Mallorie has been apart of the In Fine Feather community since the beginning. We are happy to share this blog where she shares her journey and experience as a student, yoga teacher trainee and now graduate.
How It Started
I have known Helena for many moons, growing up in Hamilton and going to university at the same time but it was not until I became a loyal attendee at her PYWC classes at The FreeWay Cafe in 2012 that our friendship really had a chance to blossom. I had been working on my own yoga practice for 3 years prior but have never sought out a home base studio for a variety of the usual reasons, lifestyle, schedules, and cost. But this suited me well, once a week, a donation of what I could and a young teacher who was learning how to be the yoga teacher she wanted to be alongside us learning to be the yoga students we wanted to be. After a few months of steady weekly in-class practice and the odd casual encounters out in the real world, it would be safe to say Helena and I were becoming friends, hilarity ensued.
The Growth at IFF
Over the past 7 years, our friendship has developed as much as we have ourselves, and I am honoured to have been there with her through the growth and development of In Fine Feather as a studio and community. From the first conversation, we had about pros and cons of physical space, to our first home upstairs at the corner of Ottawa and Barton and the people I met there who I still have the privilege of seeing weekly (I am talking about you Shelley, B.J., and Aldona). The quick momentum that space built up meant we grew into our next home at 219 Ottawa St N where 5 years flew by. I started my Energy Exchange role at that time and quickly grew to love my desk shift. The opportunity to welcome and greet regular faces and new students each morning, the chance to introduce so many new people not just to the world of yoga but to our community at In Fine Feather. Over the years that space grew and developed, new coats of paint, the expansion of our Wellness Room and the start of our Yoga Teacher Training Program.
Yoga Teacher Training
From day one Helena was enthusiastically encouraging my joining the program, but as a full-time restaurant worker time never seemed to make itself available. I was very dedicated to my career and had achieved many of the goals I had set out for myself over the years, but it was coming at a price. By the beginning of 2019, I felt I needed a change and a challenge, I was at a point in my career where I could possibly make the first Module of Yoga Teacher Training work, learning about Anatomy seemed a logical step in the development of my yoga practice. Last-minute my roommate and I agreed to sign up for the program and see where it led, and we were hooked. Helena has done a tremendous job of curating her program and cultivating a wonderful community of specialists to enrich the courses offered. Over this time our friendship again expanded, her support of each and every one of her YTT students has been so touching to experience and observe.
Next Steps into the New Year
And just to keep things exciting, as most of you know we moved out studio September 2019 to our new home at 249 Ottawa St N. This, of course, happened just as the final Module of YTT began and we began our first steps of actually sequencing and curating a yoga class. As we settled into our new space as students of In Fine Feathers our class was settling into the rooms we would go on to teach our first official yoga classes (check us out every Saturday at 10 am for Open Flow in the Wellness Room), a lot of exciting change for everyone. So as we recent graduates go on to explore our new roles as Yoga Teachers, we as a community will go on to grow and explore our new home at 249 Ottawa St N. What Helena has created for us has always reminded me of a favourite quote, “What should people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.” Thank you for creating a space for us to meet, laugh with, support and really be there for one another, here’s to many more years.