About us

Naturally hot yoga

Yoga sur le Canal is the original outdoor yoga in southwest Montreal. Founded in 2017, it’s now run by passionate teachers who love to move and breathe in the fresh summer air.

Just steps from Lionel-Groulx metro and Atwater Market, we offer seasonal daily drop-in classes in Parc Madeleine-Parent, open to all. Sign up, and join the movement!

sunshine 🌞 southwest 🌊 savasana

Meet our team

Julia
Haney

she/her | usually teaches Mondays

Julia quickly fell in love with yoga after taking her first heated class as a university student. Since then, yoga has been a source of personal joy and a steady pillar of support throughout life’s inevitable ups and downs.

In 2022, after more than a decade as a dedicated student, Julia completed her 200h foundational teacher training in Gibsons, BC. The following year, she continued her studies with a Flow (Vinyasa) training in Halifax, NS. She remains passionate about ongoing learning through trainings, workshops, and the practice itself – seeing teaching as a path of continuous discovery, shaped by both personal study and the exchange between teacher and student.

Julia’s teaching style is mindful, playful, and welcoming. She creates space for students to explore movement as medicine, in a way that feels honest, supportive, and true to their own bodies. She’s honoured to share this practice and looks forward to moving, breathing, and connecting with our Yoga sur le Canal community.

Nick
Niebuhr

he/him | usually teaches Tuesdays

Nick comes to Montreal via Winnipeg, Manitoba. After completing Modo Yoga’s 200-hour teacher training in 2024, he fell in love with this city and has been here ever since. He currently teaches flow and yin-style classes at Morpho Bleu. A lover of all things fitness, he also teaches Xformer Pilates and plans to keep exploring new movement styles, with Classical Reformer on his radar next.

His classes are grounded, approachable, and rooted in steady breath, mindful movement, and curiosity. Nick’s favourite part about Yoga sur le Canal is the outdoor atmosphere. Practising yoga outside is a fantastic way to be present with the sounds and sensations of summer. He’s excited to be back with YSLC this season, and can’t wait to see you on the mat.

When he’s not teaching, Nick loves beach volleyball, running, anything nature-related, and tapping into his classical singing training.

Erin
Cole

she/her | usually teaches Wednesdays

Erin Cole has been teaching for 13 years. While her background spans yoga teacher trainings in Hatha, Vinyasa, and Powerflow, and a formal education in Kinesiology with a Masters in Rehabilitation Science, her philosophy is less about the complexity or technicality of the postures and more about feeling powerful within yourself.

She still comes back to one fundamental question to guide her classes: how can she invite students into movement that makes them pay attention and creates more awareness? Students can expect to leave more open and grounded in their bodies, and hopefully to have learned something through her precise cueing.

When she’s not on the mat, Erin works in healthcare technology. Teaching, for her, is restorative, an exchange of energy. It’s the part of her week she tries to protect most carefully.

Dee
Perusse

they/them/she/her | usually teaches Thursdays

Lisa Perusse, aka “Dee,” is a 500-hour+ certified yoga teacher who has been teaching since 2015. Their teaching is science-informed and centred on nervous-system down-regulation through pranayama (breathwork), asana (poses), meditation, and mindfulness – prioritizing health over weight loss and welcoming every body.

They bring a practical, non-dogmatic approach to their classes, shaped by 11 years of teaching across many studios and community settings. In Dee’s classes, breath leads and the poses follow, creating an easeful container even when the practice is strong.

Dee specializes in – but is not limited to – pre- and post-natal yoga and gentle, supportive movement for pregnant and recently pregnant bodies. This experience informs their grounded, adaptive approach to teaching, while keeping their classes welcoming and accessible to a wide range of students.

Their work with families also includes postpartum doula support, babywearing education, and elimination communication (EC) and potty training coaching – available as group workshops and 1:1 consultations – so parents can feel confident and well-supported through the early years.

Marie
Alexiou

she/her | usually teaches Sundays

Marie has made yoga an integral part of her life since 2020, when she began practicing it as a tool to improve her mental health. What began as a source of support became a light she now passes forward through her teaching.

Since then, she has continued to learn and develop her passion for yoga, and has loved creating spaces that guide us all towards a path of compassion and kindness. Having taken several trainings with Melanie Richards of Happy Tree Yoga, as well as additional online trainings with Sarovara Yoga and Little Lotus Yoga, Marie has deepened her knowledge of various styles of yoga, including yin, restorative, and kids yoga, in addition to her foundations in Hatha and Vinyasa.

Marie brings that knowledge into creating a warm and accessible space for all. Students can expect a welcoming practice that invites them to move with curiosity and care. She enjoys connecting with diverse people of all ages and sharing what she has learned about this healing modality. You can find her teaching weekly at Akasha Yoga Montreal and Vivewell in Griffintown.

Born and raised in Montreal, Marie stays creative off the mat through music, karaoke, improv, and musical theatre.

Dana and Hannah here! 👋

If you used to practice outdoors on the canal in the past, you might recognize us – we’ve both been out there in past seasons. And, if we haven’t met yet, you’ll surely get to know us soon.

We both live here in Pointe-St-Charles, Montreal, and have been long-time fans of outdoor yoga! A couple summer ago, we kept bumping into those of you in the neighbourhood asking, “What happened to outdoor classes?” And… well, we didn’t have a good answer. So we decided to do something about it.

✨ We brought Yoga sur le Canal back to life ✨

We’re now officially a real (tiny) business, led by a yoga teacher (Hannah) and a yoga-lover (Dana). We’re organizing, promoting, and pouring our hearts into making these classes happen – right here in Parc Madeleine-Parent, in a spot along the canal that we love. We called for help from some yoga teacher friends you might also recognize, and hired some fresh faces too.

Our goals? Keep it simple and have fun!

🫶 We believe in:
✨ building community through inclusive and enjoyable classes, with some southwest Montreal magic
🌳 enjoying nature (our classes have low climate impact, and high vibes)
🧘🏼‍♀️ supporting our teachers and paying them as competitively as we’re able
🥤 sipping tasty beverages before or after class — hence our location next to @caf e.mabicyclette ☕️

Bring your mat and water bottle, bring a friend, bring your dog 🐶 bring your summer self. Let’s do yoga along the canal 🌊☀️