Core Faculty

Darcie Ladd E-RYT 500, YACEP (she/her)
I am the owner of Octopus Garden Holistic Yoga Centre and the co-director of the centre's Yoga Education program. My yoga practice has been a powerful centering force in my life. In connecting to my body through breath and movement, I have found solace, connection to self, and purpose. My passion for yoga has continued to deepen over the course of several years, eventually leading me to leave my career as a corporate executive and to fully immerse myself in studying and teaching yoga.

Since then, teaching yoga has become my life’s work – after completing an initial 200-hour teacher training, I furthered and broadened my yoga education with an additional  500+ hours of training, including a 300-hour Advanced Teacher Training, a 50-hour Restorative Yoga program, and 30+ hours of Pre/Postnatal Yoga teacher trainings, all at Octopus Garden Yoga Center. 

My understanding of anatomy and biomechanics drives my creative and explorative perspective to teaching asana. My classes are often infused with a balance of fluidity, mobility, and strength, while deeply respecting the meditative aspects of the yoga tradition. I also hold an Hons. Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, which is where I first encountered some of the history and philosophy tied to yoga and its lineages, and often relate movement to teachings, stories, and verses drawn from yoga philosophy.

Jennifer Helland, E-RYT 500, YACEP, CNP (she/her)
Octopus Garden has been my community for more than a decade. As a teacher here, I do my best to show up fully, see the people in front of me and find ways to light up parts of the world of “Yoga” so that we can all live lives where we treat ourselves and each other better.  I am deeply committed to this community. I am also deeply committed to dismantling practices and ideas that make yoga unsafe and inaccessible for so many bodies. Yoga is for ALL bodies and I am willing to do the work and unlearning necessary to make accessibility a reality.

Throughout the years, I have taken deep dives into the worlds of nutrition, dance, birth doulaship, functional movement, and human biology. All of this informs who I am and scaffolds together as creative sparks for the yoga experiences I offer. My yoga education exceeds more than 750 hours of study through Octopus Garden and Downward Dog Yoga Centres. I have been teaching for 16 years, yet, consider myself a forever student dedicating my life to the study of the body.
Yoga is vast, profound and has been my self-care support system for every phase of my life so far.  I am deeply honoured to share my learning and journey with you. It is an honour to be a part of the root system from which a new yoga teacher grows. 

Pat Harada Linfoot E-RYT 500, YACEP (she/her)
After a childhood spent in gymnastics and ballet, I began studying yoga in the early 1980s and have spent decades learning from teachers in the Ashtanga, Iyengar, Viniyoga, Anusara, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions of yoga and meditation. I’ve been teaching yoga and meditation classes, workshops, retreats, and teacher training programs for 24 years and I estimate that this will be my 52nd training! It is my firm belief that yoga is love and that we can realize this through connection and intimacy with ourselves and others. Belonging to a community of teachers and practitioners is the best way that I know to manifest transformation. As one of the original founders of Octopus Garden Holistic Yoga Centre and the co-director of Yoga Education, I am devoted to exploring the intersection of asana, restorative, meditation, and therapeutic movement practices as a conduit to healing and optimal health. The rich, collaborative process of mentoring—of working together to develop a teacher’s unique voice and fullest expression of potential, inspires me daily.