The Branches

the future is matriarchy

Hi all, Leslie here.

I finally have a word for something that has been the backdrop of my life for the last 14 years, and it’s taking a lot of energy not to talk about it all the time. I’m so excited to reach out to the TBY community again as I return to my role as co-director, so thanks for opening this letter – grab your coffee, let’s dig in.

The Way We Do Business

The Branches (and Queen Street Yoga before that) has long held community care, social change and climate justice as core values. But as a business, we legally exist as a corporation and we operate within the larger context of capitalism, an economic system marked by extraction and domination, optimized for profit. Despite that, we are inspired by noncapitalist structures like cooperative ownership, and this informs our pay practices for both management and teachers.

Did you know that a lot of yoga studios pay their teaching staff a per-person rate? This turns students into commodities, and creates a culture of competition within the faculty. At The Branches we have always paid teachers a consistent rate based on their experience level and training, not on attendance (or lucking into a good timeslot), and pay rates are totally transparent between teachers. Additionally, employees (those who do non-teaching work) are paid more than a living wage.

Unlike most businesses or workplaces, the amount of work each of us is responsible for is (as far as possible) based on our own need and desire to work, as well as the overall balance of the team, rather than a hierarchy based on privilege or power.

Even the way that teachers are mentored or given teaching assignments is so radically different from many workplaces. It is vastly different from my experience in the public school system many years ago, where I felt thrown under the bus and was critically undersupported. Branches teachers are trained, hired, and assigned to gigs that match their passions and skills. They can access peer and director support and feedforward (our word for feedback) anytime. The team regularly steps in to support and cover for one another during illness, life transitions, and much-needed breaks.

I personally have received a gradual and flexible return-to-work process after maternity leave, and I do not take that for granted – I know that so many parents do not get to enjoy such a respectful and caring transition.

The One Word That Made It All Make Sense

The one word for this way of doing business, of leading and mentoring, of being in relationship to one another – and there is a word for it – is matriarchy. When I began to dig a little more deeply into matriarchy, relief washed over me. It was always here, I could even recognize it, but I needed the name.

Matriarchy literally translates to rule by mothers. And maybe like me, you have assumed that a matriarchal organization is the same as any other one, but with women or maybe mothers in the leadership positions. But what I learned was that matriarchal ways of being are fundamentally different from patriarchal ones.

Where patriarchy values power-over, hierarchy and ownership, matriarchy centers care, community and egalitarian power-sharing. Only in the context of patriarchy can oppressive and extractive systems like capitalism, white supremacy/racism and toxic individualism arise.

Matriarchy doesn’t exclude men from power, but it doesn’t privilege them either. Because might doesn’t equal right within matriarchy, physical dominance has no correlation to social, political, economic or any other type of leadership.

The Community Garden

We have joked in the past that TBY is a matriarchal organization. The big plant up in Sky Studio is named Mama Jade, afterall! On the lighter side, the documents and spreadsheets we use to organize the internal workings of the studio are playfully called Motherdocs and Mothersheets. And on a more serious note, our three directors were lucky enough to coordinate having six babies on alternating years with our teacher training programs (newborns and new teachers both requiring lots of energy and time)! Deeper than those examples though, it’s really the structural and day-to-day focus on life-giving community care that is the marker of a lived commitment to the values of matriarchy.

Organizing around matriarchal principles feels like planting seeds of a quiet revolution.

And if our business and community were a garden, our Lead Gardener, Leena, has been the caretaker behind it all. She’s been the one to come up with the respectful and care-centered practices for paying teachers and employees fairly. Leena is also the one who nurtures all the seedlings (new teachers) and makes strategic care plans for seasoned perennials (like myself) who took a break from the field to rest in the greenhouse (my maternity leave). Which of us needs shade, sun, more water, etc. is always on her mind. We thrive individually and collectively under her leadership.

I honestly don’t know if Leena and her original/legacy co-director Emma would have named their values as matriarchal when they joined forces to steward the studio together 14 years ago, but that’s what they are. I am so glad I got to join in and learn to operate within this culture when I signed on as another co-director. While Leena is our Mother Gardener, all of us collaborate on deep levels for the vast majority of the work we do at the studio.

Matriarchal values inform the way we do business, but also the way we share yoga. Yoga can be an invitation towards embodiment, which for us, is about knowing and nourishing ourselves. This ethos sees our bodies as worthy of care and rest, without the need to “earn” it, and certainly without punishment or pushing through at all costs. The seeds of this approach have fully taken root and continue to grow in our teaching culture.

Our Future

Over the years, we have tried not to shy away from the reality of our shared world, and that has included speaking plainly about local and provincial politics, racism, climate change, and war (to name a few).

