Yoga+Therapy

Heart Work offers trauma-informed yoga classes and yoga+therapy in Victoria, BC. Our classes and workshops support mental health, nervous system regulation, and emotional wellbeing.

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What is Yoga+Therapy?

Yoga therapy is a customized healing modality that uses yoga practices to support mental health and emotional healing. It integrates movement, breathwork, and guided somatic awareness to help you process stress, trauma, and life transitions.
At Heart Work, yoga therapy is combined with counselling, allowing you to explore both the physical and emotional aspects of your experience. Sessions are tailored to your needs and are accessible for all levels. No prior yoga or exercise experience required.

Our Weekly Classes

All classes are open to the public.

Drop in: $22/class
5 class pass: $90
10 class pass: $170

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Class Descriptions

Slow Flow is a grounding, breath-centered hatha style practice that blends mindful movement with intuitive pauses.

With a therapeutic pace, you’ll explore alignment, soften inner tension, and reconnect with the quieter messages of your body. This class supports strength, mobility, and emotional clarity, offering a calm space to unwind and reset.
Optional reiki during savasana to complete the healing cycle.
All levels welcome.
Date Night Yoga is a 60-minute partner practice designed to regulate the nervous system through breath, gentle flow, and learning how to offer hands-on assists to one another.

You’ll move, take turns supporting each other, and explore playful, light acro poses—all with multiple options to keep the practice safe, fun, and accessible.
Guided by a yoga teacher and couples therapist, this class invites you to co-create movement, deepen trust, and share presence with your partner. Expect connection, laughter, and a grounded return to each other.
Register individually (each person needs their own sign up!).
Yin/Yang yoga starts with an accessible, energizing flow (yang energy) and ends with grounding yin shapes, guiding you from activation into deep rest.
This practice supports balance, emotional regulation, and a gentle unwinding of stress.
All levels welcome.

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Registered Yoga Series

We are excited to offer yoga to younger folks and their grown-ups, starting this spring!

Sharing new experiences and practicing nervous system regulation together is so important for families, so we’ve created classes for kids aged 4-6 and 8-12.

Navigating the world with a sense of groundedness in body/mind/spirit makes the teen years a whole lot easier, so we created a class series just for people aged 13+ too.

Our classes are intentionally small, with just 8 students. We know how to teach to all levels and are inclusive of all bodies. No experience or even a mat required, we’ve got you. Our classes for kids and teens are led by the exuberant Emily Morris-Smale. See below for her bio and more information.

First series:

Saturday, April 11 until Saturday, May 9 (5 weeks)

Registration deadline: Thursday, April 9.

Second series:

Saturday, May 23 until Saturday, June 20 (5 weeks)

Registration deadline: Thursday, May 21.

All registrations are first come, first served. Each series needs a minimum number of students to run.

A playful yoga class designed for young children and their grown-ups to move, stretch, and connect together. Through simple poses, games, stories, and breathing exercises, kids build balance, confidence, and body awareness while parents share in the fun. Expect lots of imagination, partner poses, giggles, and a cozy relaxation at the end.
Perfect for ages 4–6 with a parent or caregiver. No yoga experience needed! Just come ready to move and have fun together.
A welcoming yoga class for kids who are curious about yoga and parents who want to share the experience. In this class, kids and parents practice side-by-side, each following their own flow while enjoying the supportive energy of practicing together.
Expect a mix of movement, balance, breath, and relaxation designed to help kids build strength, confidence, and focus. Perfect fun, healthy activity to share. No experience needed.
A yoga class created just for teens to move, breathe, and release the stress from the week. This class blends elements of strength, flexibility, and mindfulness to help teens feel stronger in their bodies and calmer in their minds.
Expect a supportive, low-pressure space where teens can build confidence, reduce stress, and learn tools to stay grounded on and off the mat. No experience needed. Every body welcome.

book a yoga series

Community Classes ($5)

This is a steady, accessible hatha-style yoga class for queer folks to move, breathe, and enjoy being in their bodies and our little queer community. We’ll hold postures with care, focus on breath, and move at a grounded pace that welcomes all bodies and experience levels.

Take up space, feel good and do some yoga.

The class is intentionally priced to support accessibility and community-building. You belong here.
Sunday night slow flow for helping professionals.

This is a slow, grounding yoga class for people who spend their days caring for others. Designed as a Sunday-night exhale, this class helps you gently transition into your next work week.

We’ll move through a calm, steady slow flow, linking breath with simple, accessible postures, holding just long enough to settle the nervous system without effort or strain. Expect space to soften your shoulders, quiet your mind, and come back into your body.

