Wellness Babes Who Left Toronto and Are Never Looking Back
Sometimes you need to relocate to live your truth — just take it from these babes!
Toronto is full of inspiring, badass wellness babes, but there seems to be a trend amongst the city’s favourite fitness girlies, yogis, and healers: they all leave. If you’re wondering why your favourite yoga teachers keep announcing they’ll be moving to Mexico or Costa Rica or Bali, we have the inside scoop! We interviewed some of the city’s leading wellness babes to find out why they left Toronto and what they’re up to now.
Toronto is a great city with a wealth of opportunities; however many people who work in the wellness industry find themselves hitting a wall. With its harsh winters, fast-paced culture, and stressful energy, Toronto just isn’t conducive to the holistic, harmonious lifestyle many wellness and spiritual practitioners are trying to build for themselves. And so, many people make the tough choice to leave in search of a place that’s better aligned with their values. And you know what they end up finding? That there are so many other places in the world whose physical, social, and cultural ecosystems make it easier to create a balanced, happy, and healthy life.
Leaving a place that has been your home and where you’ve built up your business and community can be scary, but as the quote by William S. Burroughs goes, “When you stop growing, you start dying”. Admitting to yourself that your current surroundings are no longer feeding your growth is the first step toward creating the life you want to live. These Toronto wellness babes show us just how fulfilling it can be to do the hard thing by following your truth and up and leaving.
Photo by: Lindsey Drennan
Introduce yourself!
My name is Angela Morley. I'm a yoga instructor who lived in Toronto for 14 years. I found yoga when I worked at the hospital for Sick Children in research a lifetime ago and have been teaching for 10 years total, 5 years full-time. I taught at all the popular studios in the city, had a few private clients, and would call myself one of Toronto's more popular instructors.
Describe your wellness practice.
Well, I teach yoga, but I wouldn't say I had a regular yoga practice in Toronto because there just wasn't time when you had to teach up to six classes a day just to get by. I also didn't want to step on a mat to practice when I'd been on it teaching that many times. My wellness practice looked more like spin classes & lifting when I could fit them in and rest practices at places like Body Blitz, Othership and the steam rooms at Equinox.
Why did you leave Toronto?
There are a few reasons I left Toronto. Number one was love. The person I'd been in love with forever and I had just started dating when he decided to move to Amsterdam. We were going to do long distance because I had a successful career in Toronto and a rent controlled apartment. The second reason I left Toronto was because I lost that rent controlled apartment (after 13 years) and I just wasn't willing to hemorrhage money on rent. This was amplified by the third reason I left Toronto. The city just wasn't doing it for me anymore. The problems with transit and homelessness and rent prices and food prices and the list goes on was just too much. There wasn't enough keeping me there and there was a lot pulling me toward Amsterdam, so I told my boyfriend to find a place big enough for myself and the dog.
Where are you based now and why?
I'm currently living in De Pijp in Amsterdam with my boyfriend, Louis and my dog, Harvey. There's many reasons I'm here now. There's an amazing yoga and pilates (and fitness, generally) community here. I'm a big cyclist and this is the land of bikes. Also, as an English speaker, it was incredibly easy for me to shift my teaching practice here because all fitness classes are taught in English. I am learning a little Dutch though.
How does your current home and its physical and cultural landscape inform your practice today?
North America is so intense. It's all about the hustle--doing more, getting more, working hard, playing hard. Europe is on the opposite end of the spectrum. It's so much slower. People don't work all day. They wake up slowly and close up shop around 6pm to go home to have meals and spend time with friends and family. The sloppy King Street vibe isn't here. Don't get me wrong, people go out for drinks but they just don't get wildly obliterated like you see in Toronto. It feels a lot more civilized. I think the biggest difference is I actually have time and desire to practice the things I teach again. Yoga here feels more mindful and is less focused on the physical and getting a workout in. The hot rooms aren't baking you to death. Don't get me wrong, I still love Toronto and its hot rooms, but living in the city just wasn't for me anymore. I'm much happier going back as a tourist and stepping into the studios to reconnect with those communities on a visitor basis.
Brittany Ugolini
IG: @brit_yogi
Website: https://www.brityogi.com/
Mexico 2024 Retreat: https://www.brityogi.com/mexico2024
Introduce yourself!
