WHEN Heather McLeod's favourite local yoga studio closed unexpectedly, she was compelled to action.
Passionate about the practice of kundalini meditation and yoga and their positive effects, the North Vancouver woman took matters into her own hands.
McLeod, 49, opened Bound Lotus Meditation and Yoga Centre in Lower Lonsdale 19 months ago. While kundalini is the studio's signature style of yoga, a variety of other styles are also offered, including hatha, yin and restorative.
Bound Lotus also runs a kundalini mediation program, offering daily 20-minute sessions in 40-day cycles. "Meditation is near and dear to my heart. I started doing kundalini yoga about three years ago and the meditation aspect of a class - you always meditate in a kundalini yoga class for 11 minutes at the end - really resonated with me," says McLeod.
"You can create a lot of change through meditation, you really can," she adds.
Believing strongly in the mediation's transformative power, over the last few months, McLeod has offered a few Healing Circle Meditations here and there to clients and friends struggling with illness either personally or within their family. Based on participants' positive feedback, as well as out of her interest in getting more involved in the community, McLeod is beginning to offer free Healing Circle Meditations to interested community members once a month.
"The whole reason that I'm here is to serve, just to serve the community," she says. "We're living in stressful times and people need a place to be able to come and take a break from their troubles, refuel, realign themselves, strengthen themselves. Everybody needs this meditation right now, anybody and everybody."
The next Healing Circle Meditation, led by kundalini teacher Jagdeesh, will be offered Sunday, May 26 at 7: 45 p.m. and healing circles will be held on the first Sunday of every month thereafter, starting in June. The 22minute meditations are open to anyone feeling the need for extra healing and support. Info: boundlotus.ca.