To speak plainly now, I believe that deep down, we all know that patriarchy isn’t just bad for women, it’s bad for children, animals, the Earth, and men. I also know that a turn (back) towards matriarchy needs also be a turn towards decolonizing and (re)indigenizing. With this letter, I want to draw a line in the sand. The future of the Branches is – and always was – matriarchal. And if we want a future for ourselves, our babies, and the other living beings on Earth, the future period must also be matriarchal.

Having the framework and worldview of matriarchy to look through has become a salve for the despair, overwhelm and confusion I sometimes feel. It’s a marker of my own isolation/disconnection that it took me this long to realize where these values are rooted. But there is a way, a cohesive path forward to which we can return and commit.

Ready to join the quiet matriarchal revolution? It doesn’t have to (and probably can’t) be perfect. You might write me back, check out this excellent reading list, plant a garden of veggies or native plants, start your own circle, or just continue to be a part of our community at TBY.

With care,
Leslie

making time to cry

A few years ago I was feeling compelled to learn more about grief, and I sought out the book “The Wild Edge of Sorrow” by Francis Weller. In it, Weller suggests that we need both individual and collective ways to process and express our grief. He uses the language of “apprenticing ourselves to grief”, and that we may be able to live more fully when we open to and live more intentionally with our grief.

I meet monthly with two circles. One is a women’s circle begun almost five years ago, the other is a circle of mothers that started two years ago. Over time these monthly gatherings have become a part of how I process my life, as I sit and share, and sit and listen to each woman speak. We touch on different themes and witness intensity as feelings are expressed. We run the gamut from grief to mirth, from rage to joy. I am grateful for this collective way to process and share my life. I imagine I will lean on these circles even more in the coming years, as I age, as my parents age, and as time and chance will inevitably bring more personal loss to my life.

Since I read Weller’s book I had also been searching for a way to process my individual grief. My grief wasn’t at the point of needing a therapist, it wasn’t to do with personal or traumatic loss. Instead I was looking for a way to process the cognitive dissonance of being aware of the layers of privilege and violence that are destroying lives and ecosystems around the world. I finally found a structure for a personal grief ritual in the book “Spells for the Apocalypse” by Carmen Spagnola, a Somatic Trauma Recovery Practitioner. I have committed to sitting with my grief for 20-30 minutes every few weeks, and I have felt a distinct shift. I was afraid that giving those feelings regular time and space to arise might overwhelm me. Instead I noticed the opposite. I feel more able to be present with, and take in the intense reality of the world, rather than avoid it. I am still at the beginning stages of this personal practice, but it’s something that I now look forward to, and feel a lot of relief and gratitude for.

My relationship or apprenticeship with grief still feels like it’s in its infancy stage, but I anticipate that these two practices, one individual and the other collective, will support me in the years to come.

I am sharing this in the context of The Branches because one of our main values is Resilience-Building & Self Care. We have articulated that as “taking refuge in rest and pleasure, and building capacity to face challenges.” While we have primarily focused on resilience-building through practices of embodiment and mindfulness, I am excited to share a new “branch” of resilience and capacity building. I am in the midst of planning an eight-month program that will mentor people who want to start their own circles, like the Women’s Circle or Mother’s Circle I mentioned. I want to empower others to grow their own circles where they can process and share their lives, and live more fully and collectively with both grief and joy.

The details and dates for that program can be found here, and if this is something that interests you, please reply to this newsletter and let me know of your enthusiasm! The program will be open to all genders and will give people the experience of a monthly circle, as well as mentorship and guidance for organizing and facilitating a circle of your own.

You can also reply if my letter touched something else in you, I love hearing back from folks who are impacted by my writing. You can also chat with me at the studio if you run into me. I love connecting with others about grief, personal practices and gathering people together.

With care,
Emma

Why I stopped saying… “take a deep breath”

This post is by studio owner + director Leena Miller Cressman.

When I started studying yoga in the early 2000s, I constantly heard—and mimicked—the cue: “Take a deep breath.” I assumed “deep” meant “big.” I thought that when it came to breathing, more was always better. Expand the lungs, pull in as much air as possible—I thought I was “nourishing” my system with every giant inhale.

Now, I think differently.

My understanding changed thanks to some great teachers like Jennifer Snowdon and James Nestor’s brilliant book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. I’ve come to appreciate that the breath is a responsive part of our internal ecosystem, meant to shift in harmony with our physical environment.

The “Flash Flood” Metaphor
Think of your breath like rainfall for the ecosystem of your body. When you are running or working hard, your body needs a heavy downpour to keep everything balanced. But when you are moving through a gentle yoga flow, forcing those massive, high-volume breaths is like sending a flash flood into a quiet garden.

Instead of nourishing the soil, that “flood” of air causes erosion. In biological terms, taking in a high volume of air when your body doesn’t metabolically need it is hyperventilation.