Hi! I’m Brittany. I was born and raised in small-town Ontario and moved to Toronto in 2012. My first 7 years in Toronto consisted of 10-16 hour days working in the tech industry. In 2017 I did my YTT, and after 3 years of working full-time and teaching 6 classes a week, I decided to leave the hustle and bustle of startup life and pursue yoga full-time. From there, I completed my pilates training, meditation and breathwork certification and started guiding contrast therapy. I absolutely loved the places I worked - Chi Junky, Othership, Jaybird and Mula Yoga hold a big piece of my heart.
Describe your wellness practice.
My wellness practice definitely ebbs and flows between all of the modalities I am trained in. Sometimes my yoga practice is at the forefront and everything else takes a backseat, and sometimes meditation is the priority. It really depends on the season that I am in. Currently, my wellness practice looks like a well-balanced life: I make time for rest, I read a lot, I get out in nature frequently, I do self-practice about 4x/week (yoga, meditation, breathwork), I cook at home and I only say yes to the things I actually want to do. I would say I am practicing less now, but that’s only because my overall life is now a reflection of everything yoga and mindfulness has taught me.
Why did you leave Toronto?
This is a loaded question for me… I originally left Toronto with my fiancé because we were having a hard time in the city after our beloved dog passed away and we wanted to carve out real time for us without all the noise. Sounds lovely, right? Well, two weeks into our European travels he blind-sided me with a break up and left me to figure out my next steps solo. I called a dear friend in Mexico and she told me to book the next flight out, which is exactly what I did. I arrived in the lovely town of San Miguel de Allende in Central Mexico on September 15th 2022, which also happens to be when Mexican Independence Day celebrations begin. Ironic, right?
So, my leaving Toronto was for different reasons than a lot of people, but, my reasons for not returning are likely very similar to a lot of people who have decided to leave…
I do NOT miss the hustle and bustle. In Toronto, you are praised for how busy you are, how stressed you are and how much you have on your plate. It’s so twisted. I remember feeling guilty for taking a day off or even being sick. The more you run yourself into the ground, the more celebrated you are… at least that was my experience. I am so happy to be away from this mentality.
People in Mexico, especially where I live, are SO kind. Every morning when I go to my local cafe, every single person says buenos dias, which is good morning. I kid you not, every single person looks you in the eyes and says this. Imagine that in Toronto? Everyone saying good morning to each other? Imagine what that does for your mental health and feeling seen? In Toronto, people are too rushed or too engaged with their phone or simply closed completely off. It’s not just the good mornings either - strangers offer help, communities come together frequently, families spend quality time together often. Mexicans seem to really understand what is important.
The weather, obviously. I could not do another winter in Canada where it literally hurts to breathe fresh air. I really missed Toronto summer, but where I live it’s summer pretty much year round, so I’m okay with the trade-off.
The food is incredible. I eat SO well here. You can get the best street tacos of your life for $2.00, so it’s also much more affordable than $6 avocados in Toronto.
It is much more affordable to live here. The first apartment I moved into was in the city centre, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 office, a large beautiful terrace, had full appliances and was only $1250 CAD per month. The same apartment in Toronto would have been around $4500, easily. The housing crisis in Toronto is absolutely ridiculous - I honestly don’t know how people make ends meet there.
Where are you based now and why?
When I arrived in Mexico last year, I landed in a beautiful mountain town known as the heart of Mexico - San Miguel de Allende. I had heard of it before, but had never been. When I imagined living in Mexico, I always pictured coastal living. However, as soon as I arrived to this central Mexican town I knew it was special and I knew this is where the ultimate healing would happen for me. They say the city in built on rose quartz and man, can you ever feel it. This magical town cracks your heart wide open. I have gone deeper with new connections that I have made here than I have with some of my longest friends.
How does your current home and its physical and cultural landscape inform your practice today?
I think the biggest way my practice has changed by my relocation to Mexico is it’s become much slower and intentional. In Toronto, I felt that it was necessary to “go hard” aka have a highly physical practice about 4x/week and then balance that out with something slow (long breathwork journey/Yin/Yoga Nidra) once or twice a week. I’m not saying this is a bad breakdown, but my practice now is more informed by how I feel and not what I think I should be doing or forcing myself to keep up the pace with what everyone else is doing. There is intention behind everything I do now. I would also say my practice is much more “off the mat” now. I did A LOT of nervous system regulation practices in Toronto and while I saw the benefits to them while there, I think they have integrated even more now that I am here. These practices are just part of my existence now - almost like breathing. I think it was necessary to step away from the chaotic energy of Toronto to get to this place.
