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Ten minutes later I found myself surrounded by people dressed in white, feeling light headed as the room panted, chanted, and rolled around like animals writhing in pain. My delicate adolescent psyche could barely withstand the "uncoolness" of it all. I began to ask myself if the pale look of terror I would receive from my mother when I told her I had joined a religious cult was worth it.

Two hours later I'm speedwalking to my vehicle trying to put distance between myself and what I had just encountered. I felt loopy, famished, and had just mustered all the dignity I had left "recreating" my own birth. The level of bizarre activity was something I had no intention of speaking of again and needless to say, I would not be returning.

The next day, however, I awoke with a lightness in my body and a freedom of movement through my spine that, at that point in my life, was an unparalleled sensation. To my surprise, I did go the following week, and the week after that. Before I knew it, these practices became a regular thing for me. I continued to explore other practices and I was struck by how different I continued to feel. Yoga became an invaluable companion to me through my early teens and twenties that drastically altered my life.

I became interested in teaching and apprenticed my first teacher in 2006 studying hatha yoga. I moved to India shortly after and began intense study in Ashtanga Yoga and philosophy, Chanting/Sound Yoga, and traditional Hatha with Lalit Kumar and Vinay Kumar as well as study in Ayurvedic Practices.

Inspired by Ayurveda, wellness, and movement I began to lead Ayurvedic retreats in Nicaragua for part of the year and took a position as a senior yoga instructor for the Himalaya Yoga Valley Teacher Training School in Goa and Dharamsala, India for the other part. In 2011 I moved back to Victoria, BC to embark on the study of Chinese Medicine at Pacific Rim College and my perspective on yoga became rocked with the influence of Taoism.

In 2012 I established the Brahmanda School of Yoga. Since then, my fellow teachers and I have graduated hundreds of professionals in the practices of Yoga. The teacher training program has taught me so much about how to show up everyday, no matter what is happening, and how to hold space for people who are working hard to show up for themselves.

Opening the MĀ Institute has been a culmination of inspirations that have taken place on and off the mat. I am inspired by our ability to change forms in unpredictable ways and the grace that practicing yoga can give us in transitions. I am passionate about providing education that empowers the student and gets them to the place where they are asking the big questions about themselves.

Ultimately, the fruit of the practices show up in our authenticity: in who we are, our clarity in how we approach our world, how we communicate who we are, and in our ability to love. I am struck every day by what a tremendous blessing it was to have walked through the doors of that rented church years ago with no intention at all of altering my world views. I guess you never know when a small act will veer you into a new course, and it's exciting to now hold a space that could have similar implications for someone else.

Sarada was raised in the Ayurvedic tradition and educated by her grandfather, an Ayurvedic doctor who taught her yogic and Ayurvedic practices, and influenced her life's path with his wisdom, philosophy and teaching.

She went on to study extensively at the Sivanada Yoga and Vedanta Ashram, Kerala, India and at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana in Bangalore, India and has since taught in India, the USA and Canada. She has been offering Ayurvedic Workshops for the past 8 years in India, USA and now in Canada. Sarada also offers private Ayurvedic Consultations, teaches Ayurvedic cooking classes, workshops and Marma Kriya.

Sarada is a co-owner of MĀ Yoga and Wellness and can be found teaching yoga and various workshops as well as in the clinic as an Ayurvedic practitioner.

My practice profoundly shifted my perception of my physical body and helped guide me to my first stages of Eating Disorder recovery. This shift of perception expanded beyond the freedom to live in my body, I learned to approach myself without expectation or judgement and how to let myself just be. That just being how ever you are is enough.

I gained so much healing from the teachers I practiced with and my doing my Teacher Training peeled back many new layers of self-acceptance, bravery and confidence that I didn't know were there. I found my voice. Upon completion of my YTT I knew I wanted to give back and offer the healing I had received from yoga. I consider myself a lifelong student of yoga and will forever be looking to deepen my knowledge of this beautiful tradition.

My teaching takes inspiration from all the teachers I have learned from and lineages I have been lucky enough to study which include Ashtanga, Iyengar, Traditional Hatha, Trauma Sensitive, Yin and Restorative yoga. Off the mat I am a Facial Reflexologist and Chinese Medicine Face Reader, I have studied the Lymphatic System and how to build Immunity through touch and movement, these things often flow into my yoga teaching.

Carrie has completed several yoga teacher training programs including Sivanada Teacher Training in Kerala India and Ashtanga Vinyasa training with the Yoga Sanctuary in Toronto.

Carrie holds faculty positions at the Pacific Rim College where she teaches anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology as well as nutrition courses with the Holistic Nutrition program. In addition to working with yoga, Dr. Carrie is an experienced and licensed Naturopathic Physician.