I often see students taking “sprinting-level” breaths from the very first Cat/Cow. Instead of calming their “internal climate,” this over-breathing can:

-Flush out too much CO2, making it harder for oxygen to actually reach the tissues.
-Signal the nervous system that there is an emergency (fight-or-flight).
-May create a sense of internal “storminess” and anxiety.
-It’s ironic: I see people trying for the fullest breath possible, intending to de-stress, but they are accidentally creating a climate of stress within their own bodies.

Redefining “Depth”
I still value “deep” breaths, but I’ve redefined what that means. To me, depth isn’t about the volume of the flood; it’s about how deep the roots go. Now in my yoga practice I look for a breath that is slow, soft, and nasal—one that sinks deep into the lower lobes of the lungs without disturbing the peace of the rest of the system.

Let me talk about the nasal part a little more. All my learning has made me fall in love with the wonders of the schnoz!

I’ll leave you with a 4 fun facts on why breathing through your nose is so important and incredible:

-Your nose has beautiful little hairs, crevices and tunnels that help to filter, warm and humidify the air for your delicate lung tissue.
-When you breathe through your nose, your sinuses produce Nitric Oxide. This gas is a vasodilator, meaning it helps relax and widen your blood vessels to improve oxygen circulation. Nitric Oxide is also the first line of defense against viruses and bacteria. Win-win!
-Nose breathing naturally slows down your breath, and helps you not exhale too much too quickly, helping your body to naturally maintain the best balance of CO2 in your body.
-Nasal breathing naturally encourages the diaphragm to drop lower, which massages the internal organs and stimulates the vagus nerve for a natural relaxation response.

Hope to see you in class, you’ll hear me cuing breath in these different ways. I love chatting all things nose breathing so come talk to me after class if you’re breath-curious! -Leena

my secret ingredient

A post by Branches co-owner + director Leslie Stokman.

I leave it unnamed most of the time, but there is a secret ingredient that has supercharged many of the benefits of my yoga practice.

The benefits I’m thinking of are deeper presence, softened body tension, increased flexibility, and more resilience in my nervous system. We might practice meditation, restorative yoga, active asana or mobility work, and pranayama to cultivate these benefits. But there is one practice that cultivates them all, all at once.

Even though I’ve been back to teaching twice a week for a few months now, I don’t bring it up. The reason I don’t talk about it in my classes is because I want the practices we are engaging in to reveal their own goodness and worth. This isn’t about detracting from activities we already enjoy.

That said, it also doesn’t sit right with me to keep quiet. So let me tell you a little about TRE.

TRE stands for Tension (or Trauma) Release Exercises. The long and short of it is this: when you practice TRE, you tap into an ability to complete unfinished cycles of stress responses by voluntarily invoking involuntary shaking called neurogenic tremors (shaking that emerges from the function of your autonomic nervous system.)

Everyone’s body possesses this ability, and some folks can recall times that it happened on its own. Knees knocking before a big presentation, tummy trembles as you lean in for a first kiss, wild leg shakes around giving birth, or shivering terribly after a car accident are some common experiences for which our culture tends to lack context or accurate explanation.

These tremors serve their purpose when they come up on their own. Spontaneous shaking like the examples above give our bodies an outlet for the overwhelming effervescence of exciting moments. Shaking also offers a resolution to the intense activation of survival energy in the face of frightening events.

Thankfully, you don’t have to put yourself through another stressful experience to access this miraculous and fascinating process. The keys to engaging with your neurogenic tremors in a therapeutic way are all about creating safety and a sense of grounding, then staying present while finding the right amount of intensity. That’s where I can help.

Since 2019 I’ve been a Certified TRE Provider, and it’s one of my greatest professional joys to guide others to discover and refine their personal practice. Branches’ co-directors Leena and Emma were some of my first practice clients!

Check out this snippet of the time Leena, Emma and I practiced TRE together in the final days of renovations at 9 Samuel Street.

We certainly had a lot of stress to shake off, which is putting it lightly.

Notice each of us tremoring with unique tempo and style, while also making voluntary choices about to how to move or lay.

The sky is the limit when it comes to what bodies can do when engaged in the therapeutic tremoring of TRE, but almost everyone starts like Emma pictured above, with some moderate hip and leg shakes.

Because a regular TRE practice can release body tension, build nervous system resilience, and deepen presence through a novel type of embodiment, it might be the next game-changing element in your meditation, yoga, or strength and mobility practice. I really believe (and have seen) that TRE is that powerful, and I’ve felt it for myself.

If this resonates with you, too, let’s chat.

I’m excited to return to work as a TRE Provider, and am currently offering weekly one-on-one appointments on Tuesday afternoons at 1:00pm and 2:30pm. Read more about TRE and how to get started on my webpage.

