Meet our new team member and yoga instructor, Ian MacVicar.  Ian lives in the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is a retired senior military officer. He is a Trauma Informed Yoga Therapy Certified teacher and a mindfulness and meditation teacher in the Koru tradition. He is a truly decorated instructor and coach. We are so glad to have him on our team. Here are a few fun things he shared about himself.

What motivates you? 

I am motivated to stay in optimal physical and mental condition. I am a multi-sport athlete, participating in ice hockey, baseball, softball, wrestling, rugby, biathlon, cross-country skiing, and marathon running. I have been a soccer coach for kids aged 6 to 16 and a half-marathon coach.

Give us a background of your wellness journey? How did you get started? What inspired you?

I have long known the need to maintain optimal fitness and health. I have always worked out in one fashion or another since I was a child. Fitness became more critical when I wrestled at university, and it became a permanent part of my lifestyle once I joined the Army. I live with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I had some great experiences during my military career – and some not-so-great ones. I view physical fitness as the foundation for good mental health.

What inspires you in life?

Courage inspires me. Whether it is the soldier’s courage, the cancer patient, the caregiver for the cancer patient, or the single mom with six kids doing the night shift, courage in others encourages me to give back as much as I can to help others overcome the barriers in their lives. I am particularly drawn to help those who serve others, such as military members, First Responders, i.e., police, fire, and emergency medical staff, front-line health care workers, and teachers. Of course, there are countless other occupations, but these are the ones that I am closest to.

Your favorite movie and why?

Margaret’s Museum (1989). Although a work of fiction, most of the background narrative is true. This movie displays the hardships that many people in my hometown had to endure in the 20th Century, and still have to overcome in the 21st Century. It is not for the faint of heart.

Your favorite book and why?

Thinking, Fast and Slow by 2004 Nobel Prize Laureate Daniel Kahneman (2011). This book became my go-to text when preparing talks on overcoming biased thinking patterns (i.e., cognitive traps) and making better judgments. It is never far from my desktop.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

To snap my fingers and take away people’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, adverse childhood events, depression, and anxiety. You never know what the stranger beside you might be confronting every day when they wake up – or when they turn off the light.