As a little girl, she was a day dreamer. Sitting quietly, doing nothing is what it may have looked like. She was of course doing plenty.
Down the rabbit hole
Her childhood was something similar to the story of Alice in Wonderland. To this day she is not quite sure of what was made up and what actually happened, for her real life was just as whimsical as her dreams. It was full of travel to fairy tale cottages to visit her Fairy Grandmother, music from another era, medieval instruments, singing, storytelling, exploring beautiful gardens in the walls of castles, sleeping under the stars in forests, sailing to islands, sunning on rocks and jumping into icy water, galloping through fields on horses, dancing ribbon in hand at May Day festivals and floating above the world in hot air balloons. Lorna Bolden, Rebecca’s Mother, created a childhood of wonder and whimsy. Not surprisingly, Rebecca continued to search for whimsy throughout her life.
The facts are that Rebecca was born in Orillia, Ontario. She grew up in Orillia, influenced very much by her family. Her Mother, a teacher and musician, her Father, an accountant and avid sailor, her two older brothers, a hot air balloon pilot/high school librarian and a composer/music education professor.
Rebecca was involved in activities like community choirs and theatre, dance studios and high school productions. She dabbled in the typical teenage life of high school sports and social drama. Rebecca worked as a lifeguard and swimming instructor in her teenage years. It allowed her to work with children and work at a number of summer camps in and out of town, embracing what the outdoor Canadiana life gives.
As the time came to choose a career path, Rebecca leaned into dance. Rebecca did her undergrad at York University in Dance. It was there that Rebecca realized her passion for the body in motion. For the how and the why of the body in motion. When she brought these questions into her dance, Rebecca realized it was no mistake that she drifted to movement and dance to express herself. She began to become interested in the power of movement to release emotion in the form of physical tension stuck in the body.
A gift that kept on giving
As fate would have it, it was around this time that Rebecca was given a weeks introductory pass to a yoga studio near her accommodations. This was an incredible gift. It changed her life. Rebecca loved how yoga encompassed all that she loved about movement. It was scientific, creative and spiritual. It was full of whimsy with its myths and philosophy. It was magic. It changed her body and it changed her mind.
Rebecca had only been practicing yoga for a year, or had she actually been practicing yoga all her life? She became a yoga teacher a year after receiving the gift of a yoga pass.
Rebecca was 23 by now. She had a dance degree and a 1 month intensive yoga teacher training under her belt. The world of travel was next.
안녕하세요
Rebecca went to Seoul, South Korea and taught English as a second language. It didn’t take her long before she found herself teaching in a dance studio using Labanotation to teach English through movement to children. Labanotation is a form of notating dance that Rebecca happened to study in school. She loved that instead of teaching one meaning through a word, movement offered many meanings. The children could feel the meaning of the word. To embody the words gave the children much more of an understanding. The theme of whimsy stayed with Rebecca as she explored the East and thoroughly enjoyed this romantic era of her life.
Rebecca met Jamieson one evening at a gathering of DJs and MCs who were celebrating the completion of a collaboration they had been working on. Jamieson became Rebecca’s life partner and eventual father of her two beautiful children, Lila and Rowan.
It was in this chapter that Rebecca used all that had been building from childhood to begin the journey to opening The Holding Space.
Back in Canada
Rebecca became a Mother, the most wonderful challenge yet. She was young, not too young, but young enough to feel like she was missing a chapter. While her friends were establishing careers, Rebecca was struggling with breastfeeding, cloth diapering, postpartum and a post baby body. Rebecca turned once again, to movement.
Rebecca did training in prenatal yoga and kids’ yoga. She began dancing again. Rebecca became a member of the Simcoe Contemporary Dancers and performed with them in a 5 month pregnant body. Rebecca began teaching ballet and modern at The Orillia Dance Academy and later contemporary dance at The Dance Space. Teaching in the community allowed Rebecca to meet other Mothers who would become her best friends and guides. The days were long, but the years were short and Rebecca soon saw the next generation of Mothers come through her classes.
Rebecca began to see the struggles in the postpartum body and mind. She knew further study in an alignment based method of yoga was needed to help Mothers embrace their changed bodies. Rebecca completed a 200 hour Ashaya teacher training with Shirlee Williams of Buddha Rider in Collingwood, Ontario and continues to study in the Ashaya method as she works towards her 300 hour YTT with Todd Norian, the founder of Ashaya yoga.
The Holding Space becomes a reality
It is through movement and yoga, breath and connection between hearts, Mother to Babe, Friend to Friend, that The Holding Space came to be. It is here that you can now find Rebecca sitting quietly, dreaming. Dreaming for you. Wanting to give everything of herself to Mothers and Fathers and to children who are dreamers too.