And if you want to catch me in class, I’m teaching on Sundays – 9:45am Stretch & Centre, and Mondays – 7:30pm Slow Flow.

Yours in discovery of all our weird and wonderful capacities,
Leslie

how we made it to 20 years

A post from studio owner/director Leena Miller Cressman.

As we celebrate 20 years of The Branches and Queen Street Yoga, I’ve found myself reflecting on how we got here. There are people in our community who practiced with us on Queen Street, others who have only ever known the studio on Samuel Street, and many who joined us somewhere in between. It feels important to pause and share the story of where this all began, and how our studio grew into the community we know today.

When I look back over the last two decades, one idea keeps resurfacing — something that began as an instinct in the early years and has since become central to how I approach my work.

“The content is just an excuse to be together.”

This quote from movement teacher Frey Faust often comes to mind when I’m leading Yoga Teacher Trainings, hosting workshops, or simply chatting with folks around the studio. Don’t get me wrong — we’re deeply passionate about yoga and the many practices we share here. But it’s not the asana (yoga posture) practice itself that has carried this grassroots studio through three major renovations, a big location change, a global pandemic, economic recessions, and countless life transitions. What has sustained us for 20 years is being together.

Queen Street Yoga opened its doors in 2005 and celebrated its grand opening the following year. You’d enter an unassuming door on Queen Street and climb three big flights of stairs into a sunny, expansive space with high ceilings and squeaky hardwood floors. The studio was founded by Meaghan Johnson, an incredible teacher and community leader.

I started teaching yoga on my own in 2008, renting a room in a church and hustling my way into five classes a week. But I craved stability, purpose, and connection — colleagues to bounce ideas around with, a place to store my growing collection of yoga props, and a community to belong to. In 2009, I began teaching and taking classes at Queen Street Yoga alongside my church classes, benefiting deeply from Meaghan’s mentorship and the collegial environment.

In 2010, I stepped into the role of studio manager and began working more closely with Meaghan to run the studio and teach there full time. A few years later, when she decided to return to school to become a psychotherapist, I felt full of ideas and enthusiasm to keep building the community. At the tender age of 25, I decided to take the leap and buy the business. I was emboldened by the fact that my close friend Emma had begun teaching at QSY too, and she agreed to come along for the ride as manager and creative director.

Emma and I have been close friends for 20 years and have worked together for 14. It’s been a profound lesson in being together — learning to collaborate with our different strengths, work through disagreements, and support one another through both difficult and triumphant moments. We often joke that we’ve nearly mastered the art of reading each other’s minds. While we strive to run a business that supports our livelihoods, our guiding question has always been the same: how can this studio reflect our values of community care, environmental sustainability, and social justice?

Over time, the studio has grown into a carefully tended ecosystem. Teachers have planted themselves in our little forest, bringing so much life and care into the space — Carin since 2013; Leslie and Nicole since 2016; Wendy since 2019; Carol since 2020; and many more. In 2012, we started our work-trade program, where people exchange a few hours of admin or cleaning for free classes. These dedicated folks play a huge role in maintaining a welcoming, beautiful space, and many have gone on to become teachers or leaders. Wendy began as a work-trade, then started teaching, and since 2021 has been a cornerstone of the studio as Operations Wizard. Leslie started by creating gorgeous chalkboards, then became a teacher, joined the admin team, and later took a bold leap to become a co-owner of the building and business during our move and our rebirth as The Branches in 2021. Leslie has been such a key addition to our leadership team and plays a pivotal role in the creative collaboration that helped secure a sustainable future for The Branches on Samuel Street.

Together, our staff feels more like an extended family than a workplace. There have been countless potlucks, board game nights, meal trains during illness, help with moves, painting parties, baby showers, retreats, and many moments spent sitting in a circle, sharing and listening with care.

Our time together has unfolded across many spaces — Queen Street, Samuel Street, parks, our deck, my mom’s backyard during the pandemic, the public library, and the art gallery. It also extends outward through the many places our 137 Yoga Teacher Training graduates have gone on to share yoga. Along the way, our approach to movement has evolved too. We’ve expanded to include functional movement, Functional Range Conditioning, the Tensegrity Repair Series, and now — with a lot of joy and enthusiasm — lifting dumbbells and barbells in our Strength Essentials classes (huge gratitude to Nicole for her outstanding leadership there).

And we’ve done much more than just move together. There have been anti-racism book clubs, fundraisers, yoga history and cultural appropriation workshops, climate change discussion groups, holiday makers’ markets, parent-baby meetups, teen drop-in nights, and community BBQs.

