Kristin Campbell is joining our top team of teachers on MFML. We couldn’t wait to find out more about Canada based Kristin. Read on to find out how she incorporates Ayurveda into her practice, relaxes and moves everyday.
Welcome Kristin Campbell
Kristin Campbell is MFML’s newest teacher and we know that you’ll love her. Kristin has a unique and creative style infused with a sense of ritual, precise anatomy and a wicked sense of humour
What do you teach and why?
Currently, at home in Squamish (British Columbia, Canada) I am teaching Hatha-Vinyasa (both warm classes and regular temperature), and Yoga-Nidra classes. I also mentor teachers, lead retreats and teach yoga-teacher-trainings locally and globally. In fact, Teacher Training is what brought me to London to teach at triyoga in 2013 where I first met MFML’s founder, Kat Farrants. I have been returning to London annually to teach Tapasya Hot-Hatha yoga-teacher-trainings at ever since
What is Tapasya Hot Yoga?
I owned a studio in Whistler BC from 2002 – 2010. We started out as a Bikram Studio in 2001 and then that evolved into a multi-disciplinary studio offering many styles. My personal practice very much evolved out of Bikram and Baptiste Power Yoga into Anusara Yoga. In 2008, about when I partnered with YYoga, I created my own method and approach to Hot yoga, which I call Tapasya Hot Yoga (pronounced tah-pahs-yah). Tapasya is a spiritually uplifting and alignment-based method of Hot-Hatha and Hatha-Vinyasa yoga. It’s a creative synthesis of over 20+ years of yogic study in several traditions. It incorporates Bikram Yoga, Anusara Yoga, Baptiste Power Vinyasa, Meditation, Ayurveda, and Shamanism.
Why do you teach?
I know this will sound cliché but it’s the truth, teaching was something I was called to do, it was beyond a mental choice for me. My Spirit called me to this work. For real! In 1995 I travelled to West Africa and saw a Fetish-Priest (a person who serves as a mediator between the spirit and the living) and he told me I would become a teacher and travel the world teaching. I said to myself: “Nahhh, no way, I don’t have the patience for that”, and forgot about it. 5 years later I took my first teacher training in Los Angeles with Bikram Choudhury. Just before I left, I was telling a friend of my plans and it all came back to me: that time with the Fetish-Priest in Ghana.
Teaching is my happy place, where I feel most like I am in the right place at the right time. I feel incredibly blessed to have landed here. I know what I am here to do and I get to live my passion every day.
What do you do to move daily?
The first thing I do when I wake is roll out my mat and depending on the breathwork I intend to do I either drink a warm glass of water with lemon before or after I practice. My “practice” consists of an embodiment practice in the form of pranayama, asana, kriyas, or some kind of fitness regime. Asanas are gestures or ways of being. I view the poses as sacred geometry, portals of possibility, when I engage with and embody the shapes in this way, I remember who I am and make an empowered choice as to how I show up in that moment.
What brought you to yoga?
A friend introduced me to trikonasana pose in a park one day in the early nineties, I remember clear as day how good it felt, still one of my favorite poses of all time. It wasn’t until 1997 that I started a dedicated yoga practice, I needed a proper class with structure and an experienced teacher. Those were the early days of the burgeoning yoga scene in Vancouver.
What is your favourite way to unwind?
Aside from all things “yogic” (winky face)! A tasty margarita with my pals, a dip in the lake, a good show on Netflix, a brisk walk in the woods, snowboarding on a powder day, a pedicure in a massage chair, a good dance session at a festival… pretty standard issue I’d say.
Why is Ayurveda important to you?
Ayur (life) veda (knowledge) has been time-tested for thousands of years. It is the sister science to yoga and the practices are still relevant today. Many of the practices are quite simple, intuitive, and have profound effects. Ayurveda not only covers diet and lifestyle, it includes architecture and astrology as well as panchakarma , massage, yoga and meditation practices.
A primary practice of Ayurveda is dinacharya, living in accordance with the rhythms of mother nature. Falling into the rhythm with the seasons and sun/moon cycles offer daily self-care practices. As a result, these provide structure for living in balance physically, mentally and emotionally.
One of my teachers, Cate Stillman refers to Ayurveda as kitchen medicine. This means you should treat the body first with food. If you need something more robust, then move into kitchen spices, then herbs. If you need to get even more serious, panchakarma (an immersive mind-body detox regime). It’s simple and attainable.
Tell us more about your relationship to Shamanism
Shamanism is another path that transcends the ego and wakes us up to who we really are.
I was first introduced to jungle shamanism in 2004, using plant-medicine as a form of self-healing. I fell in love with myself for the very first time in my first ceremony, it was so beautiful, I was able to see and understand all the ways I caused myself self-harm, and the root of the core issues. This really shifted me to work on self-compassion, self-healing, and self-love. After a six or so ceremonies spread over a number of years, I decided that I didn’t want to ingest anything to get the insights revealed from plant medicine and was on a quest to find a way to get there on my own.
I then met Christine Selda who introduced me to Mountain Shamanism as taught by the Q’ero medicine keepers from the Andean mountains of Peru. Christine taught me the Andean medicine wheel. Through the process I built my first mesa, the Andean form of a spiritual medicine bundle. The mesa is used as a conduit for the healing energies of nature and is called the “hearts fire”. This is because it represents the finest energy, the energy of compassion that a mystic cultivates while walking the sacred path.
What motivates you?
I am motivated to teach people how to love themselves. To do that means that I must stay committed to a path of Self-love. This is what gets me up early in the morning no matter what, to first take care of myself, so that I may give the best of me to the world. I am not talking about perfection, I am talking about my personal best.
Which daily practice does Kristin Campbell recommend to make us all feel better?
Breath of joy ☺
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About Kristin Campbell:
Kristin practices self-care (self-love) with yoga, meditation, yoga-nidra, breathwork and living ayurvedically. Also known as KC, Mama K and Krispy, Kristin is committed to live according to the daily and seasonal rhythms. Kristin teaches, mentors and leads global-yoga-teacher-trainings and is also an innovator and entrepreneur.
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