This class isn’t about fixing, processing, or improving yourself. It’s about putting down what you’ve been holding and letting yourself be supported for a change.

Intentionally priced as a community class as a way to honour the offering you make to our community and to your path as a heart worker. We see you, welcome you, feel grateful for you. All helping roles are welcome.

No fancy yoga pants required, we've got all the mats and props you need. Drop in and zone out.

Community classes are a small way for us to honour our social justice roots and support health and wellness in our community, targeting those who might not feel at home in a traditional yoga class or who might not feel they deserve the unwinding that yoga can offer. You do. These classes happen just once per month so check your schedule and save your spot.

Questions about yoga + therapy in Victoria, BC

A typical yoga therapy session at Heart Work begins with time to get to know you and understand your story, sometimes over the course of a full session. From there, the session is tailored to your needs, including a custom yoga flow designed to bring awareness and openness to specific areas of the body such as the chest, throat, back, or hips.
This is followed by a restorative or yin practice, where you’re invited to notice what’s arising in your body and mind. As different emotions or “parts” of you come forward, therapy is gently integrated into the process. Sessions close with rest and integration, including savasana with supportive props, calming music, and grounding sensory elements.
Yes. Stress, anxiety, and past experiences can be held in the body as patterns of tension, discomfort, or emotional reactivity. Yoga therapy combines movement, breathwork, and mindfulness to help bring awareness to these patterns and support their release over time.
At Heart Work, sessions are tailored to your needs, using a custom yoga flow to gently explore areas of the body where tension is held. As these areas are accessed, we slow down, reflect on what’s arising, and integrate therapeutic support to help process emotions and create space for change.
Not necessarily. Yoga therapy is guided by your comfort and pace, and you are always in control of how sessions unfold. For many people, this sense of choice and agency is deeply healing, especially if they’ve had past experiences where their body didn’t feel fully respected or safe.
At Heart Work, sessions are grounded in trauma-informed practices, gentle pacing, and attuned support. The goal is not to push intensity, but to help you feel more at ease in your body while engaging in meaningful therapeutic work.
It can be. In therapy, “shadow work” often refers to exploring parts of yourself that are less visible or harder to access, such as emotions, memories, or patterns that have been pushed aside over time. Approaches like Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Jungian-informed therapy work with these “exiled” or protective parts.
In yoga therapy, this exploration can also include noticing how these experiences show up in the body. You may have heard the question, “Where do you feel that in your body?” This is one way of gently bringing awareness to these deeper layers. At Heart Work, we approach this process with care, curiosity, and respect for your comfort level, supporting you to explore and integrate these parts at your own pace.
That’s completely okay. Yoga therapy sessions are always booked separately from regular counselling sessions, so nothing will ever be introduced without your explicit choice.
Consent is a central part of somatic and trauma-informed work. We never push, rush, or pressure you to engage in anything you’re not interested in. If you book a standard therapy session, our work will take place through conversation, no yoga required.
Yoga therapy is a personalized experience that integrates movement, breathwork, and psychotherapy. Sessions are tailored to your needs and may focus on specific areas of the body where you hold stress or tension, while also exploring the emotional patterns connected to those experiences.
In contrast, regular yoga classes are typically group-based and designed for general strength, flexibility, and relaxation. While they can support nervous system regulation, they don’t usually include individualized attention or therapeutic processing.
Yoga+therapy is the same price as a regular therapy session. You can claim it on your insurance, too.

Heart Work Yoga Teachers

Jennie Foster

Teaches: Slow Flow and Reiki on Mondays
When Jennie first had interest in getting her YTT, it was not with the intention to teach. She was looking to gain a deeper relationship to her body and self. She continued to get on the mat long after her training was complete, and the more she continued to practice the more she had the feeling that she wanted to be in the seat of the teacher.
Opening each class with intentional grounding and centering, and (an optional) reiki infused savasana, Jennie places an emphasis on coming back to self in all of her classes.
When she is not teaching yoga she is busy doing tarot readings and reiki sessions at Inwards Market as well as managing the store. Come home to yourself, one hour at a time and join Jennie Monday evenings for a slow flow.
Destinee Hunter

Destinee has spent the last 11 years devoted to her yoga practice and the past 3 sharing it as a teacher. As a Registered Massage Therapist, her classes combine anatomical insight along with a grounded and spiritual lifestyle.
Her journey teaching began with a yoga teacher training in 2016 here in Victoria and deepened this year in India, where she studied multi-style yoga rooted in traditional Indian practices and yogic culture.
She teaches from the belief that yoga is a way of living—an embodied path that softens the nervous system, expands inner space, and carries its lessons far beyond the mat. Destinee is honored to share these ancient practices with a modern society longing for tools to slow down, reconnect, and return to themselves.
Jenn Miner