And finally, there are our students. Without you, none of this would exist. Whether you came for a season or have been practicing with us for years, it’s the people who show up exactly as they are — sharing smiles, breathing together, and practicing side by side — who have sustained this studio for two decades. There are hundreds of you who have attended over 100 classes over the years, and a handful who have attended over 1,000. That’s more than 41 full days spent practicing with us! We are deeply grateful to each and every one of you for being part of our story.

These past 20 years have been shaped by the people who’ve gathered here — roots deepening, branches reaching, seasons changing. Thank you for growing this community with us. Here’s to the next 20 years together.

Yours,
Leena

how I broke my phone fixation📱

This post is written by TBY teacher and co-director Emma Dines

I wanted to share something that I’m feeling (shyly) proud of. It comes after many different iterations and action plans (including some new year’s resolutions!).

Here it is: I am currently relating to and using my phone in what feels like a balanced and mindful way.

I wonder if this will come as a surprise to people, if they think that because I teach yoga that I am somehow a super mindful person who wouldn’t be susceptible to smartphone overuse. Well, I’m here to rid you of that notion. I am a human that loooves that primal hit of dopamine from scrolling silly videos, staying up past my bedtime and clicking “add to cart”. I am also a human that can get so consumed by the outrage expressed online at the injustices of the world that it disrupts my sleep and my mental health.

I’m not here to shame anybody about using their phone, or to say that we shouldn’t pay attention to very real injustice. I am here to say that I felt like my phone was taking up too much space in my life, and I’m feeling really differently now that it takes up less. I feel more able to use my phone as a tool, rather than feeling used by it.

For a few years there, I was on social media (Facebook and Instagram) and I could feel the pull of it constantly, both as an individual and as a yoga teacher. I felt like I had to have an online presence, that my thoughts and opinions as a teacher were only relevant if I shared them on those particular forums. I felt like I didn’t exist if I didn’t exist as my Instagram account. It was not only exhausting, it also distanced me greatly from the hope and goal of my yoga practice: grounded presence and awareness. I never felt less grounded, present or aware than when I got off my phone after posting, commenting or consuming. It was a vortex that pulled me in, until I finally jumped out of it, and logged off for good.

But social media wasn’t the only way that my phone was creating disconnect in my life. Even after I logged off of social media, my brain still wanted the little screen…scrolling photos, clicking through apps, trying to find some way, some reason to be on there.

It took a long while, but here are some of the things that helped me decrease my phone interaction over time.

I use this minimalist phone app to make my phone way less colourful and appealing.
I started using a pocket journal to replace scrolling.
I set my phone to black and white mode after 5pm so it’s less fun to look at. I got some great tips on this Lifekit podcast episode on how to make your phone more boring.
And I logged off of Instagram and Facebook, for good.

And how do I feel? I feel like my creativity has been liberated. What creativity used to get poured into social media now goes into my every day life and interactions. I feel that my friendships are richer. I reach out to people more, send voice notes or talk one-on-one, rather than relying on seeing their photos or shares on the algorithm. I am more informed. Instead of reading a million opinions that give me half or none of the context of a particular news story, I seek out news from trusted sources. My mind is clearer, and I can move more slowly. I feel like I can more carefully form my thoughts and opinions, without feeling so influenced by the constant noise or trends of the online world.

I’m sharing this in the context of The Branches community because we live in this very phone-forward world together, and the ways our phones shape our attention feels like a spiritual struggle, perhaps one of the biggest problems of our time. The way misinformation, outrage and hatred is spreading online is largely in part to how individual people are being manipulated by the very consciously created algorithms on their phones. I want to be part of disrupting that cycle, part of reminding us all to look up, to bring a different sense of awareness to this small companion that lives in our pocket and that contains both connection and disconnection to the world. I want us to bring the awareness we cultivate in our yoga practices, to the moment when we pick up our phones. What are we looking for in there? Comfort, solace, connection, escape? Is that the place to find it? I want us to remember that we are bodies, and consciousness and nervous systems, and that we have agency in relating to these tiny screens, and we can choose how they shape our lives.

Thanks for reading this far. I’m curious, what’s your relationship like with your phone, with social media, with news, with all the apps? What do you think about when you read about my experience? Looking forward to hearing anything you have to share.

With care,
Emma

P.S. If it’s hard for you to take a break from your phone, you might consider coming to a class at the studio. We have a phone-free policy in our practice rooms, so you have to leave it in your bag on silent. 😉

After reading our newsletter, a Branches community member reached out to share some additional tips that they have found helpful in their goal to reduce less mindful scrolling; we’re adding them here:

First, I used to find myself holding my phone, scrolling on an app that I didn’t even realize I had opened (Instagram, Reddit, etc.), and I hated this. If I was going to spend some time on these apps, I wanted it to be mindful. I love the concept of neuroplasticity and how the brain creates a “super highway” for commonly used routines. Since my brain was so familiar with where these buttons were on my phone, I could access them without even thinking. I ended up burying the icons for these apps in an unused/harder to reach part of my phone and it was an instant fix! I would pick up my phone and end up putting it back down after realizing what I was doing. If I find myself getting to them a little too easily, I just move them again and it works each time.

