Heather Greaves Self Care Mentor is a Yoga Therapist specializing in helping holistic health practitioners, yoga teachers, therapists, therapeutic body workers, spiritual healers, and individuals with the basic foundation in yoga and/or meditation, learn how to teach yoga and meditation for healing and wholeness. She is passionate about the proliferation of these simple, low and no-cost natural healing ways to greatly improve quality of life.
From a very young age, Heather was thrilled to share information. Her playtime favourite was arranging and teaching empty bottles. This passion for teaching can be felt in the “exceptional environment” Heather creates for self exploration, where she “opens our eyes and hearts”. Since 2005, Self Care Mentor Heather has enjoyed seeing how students she helped learn to teach yoga are making a difference in the lives of others.
Her life mission is to foster human development through the power of personal choice.
Journey with Yoga
Heather was first introduced to yoga in 1969 through Richard Hittleman’s book – “Be Young with Yoga – And Never Feel Old or Tired Again!”. The book was at Montreal’s airport; the beginning of her life in Canada.
In 1981 she became a serious meditation student with the Brahma Kumaris (BK) Raja Yoga Center in Barbados, her place of birth. She visited the BK headquarters in Rajasthan, India annually during the 80’s to deepen her meditation experience and enjoy community. After some time however Heather’s physical body suffered as she had been focusing solely on achieving inner peace while neglecting the physical body.
After working for United Nations Development Program in Barbados for many years, Heather returned to Canada in 1996 to change career. She was more interested in studying the rules and regulations of Life rather than those of the UN. This desire led her to study how to become a yoga instructor with Esther Myers in Toronto; and Ayurveda a traditional Indian healing system with Pankaj Seth of the Renaissance Naturopathic Centre in Toronto.
Her health improved through applying some of the principles and practices of Ayurveda. She completed beginner and advanced level training in Polarity Therapy in Taos, New Mexico with Roger Gilchrist in 1997. What became clear to her is that as multi-dimensional human beings we must learn to take care of all our parts: body, mind and spirit.
Yoga Certification
1998 – 200-hour Esther Myers Yoga Studio in Toronto
2001 – 200-hour Kundalini Yoga Teacher certification
2005 – 500-hour Yoga Therapist from Integrative Yoga Therapy
2007 – 1000-hour Yoga Therapist from Integrative Yoga Therapy
Mentoring
A short while after practicing meditation, Heather started to receive comments about how peaceful she was. As years passed, it dawned on her that the type of comments she was receiving had changed to questions about what caused her to look at least 15 years younger. Heather started to pay attention and decided to share her knowledge and experience in self care formally.
In 1998 she started a business, Body Therapies now Body Therapies Yoga Training, teaching yoga to groups and individuals, facilitating mind body medicine workshops, and yoga retreats. Around 2004 after being asked by some of her enthusiastic students to train them to teach yoga, Heather became the Principle Instructor in a certified training program. These yoga certification programs for health are holistic, non-hierarchical, and include an anti-oppression workshop designed from her training in anti-oppression/diversity, positive space, and facilitating inclusion.
She has first hand experience of naively creating her own physical health challenge by practicing meditation with great sincerity at the exclusion of physical exercise and body awareness. As a result she is particularly fond of the holistic practices of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan, and those of Integrative Yoga Therapy. Her youthful looks, calming presence, and vitality make her rejuvenation teachings through simple Yoga, Ayurveda, and meditation authentic.
Heather is the mother of an adult son whose laughter seems to echo hers.
Other points of interest:
• Coordinated the activities of a meditation center for the Brahma Kumaris, an international organization with NGO status at the United Nations; and assisted in creating and executing community programs to raise self awareness and self-respect.
• In 1998 Established and continues to facilitate a weekly yoga program at Wellwood Resource Centre, Hamilton, Ontario a center for individuals whose lives are affected by cancer.
• In 2003, after attending the annual conference of the International Association of Black Yoga Teachers, she was instrumental in initiating through SAPACCY (Substance Abuse Program for African, Caribbean and Canadian Youth) the Yoga for Youth program for 60 Black youth in Toronto and Hamilton.
- Created 4 guided meditation/relaxation CDs
- Authored The Art of Self Care – 114 page workbook
Heather also loves to share knowledge and skills through speeches and workshops. You may connect with her at http://www.yogatogo.com email heather@yogatogo.com
Phone/fax 905-525-2426
