By Temmi Ungerman Sears

Yoga has provided a baseline and a framework for my life. For the past 21 years, I have never missed a day of yoga practice. I view my world from the yoga ‘lens.’ Yoga is so much more than just the physical process. It has enabled me to integrate all aspects of myself and to strive to live an authentic life in which work, family and personal needs merge and balance.

The yoga philosophies, both ethical and moral constraints, the lifestyle of moderation in diet and all endeavors, walking the middle path, interacting without judgment and with compassion, and understanding the interconnections among all living things are just some of the ways in which yoga permeates and guides my actions and thoughts.

Through my yoga practice, I have been able to create time for myself. While savoring the solitude, the practice provides me with a balance against the myriad of responsibilities I face, as well as the hectic pace of life.

During my practice, I draw inward and access the ‘Divine’ within. I experience my creative spirit, and my intuition. It is from my inner core that I am able to experience my authenticity, my strength, and my stability. When practicing pranayama, or breath control, I connect with my breath, and with my inner organic body. From this point of stillness and integration I feel energized and calmed, and am thus able to interact with others with clarity, patience and compassion.

Yoga has been a gift of health to me in my life, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It has helped me to maintain my physical strength and flexibility, to increase balance, coordination and grace. It has enabled me to move through three pregnancies with joy, awe and appreciation and has further assisted me in my acceptance of life stage changes and my transitions through them.

I am honoured to be a conduit to pass on the blessings of yoga to my mother, my three young children, and husband, and to my students.

Temmi holds a Masters degree in Expressive Therapies; a Bachelor of Education degree; and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She is a registered Art Therapist with the American Art Therapy Association and a clinical member of the Ontario Association of Consultants, Clinicians, Psychometrists and Psychotherapists. Temmi has over twenty-one years of yoga experience and is a certified Iyengar yoga instructor and member of the Canadian Iyengar Yoga Teachers Association. She is the Director of YogaBuds studio established in 1994. Temmi is also a wellness workshop facilitator of lifestyle and health seminars in corporate settings.

The YogaBuds Studio is located in Toronto, Ontario.
Phone: 416.785.7888; Email: yogabuds@sympatico.ca