I have two big passions in life, art of course, but also yoga and movement.

I took my first yoga teacher training in Ottawa in 2011. It was supposed to be solely for my own well being; the exercises helping ease recurring back pains I had. The exercises did have a wonderful impact and after adding many more hours of movement and learning the pains are thankfully gone. But I unexpectedly discovered in yoga a rich philosophy and spirituality. Like many, I thought of yoga as as some kind of exercise modality in which we stretched in fancy poses. But discovered that yoga poses or ''asanas'', are one of many tools presented in this philosophy to help you keep both your body and mind healthy and help you unite body, mind and spirit (yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning ''union''). New to yoga philosophy? Click here for a short overview of some of these teachings.

It presents values and concepts found in many other philosophical or spiritual teachings. But in our busy lives we rarely take time to stop, observe, and reflect on life. You might have noticed yoga teachers cueing you to observe your sensations as you do some movements or at the start of a meditation? Yoga teaches you to take time to observe your body’s sensations, your feelings and your thoughts. This creates a space where you can observe what you take for granted or what you do unconsciously and question some of your values, behaviours, habits and beliefs. When you start digging, you realize that not all of it might be aligned with what you value and care about. Thankfully, we don’t have to think thoroughly before saying or doing anything, that would make for a tedious day! But, pausing to make the unconscious visible now and then is quite valuable.

Yoga also made me want to better understand the impact of our movements to avoid unconsciously creating more damage to my body when practicing the poses. I found a teacher, a biomechanist, that explained well the effects of sedentarity on our body and how to restore strength and mobility. Those learnings have brought me to think deeply about our way of life: its impact on the body, but also on the Earth as I realized that even our lack of movement has an environmental impact (Movement Matters, by my favorite mentor, Katy Bowman is mind opening on those links! And I highly recommend all her books on health and movement).

All this learning and introspection provided a fertile ground for reflections and inspiration. 

Reflections that sneaked into my creation as many related to themes I have at heart: life and our connection to nature and to other human beings, our emotions, our behaviors.  It incited me to look at these themes through new lenses, through different angles I hadn’t thought of before. Other experiences inspired new subjects all together. Or both old interests and new ones merged into images creating metaphors open to interpretation. Like ‘‘One Heart’’ which I see as multiple metaphors: for our connection to nature, for the mutual impacts and dependance we have with nature, for our spiritual connection with life, for unconditional love, for healing, etc. Other yoga teachings might not be reflected directly in my images, but have become part of my way of life. Like meditation which helps me calm my mind and focus and moving which keeps my body healthy so I can keep doing what I love for years to come!

Creating art, like life, is never static.

It is always moving and evolving following our own life experiences, and shifts in values and beliefs. These influences are not always visible in the images themselves, but you now know one important source of inspiration for me! Taking a long pause in my art journey to study a completely different discipline (to even teach it!) and to then take a few years at home as a full-time mother, might have appeared like a very conter-intuitive career path to many! But I am very grateful for those years filled with rich life experiences that have set me on a new creative path filled with fresh views and inspirations. You never know what strange life detours might bring and how they may not be so much of a detour in the end!

This next post presents a few paintings directly inspired by yoga philosophy! 

To receive future posts, sign up here :)