To close things off, I want to share with anyone reading this that I moved here with NO plan. I didn’t have a job. I didn’t have a rental. I only knew 1 person. I had limited savings. As a type A person who likes to have everything planned out, this was really tough and terrifying for me. Am I recommending you just up and leave your security and safety? No. But, I do want to share that everything fell into place for me in a beautiful way. Had I not been put in such an impossible situation, I would have never ended up here and what a shame that would have been. Despite having no plan, I knew deep down that I am smart, skilled, resourceful and have the ability to put myself out there and make connections. These are the skills that saved me as I started building my new life. All this to say, some times you don’t need a plan. Sometimes you just need to trust yourself and trust the universe. Letting go of control is such a beautiful thing. Lastly, if you don’t like your current circumstances (where you live, your job, your relationship, etc), CHANGE IT. You are not stuck. It is never too late. Bigger and better things await. Don’t get complacent with a mediocre life.
Hannah Schultz
IG: @rewildthesoul
Website: www.rewildthesoul.ca
Introduce yourself!
I’m Hannah, a wild woman at heart and the founder of Rewild the Soul. I am a witch, an astrologer, a mystic, an herbalist, a tantrika, and a lover of all things magic. It’s my mission to initiate women into their feminine power and help them become the lovers and leaders they were born to be through Rewilding. I believe all women have an innate connection to the wild, to magic, and to deep, sovereign power — and Rewilding is the path to reconnecting to the truth at the heart of all women.
Describe your wellness practice.
My wellness practice includes many tools and teachings, but what I’ve always found to be most effective for my spiritual, emotional, mental and physical health is to make my entire lifestyle based around alignment with nature, my authentic path, and my community. A huge part of an aligned lifestyle means living in a way that feels good and true to me on all levels. Some of my favourite personal practices include: solo ceremony in the wild, embodiment / somatic / energy work, ritual and magic, herbal medicines, journaling and inner work, and astrology. While I weave all of these tools into my regular practice, I also see every aspect of my daily life (from drinking my morning cacao to how I relate to my friends, partner and community) as essential aspects of my wellness practice.
Why did you leave Toronto?
I left Toronto because I know that my environment plays a huge role in my ability to live in alignment. I always knew that the harshness of big city life, the isolation of western culture, and the lack of sun, warmth, nature, and vitality would not allow me to truly thrive. Our most aligned and authentic life is naturally expressed when our environment and community matches our values. Life in Toronto was not a soulmate match for my values, desires and the experiences I wanted to have. One day it became clear to me through my body’s wisdom that it was time to go, and so off I went!
Where are you based now and why?
I currently live in Baja California, Mexico. I ended up here on a whim, an intuition, and a calling that made absolutely no logical sense. Yet Baja is the soulmate match I was looking for in a home. The stunning nature, sunshine all year round, incredible community of likeminded souls and witches like me, and never ending adventures to be had are some of my favourite parts. I live in a town with a deep appreciation for the arts, lots of local, organic farms and farmers markets, and picturesque beauty all around, that is surrounded by ocean and mountains. Now after a year here, nothing has ever made more sense.
How does your current home and its physical and cultural landscape inform your practice today?
Living in Baja has allowed me to slow down, tune into my heart, and come into the deepest alignment I’ve yet to experience. Connecting with the ocean is such an essential aspect of my healing and my wellbeing, and it’s something I can experience daily here in so many different ways, from watching the sun set into her, to free diving, snorkelling, paddle boarding and ocean safaris. I’ve become more creative, infusing hobbies and artistic expression like music and art into my life. My home is off grid and solar powered, so I am much more connected to nature’s rhythms and therefore my own. I’ve found a deeper sense of balance in my life, reprioritizing sisterhood, relationships, slow cooking, creativity, joy and pleasure — and finding deeper purpose in life beyond my work. My practice has become something I embody and experience in every moment, as my life itself has become the practice.
Beverley Cheng
IG: @beverleycheng
Website: www.borntosweat.co
Introduce yourself!
