About us

Mike is a Certified Interdisciplinary Yoga Instructor at the Professional level (500 hours) and a licensed and practicing physiotherapist. His yoga studies, which started in 1993, involve Iyengar, Interdisciplinary and Ashtanga. He strives to incorporate yoga, physiotherapy and meditation knowledge to promote a balanced approach to active wellness. Mike also offers physiotherapy through our Health Center. Mike is the director of our 200 and 500 hour Yoga Teacher Training programs.

Maxine has been teaching yoga since 1997. She is a Certified Interdisciplinary Yoga Instructor at the Professional level (500+ hours). Maxine has degrees in Kinesiology and Occupational Therapy (honours) and is an Osteopath (Diploma Osteopathic Manual Practice). Maxine loves teaching yoga. Her enthusiasm and passion are apparent in each class that she offers. Maxine teaches Hatha Basics and Gentle classes on Mondays and Thursdays during the daytime hours.

After more than 10 years of practicing yoga, Abra had the opportunity to complete her 200-hour Hatha Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training in 2014 with TAYS and is continuing her education with the 500-hour YTT program. Abra’s classes are strongly alignment-based, with the emphasis of breath and maximizing potential in a safe and open environment. Hosting workshops that span from introductory yoga to advanced education in backbending and inversions are one of the main focuses of Abra’s teaching career.

Nicola is a 500 hour TAYS certified Hatha Vinyasa yoga teacher who has also studied in the ashtanga tradition with Manji Jois. Teaching since 2006, Nicola infuses a playful balance of both effort and ease in her yoga classes and she encourages everyone, no matter what age or flexibility level, to come and practice yoga with her. Nicola is also a Certified Integral Facilitator and a TAYS YTT teacher of teachers.

Rooted in the belief that we are our own best teachers, Jolene has dedicated herself to cultivating a sense of trust and self-reliance in her students. Through her yoga classes, she aims to help her students find ease and strength, as well as a sense of calm and grace. With her earthy and nurturing demeanor, Jolene encourages physical challenge at an appropriate level, creating a space where students learn to honor themselves and recognize their innate wisdom.

Yoga has been a part of Andrea’s life since 2000 and her practice has helped her grow stronger, more flexible, and fearless, on and off the mat. Yoga inspires her to live each moment mindfully. In 2000, Andrea went to see her doctor for chronic back pain.  Her doctor said, “you can either take pills to help with the pain or start yoga.”  She left her office and went directly to TAYS, grabbed a schedule and never looked back. Andrea completed both her 200 and 500 hour YTT with TAYS.

Yoga has been a part of Andrea’s life since 2000 and her practice has helped her grow stronger, more flexible, and fearless, on and off the mat. Yoga inspires her to live each moment mindfully. In 2000, Andrea went to see her doctor for chronic back pain.  Her doctor said, “you can either take pills to help with the pain or start yoga.”  She left her office and went directly to TAYS, grabbed a schedule and never looked back. Andrea completed both her 200 and 500 hour YTT with TAYS.

Leslie has been teaching yoga for more than 15 years and with an ERYT-500 designation. Certified as a yoga teacher trainer and yoga life coach, Leslie leads exhilarating and unscripted Vinyasa yoga classes that are both challenging and heart pumping, while staying true to the ease and grace of the inner intention of the practice. As a relationship coach and facilitator, Leslie uses the Yogic philosophy of Ahimsa (non-violence) to help individuals and couples to investigate habitual patterns in relationship behaviour.

Alesia is a TAYS-trained teacher and also studied Art at NSCAD University. Alesia has a heart centred approach to practice and has trained in a myriad of yoga modalities. She has taught yoga to people with a variety of physical abilities, and health conditions, in many settings including hospitals and at the Mental Health Association of Nova Scotia, the Alzheimer’s Society, Senior Care Centres and the Canadian Cancer Society. Alesia believes that with a little creativity, and a lot of heart, everyone can receive the life enhancing benefits of yoga.

Andrea started her yoga journey while living in México 10 years ago and eventually travelled to India to study yoga in its birth place. She was trained in both Ashtanga and Hatha yoga by her teacher Yogiji Yogendra Mishra, in the banks of the beautiful Himalayas in Rishikesh. This immersive training gave her a different perspective of this ancient practice. Apart from her 200hr YTT certification in India, she is 200 YTT certified through TAYS and has taken several courses with David Robson and Jelena Vesić from Ashtanga Toronto. She recently concluded pre and post natal training with Clare Newman from Mamata Yoga.