Second, there is a very simple and cute free app called Focus Friend made by Hank Green that rewards people for using their phone less, in a very gentle way. A lot of people have found this app to be so helpful in lots of ways. Not just for working/focusing, but for things like watching a movie with your family and having the itch to look at your phone. It helps put it back down again.

healing what has become embodied

This post is written by teacher and co-director Emma Dines

Last year I read “What It Takes to Heal” by Prentiss Hemphill (they/them), and I found myself underlining entire passages, dog-earing page after page, and re-listening to passages in the audio book over and over. In it’s pages I found reflections and invitations to remake the world; to weave embodiment and personal healing into the yearning for justice and social change. I am still processing what I read, but one passage came back to me as I considered our upcoming Continuing Ed Module on Decolonizing Our Bodies:

We are sold an approach to healing that prioritizes reprieve and disengagement, retreat and solitude, peace and calm. Of course unplugging gives us the space we sometimes desperately need to reassess and listen, to hear ourselves, our own heartbeats in the silence. But if we believe our wholeness requires long-term disconnection from the world, we run the risk of mistaking what is comfortable for what is healing. A sense of control with safety, and reinforcing separation and isolation.

And later in the book:

We cannot change the world if we do not heal what has become embodied in us, and we cannot truly heal if the conditions that break and isolate us do not change too.

This passage goes to the core of what our Decolonizing Our Bodies module is about. It is about “healing what has become embodied within us” and working to understand and interrupt “the conditions that break and isolate us”.

Our yoga and embodiment practices could be a retreat from the world, but this module is an opportunity to re-engage with the world through the lens of our bodies. Three exceptional educators (Leslie, Carla and Nicole) will present frameworks and a range of practices to consider how systemic injustice, trauma and embodiment intersect. This module is appropriate for yoga teachers wanting to bring more trauma awareness on a range of levels into their teaching, and is also vital learning for anyone wanting to understand and learn more about embodiment and healing justice.

This module begins in January, with opportunities to attend some sessions in-person at The Branches. You can read more about it here.

And if you want to read that Prentiss Hemphill book, the Kitchener Public Library (Main Branch) has a copy. 😉

With care,
Emma

5 Unexpected Lessons from my Yoga Nidra Practice

This post was written by Kimberley Luu, who is offering a Trauma-Informed Yoga Nidra Teacher Training through The Branches, starting in January 2026.

Years ago, I committed myself to yoga nidra practice. I had a vision that if I
kept training, I’d eventually never have to deal with this pesky condition
called insomnia again. I thought I would be able to enter conscious, deep
sleep with the snap of my fingers and live vibrantly off less hours of sleep. I
imagined mastering relaxation, but only for the covert purpose of being
“productive”; never missing a day of work due to burnout again.
Today, it’s amusing to reflect on the naivety of these dreams. Indeed, I was
a little off… yet, I feel no inkling of disappointment or regret. I’m no Swami
Rama (the renunciate who shocked scientists with his superhuman rest
abilities), but I did end up learning a lot of other valuable lessons.

Losing consciousness is not a good measure of sleep quality.

You can be wide awake and deeply resting. You can also be fast asleep and spiraling in restlessness.
This is one of the first statements that Swami Satyananda makes in his foundational book, yet, learning this first hand is something that has taken a huge burden off my shoulders. Regular sleep is important, but I’m no longer as concerned about being completely unconscious for the entire night.

For instance, if I’m anxious and wide awake for my last couple sleep
cycles, I engage in a yoga nidra technique which involves broadening awareness, softening the mental grips around thoughts, and letting them unfold in a larger container of acceptance and kindness.

Same goes for naps—I just lie down, close my eyes, and broaden
awareness. It doesn’t matter if I fully clock out. I know in my heart that this is still quality rest.
Experiencing insomnia once in a while is normal and okay.

During my initial stages of chronic-insomnia recovery, I still felt on edge about its potential return. Even one night of sleeplessness would spike my fears of relapse. But with yoga nidra training embodied, I am now confident that I have the tools to come back to balance, even if I have a bad night or two. I know I’ll be tired for a bit, but that’s okay. I’ve grown greater acceptance that experiencing some insomnia is just a part of being human, and it’s unrealistic to expect otherwise. Life happens, situations happen—stressful ones, and even exciting ones, like the night before my wedding day, when I didn’t sleep a wink! 😉
Attachment to “perfect relaxation” only breeds suffering.

