SHE/HER

Co-Founder, Lead Educator, and Master Instructor

My life has been a journey that has moved, shifted, changed, contracted and expanded.

This journey is what brought me to my passion for movement. Movement has been my safe haven since before I can remember; without ever realizing, I went to movement regardless of the state I was in. When I was lost, when I was found, when I was happy, when I was sad - I needed to move. This passion grew when I became a mother. I realized that the way that I perceived myself was not how I wanted my children to see themselves, and that self-love through compassion, kindness and breath is what brings true internal love and strength.

After the birth of my first child I shifted the way I moved. I received my Pilates certification, deepened my pre and post natal knowledge and adjusted my personal practice to safely and lovingly move my body. During my pregnancy with my second child, I was diagnosed with perinatal and then post-partum depression. I found the practice of Qi Gong which deepened my body - soul connection. The desire to understand how the body moves, stands and connects at its best found me seeking a deeper knowledge. Through that desire, I began to consult pelvic floor physiotherapists, RMT's and chiropractors to further strengthen my body - soul alignment practice, which in turn, would impact the practice that I lead for others.

All of this led to the creation of the A La Ligne and integrative embodiment methods. Two mat movement practices that have found their home in our beautiful space that is the House of A La Ligne Studio.

Find Katie teaching The Mat, The Block, The Meditation, The Power, The Mama

SHE/HER

Co-Founder and Master Instructor

For me, movement has always been a place of joy. It is a place where I can express my happiness, my sadness, my anger, my anxiety, my frustrations: it’s where I come alive. 

My passion for movement - specifically for strength training - comes from an understanding that movement does not just physically affect our bodies, but it also has the ability to drive our mental and emotional well-being. During the stages of my life where I felt like I had no control (through times of loss and challenges with mental health), I always had control in my movement and in my strength. When I discovered this sense of agency in my movement, I also found compassion for myself. 

I have always been a student: I love to learn, to collaborate, and to create movement programming that serves all Humans in the same way that it has served me. I use my own lived experience as the basis for how the body reacts to popular training and nutritional techniques - with an underlying understanding that each body and each Human is different. I specialize in strength and conditioning, rehabilitation and pilates through my practice as a Kinesiologist. I have a specialized approach to training the female body (menstrual cycles, pre-post natal, fertility and infertility, etc.) and focus on how each body moves through their own individual journey in their own unique way. 

Coming together with Katie to create the House of A La Ligne was a ‘coming home’ for me and for my practice. Going through my own journey of fertility and infertility, I had to slow down and honour both the ‘soft and strong’ that the A La Ligne Method celebrates. My goal with my movement journey is to help guide other Humans to find a movement practice that supports their unique body, allows them to progress in their movement goals and inspires them to find a deeper connection to self through movement.

Find Taren teaching The Mat, The Block, The Meditation, The HIIT, The Strength, The Mama

SHE/HER

In 2008, Anna started her journey with fitness when she began boxing as a way to relieve stress from work. Through boxing, she fell in love with movement - finding it both mentally and physically therapeutic. In 2014, Anna co-founded All City Athletics, a boutique boxing studio located in Gastown. More recently, she has moved on to pursue other movement practices such as Pilates & strength training.

Anna’s training style is a balance between knowing when to push and when to pull back. One of her greatest joys is creating an experience through movement that allows her clients to connect to exercise in a way that’s fun and accessible.

As a certified personal trainer with 7 years of experience, Anna decided to partner up with A La Ligne to co-curate a strength training program that brings together all the elements of her personal movement practices with what it means to be strong: breath, alignment, connection, power, challenge and fire.

SHE/HER

Chantal Russell is Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Ayurvedic Wellness Consultant & Yoga Teacher Trainer with over 15 years of international teaching experience. 

As a graduate of the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition in Toronto & Vancouver School of Healing Arts, Chantal has enjoyed working with clients one-on-one and facilitating group workshops throughout yoga studios, festivals and conferences around the world, educating and empowering people to heal through nutrition, movement & holistic living.

From 2014-2020 Chantal served as the founder & director of The Well Yoga Studio on Bowen Island, and managed the Nutrition and Yoga program at The Orchard Recovery Center for drug and alcohol rehabilitation. 

Today she’s honoured to serve as the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at Rhodes Wellness College and enjoys teaching online through her virtual studio, The Well.

When not teaching, Chantal enjoys slow living with her family and horses on their Vancouver Island Farm, writing & reading by the fire, or sharing her love of healing foods and nourishing conversation.

SHE/HER

Jes has been facilitating group fitness and one-on-one trainings for 10+ years. Her upbringing in many different modalities of movement, from Dance to competitive Running to Martial Arts, fostered a deep awareness and appreciation for the human body and the power, creativity, and release that come with intentional forms of movement. 

