About Me
Hi, I'm Kendra! (she/her)
What I do:
I am a sādhaka (one who is on the path of self-actualization), yoga grandmaster (in layman's terms I am a yoga teacher's teacher and I am certified to train yoga teachers up to the 500-hour level), 1-on-1 mindfulness coach, and multi-disciplinary artist. I live and work on unceded Coast Salish territory, most often the traditional lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səl̓ílwətaɬ, kʷikʷəƛ̓əm, Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm and Stó:lō people, and teach globally, online.
My work occurs at the intersection of self-liberatory practices and collective well-being.
As a mentor to individual practitioners and yoga teachers: I support the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical well-being and growth of my students through individualized practices and teachings.
As a community organizer who works with organizations of all sizes: I am always striving to create safer spaces for folks who experience marginalization and systemic violence to practice self-liberation.
I strive to combat white supremacy, and the colonization, gentrification, and misappropriation of yoga by keeping it accessible to all and honouring the practices as taught to me by those who have come before.
What informs my practice:
I am of mixed Afro-Caribbean (Barbadian) and Romani-Hungarian (Magyarországi Romák) heritage, and move through the world as a visibly Black person. I exist within the margins of queerness and neurodivergence (ADHD) which informs how I both experience the world and navigate it. As a survivor of childhood sexual violence, I bring a particularly compassionate, trauma-informed, and intersectional framework to my practice. With an additional 14 years of experience as a documentary photographer, I have learned to work closely with people in a professional, intimate setting, and use storytelling as a tool for both teaching and expressing what it means to be human.
How am I qualified to do this work?
I began my journey studying and practicing yoga in 2010. In 2017, I travelled to India, to study under Swami Vidyanand, where I was officially initiated into the yogic tradition and received my name Durgaputri.
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2017 - 500HR Yoga Teacher Training - Sri Ma School of Transformational Yoga
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2019 - 25HR Core Training for Trauma-Informed Yoga - Yoga Outreach
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2020 - Yoga Grandmaster Certification - Sri Ma School of Transformational Yoga
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2023 - Non-Violent Communication Foundations 1, 2, and 3
Certified and registered with World Yoga Federation & Yoga Alliance of India
COMMUNITY WORK:
I teach a free, adaptable yoga class three days a week for the City of Vancouver at The Gathering Place and have been there since 2019.
I have created programming which centers on the well-being of survivors of sexual violence for: the University of British Columbia and Capilano University.
I have created educational materials for accessibility in yoga in partnership with Halfmoon, B Yoga, CMMN GRND, Tentree, and Genuine Health.
Board of Directors for ArtSpeak Gallery since 2021, supporting equity, accessibility and policy development.
2023 nominee for YWCA Community Champion Award
RETREATS:
Dark Before the Dawn Retreat (Director and Board Chair)
New Seneca Village (returning Healer & Teacher)
Sisters Leading Sisters (returning Healer & Teacher)
GUEST SPEAKER:
BC Teacher's Federation, Boston University, University of British Columbia, Ending Violence BC, The Black Space Symposium, Stonewall Symposium, Rarica Now, Otessa, Groundswell School.
PRESS:
The Narwhal: ‘Purpose and power’: meet 10 BIPOC adventurers challenging ideals of who belongs in the outdoors"
Loose Lips Magazine: ACTS OF RESISTANCE: BLACK LIVES MATTER
Unbound Community Care: Hope Lauterbach
Daily Hive: Vancouver Neighbours
PODCASTS:
Bonolo Podcast: Scarcity Mentality Meets Intentionality
Liberating Yoga Podcast: Kendra Coupland
Testimonials
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