Although my initial goals involved “mastering” relaxation, I slowly dropped this when it became clear that this was only creating tension in my body. What I’ve realized is more important than constant relaxation is the cultivation of spacious awareness. Rather than suppressing our stressful experiences, yoga nidra trains us to embrace all arising perceptions in a broader mental container. We allow all experiences to be as they are—whether that experience is bliss or a stormy mess. This shift in orientation is what’s truly healing and liberating. So, I’m no longer attached to the experience of relaxation as much as I was before. It’s as fleeting as the wind, but spacious awareness is always here.
Better than yoga nidra’s benefit of “productivity” is its ability to
reveal what matters most.

Yes, yoga nidra can make you productive in the sense of giving you the capacity to do more: it mitigates stress and anxiety, enhances alertness, and refreshes cognitive resources. However, more valuable is its ability to gently reveal what is truly meaningful. By slowly peeling away the layers of conditioning (which are
often under the influence of modern hustle culture), we come into greater connection with our life purpose(s) and guiding core values.
Through this process, we may find ourselves gradually shifting from the endless race to the top, towards intentional work that supports what genuinely matters to us.
Practice doesn’t grow more complex over time… it gets
unbelievably simple.

One of the aspects of yoga nidra practice that I initially found so helpful was that it provided structured steps on how to chill. This was much more effective than receiving the classically unhelpful advice: “just relax!” My mind craved constant activity, and yoga nidra told me precisely what to focus on, offering various techniques that kept me engaged until it ushered me into deep, conscious rest.

Yet, as I’ve grown more familiar with this state, it has become increasingly easier to visit again, without having to take so many steps. While it’s still great to be able to lean on those steps whenever I need them, most of the time now I enjoy a simplified practice: resting in my heart space, broadening awareness, and surrendering to what is.

Want to explore a deeper relationship with yoga nidra and maybe
even share it with others? Kimberley’s Trauma-informed Yoga Nidra Teacher Training begins with a 6-week Deep Dive course, which provides a supportive container for long-term personal practice. This is followed by 2 facilitator training weekends, which will equip you with all the tools you’ll need to confidently share yoga nidra from the heart.

when sleep hygiene isn’t enough

This post was written by Branches teacher Kimberley Luu. Kimberley offers Yoga Nidra courses, workshops and Yoga Nidra facilitator training (details coming soon!) through The Branches.

It had been 2 weeks of running off 0-2 hours of sleep per night when I visited the doctor’s office.

Within 10 minutes, I was sent home with a list of sleep hygiene tips and a prescription for sleep meds.

I followed the doctor’s orders to a T. Yet, sleep was still elusive.

Over the next 4 months, subsequent visits to different doctors continued to leave me frustrated and confused. I’d go home with more sleep hygiene lists and prescription variations.

I followed almost every recommendation with minimal improvement. My whole body grew exhausted and numb.

At this time, I was in the middle of my grad studies in public health and this experience made me reflect on the incompleteness of sleep care in our current medical system.

It’s not that the conventional approaches aren’t important—sleep-wise behavior is essential and medication can be lifesaving in some cases. It’s just that for some folks, they aren’t enough.

For me, the missing element was yoga nidra.

It was such an effective resource that came into my life. Little by little, in conjunction with my current plan, it helped me feel rested and whole again.

Not only was I getting more hours of sleep—my mental health improved, I relied less on medication, and to my surprise, I gained insight into why I wasn’t sleeping.

In other words, the self-awareness that yoga nidra provided helped me discern the broader life changes I needed to make to find peace and sleep well again.

As a yoga nidra facilitator now, it’s been incredibly meaningful to help fill this gap in sleep care. It never gets old, hearing long-term insomnia sufferers report that they just had their first restful sleep in months.

In my upcoming workshop, Yoga Nidra for Better Sleep, you’ll learn how to precisely apply yoga nidra and other supportive therapeutic yoga tools to optimize your sleep.

We’ll get in touch with our body’s natural circadian rhythm and sleep cycles in order to harness yoga nidra most effectively.

Lastly, you’ll receive 1-year access to Restoring Rhythmic Sleep: five on-demand yoga practice videos for supporting your rest and vitality throughout the day and night.

Sleep not your forte? It’s not mine either. But yoga nidra is here to help.

Register here for Kimberley’s workshop, Yoga Nidra for Better Sleep, coming up on Sunday Sept 28.

Creating a Sensory Friendly Home Yoga Environment

🧘‍♀️ How to Create a Sensory-Friendly Home Yoga Environment for Brain and Nervous System Health by Branches Teacher Alissa Firth-Eagland

Follow-up to Alissa’s post “Yoga for Your Brain” published on The Branches Blog October 2023.

