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X Continuing Ed for Yoga Teachers

Refresh your teaching with our inspiring faculty

Kathryn Bruni Young

Kathryn has been teaching for over a decade, and over the last five years she has revolutionized the practices of strength training and postural yoga. Her work is appreciated worldwide and her podcast has become a hub for yoga, strength and rehab professionals to unpack ideas about movement, empowerment, body image and strength. Kathryn's teaching has been influenced by Ido Portal Method, Somatic Experiencing, yoga, and PICP structural balance, among many other modalities. In 2017 she was named one of the Top Fifteen Millennial Yoga Teachers to watch by Yoga Journal.

Madeleine Shen

Madeleine Shen is a certified Axis Syllabus Teacher and is currently studying at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto. With a background in contemporary and modern dance performance and Biomedical Engineering, Madeleine brings a passionate, informed and creative approach to teaching movement and anatomy. Madeleine’s infectious enthusiasm for how our unique bodies form, grow and move will delight you and change the way you practice.

Emma Dines

Emma Dines has completed over 700 hours of yoga training, has trained over 60 teachers, and has been teaching a wide range of group classes and private yoga since 2010. Emma brings a constantly evolving understanding of the human body to her teaching, and a creative approach to props and sequencing that encourage curiosity and playfulness in her classes.

Leena Miller Cressman

Leena has been teaching yoga since 2008, and has completed over 1,000 hours of training in alignment-based yoga, functional anatomy, Ayurveda, and teaching pedagogy. She has trained over 60 yoga teachers in a blend of functional and dynamic movement, strength building, Restorative Yoga, nuanced alignment, and mindful breath work. One of Leena’s biggest passions is building a rich learning community and mentoring teachers.

Jennifer Snowdon

Jennifer is a yoga teacher and Buteyko Educator. She began teaching Buteyko breathing to clients to help them with disordered breathing and the resulting conditions, as well as to improve their athletic performance. She passionately teaches yoga teachers about functional breathing and how to evaluate breathing practiced in yoga classes.

Christopher Bourke

Christopher has worked for a decade in the field of mental health and addictions, supporting youth and adults living with complex and developmental trauma. He deepened his yoga practice through teacher training at Queen Street Yoga and continued professional development in therapeutic yoga with Susi Hately, Andrea Soos, Trudy Austin, and Kathryn Bruni Young. Christopher weaves his knowledge of trauma, family systems theory, and dialectical behaviour therapy with movement techniques to help teachers hone their greatest resource - presence with self and others.

Past continuing education workshops

with Emma Dines

Are yoga props a mystery to you? Do you wonder how to use them effectively or when they are even helpful? With props, one size does not fit all. This workshop will get you thinking about body proportions, different abilities, and how to instruct a class where there are a variety of needs. Learn how to use props for transitions and flows, to add load and build strength, and to empower your students to feel both supported and challenged in their practice. This workshop will be especially useful for those teachers interested in working with beginners, or folks in bigger bodies.

Emma Dines has completed over 700 hours of yoga training, has trained over 60 teachers, and has been teaching a wide range of group classes and private yoga since 2010. Emma’s passion is making yoga more accessible and do-able for more people. The trainings that have had the most influence on her current teaching style include Yoga for Round Bodies with Tiina Veer, Yoga for Youth with New Leaf Yoga Foundation and a Mindful Strength Immersion with Kathryn Bruni-Young. She has also expanded her knowledge of functional movement and anatomy with her study of the Axis Syllabus. Emma brings a constantly evolving understanding of the human body to her teaching, and a creative approach to props and sequencing that encourage curiosity and playfulness in her classes.

with Christopher Bourke and Emma Dines

Trauma is a common experience for many people, and while yoga can be a helpful modality for healing, many poses or instructions have the potential to be triggering or re-traumatizing. In this workshop we will work to understand the neurological basis of trauma and why some commonly taught and well-loved yoga and meditation practices can be triggering for some people. Learn a repertoire of teaching skills to create classes that feel emotionally and physically safer. Rather than approaching trauma-informed teaching as a set of rules or things to avoid, this workshop will help you gain embodied awareness of how you can be present with and hold space for your students and yourself.

