After a minor brain injury, Gill traded in her passion for hockey and weight-training for yoga classes on her Neurologist’s strong recommendation. The effects of yoga on her recovery were so transformative that two years later she moved to India to study and dive deeper into the therapeutic applications of yoga.
Gill earned her first yoga teacher training under Deep Kumar and Gurumukh at Siddhi Yoga in India. She further absorbed the teachings of Sri OP Tiwariji during her internship at the world’s first Yogic Hospital - Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Institute.
At Kaivalyadhama, Gill worked in-depth on residential yoga therapy retreats for Cancer survivors and those living with Chronic Diseases (Diabetes, Fibromyalgia, IBS, Arthritis, Crohn’s).
After working with folks living with cancer, she witnessed the ability people had to engineer a space of peace and acceptance within their individual experiences of disease. Watching people use yogic tools to expand and transform their world view and the effect that a mindset shift had on reducing their painful physical symptoms was incredibly inspiring, and she had to learn more.
Gill followed her passion for meditation to Nepal where she spent one month in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery called Kopan, receiving teachings from the great Lama Zopa Rinpoche. She weaves in ancient Buddhist meditation techniques as well as philosophy into every yoga session.
After 2 years of IAYT yoga therapist training, Gill now has valuable knowledge of biomedical conditions, pathology, and the root causes of disease. Yoga Therapists learn to look for patterns of under-functioning or over-functioning in a person’s physio/psycho/social makeup. Once the need is identified, specific yogic techniques can be applied to stimulate or pacify that area based on what will bring about balance.
Offerings:
One on One Yoga
Pranayama Breathwork
Customized Meditation
Yoga Nidra & Chanting
Ayurvedic Nutrition
Lifestyle Counseling
Education:
• BA in Political Science and Feminist Research from University of Western Ontario (2012)
• 300 hr Yoga Teacher Training from Siddhi Yoga in India registered yoga school with Yoga Alliance in 2017
• 1000+ hour (2 year program) Yoga Therapist Training from Yoga Therapy Toronto 2021
• 300 hr Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Course at Kopan Monastery in Nepal
What does Gill do for fun?
Gill is passionate about sharing the tools in yoga that allow individuals to be more resilient as they face injury, illness, and life’s changes. In winter she can be found playing hockey on the lakes and snowboarding, and in summer she’s most likely to be hiking, camping, and playing guitar by the river.
