Meet our Instructors

Alana R

Alana is a yoga and Pilates instructor with a passion for honouring yoga’s Indian lineage and delivering inclusive classes. She teaches a wide range of class styles, from Vinyasa flows to restorative, and provides many pose variations so that you can find the version of movement that feels right in your body that day.

Community-building is her wheelhouse; in all her classes she strives to connect with students and to foster a sense of belonging so that folks stay to chat after class, get to know each other, and forge relationships beyond the mat. She worked in marketing and communications at the University of Waterloo where a part of her job included championing equity, diversity, and inclusion projects, and she brings that expertise to her fitness instruction.

Brandy C

With over 7 years of teaching experience, Brandy is passionate about guiding students through dynamic Vinyasa classes that build both strength and flexibility. Known for her creative sequencing, she helps participants move beyond their minds and into their bodies, fostering a deep connection to movement.

Brandy believes that yoga not only enhances physical performance but also promotes mental clarity, allowing for a release of thoughts and emotions. Her classes are designed to leave you feeling strong, elongated, and at peace.

Join Brandy on the mat for a transformative experience that will empower your body and calm your mind.

Christine P

Aside from being a Pranalife Certified Yoga Instructor, Christine is a Youth Worker, and Reiki Master as well as a traveler, a lover of life (and really good coffee), and a very proud mom of two incredible young men.

She dove into yoga in 2011 on her journey towards physical improvement and was inspired to teach when she discovered that a yoga practice had many perks that went far beyond the physical… inner strength and resilience, improved focus, concentration, and emotional balance.

Her passion now lies in helping others rediscover their own strength, balance, and sparkle in this life – inside and out.

Rich B

Before completing yoga teacher training in 2019, Rich was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces serving for 12 years in Petawawa, ON. In 2009 during a deployment in Afghanistan, Rich was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression. Following a medical release from the military in 2018, Rich found that yoga had a unique combination of physical and mental effort that allowed a deeper healing. In 2022, Rich began climbing with his kids to spend more time together and found that climbing is a very good counterbalance to yoga. Rich approaches yoga from an athletic point of view, often focusing on the relation between yoga postures and real-world applications, and he combines that with an undertone of breath work. Rich shows how a regular yoga practice may be the best way to improve climbing off the wall and reduce your risk of injury. Rich’s classes are light-hearted but grounded. When the weather permits, Rich also teaches stand-up paddling and SUP yoga.

Trish M

With hundreds of hours of training and thousands of hours of experience, Trish has developed a teaching philosophy centred around quieting the mind to be present in the body. She uses foreshadowing and gradual building in order to effectively guide her classes through creative sequencing and challenging postures with the ultimate goal of encouraging students to question their own limiting beliefs of self. As a big fan of props, modifications, and autonomy, she aims to provide a practice that is accessible to all while maintaining an exacting and energizing vibe.

When she’s not teaching, you’ll find Trish reading, running, or spinning. As a lifetime student and lover of movement, you’ll probably catch her rolling out her mat alongside you at some point or another!

Erika L

Erika Lui is an aerialist and acrobatic performer and instructor based in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region of Ontario. In the air, they specialize in aerial silks, rope (aka. corde lisse), and duo trapeze. While on the ground, they’re often seen being tossed around in partner acrobatics or tossing themselves around in dance acrobatics or balancing on their hands. Erika comes from a diverse and dynamic movement background – starting off in gymnastics, cheerleading, and parkour – and honing their aerial and acrobatic skills in Chicago, IL as a student at Aloft Circus Arts’ professional training program and the Chicago Centre for Dynamic Circus (CCDC). This dynamic power and versatility is what sets them apart as a performer, bringing both technical precision and a unique quality of air-sense to every act. They are known locally as an aerial instructor, bringing their own teaching practice to students at the Grand River Rocks Kitchener location. Erika also works as an artistic collaborator, working with a variety of interdisciplinary artists from the region and throughout Canada, often creating work that relates to the environment and other current issues in today’s world, and exploring avenues of healing through art and community.
Website: www.erikalui.com
Instagram: @erikat_acrobat
Photo credit: Alexa Baker Photography

Christine G

In addition to being a certified Yoga Instructor and Movement Specialist, Christine Grauer is a Certified Spiritual Life Coach and Practitioner of Bioenergetic Medicine. She’s an avid yogi, climber, Latin dancer, and in-line skater. Her passion is lifting others and helping them be the greatest version of themselves – both on and off the mat.

When Christine first started doing yoga 15 years ago, it changed her life in amazing ways – it not only opened her body, but it deepened her connection to that greater part of herself. She encourages everyone to join yoga – this world would be a different place if that were the case!

You’re bound to see her on the wall at the gym – come say hi!