In 2005, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 37. After undergoing surgery, chemo and radiotherapy treatments, I attended a yoga class at the Laval Serenity Programm, provided by the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. This is when I met Susan Frederick, yoga teacher, who told me that I should meet Dr.Bali. A short time later, I attended a retreat organized by Dione Cunha in the Laurentians. This is when and where I had my first experience of a guided yoga class and a private therapeutic massage with Dr.Bali. What an experience! I remember crying, being so deeply touched and feeling that I was reconnecting with an inner calmness that I had lost contact with, for too long. I felt an extraordinary feeling of relief and joy, and I remember telling Dr.Bali: «If you knew how much I needed this…».

After that beautiful retreat, I started to go to his drop-in classes in Montreal, followed by the 8-week yoga course and the Yoga Teacher Training Certification. I was eager to learn more and more about his method. From that moment, Yoga became very important in my life. I wasn’t into fear anymore but inhabited by positive thoughts and feelings of hope and confidence.

To practice on a regular basis, taking care of my whole being with great kindness and stimulating the relaxation response with its precious and addictive effects; to become the silent witness, observing the swirling thoughts and games of the ego…becoming more and more aware of the inner melodrama; to come back, tirelessly, to the mindfulness of the present moment by cultivating intimacy with my breath, with the wisdom of my body, with my sensations, with the presence of that rich and profound Silence within… and to feel that link, that connection with a feeling of eternity, with a deeper Source, with the cosmos, the Universe. I learned so much with you Dr.Bali! And now, after taking a good time at developing a personal practice, at taking care of my health and my family life… to have the opportunity to share that beautiful gift with other women living with breast cancer is a wonderful experience.

Thank you so much Dr.Bali and may your loving guidance keep helping and inspiring again and again.

– Pascale