Dennyse Harris
Let’s return to wholeness and blossom…
Meditation is what leads to the self-awareness that makes transformation possible and sustainable.
Meditation is the tool that I personally use every day to ensure that my daily self-care routine stays on track. My day flows more easily so that I can make positive conscious choices about my nutrition, sleep, emotional reactions and movement.
After years of being a “self-care” junkie, continuously falling on and off the track with my overall health-I discovered Ayurveda “The Science of Life”. A form of holistic medicine that’s focused on promoting balance between your body and mind.
This 5000-year-old natural medicine system focuses on promoting balance between your body and mind. We are dynamic beings constantly transforming-and there is no “one-size fits all” prescription for well-being. I am now able to understand when an area of my life is out of balance and how to course correct in an easy and effortless way. I finally feel connected to the essence of who I truly am and how to take charge of my mental and physical health to avoid illness and the profound effects of stress. My lifestyle is my medicine. My health is a process, not a one-time attempt, it’s ongoing.
Whether it is eating, moving, resting or spending time with my family, I can make the lifestyle choices that keep me on track and feeling good, no matter how busy life gets!
Understanding U and becoming healthier does not mean deprivation, in fact, I sleep better, I weigh less, I’m less reactive, calmer and I feel less fearful. Mostly I feel alive and full of gratitude for my purpose in life to help people to build a lifelong, practical, sustainable, self-care practice.
“I empower women to believe that their self-care matters. I teach them tools that fuel their Mind, Body and Spirit and help them develop a sustainable daily practise so they can blossom.”
Firmly believing in the importance of self-love, and reconnection to who we really are, Dennyse is dedicated to mentoring and helping women to build personal, sustainable, self-care practices. For over 6 years she has been supporting and bringing women together at in-person retreats, gatherings and online events where they have the opportunity to build relationships, exchange ideas, grow, and rejuvenate-MIND, BODY and SPIRIT. Dennyse is passionate about the life-changing effects of daily meditation. She is a Certified Chopra Meditate instructor as well as a Certified Chopra Health Instructor and Total Wellness Coach. It’s her mission to promote and teach meditation to everyone in her life, including her teenage children. Her uBlossom Membership focuses on online offerings, retreats and courses to support the uBlossom Community and beyond.
Dennyse is an event and logistics specialist. She has over 10 years of travel management experience and 6 years of startup, marketing and managing her own retreat and event business. Dennyse is passionate about event experiences that bring women together for leadership connection, inspiration, shared vision and community partnerships.
The unpredictability of life and travel has made her a master of coping with change while maintaining her integrity and positive attitude. After helping her young daughter battle cancer, Dennyse turned her efforts to self-care and started planning retreats and events for women that focus on self-love, healing, nourishing and effecting positive change for oneself.
After six years of developing her business, and hosting over 10 retreats and several events, Dennyse challenged her own self-care journey. She took a deep dive into meditation and the philosophy of Ayurveda (5000-year-old health care system founded in India) and discovered the key to maintaining her own self-care routine. She is a Certified Chopra Meditation teacher, a Chopra Health Instructor and a Total Wellness Coach. You can find her online teaching her meditation and health classes, gathering with women discussing tools and techniques for wellness, speaking at events and sharing her wisdom and experiences with all those she meets.
Dennyse’s unique differentiators are:
- It’s all about YOU. Over 10 years of managing travel offices, travelling to 38+ countries, founding a startup business based on healing and self-care, Dennyse operates with a consistent high-level capacity for handling logistics, and effective communication with patience, attentiveness and empathy.
Motivator. Dennyse grew up in a family-owned business, always dreaming of owning her own business. Compassion and loyalty, along with integrity and positivity, are at the foundation of her hard work in the development of her retreat company. - Contribution. Dennyse has served on many boards in her community including Comox Valley Women in Business Network, and is a huge supporter of Y.A.N.A. Comox Valley. Along with her husband, they have supported this non-profit that helps families who have to travel to Vancouver for medical care. A “paying it forward” mission to support the organization that helped them when their daughter was battling leukemia-they have raised over 100K through events and fundraisers and are still going strong today.
