At Rose Boreal, we are excited to conduct a series of interviews with inspiring women who have chosen a path less traveled and, in so doing, have had a significant impact on the world around them. Each of these women teaches us how to broaden our outlook, live more in rhythm with our true calling, and be of service within our community. From documentarians to social innovators to sports and outdoor enthusiasts, we will shine a light on how these women forged their path while uncovering some of their biggest motivators and, of course, their favorite go-to snack!
As a mother, entrepreneur, yogi, and founder of Juna Yoga, Nadia Bonenfant embodies the left-brain right-brain paradigm. She is an intuitive thinker interested in movement, spirituality, and expression while also possessing the logical and analytical attributes that prove advantageous for running a successful business. Offering an array of experiences for women everywhere, from SUP classes, yoga training, winter retreats, and beyond, there is no shortage of opportunities for women to convene, connect, and build community through Juna Yoga.
When catching up with Nadia via Zoom last month, she spoke eloquently and effortlessly on a range of topics, from yoga retreats to community to psychology and female representation within the media. Although I could have spoken to Nadia for hours at length, we were cut short because one of us (I won't say who because, in the world of motherhood, we can all relate) had to deal with a mild family emergency: an itchy toe that needed tending to.
Having grown up in Quebec with three siblings and two adventurous and spiritual parents in their own right, Nadia did not shy away from pursuing a path less followed from an early age. At 19, she moved to BC, where she completed an outdoor guide course. What was meant to be a two-year sojourn turned into ten years of total immersion in yoga training, paddleboarding, and surfing. While in Tofino, Nadia was given the opportunity to teach surf yoga to groups of women, she says:
"And that essence of feeling like you're in a safe, non judgmental environment and you're adventurous at the same time and you're practicing yoga outdoors, was a real heart revelation for me, where I was like, I love this. This really aligns with my person."
After completing a degree in cultural resource management and ecology, she returned to Quebec and uncovered an absence of female-led, female-only yoga and outdoor programs. Serendipitously, during an advanced teacher training course with Shiva Rea in California, students were tasked with developing a project that would light a fire within them. For Nadia, this homework assignment set the wheels in motion for Juna Yoga:
"Within a month, I came up with an entire website, retreats in Tofino, retreats in Maine. I didn't launch my yoga teacher trainings yet because I was just building retreats, and the market was 100% open… I had a one-year-old at home. I'm like, I'm feeling this so much. I'm a trained outdoor guide. I've been teaching yoga. I've seen the power of working in women's circles. I'm adventurous, and nobody's doing this in the province. So I launched Juna Yoga in 2011…"
Nadia had a winning combination of talents to fulfill her vision: she saw an opening in the market for a program that women everywhere could benefit from and the right skills to make it happen. A full-page spread in La Presse showcasing a retreat she ran in Mont Tremblant followed, and before she could roll up her mat, so to speak, she was expanding her upcoming retreats fourfold to accommodate all of the responses. With so much momentum, Nadia was able to build her team and eventually began offering yoga teacher training courses.
"And since 2011, this is pretty much been my main gig. I have a yoga school now, and I've trained hundreds of females across the globe. We've traveled all over the place. We have an incredible team of between 14 to 15 collaborators that consistently work together."
Now living between Mont Tremblant and Vankleek Hill, Ontario, with her three boys and husband, Brandon, Nadia brought on her business partner Zoe, whom she also trained as a yoga teacher:
"I'm 45, she's 32... We were, like these two generations, really able to come together. So now, in the last two years, we've been running the business together, and it's been really great."
In 2020, with global changes at everyone's doorstep, Nadia mainly ran the show at home with the three kids while her anesthetist husband worked long hours in a local hospital. Like many, the pandemic also drove Nadia to evaluate the future direction of her business in what was becoming an increasingly saturated market. The market was changing so much that she had been advised to be wary of training her future competition. But Nadia never perceived this as a drawback:
"I really believe that if you've got gusto, competition is just good. It drives your innovation. It drives your creativity. And so I've always functioned that way, and I do mentor quite a few of my students.. and I love that role. Eventually, during COVID, I said, I think I want to go back to school and start to tweak my programs in an angle where there's mental health and psych work, where I'm also supportive of different layers of our society."