She is passionate not only about movement as a form of medicine, but the ways in which our physical bodies communicate and speak to us on such a deeper level, in any given moment, and how this conversation continually grows as we become more connected to our bodies and their systems.  

Jes has completed numerous certifications locally, as well as a 350hr yoga certification through Laughing Lotus New York City. She has taught throughout Vancouver, with a focus on Yoga, Barre, Dance, HIIT training, Pre/Post Natal, and Lagree. Jes has also had the privilege of owning her own studio, and continues to find so much inspiration and drive in our incredible community and its students. 

Jasmine's love of movement began at a young age. From climbing trees in the backyard, to playing all of the team sports and weight training at the age of 13, movement has always been a way of life for Jasmine.

In 2015, Jasmine experienced her first Kundalini yoga class and fell in love. The Kundalini yoga system quickly elevates the mind, body, spirit and 10 body systems of which the human is comprised. It does this through the use of mantra, meditation, breath work and physical postures. Without getting into the nitty gritty details, it is a way to feel really, really good.

Jasmine completed her formal teacher training in 2018 through Yoga West. But the foundations for Kundalini yoga were set by her Beeji (maternal grandmother) long before. When Jasmine was a child, her Beeji taught her mantra and paath, and was a living example of these teachings. For these reasons, Kundalini yoga is so much more than yoga for Jasmine: it is a way to connect with her roots and walk the path her ancestors have walked before her.

SHE/HER

Marika Richoz is a Kundalini Yoga teacher.

Through her study and practice of Kundalini Yoga, Marika quickly went from student to teacher as her desire to delve deeper into the practice grew. Marika considers Kundalini to be a game changer in how to deal with all of life’s curveballs which contribute to the growing amount of stress, anxiety, fear and control found in society today.

Kundalini’s use of breathing, chanting, moving and meditating through challenges allows you to tap into your inner self. Through all of these, you are provided with a reset to your nervous system allowing for strength and clarity. It can be equal parts difficult, relaxing, frustrating and fun, a true representation of life itself.

SHE/HER

Based in Vancouver, Megan is an A La Ligne Method certified mat Pilates instructor and certified core specialist specific to pre and post natal movement.

Megan's movement and guidance style has been significantly influenced by 15 years of teaching dance, and her certifications from Lagree, Barre, Indoor Cycling and other speciality programs and modalities of movement.

With a passionate focus toward physical and mental alignment, Megan's classes encourage a deeper connection to your body through movement, sensation, strength and always, a bit, or a whole lot of, sweat.

SHE/HER

Sam is a meditation guide currently living in Vancouver, B.C. Sam began her journey with meditation in 2010 and completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training in Greece in 2012. Over the years Sam has completed trainings in yin yoga, pilates and yoga nidra meditation.

She is currently studying mindfulness meditation with The Lab of Meditation in Vancouver, B.C. The only things Sam loves as much as she loves meditation is peanut butter, dogs and anything outdoors in nature.

SHE/HER

Soraya’s journey with movement began during university. What started as a desire to look a certain way changed into a desire to feel a certain way.

She fell in love with spin over 10 years ago and over time has incorporated more strength-based training and Pilates into her routine, which have had a positive impact on her physical and mental strength. Pilates has been the perfect balance to higher impact training and has allowed her to truly connect to her body.

Over the years, movement has supported her through all seasons in her life. Soraya understands the importance of moving your body in a way that is accessible, fun and challenging: in a way that leaves you feeling supported and energized.

HE/HIM

Travis has historically had a challenging relationship with health and fitness. Early on in his movement journey, he moved because he felt like he had to - which led to a general dislike of exercise in all its forms. It wasn't until he fell in love with Lagree and developed a curiosity for Pilates that Travis realized that when it was on his own terms, movement could both feel great in his body, and be fun at the same time.

Travis received a fitness certification at Lagree, as well as mat and apparatus Pilates certifications. His teaching style is human-centric, light-hearted, supportive and fun (with just a sprinkle of sass!). He is passionate about teaching in a way that celebrates the unique needs of each client, exactly as their body shows up for them that day. Travis loves to deliver a challenging, choice-based workout that will leave you sweating, laughing and feeling more aligned.

HE/HIM

Volt's career began in 2004 with personal training, where he built relationships with people of all fitness levels; first-timers to elite level athletes and everyone in between.

Since discovering Pilates and incorporating it into his own fitness, his eyes have opened to the incredible benefits it offers: both from a structural and performance perspective for all body types and genders.

Volt believes the body must strengthen from the inside out and is passionate about helping his clients build a strong functional, foundation that will translate well to their daily lives. He strives to ensure his participants feel comfortable, have fun and always look forward to their workouts.