The End of an Era

Yoga Centre Winnipeg is approaching the end of an era.

 

As of January 1, 2022, Jan Debenham will be retiring as an owner.

 

While most people know Jan as their beloved instructor with an effusive laugh and friendly face at the front desk, few people are aware of the extent that Jan has been the pulse of the Yoga Centre Winnipeg.

For 24 years Jan has been an owner of the Yoga Centre Winnipeg. A trained accountant, with natural leadership skills and a strong sense of intention and intuition, Jan has guided the Yoga Centre Winnipeg business through multiple locations, changing yoga trends, changing owners, and a pandemic.

In 1998 Jan joined Hart Laser as co-owner of the Yoga Centre Winnipeg on Portage Avenue. 

In a time before yoga was considered mainstream, they brought yoga to all ages and all corners of Winnipeg. The Yoga Centre Winnipeg started up classes at a variety of locations including the Wellness Institute, Good Neighbors, Age & Opportunity, Kelvin High School, College Jeans Sauvé and of course, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans! Over the years the places YCW offers classes has shifted, but our outside classes are a vital part of The Yoga Centre Winnipeg to the present day.

 

As yoga started to slowly surge in popularity, The Yoga Centre Winnipeg opened two satellite studios in Winnipeg and one in Saskatoon: yoga.calm offering yoga to the downtown business community; Village Yoga in Osborne Village; and Yoga Central in Saskatoon, (with Patricia Dewar), where they travelled to offer Teacher Trainings and workshops on regular basis.

 

Under Jan’s leadership the Yoga Centre Winnipeg was considered a hub for workshops with visiting yoga teachers including Lynne Minton, Ramanand Patel, Richard Rosen, Arthur Killmurray, and many others. Most notable of these teachers was Father Joe Pereira. Jan had studied with Father Joe Pereira at a retreat in BC and convinced him to come offer a similar retreat in MooseJaw, Saskatchewan for The Yoga Centre Winnipeg. For over 20 years the annual Fr. Joe retreat has been a beloved YCW tradition and even survived the move to Zoom!

 
Jan was also instrumental in formalizing and developing the YCW Teacher Training Program.

Long before there were yoga teacher training programs on every corner, the Yoga Centre Winnipeg began a certification program for 200hrs Basic Teacher Training and expanded to create the Advanced Teacher Training Certification 300hr stream. Years later Jan was encouraged by her students to create a program called Tier 3, to insure the Advanced Certified teachers could continue their studies with her.

 

In 2004, Shauna joined the business and a few years later Hart went off in his own direction.

As yoga became more popular and what students were looking for from a studio changed, the Yoga Centre Winnipeg consolidated into one location on Grosvenor Avenue.  It was at this point the Yoga Centre deepened its commitment to being a place of community. It be came a place dedicated to to celebrating excellence, diversity, wholeness, and heartfelt living.

 

Sometime after moving to Grosvenor, Jan introduced the program Cultivating the Seeds of the Divine to help students of all levels expand their practice off the mat and into meditation and spiritual teachings. She began seeing students privately to guide them individually in applying the practice to their lives.

 

Jan and Shauna began to take the Yoga Centre Winnipeg around the globe!  Offering like-minded yoga students an opportunity to travel the world together while staying healthy and balanced. The Yoga Centre has visited many wonderful destinations including Peru, Italy, Turkey, Galapagos, Bali, Iceland and more! 

With the not so gentle nudge of the Global Pandemic, Jan helped take the Yoga Centre Winnipeg online, where students from all over Canada (and the world) participate in classes.

Under Jan’s recommendation the YCW on Grosvenor opened its doors to share its space with a variety of other teachers and programs on a rental basis, most notably it has been home to Ashtanga Yoga Winnipeg for more than 3 years. 

 

Despite her strong business acumen, Jan has maintained her love and commitment to learning and growing as a student of life, and a teacher on the yoga path. 

An avid reader and ardent explorer of the body, Jan learns from many outer and inner sources with focus and dedication. Her studies with Donald Moyer, Father Joe, Michal Havkin, Ken McLeod, and Francisco Kaiut have been pillars in her own practice and in the teaching she brilliantly distills and shares with others.

 

While these are all important facets as Jan's role as owner, ultimately her greatest gift has been to transmit the path of yoga with clear seeing, calm abiding and heartfelt caring. 

Fortunately for all of us, as she steps back from ownership she will continue to teach and touch the lives of others for years to come.

 

 

Thank You Jan!