It is the meeting point of earth and sky, anchoring you in your body while connecting you with your spirit.
It’s where the left and right palms join in Anjali Mudra, symbolizing the integration of your brain’s hemispheres: intuition and logic, receptivity and action.
It’s the still point where past and future soften into presence.
In this deeply restorative 2-hour experience, you’ll be guided through Yin yoga, somatic movement, and a relaxation with sound using Koshi chimes and the gong. These practices will gently and lovingly release stored tension in the chest, shoulders, and neck - areas where emotional and energetic imprints often reside - clearing the pathways back to your spiritual heart
Gently unravel physical and emotional holding patterns and stress held in the heart, shoulders, and neck
Support the nervous system in accessing a felt sense of safety and rest
Return to the stillness, presence and wholeness of your spiritual heart - the seat of your soul and source of inner wisdom
Awaken deeper self-compassion and clarity
Remember your true nature as peace, presence, and deep belonging
This is an invitation to come home to your True Self - resting in the peace, joy and unconditional love of your spiritual heart.
These two work together like peas in a pod 🫛👯 to release habitual patterns of tension, harmonize the nervous system, and learn a lighter, freer way to move forward in your life.
Yin yoga honours our profound need for stillness with its long-held, passive stretches that target the connective tissue of the hips, legs and back. It's an opportunity to open your body and release deep physical tension. When coupled with mindfulness, this quietly powerful practice will also support you in letting go of excess stress, stuck emotions and outdated, limiting thought patterns.
Somatics is a practice of deep internal awareness and movement re-education that helps release chronic tension and restore ease in the body. Based on the work of Thomas Hanna, Somatics teaches us how stress, trauma, and repetitive movement patterns can lead to Sensory-Motor Amnesia (SMA) - a state where certain muscles remain unconsciously contracted, creating stiffness, discomfort, and misalignment.
Somatics helps retrain the nervous system through slow, mindful movements, allowing muscles to relax and move with greater freedom. Unlike traditional stretching, which focuses on external flexibility, somatic practices invite you to explore movement from the inside out, promoting neuromuscular awareness, deep release, and a lasting sense of ease.
Melanie Richards is the founder of Yoga HappyTree Inc., the creator and leader of Yoga teacher training programs, and a mental health advocate. For ten years (2007-2017), she owned and operated HappyTree Yoga Studio, known for its vibrant community and regularly voted one of Montreal's top five yoga studios by Cult Mtl.
Melanie teaches yoga to psychiatry inpatients and outpatients. Last year, she received a Builder of Hope Award from The Douglas Foundation, recognizing her efforts and contribution toward establishing The Rebecca Joy Richards Award for Research in Eating Disorders.
She also received a Quebec Notable Award for Social Entrepreneurship and has a TEDx talk on the power of intention setting (2014). In 2012, she was recognized by CTV's The Power of One for her work in the community with cancer patients and underprivileged youth.
Melanie is a 500-hour Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT 500) with Yoga Alliance. She is a certified Hatha teacher and Kundalini yoga teacher and has sat multiple 10-day Vipassana silent meditation retreats over the past decade. Her teachers include Barrie Risman, Nischala Joy Devi, Nubia Teixeira, and her spiritual mentor, Lisa Lajoie, with whom she's led international yoga retreats.
Melanie shares Yoga from her heart with relatability, compassion and enthusiasm, fostering a warm and inclusive learning atmosphere. She empowers people from all walks of life to take the path of Yoga back home to their hearts.