Welcome Friends.
‪The foundation of Sweet Freedom Yoga is inspiration and community. We want our studio to be somewhere our students can come to take refuge, to learn the recipe for joy, to bring their bodies into efficient harmony and health. Somewhere they can meet up with their friends and engage with a practice that makes their lives better.
​​
The Sweet Freedom Team
Jocelyn
I was born & raised in Salmon Arm. I am a member of the Tsilhqo'tin First Nation.
2010 I tried yoga with a friend in Salmon Arm and this is where I met Ali Gray. I had never tried anything like it before. 2015 came around and I had signed up for my first yoga training in Kelowna.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this training. It was such a huge eye opener for me. You may have heard before that it is life changing - well it is! Completely life changing for me. Not only learning the asana ( poses ) but learning things about my self that I never had awareness before. I was shining light on dark, dusty places. I now have life tools that I could use on and off my mat. Since 2015 I have attend 2 more Yoga Teacher Trainings. July 2016 & July 2017.
June 2018 I bought Sweet Freedom Yoga Studio & Boutique. Fall 2018 I took Ali's yoga training through Vibrant One Yoga. I did 100hrs with her.
September 2022 I took Ali's Barre Training.
​
​
Certification :
200 hr Yoga Teacher Training - Multistyle Yoga With Hali Love - July 2015
200 hr Yoga Teacher Training - Multistyle Yoga with Ali Gray - July 2016
200 hr Yoga Teacher Training - Vibrant One Yoga with Ali Gray - July 2017
100 hr Yoga Teacher Training - Vibrant One You with Ali Gray - November 2018
10 hr Barre Training - Vibrant One Yoga with Ali Gray - September 2022
Ali​​​​​​​​​
​Yoga for me has been incredible. It has flipped my life upside-down and has dramatically changed it for the better. Before I started practicing yoga I felt I was a pretty happy person, but I didn't necassarily have much purpose. I was kind of lost and didn't really know who I was. I realize now I was completely drowning in my thoughts; living a life of self-judgment and compressed stress.
Yoga has given me passion for my life. It has taught me to embrace where I am, and to enjoy every minute of it. I have learned to let things go instead of putting energy in places where it does not serve me. Yoga has made me feel light, love and inner peace. I have learned to struggle less, and to flow more. I have learned to step into my heart with power and gratitude. I have created space to continue to grow and to help others to grow. I love teaching yoga and sharing the amazing journey. I love yoga, and the gifts of abundance that it brings to life.
Certifications: Ali has more than 650 hours in training with Hali Love, Multi Style Yoga Institute, Kevin Mcquillan, Baron Baptiste & Reanna Costa. She has also done workshops & small trainings with Meghan Currie & Ryan Leier.
Kate
I began my yogic journey in grade 11 when I took Girls in Motion, a visionary PE course (for the time) designed to teach self-care to high schoolers. I knew about yoga from watching Oprah and was interested in the practice, initially learning asanas as a way to exercise alongside aerobics and traditional PE drills. I was always self-conscious and in my head, focused outwards in a group setting, unable to relax or balance, to busy comparing myself to others in the room. I remained interested in yoga, practicing on and off at home and in studios, exploring different styles and practices. In University I was dealing with intense anxiety, food allergies and was stressed out by life. After various pharmaceuticals were tried my doctor wrote meditation onto her prescription pad. At the time I thought she was blowing me off, and in retrospect, Namaste. Eventually debilitating chronic pain lead me to teacher trainings, and mindfulness became the balm that brought me back to my breath and into my body. I love learning about women’s bodies and how they work, and believe that yoga is a holistic pain reliever. I have changed my life from the inside out and love to share the tools that keep me alive!
​Karen ​
​Karen was born and raised in Salmon Arm. For more than 20 years she has enjoyed sharing her knowledge and motivational skills as a personal trainer and group fitness leader. Karen has based her training services from Lifetime Fitness. Karen is a certified Medical Exercise Specialist, she facilitates for post rehab clients at the gym, the community center pool or outdoor/home programs designed to meet individual needs.
Continuing education is a priority for Karen; she seeks to expand her knowledge to offer the best options to her clients.Karen teaches Hatha yoga which synchronizes breath with movement. The unique blending of multiple disciplines allows Karen to offer a personal training and yoga experience with maximum benefit.
​
Certifications: 200 Hours in Vancouver in 2009 & 100 hours with Hali Love in 2016.
Emily
​
My name is Emily Garrett. I was born in 1991, my family moved to the Shuswap in 1993, and I’ve been a small town/farm girl ever since. I grew up surrounded by animals, climbing trees and playing in the dirt. I’ve always had a profound love of the arts; watching films/television/plays, sketching, painting stones, practicing dance and acting, and making any car I drive my own personal concert venue. I first tried yoga in 2013 and fell in love. I rediscovered my breath and started to trust my body again. I took my first 200 hour training in 2016 and have been guiding classes ever since. I love helping others on their journey to trust the instincts of their bodies and find their own peace within themselves in this wild, unbound world. As always, “It’s Chaos, Be Kind”
Certifications: 200 hours MultiStyle with Ali Gray (2016) 50 hours Yin & Chakras with Reanna Costa (2017) 200 hours Vibrant One with Ali Gray (2017)
Ann
Ann is a multidisciplinary artist who came to yoga through theatre and dance long before it was trending and credits her longtime personal practice with her resilience and healing through personal trauma. She is a lifelong student with a passion for sharing what she has discovered along the way. Her classes are body positive and trauma sensitive.
