2538686969764590 Dora's Story | Dora Chan Yoga
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Hi, I'm Dora!

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I'm an Aussie living in California with my two beautiful, energetic, school-aged boys. Life gets busy around here and yes, sometimes it can be stressful! 

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I have lived most of my life under tremendous stress, at least that was how I had perceived it. I had more anxiety than anyone I knew, and it was accompanied by frequent panic attacks, sleep problems, and a whole host of stress-related symptoms and health conditions. But that was not all, when you are anxious all the time, destructive thoughts and beliefs about yourself and the world around you is not far behind. It almost feels like everything and everyone is out to get you!

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My life had been one long, emotional roller-coaster ride. It took me decades of suffering before I finally realized that I had always had the option to step off the ride, whenever I chose to. I had been so caught up with my problems that I was not able to see the opportunities around me. 

Life is mysterious, forever changing, exciting, challenging, wondrous, frustrating, unexpected, and amazing all at once. On my search for peace and happiness, I found Yoga and Meditation. I began to understand how we experience life and what we get out of it are all in our perception of and attitude to life. Yoga opened up my mind and changed me forever. It set me on my journey towards self-discovery, which led to much growing personally and spiritually. It was amazing what I was able to learn about myself when I was willing to listen. When I’d decided to set an intention for self-understanding and personal growth, I suddenly found myself staring at unlimited windows of potential and opportunities - and I soaked them all up! 

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Looking at my life now, it looks very different from where it had started, it almost feels like I have lived many 'past lives' in this one lifetime. From a stubborn, egocentric medical researcher; to an insecure stay-at-home-mum; to holistic nutritionist and health educator/advocate; to Yoga & Meditation teacher; to Reiki Master; to now, a life-long spiritual seeker, following a path to self-discovery, what a ride it has been! Through my studies, personal practice and experiences, I have been blessed with numerous invaluable tools of life. I am proud to say that while I continue to live life full of ups and downs, I no longer feel like a prisoner of my stress and anxiety. I have found an unshakable peace within myself that I had never thought possible. I have a whole new outlook and attitude to life. I'm happier than I could have ever imagined even in moments that had never been more uncertain. I am full of gratitude when I think of all the people in my life (past and present) and all my experiences (challenging and joyful) as they helped bring me to where I am now. 


One fundamental concept I have come to appreciate is that everything is interconnected. In our body, we cannot separate the physical from the emotional; the spiritual from the mental; the mental from the emotional; or the physical from the spiritual. Knowing this, we must take into account all of these aspects on our path to health and well-being. Understanding that everything is interconnected, is immensely hopeful as this gives us many different avenues to address a certain problem. Appreciating the fact that we are all unique individuals and that we face different challenges and blockages in our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies at different stages of our lives, my approach is focused on meeting clients where they’re at in the present moment. I bring together my knowledge and experience in a multidisciplinary manner so that I can work with my clients in the most effective and holistic way possible to achieve their health/life goals.  

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I feel so much love for the work that I do, sometimes I pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. It is my intense passion and my life’s work to help others on their way to better health and a more fulfilling life. Allow me to guide you to reconnect with yourself; to discover your place of inner peace; to tap into your higher wisdom; and to find your way back home - to yourself in wholeness. 

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I look forward to connecting with you.

Education

 

PhD in Immunology

University of Queensland, Australia

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First Class Honours in Biotechnology

University of Queensland, Australia

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Bachelor of Biotechnology

University of Queensland

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Select Training - not limited to:

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Yoga Therapy (currently in training)

Soul of Yoga

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Yin Yoga Foundations

Joe Barnett

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Level 1 Warriors At Ease Teacher Training

Warriors At Ease

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Level 2 iRest® Meditation Teacher Training

Integrative Restoration (iRest) Institute, Richard Miller & Stephanie Lopez

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Level 1 iRest® Meditation Teacher Training

Integrative Restoration (iRest) Institute, Richard Miller & Stephanie Lopez

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Functional Anatomy for Yoga, Movement, Performance, and Pain Specialists

Yoga International, Tiffany Cruikshank

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Yoga Anatomy Training

Yoga Medicine, Tiffany Cruikshank

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Yoga Anatomy Fundamentals 

Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Mathews

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AntiGravity Yoga Fundamentals 1 & 2

Christopher Harrison's AntiGravity Fitness

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Restorative Yoga Teacher Training

Yoga International, Cyndi Lee

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Laboratory Diagnostics & Tests

Canadian School of Natural Nutrition

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Methylation and Clinical Nutrigenomics

Dr Ben Lynch

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Professional Associations

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Yoga Alliance

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iRest® Teacher Community Network

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Warriors At Ease Teacher Network

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CSNN Alumni

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Certification

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300-hour Certified Yoga Teacher

The Soul of Yoga.

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200-hour Certified Yoga Teacher

Ageless Arts Yoga, Tracey Eccleston 

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Certified iRest® Meditation Teacher

iRest Institute

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Certified Yin Yoga Teacher

Bernie Clark

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Certified Restorative Yoga Teacher

Yoga & Ayurveda Center

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Certified Chair Yoga Teacher

Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga, Tracey Eccleston

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Certified Holistic Nutritionist

Canadian School of Natural Nutrition

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Certified Reiki Master Teacher

Peggy Hallman

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Continuing Learning - not limited to:​

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Advanced Master Program on the Treatment of Trauma

NICABM, Ruth Buczynski

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Polyvagal Theory Can Revolutionize Your Work with Trauma Survivors

NICABM, Stephen Porges & Ruth Buczynski

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Collective Trauma Summit 2021

Thomas Hubl

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The Wisdom of Trauma Summit

Science and Nonduality with Dr Gabor Maté

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The International Yoga Nidra Conference

Yoga International, Richard Milller

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Trauma Mind Body Super Conference

Alex Howard and Nikki Gratrix

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Traumatic Stress, Resiliency and Healing

with Yoga

Yoga International

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Anatomy & Yoga Therapy Conference

Yoga International, Molly Birkholm

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Toronto Yoga Conference 2018

  • Deep Tissue Release - Anne Green

  • Chakra Immersion - Ashley Turner

  • Yogic Breathing for Healing - Sat Dharam Kaur

  • Neuroimmunology and Yoga - Tiffany Cruikshank

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Toronto Yoga Conference 2019

  • Alignment and breathing cues - Leslie Kaminoff

  • Learn Meditation and Mindfulness - Kim McNeil

  • Re-imagining Alignment - Leslie Kaminoff

  • Turn Stress into Bliss - Michael Lee

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