Marie Laferrière - Coordinator
Introduced to yoga at a young age, Marie developed a growing curiosity by observing her mother, Madeleine, who had her own yoga center in the 1970s. It was a wonderful time — an avant-garde way of life.
In 2010, Marie chose Kripalu Yoga as her first formal training, an approach that fosters self-respect and mindful self-connection. The RRSOP method (breathe, relax, observe, allow). She continued her learning to become better equipped with posture ergonomics in 2013, explored vital energy (pranayama) in 2014, and restorative and Yin yoga in 2018.
Yoga is a discipline that allows us to live better, with a free and peaceful mind.
Fernande Surprising
Passionate about yoga, Fernande has been practicing for over thirty-five years and teaching for 15 years. She is also a naturopathy and wellness practitioner. Fernande is trained in Kripalu Yoga and Vini-inspired yoga, with more than 500 hours of teacher training, including posture ergonomics.
Coracoeur, Therapeutic Support, and Yoga.
Suzanne Moorhead
Suzanne completed her 200-hour Hatha yoga teacher training in 2006. Since then, Since then, she has taken trainings in Yin yoga, restorative yoga, and yoga Nidra. She has been teaching at Relais Yoga since it opened in the fall of 2007.
Each teacher has her own “colour,” affinities, and sources of inspiration. Suzanne’s are nature, gentleness, and calm — including the soothing silence that does so much good. Yoga Nidra, also known as the yoga of meditative sleep, which brings deep relaxation to both body and mind, is always included in Suzanne’s classes.
She also occasionally leads contemplative walks around the Relais Plein Air. The yoga that Suzanne shares is oneof discovery of a greater well-being and of compassion towards oneself.
Carole Ann Bilodeau
Carole Ann discovered yoga in 2008. Her practice helped her cope with the stress she was experiencing both in her personal life and at work. She kept returning to her mat for the physical and mental well-being that Hatha Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and Restorative Yoga brought her. Over time, she learned how to adapt postures to her body using blocks, straps, and bolsters.
Her passion for yoga and her desire to share it with others led her to begin her teacher training. She completed Restorative Yoga training in May 2014 and her 200-hour Kripalu Yoga teacher training in June 2014. She also completed a Curvy Yoga training in 2016 and Yoga for All in 2017.
Carole Ann looks forward to sharing her passion for yoga that adapts to everyone—with you!
Mitsi Cardinal
Always fascinated by anatomy, physiology, and the body’s innate healing power, Mitsi values the holistic approach of yoga. She has completed both teacher training and certification in therapeutic yoga instruction. Mitsi offers group, private, and semi-private classes. She is driven by the desire to share the many benefits of yoga and to support the optimal well-being of body and mind.
Energy work, massage, and meditation from various traditions are also part of her experience and life path.
Anissa Michaud
Holistic health coach, Reiki therapist, and mother of two, I teach yoga to nourish the soul and help harmonize our energies with those of the world around us. Having first turned to yoga to heal my back pain as a teenager, I quickly discovered the benefits this practice had on my mental health, especially during my university studies in occupational therapy. I now approach yoga as a tool for well-being and as a playful way to better appreciate life in general.
Throughout my life, I have often been the confidant of the people I met, which naturally led me to wonder how I could help them feel better. Seeing how the modern healthcare system often struggles to understand the root causes of the ailments and chronic illnesses so many of us face (depression, anxiety, diabetes, addictions, etc.) encouraged me to explore alternatives to the usual “pills.” Yoga, meditation, Reiki, healthy lifestyle habits, Qi Gong, Chinese medicine, herbalism, intuitive dance, biodanza, releasing trauma stored in the body, connecting with Nature, contemplation, humor, drawing, crafting, singing, and music are just some of the practices I have studied—and continue to study.
To better integrate what I was learning, I organized numerous exploratory workshops while at university, which helped me gain confidence in teaching health principles. Yet it was only in 2020, after completing my 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher training, that I officially became a yoga teacher. I loved it so much that I even opened my own yoga center for a while! With the arrival of my two boys and the need to return to a simpler life, I eventually chose to continue teaching in other studios.
Today, my classes mainly include yoga and other energetic practices such as Qi Gong. They offer moments to (re)connect with the rhythm of Nature—our own and the world’s. I like to bring softness and openness into my classes to make them accessible and to allow time to truly feel what is happening within us. We laugh, too, in my classes. It’s a wonderful reminder not to take ourselves too seriously and to keep our childlike heart.
Finally, I love to end my classes by singing during the final relaxation—an ode to life and to everything present in the moment we share together.
Namaste!
Marie-Andrée Lafleur
Trained in the Ashtanga approach in 1999 with David Swenson, I later oriented my practice toward making yoga accessible to everyone. It was with Hart Lazer—whom I consider a true master—that I deepened an alignment-based approach using props to adapt each posture to each individual, whatever their condition. The goal: to offer the benefits of yoga by emphasizing how to do the posture rather than simply doing it. A Yin Yoga training also enriched my teaching.
Drawing from a wide range of experiences—study, teaching, and even my own injuries—I now offer a gentle and mindful yoga, attentive to limits and areas of resistance. I cultivate receptivity and respect, true sources of growth that guide us on the path to greater well-being. Alignment and the mindful attention given to resistance lie at the heart of my teaching philosophy, which values the quality of the posture over its final shape.
I continue my own search for balance through the practice of yoga and mindfulness, with the desire to share an approach rooted in acceptance—of oneself, of others, and of what is. I invite students to an opening of the heart, supported by the harmonization of breath and movement.