OUR VISION
Our vision is a world in which every person has opportunity to live a wholesome and connected life and can access the resources they need to bounce back from adversity.
OUR MISSION
Strengthening resilience through movement and breath.
WHAT WE DO
• We deliver free trauma-informed yoga programs for at-risk, under-privileged, and low-income communities who otherwise would not have access.
• We provide professional development for yoga teachers, social service providers, and health professionals to optimize the benefit (accessibility) of yoga and mindfulness tools for themselves and the people they serve.
• We create strong partnerships with local organizations who touch our hearts and lift our spirits high.
OUR VALUES
The elephant as our logo represents what we value as an organization as well as the skills that arise through the practices we teach:
• A sense of personal strength that emerges from mutual respect and integrity
• A leadership that demonstrates wisdom
• An open and compassionate perspective
• A patient and clear mind, allowing for increased problem-solving
“The elephant alpha-female emerges not according to the strongest or most aggressive personality, but because of the respect earned by other elephants. She demonstrates leadership through her wisdom, strength and her extraordinary skills in: problem-solving; social intelligence; openness; decisiveness; patience; confidence; compassion.”
~ Aura Alex in her article “7 Leadership Traits We Can Learn from Female Elephants”, published in Leadership & Management on May 5th, 2015
PARTNERS & CONTRIBUTORS
We are thankful to those who help us in achieving our goals through donations, sharing of resources, and support for our mission.
Ottawa Community
Housing
Ottawa Coalition
of Community Houses
Lululemon
The Ottawa Mission
Photography by Rob Little
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
KATHERINE MARR
Katherine is a psychotherapist and yoga therapist based in the Ottawa/ Gatineau region. She has been working with high-risk and low-income groups for the past 15 years in a variety of roles throughout Canada. Having experienced firsthand the effects of unresolved trauma, mental health challenges, and traumatic events personally as well as vicariously through her clients, she turned to yoga and mindfulness practices to gain insight and wisdom into her own healing. Through her journey, she became very aware of the social barriers that certain groups of people face in accessing practices that address the root of the suffering and that have lasting benefits. Most of these barriers are financial, some societal, and others are a result of one-size-fits-all solutions to uniquely individual problems. Katherine is now dedicated to integrating therapeutic yoga, mindfulness practices, and somatic experiencing into her therapy practice with her private clients. She founded Rhythms Rediscovered to build a community of people dedicated to building more resilient communities. She is very passionate about and committed to advocating for social justice in healthcare and believes in a total reform of our mental health system. Since 2012, she has been working on developing partnerships in Ottawa for this very initiative, involving free yoga programming and wellness education for those who otherwise wouldn’t have access.