Celine Rapp generously offers a Free Yoga class at Wisdom Flow Studio once a month. She calls it Karma Yoga. Are you intrigued by yoga but not ready to join classes? Are you curious and looking for a class where you can explore and ask questions? Well you’ve found it. You will see a Free Karma Yoga class on our schedule each month. Saturday March 3rd, 2018 is our first class of the year. From 5-6:30PM. Bring a friend and join Celine. Celine’s Karma Yoga is a perfect place to start your journey. Here is Celine’s story of how she came to yoga and what brought her to offer it freely to you…
Thanks to Yoga, new perspectives of movement and training, I now navigate through Life with more ease and confidence than ever. I know Life will ripen me and as I get wiser, I want to be able to move independently as long as possible. Reaching to the hidden stash of dark chocolate in the top cupboard, doing the things I love most outdoors, squatting up and down with ease, witness my girls thrive in their adulthood… This is what inspires me to share Yoga to who ever wants to move better and live better.
In my mid twenties, I gave Yoga a try, it was not for me. At least not quite yet. When giving Yoga a second chance during my first pregnancy in 2009, I felt Home, empowered and in grace. My self-esteem increased with the practice, and so did my support system in my community. Self-doubt, fearfulness and anxiety were not ruling me no more. I also felt deeply connected with Baby, infused in a sensation of lightness while being strongly rooted. Something I never felt before. 
Same sensations keep drawing me back to Yoga as we speak.
It was an unconventional prenatal class led by the talented Teresa Campbell in Vancouver during my first pregnancy. I reclaimed the sacredness of my womb but also found incredible tools to help me during labor, pre and post natal! The connection with all the Mama’s in the room every time we would step on the mat would be incomparable although we were total strangers. It was a safe place to return to every week and I felt the urge to share the celebration of body & mind connection with everyone, pregnant or not. Later in 2016, I had the honor to study with Teresa in her Prenatal YTT.
My 200hours-Registered Yoga Teacher Training was complete at Semperviva Yoga College (Vancouver, BC 2013) with the addition of Chair Yoga (see previous blog post). Since, I have been blessed to practice different styles of Yoga by learning from the most amazing teachers in the world. Max Strom, Michael Stone, Seane Corn, Nicki Doane, Gloria Latham, Teresa Campbell, Bernie Clark to name a few.
I started to teach Karma Community classes in Lululemon stores and in a senior retirement home. The perspectives of sharing this gift with committed students that may have never stepped into a Yoga studio was fulfilling. I offered free classes wherever Life takes me, to either introduce the practice or simply share a memorable moment.
Later, I connected to the deep devotional roots of Ashtanga Yoga under the guidance of Fiona Stang and the teachers at Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver. I since found my voice as an instructor, my foundation as a practitioner and my lifeline as a mother and a woman.Stepping on the mat every day is not always easy. The international moves that rhythm my family’s life, daily routine, society requirements, laziness, or just having to face myself are so many factors that make it even harder, but there is NOT ONE DAY I have regretted a practice.
Studying Yin Yoga with the visionary Bernie Clark has been an eye opener in terms of functionality of the body. I realized that there is not “one size fits all Yoga posture”. What might benefit some-body might not others. It comes bottom line to the intention of the practice. “What is my benefit for going deeper and what is my intention behind practicing a posture over another?”
However, despite feeling more flexible, my strength and mobility did not evolve proportionally. Specific postures were harder to get into, if not more painful. Simultaneously, when I added to my journey strength training in order to use more resistance than my own body weight, I realized the same restrictions occurred. There was no wrong in the movement itself but the lack of preparation for this specific movement was key. I just did not have the prerequisites for these moves no matter how many times I would repeat them. Adding in my Yoga practice movement modalities that support my needs has been crucial.So, you will find in a class mostly what I practice to move better such as alignment based practice with a deep emphasis on functional breath work but also movements that will help the student restore awareness in range of motion and strenght. Yoga is not a performance or a workout. In a class, I encourage practitioners to turn inward, own their practice, pay attention to the sensation instead of how sensational the posture looks.
I have taught since many different styles from Hatha Alignement based Yoga, to SUP (Stand Up Paddle Board) Yoga. From children’s Yoga to Chair Yoga. From Yin Yoga to Prenatal Yoga. In private or group settings.
“My goal as an instructor sharing the sacred and (r)evolutionary tools of a practice is that you leave with the sensation your bucket has been emptied and re-fueled, with the assurance that you understand a bit more your body and with the certainty that you will return!” Email Celine for more information. See our full schedule of classes, and register early for Karma Yoga Saturday March 3rd, 2018, 5PM. Preregistration is not required. You can just show up and we will welcome you.