My name is Beverley and I am a fitness content creator, sports model, and entrepreneur living full time on a sailboat! Over the last few years I’ve worked with brands like Lululemon, Nike, Dyson and more, been on the cover of Strong magazine, and was in the Amazing Race Canada Season 8!
Describe your wellness practice.
I am all about athletic, high powered, explosive fitness. I love training hard and fast, using minimal equipment, and seeing how far I can push my body and my limits. However, I do ensure to add in lower intensity movement to maintain a balance for my mind and body. A solid week of training would increase daily morning mobility stretches, 2-3 days of higher intensity workouts, 1 longer run, and 1-2 strength focussed workouts.
Why did you leave Toronto?
I love Toronto but it was time for me to move on! I left because I wanted to live out my dreams of living on a sailboat and seeing how far it would take me. I want to travel and explore as much of the world as possible, and this is the best way to do it.
Where are you based now and why?
Currently I am sailing the East coast of the United States, but this winter I’ll be heading back down to the Bahamas and Caribbean.
How does your current home and its physical and cultural landscape inform your practice today?
I’ve always been good at adapting my training, but living on a sailboat has made it even more of a priority for me! My morning stretches have to be done on the deck of the boat, which frankly, does not fit my entire body! Most of my workouts are bodyweight, done in the shade of a tree or in a playground (literally). For 2 months I could only workout on a beach, while travelling through the Bahamas. It’s been fun - I love the challenge and I love seeing how my body responds to this new way of exercise.
Megan Rendall
IG: @meghannrendall
Website: www.meghanrendall.com
Introduce yourself!
Hi, I’m Meghan. That’s my given name. My spiritual name is Ma'ayan, which means “spring of water” in Hebrew. I was gifted this name because of the wellspring of wisdom that I hold within me. I wasn't always wise, but from a young age I began to observe people and their patterns. When I decided to pursue a career in the mental health field, my observations and conclusions drew larger. My clients were stuck in dark places — addiction, trauma, broken relationships… I was able to use my wisdom & experiences to help them make change. My passion and mission in life are one of the same — helping women resolve trauma, addiction and create meaningful relationships. Whether in 1:1, workshop or retreat setting, I am fuelled by gifting my wisdom to others so they can learn how to help themselves.
Describe your wellness practice.
My entire wellness practice this year has been focused on recovering my creative Self. I took a step back from Meditation after 500 days of a dedicated practice so that I can come back to it with "fresh eyes". I still practice Yoga & Breathwork, but they have become tools that I use in conjunction to art and writing.
Why did you leave Toronto?
This is a long answer — but to put it simply, I was ready to start living my truth. I worked in Toronto as a Mental Health & Addictions Case Manager after I graduated. I absolutely loved what I did, but it started to impact my own mental health — vicarious trauma exposure, compassion fatigue and systemic burnout. Yoga became my self-care practice, so in Jan 2021 I decided to invest in my 200hrs with Kula Annex. I was thrilled at the idea of pursuing a more truthful and authentic career path. I decided to invest in a Meditation Teacher Training as well as Somatic Breathwork Training with our community favourite, Eddy Tony. I took every ounce of knowledge I had and opened my own business as a Women’s Relationship & Recovery Coach. I began to create a really meaningful life for myself, but something was still missing. In April of 2022 I travelled with my best friends to a small surf town in Mexico… I knew right away what was missing from my life. I went home, sold some stuff, resigned from my 9-5, packed a bag and got on a one-way flight to Sayulita just 7 weeks later.
Where are you based now and why?
Never in a million years did I expect this answer but… during my first 6 months in Mexico I met my now partner, Benjamin — he's Israeli but has a travel business in Lake Tahoe, CA. When I first moved to Mexico, I swore off ever having to live in the snow again, but love knows no bounds, so I moved to Lake Tahoe and learned how to snowboard! We decided to move back down to Sayulita this summer and we’re close to wrapping up another 6 months here. We’re going to spend some time travelling over the winter but I think we have determined our home-bases ;)
How does your current home and its physical and cultural landscape inform your practice today?
Where I’m living now has made me bias… I definitely prefer to do all my wellness practices outdoors, or semi-outdoors if sitting on my back porch counts. Living in Mexico has given me more space mentally and physically for my wellness practices. I’ve learned from incredible teachers, elders and facilitators here. Leaving Toronto helped me grow in ways I didn’t know were possible, It has deepened my personal wellness practices and grown my professional practice as a coach.