Shawna Briant – E-YT 500 (Asana, Meditation, Pranayama) & Certified Critical Alignment Yoga Therapist and PADI DIvemaster. Shawna has been teaching Yoga full-time since 2011, she is a dedicated and passionate instructor who loves sharing her experiences. She enjoy living a balanced lifestyle, when you she is not on the mat, you can find her scuba diving underwater.
Born in Canada, Shawna’s intro to yoga was at a local fitness centre where she attended her first class. She enjoyed the stretch but wasn’t intrigued enough to continue attending classes regularly.
It wasn’t until some time later when a new studio opened that she decided to “take another kick at the can”. A firm believer that things come to us only when we are truly ready, this studio and this practice turned out to be exactly what she needed. Her time spent at the fitness centre quickly dwindled as her commitment and dedication to her yoga practice grew stronger. Some might say she became quite the yoga junkie.
This practice and this feeling flourished into a passion. Exposing herself to as many different styles of yoga as possible from Vinyasa to Acro and Yin. After participating in her first 40 day Sadhana, the more she learned the more she became hooked.
Less than a year into her practice she realised she wanted to travel abroad and pursue a yoga teacher training. Her heart led her to Thailand where she completed her 200hr YTT with Tribe in 2011. Upon a swift return to Canada she began teaching regularly and proceeded to complete more teacher trainings in Yin yoga and Critical Alignment Yoga Therapy. She has taught on yoga retreats in Costa Rica and Austria, several 40 day Sadhanas, and attended many AcroYoga workshops.
During a year spent in Chiang Mai, Thailand she took a break from teaching yoga to focus on deepening her self-practice. Then while travelling through India she spent a month in Goa, assisting on a Tribe 200hr YTT.
Returning to Canada again she spent another year teaching at a local studio and completing her training to become a certified Critical Alignment Yoga Therapist with teacher Geert Van Leeuwan from Amsterdam.
In 2014 her passion and desire to grow as a teacher led her to Austria where she completed her 500hr YTT with Tribe.
Shawna’s preferred styles of teaching and practicing range from more dynamic Vinyasa flows with Ashtanga & Iyengar influence to quieter Yin and Hatha practices. She jumps at any opportunity to play in or lead a session of AcroYoga and has recently been introduced to Aerial and Tantra yoga.
As a certified Critical Alignment Yoga Therapist she offers a unique form of yoga therapy through one to one healing sessions. Designed to assess and treat dysfunction in the musculoskeletal system by releasing and mobilizing the thoracic spine, these therapy sessions are for anyone and everyone wishing greater access to freer spinal movement, specifically for relief and management of chronic back, neck and shoulder pain.
Shawna’s passion for teaching and sharing her knowledge/experiences continues to grow as she proceeds to travel and meet new amazing yogis & yoginis. She believes that one of the most beautiful things about Yoga is how easily it brings together like-minded individuals to create and share in the joy of such universally profound practices.
“The practice of Yoga has blessed me with a new perspective on life. It is my motivation to live a healthier lifestyle, become more in touch with my spirituality, appreciate the simpler things in life and become empowered to follow my heart by embracing the freedom & adventure of each new day”.
Most recently her passion for teaching yoga has led Shawna to the small tropical islands of Bali where for the past several years she has been able to concurrently pursue her other passion of scuba diving. Since becoming a certified PADI Divemaster she spends most of her time off the mat in the water. Knowing personally how well they compliment each other it has been her dream to combine these two passions by sharing the benefits of yoga for scuba diving.
“HAPPY BUBBLES”