Neanette has been a member with us since 2014. She sought out yoga to help calm her busy mind and to heal her body. By day, Neanette is a Quality Assurance Supervisor for a non-profit social service organization, that is a fancy way of saying she works in social services.
Neanette has worked for the same organization for 17 years, she started 2-weeks after graduating with a degree in developmental psychology and honestly had no idea upon graduating what she wanted to do with her degree. There was one thing Neanette did know, and that was she wanted to work in a helping profession. Her role has evolved over the years from supervising a group home to working as a behavior therapist to her current role as Quality Assurance Supervisor.
“It’s rewarding to me and I feel very fortunate to have developed my career working for the same organization. I’ve always been socially conscious and passionate about education and activism. My position as the Quality Assurance Supervisor is a perfect blend of all those things. I’m able to help people and advocate through establishing policy standards and educating staff. I love that through training I can inspire someone to change how they think about something and this can improve the quality of care our clients receive,” commented Neanette.
Although Neanette finds her work incredibly rewarding, it can also be stressful. “For me yoga is my therapy. I believe very strongly that anyone working in social services must take care of their own mental health. Yoga is my outlet for releasing stress and any negative feelings. I also love that yoga helps balance my extremely type A personality. Yoga doesn’t come easy for me;” explained Neanette. “I do it because it challenges me to change how my brain is wired. However, I have to admit that sometimes I still make to do lists in my head while in savasana (lol).”
Neanette continued to explain that her favourite class these days is the Moksha/SSU75. She loves that Moksha isn’t just a class, but we are built on a strong foundation. “I love the pillars that Moksha is built on. I love how charitable they are in our community. I love the variety of classes and schedules. I love how clean the studios are. I love the staff and that the environment is welcoming and isn’t intimidating.” She said.
Well, we love Neanette and we also love all the great work that people like Neanette do in the Hamilton community. This August we are saying thank you to Social and Human Service Workers by offering free, unlimited access to yoga classes at both of our studios for the month!
(Originally published August 2, 2017)