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When I first came to yoga, I was a full-time stay-at-home-mom to 3 kids, ages 5, 2, and under 1 year old. I was completely immersed in life outside of myself, had lost a sense of who I was in the joyful chaos of family life. I was exactly where I wanted to be, but it didn’t feel how I wanted it to feel. When I was practicing yoga, I could hear myself, I could connect with myself, I was someone other than a mom. I’d ride my bike to class, where I would practice breathing, movement, meditation, chanting. I would practice paced breathing as I walked to the grocery store, or when I was trying to get to sleep at the end of a long day. Breath became an anchor for me each day. It made me a better mom.

 

10 years later, as I was going through my divorce, yoga once again became my refuge. I had good friends, a therapist who supported me. Yet, it was in my yoga class, where words fell away, that I was able to feel the struggle, the sorrow. Some days I would lay on my mat and cry. Other days, I would flow through the postures, moving with the breath. Breath, again, was the anchor as the sea threatened to sweep me away and waves pounded my heart and soul. Practicing yoga connected me to who I was without the label that had defined me for so long. Yoga supported me through that liminal period.

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While building my career in graphic design, I struggled with the incongruences I felt between myself and my colleagues. The local yoga studio advertised their next yoga teacher training (YTT) program. I figured it would be a good way to dig deeper into yoga while continuing to work in

design. After a few months in the program, I knew that I was working in the wrong field and that I needed to focus on yoga. I was able to align my sense of self with my vocation, and I felt at peace.​

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This is why I return to yoga again and again. It’s why, although I’ve focused on breathing and that has taken me to practices outside of yoga, I continue to circle back to yoga, to understanding breathing through this lens. It’s why I work to integrate the breathing that I’ve learned with a sense of who I am, and what I feel the breath is to me.​

 

Yes, we can work to change your breathing patterns. We can move the diaphragm, rehabilitate your nose. We can shift the biochemistry, and calm the nervous system. But can we also walk the bridge of breath from what you experience to who you are? By connecting to breath, by feeling the sense of grounding that comes through a single breath, and the space surrounding it, we can stand solid when the waves are crashing, we can find the way back to our centre when world is overwhelming, and we can be present in this moment where we experience awe, wonder, gratitude, where we truly live.

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If you're looking for things I've referred to on social media, check out the Links page.

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You can read my values statement and land acknowledgement here.

April2023JenniferHeadshot

Yoga has saved me 3 times (so far).

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    Trainings and Certifications
 
  • Bachelor of Church Music, piano performance, Concord College (CMU), Winnipeg, MB, 1996

  • Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design, George Brown College, Toronto, ON, 2013

  • 250h Yoga Teacher Training, Sundara Yoga Studio, Toronto, ON, 2014

  • Rainbow Kids Yoga, Toronto, ON, 2015

  • ​Reiki L2 Practitioner, Toronto, ON, 2015

  • Movement for Trauma L1, Jane Clapp, Toronto, ON, 2016

  • Buteyko Client Course, Steve Donald, Toronto, ON, 2016

  • Move Your DNA (Katy Bowman), Petra Fisher, Toronto, ON, 2016

  • Buteyko Educator, Christine Bauman, Waterloo, ON, 2017

  • DTS Level 1, DTS – Ben McDonald, Toronto, ON, 2018

  • Animal Flow L1, DTS, Toronto, 2018

  • Movement for Trauma L2, Jane Clapp, Toronto, ON, 2019

  • Yoga Detour, Detour Method Online, 2019

  • ELDOA™ L1,2,3, Petra Baethmann, Toronto, ON, 2019

  • 300h Yoga Teacher Training, Carly Stong, Kingston, ON, 2020-21

  • Integrative Breathing Therapy, Dr. Rosalba Courtney, Online from Sydney, AU, 2021-22

  • HeartMath Certified Practitioner, HeartMath Institute, 2022

  • Yoga Therapy, The Yoga Therapy Institute, Online from Amsterdam, NL, 2022-current

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   Thank you to my teachers:
 

  • Mary Paterson

  • Angela Jervis-Read

  • Alan Gensho Florence

  • Karusia Wroblewski

  • Carly Stong

  • Jane Clapp

  • Cecily Milne

  • Petra Baethmann

  • Dr. Rosalba Courtney

  • Montserrat G. Mukherjee

  • Marleen Janzen

  • Esther van der Sande

  • Britta Dezillie

  • Caroline Kila ​

​I first came to yoga by chance in 2003. The integration of a mind/body practice, through asana (poses), pranayama (breath) and meditation, was a revelation to me. I began in the Kundalini style, and have also practiced Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, and Restorative Yoga. I'm happy to be able to share my love of yoga, and am grateful to my many teachers along the way.

 

I'm a curious person, and that's pulled me down several rabbit holes. Because we've all been through stuff (ie: life) I've also trained to be a Trauma-Informed teacher. I have also trained in ELDOA™ (SPL3), and am excited to be integrating these exercises in my Yoga classes, as well as teaching ELDOA™ classes.

 

While learning about functional movement, I became aware of functional breathing. I became a Buteyko Educator, studying first with Steve Donald and then with Christine Bauman. In 2022 I finished The Integrative Breathing Therapy program with Dr. Rosalba Courtney. Using these skills I teach people how to interrupt old and learn new breathing patterns.

 

Breath Retraining Courses have evolved. Beginning with Buteyko and breathing chemistry, they have expanded. I now also include yoga, movement, and trauma-centred practices as well. I frame breathing within the context of "the murmuration model of adaptive behaviours" as I work with clients 1-on-1 both in-person and online.

 

As well as teaching breath retraining, I've developed training for yoga teachers. How can we teach better breathing in our yoga classes? Bring me into your YTT program with "Rethinking the Breath: Functional Breathing & Pranayama". Get in touch if you'd like to work with me.

 

Recently, I complete the required courses to a be a yoga therapist, and I'm currently working with clients under supervision.

 

After teaching in Toronto for many years, we moved to Moncton, New Brunswick in 2020. It's a beautiful place, close to family, with a slower pace of life. I am continuing to teach online, and am excited to be teaching in person now that The Loft is finished. 

 

Find me on social media (Instagram and Facebook), and on my blog Second Breakfast, or subscribe to my Substack, BreathingRoom (link at bottom of this page). ​
Get in touch through email at breathe@jennifersnowdon.ca ​I'd love to hear from you!

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In my spare time I bake sourdough bread, knit, play with my kitties, sing in my local choir, talk anatomy and breathing with my equally nerdy husband, and swing a sword — I'm a 2nd Dan Black Belt in Haidong Gumdo.

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You can read my values statement and land acknowledgement here.

Image of paint swirls and drops
Image of paint swirls and drops
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