When I ventured up to Wanderlust at Mont Tremblant to meet Annie Langlois, I had never been or had a desire to go to a breath work class.
Langlois is a French Canadian yogi who spends most of her year living and teaching with her husband and young daughter in Bali. Langlois the co-founder and president of, Mon Yoga Virtuel inc. also has an online teaching platform so anyone in the world can access her teachings at any time.
Although I am a habitual yoga devotee this seemed like a discretionary extravagance to a type A. I had no idea what to expect. Engaging in a 90 minute breathe work class reverberated a snippet like torment to me. But it was my obligation to interview Langlois and dispatch back the incantation of this archetypal wizard breather. I have to admit I was very sceptical. What’s all the hoopla about?
Upon arrival to her class, I snuck in the back to partake in the first of the series of Langlois’ breath work classes, with our ClearLife photographer, both of us decked out in our yoga attire, two non-believers, ready to get this done and then get right to our interview and off the list after this. And with the mindset that this was the only one we were going to.
What ensued was anything but what we expected.
Packed neatly into an at-capacity room, laying flat out, sound healing bowls started humming in the background to pitch perfect octaves, we quickly acclimatized. Langlois’ impeccable navigation put the room into a soft coma almost immediately.
On first glance, Langlois is enchanting, captivating; exuding a balmy graciousness and intimate, compassionate aura. Langlois is soft spoken but with a firm execution of the intention of her work and your healing. She demonstrates a fierce desire to show you how to shift your inner world while illustrating the correlation between the breathing practice as a healing entity in itself. The breath is a key to the messages your body is giving you through illness, ailments, and chronic pain.
As I listened to her, and heard the tears from the group as they moved through the breath-work shifting into painful memories, and on closing listened to their stories, I realized we were all experiencing the same theme. Breathing is a critical key to addressing chronic body pain. By shifting our minds to the pressure points and exhaling the emotional pain we carry.
After several classes over the course of Wanderlust with Langlois I had a huge shift in my body and mind set. Through breathing, we can shift our inner map to a place that embraces the unknown.
Who would have known we are all simply not breathing.
Our sit down shed light further on her philosophy and personal practice.
photo, Jimmy Hamelin
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Charlotte Carson: Annie, you have a very diverse past, from fashion stylist, to designer through to yoga and breath-work. What prompted you to make the change, and move from styling to yoga.
Annie Langlois: I have been an entrepreneur for 20 years. I have been taking risks and handled a lot of stress throughout my years in fashion as a model, fashion designer and stylist. I found yoga 15 years ago to release some of my stress. In 2008, I went through a traumatic event losing my first child when I was 25 weeks pregnant and it completely changed my life. I suffered from PTSD and yoga became my medicine. I became a Hatha and Vinyasa teacher then a kundalini teacher and a breath-worker. Today, I’m still training in different kind of breath-work and trauma release in order to help as many people as possible to heal and find peace within. I needed a different kind of focus in my life: a mindful approach was what I was seeking.
CC: Losing a child is a devastating experience. So how did you move forward with yoga for your healing?
AL: I recognized that the only way to recover from my pain was to move my body, stretch my body, meditate and breath through this. It was the silences where I found my long journey to here, a place in the light, with my partner Yantsi, and our 4 year old daughter, Shaya. Living my dream life in predominantly in Bali,where we conduct our training sessions, working as a family together to spread the breathing and healing to others. But it was the breath work, I came to realize, was the key to releasing the pain.
CC: What brought you to Wanderlust?
AL: I discovered Wanderlust 5 years ago where I experienced my first breath-work class and cried inconsolably for my life, feeling grateful to be alive! I will never forget that precious moment! I also had the chance to interview and meet all my greatest teachers: Shiva Rea, Sean Corn, Rod Stryker, Sri Dharma Mitra. Wanderlust is magical and a great place to reunite the community of health and wellness together.
CC: That sounds like a very transformative and healing experience, a game changer.
AL: I would say that yoga and breath-work brought me consciousness and compassion in a way that completely transformed how I interact in the world and the story I now tell myself when I hit a wall and make choices in my day to day, along with bigger life choices. It brought me balance and acceptation. I used to be a perfectionist but I learned to let go, delegate and be satisfied to let go when I feel I have done my best.
CC: For many this is hard the concept of acceptance. Shifting to let go is great advice. Do you feel this has contributed to your success?
AL: That’s a very good question. I always thought the sky was the limit, and I never look back, I think that everything is possible and I’m a fighter. I don’t take no for an answer, believe in my dreams and go for it. I am a real passionate and I just love life. But life can hit you a hard sometimes at the least expected times so the yoga and breathing equipped and made the load lighter me for the times when I had get through the tough stuff.
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CC: How do you start and finish your day on a peaceful note?
AL: I wake up early and start with stretching and heart coherence. Then I usually go for a walk or a swim. I finish my practice with my blessings and my wishes. Then I can start my day. I finish the day enjoying life with my family, a nice hot bath when I’m not travelling, diffusing essential oil, nice hot herbal tea, a little stretching and a pranayama or meditation for relaxation and breathing always.
CC: What is your guilty pleasure?
AL: Dark chocolate, maple syrup, coco & whip cream.
CC:If you could have one dance with any celebrity who would you pick?
AL: Viggo Mortensen, I just love real artists.
CC: If you could travel in time what time period would you want to see?
AL: The 70’s for the fashion, peace & love, music and free lifestyle!
CC: You have that style down to a science.
Annie’s mission is to inspire people to make their health a priority by sharing gentle breathing techniques that are easy to integrate into daily life.
photo, Jimmy Hamelin
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