Nicole Wood

Instructor

The Alchemy Studio

When I started practicing yoga in 2004, I had just completed my Bachelor of Arts Degree at U of A and I was fortunate to be able to devote my life to my practice. I practiced morning Mysore yoga (Ashtanga yoga) daily at the Yoga Loft with Rameen Peyrow until my first trip to Northern India in 2007, where I continued my daily practice and study in Hatha yoga, Yin yoga, and Meditation. Back in Edmonton in 2008, I completed a 200 hour RYS Ashtanga yoga teacher training at the Yoga Loft. I began teaching Yin yoga and Ashtanga yoga while continuing my practice. I went back to India in 2009 where I was able to continue my studies. In 2010 I completed a 500 hour RYS Maya yoga teachers training in Maui, Hawaii with Nikki Doan and Eddie Modestini and also completed another 200 hour RYS Sattva yoga training with Rameen Peyrow. When my first daughter was born in 2011, my practice shifted. I no longer had the space and time to practice alone for hours a day. I had no choice but to take my practice off of my yoga mat and into my life. My son was born in 2013, followed by my second daughter in 2016. Becoming a mother has taken my yoga practice to another place. A place of softness, gentleness, and of acceptance. A place of compassion, and an understanding for people. My practice reminds me over and over again to stay patient, to stay present, to breathe, to feel my physical body throughout the day, no matter what is going on around me. My practice has shifted to daily meditation, and asana (postures) whenever I can. In 2016, I started taking Iyengar yoga classes with Judi Mirus, which highlighted my interest in body alignment and anatomy. Later that same year, I met and practiced with Harmony Slater, a certified teacher in the Ashtanga yoga lineage. These two women have become my mentors and teachers as I navigate my journey of life.My teaching is gentle and accepting. I teach to the individual, addressing each student and their unique experience. I believe that yoga asana (postures) are a tool to help us to explore and accept our physical, mental, and energetic realities. Teaching yoga inspires my daily practice and is my opportunity to share and learn with those around me.