For years, Alanda Carver suffered from a debilitating injury that left her partially paralysed. The paralysis was so bad it took her seven years before she could wash her hair by herself.
Then she discovered yoga.
“My first experience at yoga was to not leave class in an ambulance,” Carver recalls.
“Yoga meant I could have a life – that’s how big it was for me. My life would sort itself out because I could be out in public for an hour doing something.”
Today, Carver is the owner of Sooke Yoga and Wellness and runs the non-profit Sooke Therapeutic Yoga Society. This Saturday (Aug. 8) Sooke Yoga and Wellness will host the first-ever Inspired Living Festival at Ed Macgregor Park.
The festival, which runs from 1 to 8 p.m., will bring awareness about the kinds of practices offered through the centre and the health benefits. Among the practices on display at the festival are heart breath, yoga, breath walk, qigong, chanting meditations and mantra practices.
Musical entertainment is also part of the day with Cassius Khan headlining acts that also include Bachan Kaur and Sooke’s own Katrina Kadoski.
“We’ve got a nice blend of music,” says Phil Rossner, who teaches chants at Sooke Yoga and Wellness. “Cassius Khan is an amazing performer and he’s won many awards in the world music genre.”
Kaur is a renown kundalini yoga teacher, with nine CDs to her credit.
The Sooke Therapeutic Yoga Society’s mission is to bring ongoing health and wellness to the community. It provides a wide range of subsidized and sliding scale lessons, workshops and services which help local people of all religious, economic and cultural backgrounds as well as differing ages and cognitive and physical abilities.
“We don’t think people understand the value of yoga, so this is an easy way for people to get an introduction in the kind of things we offer,” says Carver.
Sooke Yoga and Wellness can be contacted by phone at 250-642-9642 or online at ahimsasooke.com.
Mark your calendar
• EVENT: Inspired Living Festival
• WHEN: Saturday, Aug. 8; 1 to 8 p.m.
• WHERE: Ed Macgregor Park
• WEBSITE: ahimsasooke.com