- Life Experience. Helping her young daughter battle cancer for 3 years, Dennyse was able to tap into all the skills she had earned in her work and life. She is highly adaptable and excels at coping with change as it happens while maintaining a relaxed, positive, and grounded attitude.
Workshops & Classes by Dennyse
Introduction to Ayurveda
What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda, is a healthy-lifestyle system that people in India have used for more than 5,000 years. Ayurveda emphasizes good health and prevention and treatment of illness through lifestyle practices (such as meditation, yoga and movement, nutrition, sleep and emotional resilience) and focuses on promoting balance between your body, mind and spirit.
Ayurvedic medicine is holistic, which means viewing the body and mind as a whole. Ayurveda not only treats a person’s physical complaints, but it also changes lifestyle practices to help maintain or improve health.
Most chronic illnesses can be prevented—and even reversed—by our daily lifestyle choices and the number one factor that causes most of our conditions today is stress.
In the philosophy of Ayurveda, the five elements of nature (space, air, fire, water, earth) combine in the body as three components (doshas) known as Vatta, Pitta, and Kapha. These doshas relate closely to the basic elements of nature and to specific functions of the body. A balance of these doshas is required for optimal health and with education and guidance you can take control of your total wellness.
In class 1 Introduction to Ayurveda, we’ll set our intentions for the class, discuss the principles of Ayurveda and the benefits, learn about the multidimensional nature of life, explore our mind- body constitutions (known as doshas) and learn how to interpret your Dosha quiz.
Key topics covered in this class:
- Introduction to are Ayurveda
- The benefits of Ayurveda
- The layers of life
- The Mahabhutas – the five elements
- Doshas
- Interpreting your Dosha quiz
Ayurveda Nutrition
Next to breathing, eating is one of our most vital bodily functions. We nourish ourselves by converting the energy and information of our environment into the biological intelligence of our body. To create and maintain healthy physiology, our food needs to be nourishing, our digestive power strong, and our elimination efficient.
In Ayurveda, we cultivate health by eating a variety of fresh, delicious foods and tailoring our diets to balance our Dosha type.
This class will help guide you in the foundational Ayurvedic principles and practices for optimal eating, as well as deepen your own understanding.
In class 2 we’ll discuss Ayurvedic nutrition, including the power of digestion, the 6 tastes, eating to balance each Dosha type, phytonutrients, and eating with awareness. You’ll learn practices for creating vibrant health and well-being.
Key topics covered in this class:
- Dosha visualization
- Agni, Ama and Ojas
- Enhancing digestion with Herbs and Spices
- The microbiome
- The six tastes
- Using the six tastes to balance your dosha
- Phytonutrients for your good health
- Mindful eating
Emotional Freedom
Ayurveda teaches that emotional well-being is essential to health. As a natural life force, emotions are intended to flow freely through our body and mind then dissipate once we fully experience them and assimilate their valuable message. It sounds simple yet many people struggle with emotions.
We may get stuck in feelings of sadness, regret, fear, or anger, unable to let go of the past. Or we may push certain emotions far below the surface of our awareness. Emotions that have been repressed don’t go away. It takes a great deal of energy to push back feelings whose nature is to be expressed. Over time this stored emotional pain obstructs the flow of energy and information throughout our body and mind, depleting our vitality and creating symptoms of discomfort and dis-ease. The good news is that no matter how long we’ve been accumulating emotional pain, our essential nature is balance, wholeness, and pure potential. As we learn to connect to who we really are and release the toxic residue of past experiences, healing can occur.
In class 3 we will focus on cultivating emotional well-being which includes these topics: happiness, our core emotional needs, the nature of emotions and how they relate to your dosha, the seven biological responses, conscious communication, and practices and tools for emotional clearing.
