meet mark
Hello beautiful people, my name is Mark Gendre and I have dedicated my life to helping others build deeper connections with their bodies and souls through various healing techniques and modalities. I grew up as an outdoor adventure enthusiast and snowboard athlete and needed to keep my body performing at its best. I was fortunate to spend ten years training with Olympic personal trainers, nutritionists and Olympic athletes. As a result, I gathered extensive knowledge and experience in fitness and nutrition. In the nature of competitive snowboarding, injuries were very common and I often found myself hurt. I was able to work with highly skilled physiotherapists, chiropractors and massage therapists and became extremely knowledgeable about injuries. I utilized many tools and skills I had learned throughout the years to heal my body from the vast amounts of injuries I sustained. After retiring from the sport, I became a personal trainer and nutritionist for many years helping people get into optimum shape, recover from injuries/pain, increase energy, lose weight, increase confidence and most importantly, love themselves. After getting a severe concussion white water kayaking, I went on a great healing journey to not only heal my brain, but also heal post-concussion anxiety.
Certifications:
Personal Trainer - CanFit Pro, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Nutritionist - CanFit Pro, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
CPR and First Aid - Lifesaving Society, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Outdoor Safety and Survival - Calgary Outdoor Center, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Reiki Master - Samma Karuna, Koh Phangan, Thailand Qigong Teacher and Energy Healer - Spring Forest Qigong, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Shamanic Healer - Boo’s healing centre, Chiang Mai, Thailand Guided Meditation Instructor - Samma Karuna, Koh Phangan, Thailand
Compassionate Sharing Facilitator - Kamma Karuna, Koh Phangan, Thailand Osho Meditation Instructor - Samma Karuna, Koh Phangan, Thailand
Services
Personalized Wellness Coach
Identifying areas of need for individuals in regards to their physical and emotional well-being. Providing easy to follow instructions and tools on holistic eating practices and bodywork exercises to help clients achieve some other their specific goals such as losing weight, eat immensely healthy, increase energy and strength, heal pain and injuries, overcome GI issues and maximizing optimum health.
Energy Healing Sessions
Assess client’s energetic needs and customize a course of therapy to remove their specific blocks using reiki and other metaphysical techniques. I will also provide individuals with insight and tools on how to maintain their energetic field and live harmonious, balanced and enriched lives. My goal as an energetic healer is to empower each person to learn to eventually heal themselves.
Soul Qigong Journeys
Individuals will be guided on a short nature walk to decompress and reconnect with earth and themselves. We will find an optimal place to practice qigong, focusing on the client’s specific requests. During this personalized service, we will work with universal chi to clear physical, mental and spiritual blocks and activate our parasympathetic nervous system. This will induce a calming, relaxation response, reducing cortisol, speeding up recovery and releasing feel good endorphins such as dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.
Workshops
Exploring Spring Forest Qigong (60-90 min)
In this introductory guided qigong class, students will gain a greater understanding of the fundamental mind, body and spirit healing principles of qigong and learn how to tap into the conscious collective by stimulating their vital energy, chi. Qigong combines meditation, focused concentration, breathing techniques and body movements to activate and cultivate our "vital energy" as it flows through our invisible energy channels, the meridians, of the body. As you are aware, acupuncture also activates these meridian channels. To simply state it, qi means energy and gong means work so qigong is a practice where you work with your own body's energy to open up the meridian channels and clear blockages in your body without the use of needles! It helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system and induces a calming, relaxation response, reducing cortisol, speeding up recovery and releasing feel good endorphins such as dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin. It is a very simple, yet extremely powerful practice. Spring Forest Qigong is centred around unconditional love, kindness and forgiveness.
Each student will be called to set an intention for their qigong journey and invited to summon their spirit guides and ancestors to support them through this sacred practice. After a 15 minute warm up, the class will be guided through a series of simple yet extremely powerful movements for 30 minutes, then we will harness all of the energy cultivated by slipping into a 15 minutes guided meditation. Once students have integrated these teachings we will seal the class with some grounding techniques and tapping on the energetic meridians of the body. I will then instruct the class on a simple healing technique, utilizing the skills they just learned, to continue to keep their energy channels flowing freely long after the class has completed. This simple healing technique can be used on themselves as well as others.
Osho Kundalini Meditation (60 min)
The Osho Kundalini Meditation is one of Osho’s most popular and potent meditation techniques helping to awaken the sleeping Kundalini energy within. This active meditation is scientifically designed to effectively release the tensions which block the natural flow of energies in our bodies, allowing us to become more peaceful and relaxed. There are four different stages of movement and still meditations that will take place during this workshop. We will be fully immersed in shaking and dancing for the first two stages. This helps to “melt” the rock-like being, wherever the energy flow has been repressed and blocked. Once released, the energy can then flow, dance and be transformed into bliss and joy. The last two stages enable all this energy to flow vertically, to move upwards into silence. It is a highly effective way for unwinding and letting go.
“Allow the shaking; don’t do it. Stand silently, feel it coming and when your body starts tumbling, help it but don’t do it. Enjoy it, feel blissful about it, allow it, receive it, welcome it, but don’t will it.” ~Osho
Heart Opening Meditation with a Compassionate Sharing Circle (60 to 90 min)
This workshop seeks to promote healthy relationships and deeper connections with ourselves and our loved ones. Throughout our lives, many of us often encounter painful experiences that weaken our sacred hearts and dim our light. By participating in this workshop, each person will be invited to nurture their sacred heart and release all of their built up energetic pain. The workshop will begin with a blissful heart opening meditation to help ground and connect us to the loving space in our hearts. Once the heart meditation is complete, each person will join hands for a compassionate sharing circle. As the facilitator, I will gently encourage each person to introduce themselves to the group and share a word the feel encompasses their true self. Once everyone has shared, I will present the fundamentals of compassionate sharing to the group. This will include an explanation of the benefits of allowing each person to fully be seen and experienced without judgement which is accomplished through the supportive environment that we are collectively cultivating in that moment. Each person in the circle will be called to acknowledge that they agree to honour each person in the circle nonverbally when someone is sharing their heart, understanding also, that the information shared within the circle is sacred and not to be repeated outside the circle. Once everyone who has felt called to share their hearts has done so, I will ask each person to hold hands again and make eye contact with each member of the circle. Following, I will invite the circle to stand so that we can do a loving group cinnamon roll hug. All of the participants will leave feeling warm and uplifted.