Ann was originally taught in the Kripalu tradition of hatha yoga which honours the body as its own source of wisdom, deepens self awareness, compassion, and self respect as it deepens the relationship with the breath. Rather than a strict adherence to classical forms, beliefs, and concepts, the understanding of and sensitivity to one's experience in the body and in relationship to other lives is the touchstone of Kripalu's approach to yoga. Pleasing the teacher, doing it right, and looking good are de-emphasized. Establishing personal boundaries, listening to the wisdom of your body, and responding to what brings healing and fulfillment to your heart is the emphasis. To this day, Ann’s teaching continues to focus on empowering students to honour their own bodies and deepen their own experience at their own pace. Safety is a priority but perfection is not!
Ann loves to create theatre year round and thrives on the community based focus of collaborative art. She also enjoys landscaping design in the summer months, relying heavily on her yoga practice to sustain her body through the hard work. Most recently Ann has become a volunteer with Yoga Outreach and is highly motivated to removing barriers to yoga. Ann is certified in the instruction of Hatha (200 hours), Prenatal (20 hours), Vinyasa (200 hours), Yin (50 hours), and a Trauma Informed Practice (40 hours).
Sarah
My first flirt with yoga was practicing Rodney Yee’s “Yoga Burn” DVD in the basement of my childhood home. My mom encouraged me to try it. She felt it might help with the pressure I was feeling at university. I always found yoga to be a little odd, but when I started to practice each class felt like a mini vacation from my everyday life. It helped me manage my feelings of anxiousness and I experienced sighs of relief as I witnessed the mental chatter quiet.
Now I don’t think of yoga so much as a vacation from everyday life but as a tool for living at ease in everyday life. Yoga helps me tap into my inner strength and teaches me how to turn towards dis-ease and breathe and soften into what is instead of resisting it. The flexibility we gain in the body from yoga can also be achieved in the mind. Yoga encourages humility, compassion and forgiveness. No matter how I show up or how long it has been since I’ve shown up, the practice is always here to welcome me without judgement. It brings me home, reminding me of who I am beyond my attachments. I connect to the spaciousness within where boundless resources reside.
I started self-practice in 2011 and have been guiding classes since 2013. I am blessed to have taken my 200-hour yoga teacher training with beloved teachers and friends, Karuna and Paul Erickson in Nelson, B.C. And in 2014, I combined two of my loves – yoga and water – and achieved my Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga Certification from Kristy Wright Schell (Stand Up Paddle Vancouver). I also hold my Level II Reiki Certification which I received from my Reiki Master Joan Scott (Reiki Kelowna) in 2016.
My classes are inspired by reflections unveiled through my own yoga practice and by many cherished teachers and traditions, but the intention is always the same – to connect with our inner strength and to be with what is here now, this timeless presence. I also enjoy practicing with my eyes closed, taking deep sighs, sharing the vibration of OM and roaring Lion’s Breath!
I am the proud Mother of two beautiful children and live in Sicamous, B.C.
Georgina
​
I was introduced to yoga in the late 90s by a dear friend, Jeanne Lamb. My first class I remember thinking I wouldn’t enjoy myself as I sat surrounded by oddly dressed yogis holding unbecoming postures and discussing their latest trip to India. When it was time for introductions I nervously said my name and began to cry. I felt silly unable to speak through my tears. The woman beside me patted my knee and the instructor smiled and said, “It’s ok Georgina. This is normal. Just know you are in a safe place now to cry.”
This compassion from complete strangers was all so foreign to me. I felt love. Yoga flowed in and out of my life and it wasn’t until my Dad’s got ill that it became my life. Yoga supported me to grieve and let go in a kind way. After dad passed, I met my teachers Karuna and Paul Erickson at one of their Heart Yoga Retreats. It was the healing experience I deeply needed. Since then, I’ve showed up on my mat, encouraged my family to practice, received my teaching certification and opened a yoga studio with my daughters. I enjoy the gentleness of yoga, connecting breath with subtle movements that strengthen and soften you.
Yoga has created my way of life. It has helped me to cope with loss, anxiety and my battle with depression. When I teach, I am able to bring in experience of dealing with depression of anxiety and know how to truly connect healing aspect of yoga and breath to the practice. I know that when you have experienced mental illness yourself it carries weight. I can speak of how I was able to rise out of that dark place and into a healing way of life, the peace you crave can be accomplished.
Now with 6 beautiful grandchildren I also love teaching youth yoga and sharing so much of the compassion and joy that yoga has taught me. I believe that all of us truly need positive body yoga that connects us to ourselves. We all need to engage in self care and self love. I found that yoga is the perfect way to experience it whether you are on your mat or out in this crazy world we live in. My goal in life is live a long and healthy life so I can truly spoil my grandchildren with yoga and chanting but also my gift to them more "Nani" time which includes snuggle naps and dunking hobnobs in tea and many hugs and kisses. www.iamyogashuswap.com.
Certification: 200-Hr RYT (Heart Yoga: Karuna and Paul Erickson)
Multi Style Yoga International Certification 500 RYT
Currently working towards Yoga Therapy Certification. (Ajna Yoga, Victoria BC)”
​
​
Georgina Kyllo Yoga
Angela
200 HR RYT Heart Yoga Instructor
50 HR RYT KIDS YOGA
I started practicing yoga in my teenage years to get a six pack, a hot yogi bum, and touch my toes to my head of course! As time went on and I continued to attend classes I discovered something so much more than just a good workout. Yoga became, and is still to this day, the way that I handle the stresses of life and its uncertainties. It is the way that I can connect inward and turn to love and kindness and honour myself fully and completely. It is a way to move my body in a way that feels good and healthy, which then directs me to a healthy nutrition, and a healthy lifestyle which maintains my overall well-being. It is such a blessing to be able to share the love for what I do with others and see the positivity ripple into motion.
I have been instructing yoga for over 4 years now in the amazing community of Salmon Arm and surrounding Shuswap areas. I hold the connections made through the yoga community closely to my heart.
Om Shani Hum,
-A.
