Conscious Breath
"Her workshops go to the core of peoples heart."
— Danielle De Wilde, Belgium
“Her breathing ceremonies are a journey into the spirit world, into the unseen realms of internal states, beyond time and space. Through the holy breath, Jo Ann guides people inwards and helps us to discover our own inner healer... she guides spirit into the our sacred vessel leading us to a true experience.”
— Shauna Grace Eriksen
“Consciousness breathing with JoAnn has been an exquisite experience of learning, sharing, delight and transformation. Her presence and genuine care for the participants is very tangible. "
— Khyati Holman
"You have the ability to open doors of the psyche through the breath and to be with the emotions of human beings no matter how uncomfortable they may be. This is the gift of being an empath. I feel so blessed to have such immense beauty, comfort and love in my life. "
- Vanessa Legge
"Jo Ann is a truly gifted healer. She is a Heart whisperer. Her presence in my life has touched me in countless ways."
— Valerie Nunes, Yoga Teacher Trainer
Breath is believed to represent the movement of spirit in the body. Through the power of the conscious breath we not only sing, speak from our hearts, birth our babies and climb mountains – it is the window, the spiritus – through which we can more fully know ourselves.
Through workshops, circles and private breath sessions Jo Ann offers participants the opportunity to connect deeply and consciously with their own breath, and through it to a fuller sense of themselves. She creates a safe and sacred space within her circles and retreats for the heart to speak and she has an abiding faith in the unique gifts that each person brings forth. Through the conscious breath she is able to help others recognize some of the unconscious patterns that are operating in their lives, making space to change them. The breath is vital as it brings us into the present moment, as it calms and reinvigorates, heals and soothes, connects us with our inner spirit and yet is deeply physical.
Jo Ann is the National Co-ordinator for Canada for the International
Breathwork Foundation and has been active internationally in the spread of conscious breath into schools, the office, the boardroom, into Indigenous cultures and to decision makers in the highest levels.
"The journey of that session was a birth of a different kind but no less remarkable~ I returned to my own birth. When I was able to reconnect with the most basic of physiological functions~breathing~ that's when the magic happened!"
- Jolene Lott
"The innocent yet wise child in us is returned to us and nurtured in her healing room."
- Carol Stewart
As a birth attendant Jo Ann offers gentle conscious birthing support for mothers and their families at home, hospital, in the water or on the land. She has held peaceful space for gentle birth for over 25 years in many cultures including all across Canada, Europe, parts of Africa and Indigenous communities in the Arctic. She understands the deep unfoldment and transformation of self during pregnancy and birth and offers a calm wise presence. She listens deeply to each mother-to-be for what allows her to feel held, to relax and let go. “We share a plenty over lots of cups of tea!”
She is a greeter of new souls and says, “ I am humbled and awed at the beauty of each new soul who arrives to earth...each with the promise the Creator has written upon their heart. The moment of birth is a never-beforemoment just as each of us is one-of-a-kind... we are so preciously loved and held. Birth is one of the greatest Teachers in my life.”
Who has a dream?... we all do. Whether one remembers their dreams or not... they are still present just below the surface patiently awaiting us to notice. Dreams for us (we are all wisdom keepers) are a source of infinite wisdom and understanding... releasing an expansive, creative force with limitless potential to explore the universe that exists within us. When we begin to dream consciously we enter the world of spirit, becoming more aware of being able to be in two worlds at once. We begin to discover the rich interplay between the messages in the waking world and those messages arising from the dreaming world.
Jo Ann honors sacred traditions and the circle of life in all forms. She is called upon to hold ceremonial space at the doorways of birth and of death, to bless pregnancies and to herald the naming of sweet babes, to celebrate sacred union, to hold tender heartfelt space for the loss of a loved one and for healing circles, ... to honor the Ancestors.
She is aligned with wisdom teachings of many Indigenous teachers from many Indigenous communities and she carries a grace and power of grandmother wisdom as a ceremonial leader, dream weaver, keeper of the sweat lodge and a singer of medicine songs. Medicine Wheel teachings and the way of Council form a foundation for the ceremonies she leads.
As a captivating speaker at international conferences Jo Ann is warm, generous and real. She is a champion of the collective awakening and of remembering our sacred place on our one beautiful blue planet. Drawing on her medicine gifts she is a gifted storyteller through her rich experiences with conscious birth, living in Indigenous cultures, filmmaking, breathwork, activism, urban planning, architecture and speaking up for the waters and the greening of the planet. Somehow she manages to connect the dots and connect to the Bigger Story... leaving listeners with a deeper sense of the greater whole.