For folks who may want to manage their symptoms by not reading on a screen but instead watching or listening to a video, click here for a 3 minute video version of this blog: Create a Sensory-Friendly Home Yoga Space | Brain + Nervous System Support

Whether you’re managing post-concussion symptoms, nervous system dysregulation, chronic pain, or everyday sensory overload, your home yoga space can be more than just a corner of the room—it can be a healing refuge.

In Yoga for Your Brain, we explored how yoga supports your brain’s plasticity and recovery. Today, let’s bring that insight home—literally. We’ll look at how to create a sensory-friendly home yoga environment that gently supports your body and brain.

🌿 Why Sensory-Friendly Matters at Home

Many people recovering from brain injuries or living with heightened stress are especially sensitive to sensory input: harsh lights, background noise, tight clothing, or cluttered spaces can be overwhelming.

In yoga, there can be many goals, including going outside your comfort zone and challenging yourself physically and mentally. This is not that type of practice. Think as cozy as possible! Aim to create conditions that calm you. A sensory-friendly environment helps regulate your nervous system, making it easier to breathe deeply, move mindfully, and truly rest.

🏡 Step-by-Step: Building a Home Practice Space That Soothes

You don’t need a dedicated yoga room. Just a little intention can transform any space into a supportive sanctuary.

✨ 1. Light: Soft and Dim

Choose a space with natural light, or use a soft, warm lamp (think salt lamp or dimmable bulb).
Avoid harsh overhead lighting and flickering bulbs. Personally I prefer incandescent bulbs to the newer styles because they seem to vibrate less to my eyes. Some concussion people find it hard to look at candlelight.
Try practicing with an eye mask or soft eye pillow during rest poses.

🔉 2. Sound: Gentle and Controlled

Reduce background noise with a white noise machine or fan.
You might enjoy practicing with no music, letting your breath be your rhythm.
If participating in a virtual class, pick instructors with instructions so clear, you can choose not to watch the video and only listen.

🧘 3. Touch: Comfort is Key

Wear soft, breathable, non-restrictive clothing. Bonus points if you wear PJs so you can roll into bed after practice!
Practice on a thick mat. Layer it with a blanket or towel for extra cushion.
Gather your props: bolsters, blocks, blankets, straps, or pillows can make poses more comfortable—especially restorative ones.

🧺 4. Declutter: Clear the Visual Field

A visually busy room can be overstimulating. Tidy the space before practice if possible. I learned this from my yoga teacher: taking the time to prepare and clean the space gets you in the right frame of mind for practice. It is a form of saucha. For me, sweeping and wiping down the floor before I place my mat is a fave ritual to get ready for yoga.
You don’t need perfection—just a calm corner with a bit of order. Sometimes it is better to practice amongst the dust bunnies than not at all.
A folded blanket, plant, or treasured object can signal “this is a space for care.”

🌀 Tips for Practicing at Home with Sensory Awareness

Slow it down. Reduce the pace and number of poses. The slower you move, the more time your brain has to process. Take the time to experience the shape or movement.
Avoid fast vinyasa styles that can spike blood pressure or cause disorientation.
Repeat familiar movements. Routine can reduce cognitive load and boost comfort.
When you are extra tired, use grounding poses like Child’s, Legs on the Chair, or Constructive Rest Pose (CRP). Liz Koch has a beautifully gentle spine practice in CRP you can do with or without a core ball.
Anchor to your breath by inhaling and exhaling through your nose. This sends the message to your brain that there is no immediate threat. Even a short breath practice can help calm your nervous system.

💻 Setting Up for Online Yoga Without the Overwhelm

If you’re using Branches On Demand or another virtual platform, here’s how to make your screen time supportive:

Lower screen brightness and sound to a comfortable level.
Headphones or external speakers might sound better than built-in laptop speakers, depending on your sound sensitivity.
Choose videos with slow pacing, fewer transitions, and simpler production.
Avoid rapidly changing visuals.

🌱 Practice That Feels Like a Gift, Not a Task

Your home practice doesn’t need to be fancy—aim for feeling safe and supported. With a few thoughtful choices, you can create an environment that welcomes your body, calms your senses, and supports your brain in healing.

Start by adjusting just one element: lighting, clothing, background noise—whatever feels most pressing. Your nervous system will notice. Over time, those tiny changes can stack up into a powerful shift.

🧘‍♀️ Ready to Begin?

If you or someone you love are living with concussion or brain injury, I invite you to register for my Yoga for Concussions course with this 10% off Affiliate Code: AFFILIATE10. This course is designed to meet you right where you are—at home, with a tired body, a sensitive system, and a deep need for rest and recovery.

** If funds are low and the Affiliate price still doesn’t fit your budget, please reach out to alissa@gardenvariety.ca to hear other options. Concussion and head injury can profoundly impact survivors’ capacity to work. No one will be turned away due to a lack of funds. **

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