Wild Path yoga teacher a real breath of fresh air

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This article was published 15/08/2016 (3414 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When it comes to creating innovative approaches to yoga, Ashley Bourgeois likes to blaze her own trail.

The 29-year-old yoga teacher and goal coach is the creator of Wild Path — a movement that aims to “connect people back to themselves and to nature.”

The goal is embrace the healing benefits of yoga and nature, and Bourgeois encourages her students to build a holistic relationship with the outdoors and draw energy from their surroundings.

“I hope to create a platform for empowerment to go after your own wild path, a community of offerings in nature, and creating a deeper connection to oneself,” said Bourgeois, who lives in Southdale.

At the heart of Wild Path is stand-up paddleboard yoga (SUP), where participants practise yoga while on the water. Bourgeois generally holds her classes at FortWhyte Alive and various locations across the province, such as Clearwater Lake Provincial Park and Riding Mountain National Park. As well, she also holds yoga hikes and backcountry retreats, and thrives on introducing her students to new surroundings.

“It’s a movement combining yoga, community and nature,” Bourgeois said.  

“It’s about using different modalities to connect things together. In our lives today, so many of us are glued to our phones and technology, and we’re such an on-the-go society, and I think that we’re missing that face-to-face connection. It’s time to stop and inhale, and Wild Path is a breath of fresh air.”

Bourgeois — whose love of water and nature dates back to a childhood spent at her family’s cabin — said there are numerous benefits to her practises, whether they are physical, emotional or spiritual.

“You have a greater sense of mindfulness, and a deeper level of awareness of your body. Practising yoga on the water means you’re working up different muscles than when you’re on the ground,” Bourgeois said.

Practising yoga outside, of course, has its advantages, too.

“Last night, I ran a workshop, and we were serenaded by owls,” Bourgeois said. “And when I ran my latest retreat, there were eagles overhead. You won’t get that indoors.”

Bourgeois said her next backcountry retreat will be at the end of September at a yet-to-be-determined location, and it will embrace the theme of the fall.

“We have such an amazing landscape here in Manitoba, so I’ll be choosing somewhere that does justice to the amazing fall colours we have here in the province.”  

    
Go online at www.wildpath.ca for more information.

simon.fuller@canstarnews.com

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