With a new direction for her business in mind, Nadia embarked on over three more years of schooling, where she earned two back-to-back master's degrees. At Queen's University, where she currently works, she obtained a Masters of Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship and a Masters of Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University. Now armed with this breadth of knowledge and building on over 20 years of experience, Nadia and her business partner are expanding their offerings in both the personal and professional development realm.
"People that come to us don't come for therapy, but from an educational perspective, concepts of psychology and mental health are now included in our programs, and that's where we're at now… it's basically yoga at the heart with outdoor connection, adventure, innovation, and psychology, and then you choose when you land on the new yoga site. So we went from Juna Yoga [to] Juna Academy, and you can train with us, personally or professionally, and eventually they're intertwined in the same matrix."
What tips do you have for women in terms of their physical (and/or emotional) fitness (best practices, recurrent themes you've witnessed, encouragement, etc)?
"I think that before my psych training, I would just be in the spirit of listen to yourself and go for it. Now I'm like, no, people are complicated, and because we're complicated, the advice is to wish for that person to come into a space within themselves where they feel like they've got an understanding of why they are the way they are, and the spaces where they can change things that are not beneficial to them….So real change happens if you are patient, if you are supported, and if you feel safe enough to truly express your deepest vulnerabilities and use those as your tools for change, and that sometimes is the story of our lives, and we never get to do it, or it takes forever to transition into managing your distortions or your behaviors that are just so ingrained in you, right?"
At Rose Boreal, you are regarded as a leader/pioneer/mentor (all of the above) in your own right. How does that resonate with you?
"…I think they [Rose Boreal] are doing a really great job at presenting females in all arrays of life. They are moving away from the stereotype of the skinny, white model into women enjoying their experience and their clothing, and so, for me, that piece, where you know your hair is coming undone and you're running in nature, and your size doesn't matter, and you have a baby next to you in a diaper, and you are starting to regain a connection to your body postpartum. I feel they are really coming back to connecting with women in all the phases of life…and I really associate with that."
What are you most passionate about in life?
"What brings me the most joy? I am grateful that I have three amazing children that are healthy, bottom line. And I love that as a female, I have time and space to run my own business that allows my work to connect and intertwine with the lives of many, many people and feel that sense of community and social impact that is a real passion for me."
What is a central motivating factor in your day-to-day life?
"Wanting to be an actor for change…when I come back to a space of hosting an emersion, listening to people, understanding people's needs, I feel like that sense of community and leadership is really something for me that connects me to what I am supposed to be doing. Like my dharma."
What do you practice regularly that you benefit from personally?
"Every day I write in the morning…I journal to evacuate but I also make my list of things that I am calling in. I am very clear with it; I've done it for years…I am unpacking and unloading this, and I am calling in this because I right now, I need structure, vitality, and energy. Being a business owner is about being a generator…But if you are only cash-motivated, it doesn't work; you have to be heart-driven, you have to be wanting to work in a space of change and social impact. When I journal, I journal for me and my family and I journal for Juna. Because they are interconnected and my business is part of my life, my business partner is like my soul sister and we are kind of like a big family all together. So I do a lot of writing to decompress and get clarity, and I do intuitive movement on my mat…And then nature…for me, nature is like my real spiritual connection, feeling the seasonal change, real eco psychology stuff."
Where is June heading next?
Nadia says to look out for many new and exciting offerings with Juna in the coming months, which are all Yoga Alliance Accredited. People looking for opportunities for personal expansion can find a plethora of courses, including yoga teacher trainings, intuitive dance training programs, eco-psychology, and Yin teacher training. There will also be a selection of professional courses geared towards organizational behavior and contending with issues such as burnout, mental health, and wellness. To find out more about all upcoming events, retreats, and offerings, visit Nadia's website at junayoga.ca.
Mini Questions for Nadia:
- Who or what in your life makes you laugh the most (person, film, book, comedian)?
Australian comedian Celeste Barber
- What is your favourite book or movie at the moment?
The Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown
- What is your current go-to snack?
Right now, fresh Ontario Peaches and Plums.
- If you could say one thing to your younger teenage self, what would it be?
Trust the process
- When/Where have you experienced the most peace/joy (could be a memory or location)?
Surfing
- What is your favorite travel destination?
New Zealand
Website: www.junayoga.ca
Instagram: Juna Académie