Jennifer’s yoga classes are inspired by her love for movement, connecting both the mind and body together. She enjoys guiding a variety of yoga styles, especially a spicy flow, and often incorporates all four sides of the yoga mat.
Jennifer aims to hold a safe and inclusive space for all of her students, encouraging them to honour and respect their bodies through movement and breath. Jennifer also strives to incorporate elements of mindfulness and nature into her yoga teaching and day-to-day life.
Jennifer completed her 250 hour nature-based YTT in 2021 with KIND Yoga. She began teaching immediately and has not stopped since. She continues to grow and deepen her understanding of both yoga and movement through ongoing courses and staying connected with the yoga community.
When not on her mat, you will find Jennifer teaching elementary school, paddle boarding in the ocean, or chasing her next adventure (with a stop at a local farmers market along the way!). She is eager to welcome you to the Heart Work Yoga Community and can’t wait to flow together!
Aidyn Peters

Hi, I’m Aidyn Peters, a 200-hour certified yoga teacher with a heart rooted in Vinyasa flow. I fell in love with yoga because it got me out of my head and into my body, and I teach because I want to share the beauty in finding inner peace and strength through movement. In my classes, you’ll find a theme of honouring your body, a space to express yourself, and time to play.
Yoga has played a huge role in my own healing and growth, and it continues to be one of the ways I connect with compassion and slowness in a world that moves fast. When I’m not practicing asanas, you can usually find me cooking or baking, going on long walks in any weather, or at the movie theatre (I'm a sucker for popcorn).
Outside of yoga, I’m currently completing my Master of Counselling, with a deep passion for supporting others through emotional, mental, and life transitions and have completed my birth and postpartum doula certificate.
Whether you’re new to the mat or deep in your practice, I hope to create a space where you feel encouraged to come as you are.
See you on the mat!
Leanne Stepp

Teaches Date Night Yoga and Yin/Yang
Founder of Heart Work, Leanne is a yoga teacher and therapist who integrates movement, mindfulness, and nervous system regulation into every class. Her teaching blends the science of psychology with the ancient wisdom of yoga, offering practices that support emotional healing, resilience, and embodied presence.
A former competitive triathlete, Leanne brings a deep understanding of the body–mind connection. A practicing yogi for 26 years now, her classes invite awareness and surrender. You'll be supported to be here now, finding grace in each flow.
When she’s not teaching or in the therapy chair, you’ll find her running along the ocean, cycling through the countryside, or tucked in to a deep armchair with her latest book.
Molly Moon

Teaches Prenatal Yoga
Molly Moon is a mother, a doula and a dynamic space holder. She has been living the practice of Yoga for over 20 years, and with over 800 hours of certified training, she has been teaching Prenatal Yoga for almost a decade. Molly focuses on all aspects of yoga: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, and brings these facets together to create a transformational healing space where the opportunity to connect more deeply to the body and the heart is always on offer.
After a career of leading 200 + 300-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings around the world, Molly cozied herself in Victoria for an in-depth study to become a doula and had her own baby in 2022. She has since woven her Doula knowledge into her passion for yoga to lead inspirational and well-informed classes that offer a pathway for a more prepared birthing experience.
When not chasing around her toddler, Molly might be found inventing new flavours of Kombucha or daydreaming in the garden. She brings with her the magic of song wherever she goes.
Emily Morris-Smale

Teaches Youth & Parent Yoga, Teen Yoga
Emily's introduction to yoga was with her Dad when she was about 13 years old. It ended up being one of the most memorable experiences that she would return to time and time again. In grade 12 Emily began volunteering at her local yoga studio- cleaning and working at the front desk and in 2020 Emily completed her 500-hour teacher training through Modo Yoga, going on to teach kids, youth, teens and adults.
Her classes combine mindful movement, functional rest, and guided flow sequences. She strives to make yoga accessible for all bodies and abilities and will always encourage you to listen to your body, do what feels good, and be gentle with yourself. There might also be live music savasana at the end!
Emily is grateful for her yoga mentors (her aunt Sarah, Debbie Wilson, and Joanne Lowe) as well as every student who comes to practice. She is grateful for the opportunity to live, learn and play in this place and honours the Lekwungen peoples (Songhees and Esquimalt Nations), and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships to the land continue to this day.