Key topics covered in this class:
- Ayurveda and Emotional Well-being
- Happiness
- The needs of Human Beings
- Emotions and the Dosha types
- The Seven Biological Responses
- Conscious Communication
- Emotional Pain
- The seven steps to Emotional Clearing
- The roles you play
Inner Pharmacy
With every breath, we exchange our personal energy with the energy of the nature around us and the universe. We are constantly taking in impressions and experiences with the five sense organs: the ears, eyes, nose, tongue and skin. Everything we hear, smell, taste and touch is metabolized into the chemistry and electricity of our body and mind and we can either strengthen our health or deplete it. If you want to create greater physical and emotional well-being we need to choose nurturing sensory impressions that activate our inner pharmacy.
In class four will explore how to tap into the healing power of the five senses: sound, touch, sight, taste and smell. You will learn specific sensory practices to balance each of the doshas and you’ll also explore the sense of humour -using laughter as medicine.
Key topics covered in this class:
- Healing through the five senses
- Sound
- Sight
- Taste
- Smell
- Laughter
- Using attention to enliven your health
Daily Routines
Every cell in our body is governed by cycles of rest and activity that develop in synchrony with the rhythms of nature. When our inner biological clocks are out of harmony with the pulses of nature, we experience irritability, fatigue, and an increased likelihood of illness. When our internal rhythms are in tune with those of nature, we experience vitality and joy. Our bodies intrinsically know when it’s time to eat, rest, and act in order to experience optimal vitality. We simply need to listen and honour the messages being transmitted. This class will help guide you to create a daily routine that’s aligned with the natural rhythms of nature allowing you to experience your fullest potential for health and wellbeing.
In class 5 will focus on daily routines. The topics include the rhythms of nature, creating an optimal daily routine, doshas and the seasons, seasonal routines, detoxification, and restful sleep. You’ll also be guided in the practices of an Ayurvedic lifestyle.
Key topics covered in this class:
- Rhythms of Nature
- Doshas and the Rhythm rhythms of nature
- Optimal Daily Routine
- Mindful Movement
- Restful Sleep
- Living in Harmony with the Changing Seasons
- Simplifying your diet and Cleansing
- Letting Go and Creating Something New
Meditation Foundations
Meditation is a journey from activity into silence. It is a powerful practice that puts us in touch with the subtler, more expanded aspects of our human nature. Through meditation, we become intimate with the dimension of ourselves that’s not bound by time,circumstance or judgement. Meditation provides access to expanded states of awareness. Through the regular daily practice of meditation we can connect and influence the source of our body, mind and emotions. The benefits are endless and well documented today, and include heightened awareness, calmness, better sleep, improved relationships, joy and happiness.
There are many different meditation techniques, some use sound to direct the awareness inward; others involve the use of vision to settle the mind. The technique you’re going to learn is very simple and requires no straining and no concentration.
In class 6 you’ll learn the ancient practice of meditation including how meditation works, its purpose, and its benefits. You will also learn how to practice Mantra meditation, and experience guided meditation. You’ll get practical tips on how to feel comfortable and how to set yourself up at home.
Key Topics Covered in this Class:
- What is meditation?
- The benefits of meditation
- Meditation and Stress Management
- The qualities of Silence
- What is a mantra?
- Meditation tips and guidelines
- The 4 experiences in meditation
Pranayama Breathwork
Pranayama is the practice of becoming aware of our breath and using it to enhance our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.
The word pranayama comes from two Sanskrit terms
Prana: the vital life force that flows through our body and animates all living beings.
Ayama: To expand or draw out.
In pranayama, we use our breath to expand our life force energy and improve the communication between all parts of our body and mind. The practise of pranayama helps to cultivate a joyful energetic body and a restful alert mind.
Pranayama is much like meditation in that it helps reduce stress and improves your physical and emotional well-being. Overall, having a good understanding of Pranayama will greatly enhance and enrich your life.
In class 7 you’ll discuss the practice of pranayama including; what it is, the scientific benefits, how it reverses the stress response, and three different breathing practices you can incorporate into your daily life.
Key Topics Covered in this Class:
- What is pranayama
- The benefits of pranayama
- Pranayama and Stress Management
- Coherence breathing instruction
- Nadi Shodhana breathing instruction
- Ujjayi breathing instruction