determined to lose some weight off of bodies that were perfect as they were, fumbled through postures in a heated room for no purpose other than to sweat. Fast forward a few years, and I found myself intrigued by the practice, but this time as a way to deepen my relationship with myself and find some love for the flesh bag I had spent so long hating.

Soon enough, I was hooked. The studio became my home, my breath became my friend, and for the first time, I was moving for reasons other than aesthetic. 

Cue life-changing yoga trip to Thailand. 

Near the end of 2017, I decided to drop out of uni, quit my job, and kiss my partner of a year goodbye to explore the practice and “find myself”. It’s so lame I know, but it happened, and then it changed my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I spent three months completing my 500-hour YTT at Vikasa Yoga in Koh Samui, Thailand, where I trained under Kosta Miachin and Will Lau. By the time I got back home, I knew that I needed to not only continue practicing but become a yoga teacher.  

Since that trip, I haven’t stopped learning. I became so invested in the practice and curious about what it was doing to me and my reality that I needed to dive deeper and expand my offerings as a teacher. Here’s look at my certifications and courses: 

• 500-Hour YTT at Vikasa Yoga, Thailand 

• 200 Hour YTT at Yogaspace, Toronto 

• 1-Month Course on the Neuropsychology of Mindfulness and Compassion-Based Practices at the University of Amsterdam led by Maja Wrzesien 

• 5-Day Course on Mindful Compassion with Shauna Shapiro, PhD at the Esalen Institute 

• 5-Day yoga retreat with Janet Stone and Claudine and Honza Lafond at the Esalen Institute 

• 10 Day Silent Vipassana at the Dhamma Centre in Egbert, Ontario

• Post-YTT Teacher Development Course with Shawna Turner 

Today, I teach at yoga studios and spaces across the city like Good Space and Equinox, in office for corporate teams, and out of my own home studio space. 

I’m interested in facilitating a space for catharsis and coming face to face with narratives. All of my classes are a little different since I teach Yin, Vinyasa, Hatha, and meditation, but my style and personal philosophy are there underneath all of it. I like teaching in a way that is playful and encourages curiosity, which asks us to befriend discomfort and listen close to the wisdom of sensation. Sometimes it’s dancey, other times it’s full of stillness and quiet. But it’s always an invitation, and never an expectation.