Natalie Flood
SHAMANA CIRCLE was physically established in 2019, but was a growing feeling in my heart and mind for decades before.
what started out as an innocent dance class in 1990, turned into dedicating the rest of my life to movement; in many forms. my passion started with ballet.
it became evident early on that i was never going to be a principal dancer. the piece that i didn’t recognize for a long time, was my ability to teach. i loved it, and began teaching dance professionally in September 2004 at the University of Guelph. i excelled, my classes were packed and it ignited something in me i didn’t know i needed. my plan before this moment was to be a choreographer. i soon learned that i had so much more to offer.
eventually, i began teaching full time all over southwestern Ontario and loved every moment, every long drive, every piece of choreography and every student. i learned, dissected, had some amazing opportunities working with incredible women who taught me everything they knew about dance and running their business.
most humans can chalk it up to a personal relationship failing to steer them in a new direction, right?
that was my experience. i was pushed into a new stratosphere and began to crumble in ways that dance, choreographing and teaching couldn’t save me from.
i found yoga on a whim and dove in headfirst. this led me to leaving my very stable job as a Ballet Head Mistress (after 7+ years) and moving to a new city, with brand new friends, relationships and obstacles. i excelled. i found my people, my teachers, a great job and learned how to impart my knowledge of teaching on the world of yoga…and very soon after, Pilates.
who knew that you couldn’t just do yoga every day?
i cultivated a daily practice at Ashtanga Yoga Centre Toronto and loved it. it was the first time since my dancing days that i had a dedicated movement practice for myself. this felt different though, as dancing was often in aid of another goal or preparing myself for an examination. this was the first time i was able to move to create peace in my mind. as with all good things, i eventually practiced so much that i ended up with a chronic sore back. this led me back to my teacher. which forced me to drink the kool-aid. i surrendered fiercely to her internationally recognized Pilates classes, and...loved it. just like everything else, i jumped in with both feet and began training in mat & reformer classes.
once i had established myself as a yoga and Pilates teacher in Toronto, i found the same success. my classes were full, i was creating and most importantly connecting with my students. but i wasn’t fulfilled. i took the opportunity to start travelling and teaching, and boy, did i love that.
it felt like a dream.
i eventually landed in Bermuda after meeting my husband while travelling and teaching in Mexico. we got married and i was given the opportunity to help unveil Exhale at Hamilton Princess when it opened in 2016. what an experience to learn Barre and how to run a corporate entity from the best. this was also the year i led my first of many teacher trainings. i began to lead more in the following years with various studios on and off island. i also started consulting for movement businesses all over North America. i had definitely found my calling.
we will never know when our biggest life lessons are waiting for us. when i went into labour in February of 2018 with my first baby, i was rocked. never had i ever experienced something so incredibly beautiful that brought me to my knees so violently. that day, the advocate in me was born and that energy became the catalyst for creating the SHAMANA CIRCLE community. it was built to resemble what we go through as women. the absolute depths of despair, meeting death and birth head on and living to tell the tale the next day. learning to love ourselves, our spouses and our children so fiercely…in ways we couldn’t conceptualize before. i knew i had to create a community of education, protection and empowerment.
on the new moon in April 2019, we stepped into the darkness and created our own light. 40 mats deep we danced, sang and moved together as one. i will never forget that day.
since then, i became a birth doula and have supported dozens of births here in Bermuda. i have nothing but awe and amazement for women.
our generation is truly one of instant gratification. the time it took to create a new way of moving was exponential. i was not prepared to be terrible at something for the first time in my life.
my movement practice had always been about healing. and after a traumatic birth, i dove into movement just like i had many times before. only this time yoga and Pilates were making things worse. i did not realize how physically unwell i was until i began experiencing the effects of my body postpartum. so i found more teachers.
i sought out the manual therapists of Bermuda and began to repair myself from the inside out. i learned that i truly knew nothing about rehabilitation and had to take off my "fitness teacher" hat and get uncomfortable. i became aware of pelvic floor therapy, physiological breathing and the repairing that was possible in my abdomen. it took me 3 years to establish this practice within my own body, heal and begin to teach it to my clients. this journey is the premise of SHAMANA METHOD and the way we teach our 'movement ladder': CONNECTION, BALANCE, SPIRIT, FREEDOM, FUSION + SYNTHESIS.
for my birth day.
one day when my second baby is old enough, he will be told the story of how he helped me prove my method. in May of 2022 i had the most empowering, bad ass and exquisitely existential experience of my life: a home birth.
like any good theorist, i tested my method. i used my second pregnancy (technically 3rd after an early loss in 2019) to practice SHAMANA METHOD and MAMABODY techniques. i had the birth i was entitled to and was radically reborn the moment i caught my son in a pool of water in our living room.
i have been very slowly crawling out of my postpartum bubble. allowing myself time to recover was one of the greatest gifts i have been given. i owe a lot of this to my team. SHAMANA CIRCLE has expanded to hold some of the most talented teachers i have ever had the privilege of sharing space with. most recently i made the very difficult decision to bring on a partner. although challenging for me to let go of some control, it has been one of the best decisions i have ever made for my business. this has allowed me time to heal myself, my family and SHAMANA CIRCLE. during this time i have been able to concentrate on our teacher training programs. i have held 3 teacher trainings in the last 2 years and have many more in the works. SHAMANA CIRCLE has recently been recognized as a Registered Yoga School by Yoga Alliance and we look forward to holding our first ever teacher training with our own syllabus.
as my family is still very young, and this is my home; Front Street is the little slice of heaven you will find me in. i am working my way back to my fulltime teaching schedule, which i absolutely love and cultivating the next generation of movement teachers in our community.
20 years in, and i can happily say i am looking so forward to all of the possibilities of the next decade. i am truly blessed.
to all of the creators who came before me, took my hand and led me, my career is full of gratitude for you:
Joan Dorothy
Megan English
Kim O'Neill
Stelio Calagias
Sarah Levens
David Robson
Amber Joliat
Fred DeVito
Bergen Wheeler
Menique De La Rosa
Caroline Anthony
Mark Daponte
Michelle Monk
Eran Junryu Vardi Roshi