Christopher Bourke and Emma Dines bring a combined background of yoga teaching, innovative trauma-informed facilitation, and solid experience integrating both with a wide range of populations. Christopher comes from a background of social work and has 10 years of experience working with youth and adults living with acute, complex and/or developmental trauma. Emma has completed over 600 hours of yoga training, has trained over 60 teachers, and has been teaching a wide range of group classes and private yoga since 2010.

with LINKKathryn Bruni-YoungLINK

Mindful Strength Master Class

Explore the practice of Mindful Strength, and experience how Kathryn’s innovative blend of yoga and strength work can be a healing practice. Kathryn will give a short introductory talk, and lead the group through a dynamic practice that will have you exploring strength, balance, and mobility in fun and creative ways. All levels welcome!

Mindful Strength Immersion

In this Immersion you will learn creative and innovative ways to diversify your movement practice. Kathryn will share sustainable and progressive techniques to increase strength (upper and lower body, and core integration), mobility, balance, and functional movement. The Immersion will include studio and outdoor practices (weather permitting). Come ready to move outside the box!

Experiential movement will be woven together with discussion of the key principles of Kathryn’s Mindful Strength approach. Topics covered will include: strength, effective breathing, aging & bone density, joint preparation, tissue adaptation, mobility, biomechanics, recovery, and mindfulness. Sequencing, progression, and class/practice structure will also be outlined, to give participants an idea of how to practice Mindful Strength on their own and how to share it with others.

Open to all levels! This workshop is ideal for practitioners and teachers of all disciplines who are seeking new inspiration that will change the way you look at movement.

Kathryn Bruni-Young has been teaching for eleven years and her current approach comes after years of training in yoga, strength training, Ido Portal Method, Somatic Experiencing, sensitivity, pilates, and mindfulness. Kathryn aims to make strength training empowering and accessible for all bodies. She has specific experience working with athletes, and seniors, and she is confident that she can make the practice of Mindful Strength work for just about anyone. She teaches workshops all over the world and is the host of the Mindful Strength Podcast. Learn more about her approach LINKhereLINK.

Leena and Emma are consummate teachers! Together, they create a learning environment that is inclusive, inspiring, collaborative and fun.

QSY is at the cutting edge of what's happening in the world of mindful and functional movement. My eyes are opened! Recent learning has inspired me to incorporate much more strength-based intention into my own practice and into the classes I teach. Increased strength clearly reduces pain and tension, and deepens a sense of stability and potential.

Marg Hull

I have been teaching yoga for 9 years and completed QSY's teacher training in 2016-17. The Teacher Training Program at QSY met and exceeded my expectations. My personal experience of receiving feedback on my teaching from Leena (Studio Director), was very insightful. Leena is a true professional, and she has a deep understanding of the nuances of leading a yoga class. I was very impressed at the detail she was able to see in my teaching, and then walk through it with me, offering new possibilities, in a way that still made me feel valued. I came away from that experience with not only some clearly defined things to work on in my teaching but also a broader framework for thinking about teaching in general.

Jeff Clarke

Leena and Emma care deeply about the experience of their students. I sensed this throughout in their attention to every nuance, be it the thought put into the whats, whys and hows of their offerings to their considered responses to my explorations and queries. As promised, I had all the time and space I needed to fully practice and allow the many gems of restorative yoga to resonate in body and mind. I am happy for their influence on my journey to softening and more easeful living.

Lynda

I know what it's like to learn at QSY, and I can readily and easily recommend their teacher's immersion program. I believe strongly in co-director Leena and Emma's vision, pedagogy, and their ability to bring in purposefully chosen experts. The work these two have done together to manage the studio and co-facilitate three 200hr teacher trainings has made them so skilled at holding space, nurturing community and guiding both individual and group learning with a lot of support and care. Over many years as a part of the QSY community as a student, volunteer and teacher, I've witnessed their leadership to consistently be reflective, open and resilient. I trust their wisdom and their curiosity to keep on bringing the best of what the modern yoga world has to offer to KW students and teachers.

Leslie Stokman

Frequently Asked Questions

Refund Policy for Retreats, Long Workshops, or Intensives

These policies apply to retreats, workshops, or intensives which are 5 hours or longer and/or valued at $120 or higher (before taxes). Contact us by email so we can confirm what you are eligible for. Fees will be returned as follows:

With notice of 21 days or longer: 75% refund of the total value paid or due OR 90% studio credit.

With notice of 20 days to 7 days in advance: 50% refund OR 75% studio credit.

With notice of 7 days to 72 hours in advance: 25% refund OR 50% studio credit.

No credit will be given for no-shows or for less than 72 hours' notice.

Contact us in advance to make arrangements to have a friend take your spot, and we may be able to adjust which type of refund you are eligible for.

Except for extenuating circumstances, no refunds of any kind will be granted if notice is given once the retreat, long workshop, or intensive has begun.