Yoga illuminates the teacher within each and everyone of us. Flow with me.
Meet Irene
My Practice, My Story
Growing up as an introvert, I preferred to get lost in a book rather than move my body. When I took my first hot yoga class in high school, I didn’t expect to fall head over heels in love with the practice. I had never experienced the euphoric release that came with stretching my body, and I felt joy and wonder in the power I had to improve my physical and emotional well-being.
Yoga became a lifeline for releasing work-related stress in my twenties. I worked long days in a job that wasn’t aligned with how I wanted to show up in the world.
With encouragement from a supportive studio owner and woman of colour, I completed my first teacher training with a respected local vinyasa teacher. I found it fulfilling to guide yoga classes as a means to give back to community, and witness students experience the same profound delight that I had in connecting with the body.
As a new teacher, I tried different things. From teaching at gyms and offices to offering yoga to my neighbours—and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.
The shutdown happened when I was taking part in a decolonizing yoga and wellness mentorship program, and I was inspired to pursue social justice-oriented projects in the yoga industry.
I co-founded a womxn-of-colour summit, a thematic week featuring pre-recorded speaker conversations and live workshop sessions. The first summit focused on creative living, and the second on authentic living. During this period, I was active on social media unpacking systemic injustice in the yoga industry, educating teachers and students to practice discernment in their love of yoga, and advocating for change.
Nowadays, I teach weekly yoga classes in studios with diverse students who reflect the multicultural region where I live. Outside of yoga, I also channel my social justice values by working at a nonprofit led by women with intersectional feminist values with a mission for inclusive cities that work for everyone.
If you’re interested in collaborating, contact me here.
Lineage
Education
2026 100 Hours Yin Yoga and Sound Bowl Training with Yin Yoga Therapy
2025 40 Hours Functional Anatomy Training with Bernie Clark
2024 Hands on Adjustments Workshop with Clara Roberts-Oss
2023 Prenatal Yoga with Christine King
2022 300 Hours with Bali Yoga School
2022 50 Hours Yin Yoga & Mindfulness (Level 2) with Sarah Lo
2021 Yogasutras: Sadhana Pada with Luvena Rangel
2021 Yogasutras of Patanjali with Luvena Rangel
2020 Race Equity, Cultural Appropriation & Integrity in Yoga with Kallie Rebel YogaTribe
2020 Yoga Outreach Core Training™ for BIPOC Yoga Teachers with Tahia Ahmed and Gagan Leekha
2020 50 Hours Yin Yoga with Bernie Clark
2020 THRIVE (Decolonize Wellness) Mentorship with Constanza Eliana Chinea
2019 200 Hours Vinyasa Yoga with Clara Roberts-Oss
2019 50 Hours Tapasya (Hot Hatha) with Kirstin Campbell
Remembering My Higher Self, One Yoga Limb at a Time
By watering the seeds of my yoga practice, I have developed the courage to create a beautiful, peaceful life I love.
On a physical level, I have listened to what my body has to say to me. Honouring the wisdom of my body over the years has meant I see how much more sustainably I grow in terms of flexibility, range of motion, strength, and stability.
On an energetic level, I channel the creativity of the divine feminine with confidence. Art and beauty are healing and authentic expressions of my spirit. I have embraced my aesthetic vision through the graceful nature of flowy vinyasa sequences, in my soft yet strong teaching demeanour. I love to adorn myself, my home, and the spaces that I am with moments of quiet whimsy.
On a communal level, yoga awakened me to social justice issues. While I had identified as a feminist since my twenties, I read the works of white feminists, and I did not fully get bell hooks’ message of intersectional solidarity. It wasn’t until my racial awakening amidst the rise of anti-Asian hate during the pandemic that I stopped romanticizing the yoga space as a make-believe paradise to escape the real world, but a space like any other industry where I would practice staying true to my line of integrity.
Grass is green where we water it. On the mat and off the mat, I am focused on how I can water my backyard, working in the ecosystem of community well-being through the yoga classes, experiences, and partnerships that I am part of.
Thanks to yoga, I live a life where I am:
Authentic to who I am and what I want in my life
Brave to be soft, relating to people and objects with dignity and compassion, not giving in to banal cruelty or mindless dehumanization
Caring for myself through healthy routines and everyday rituals out of love, respect, and compassion in the same way that I care for others.
Soft Femme Tarot
Did you know that I’m also a tarot reader and tarot deck creator?
I have read at local metaphysical shops, summer markets, and private events. I have also led workshops on subjects including how to read tarot and decolonizing tarot history.
In 2023, I was a featured speaker at the Northwest Tarot Symposium where I presented on providing trauma-informed readings and understanding trauma through tarot.
In 2025, I published my first tarot deck, Soft Femme Tarot. This luxurious and dreamy tarot deck is inspired by all facets of the divine feminine.
