Winnipeg yoga studio joins Canada-wide breast cancer fundraiser

Rogue Vinyasa Yoga Studio is turning a Saturday class into direct relief for breast-cancer patients. The Winnipeg studio, at 7-823 Corydon Ave., is taking part in Move for the Boob, a Canada-wide fundraiser running from May 2 to May 9 that channels yoga and Pilates proceeds to the Breast Cancer Support Fund.

Its local class is set for Saturday, May 9, from 2 to 3 p.m. and will be a gentle 60-minute all-level healing vinyasa practice led by Jessica Ryan, with props available for support. The studio says a minimum $20 donation applies, and the charity says 100% of class proceeds from participating events go to its work.

That work is practical, not symbolic. The Breast Cancer Support Fund says donations help cover rent, groceries, meals, transportation and utilities, the kinds of bills that become harder to manage when treatment cuts into income and adds medical costs. The charity says applicants must have a breast cancer diagnosis, be in active treatment or within two months of finishing treatment, and live at or below the poverty line.

The fund’s roots go back to Donna Sheehan, who says she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 before founding the organization. Since then, the charity says it has provided more than $1 million in financial support to hundreds of low-income breast cancer patients in Canada. It also says its Meal Support Program is available in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, a sign that this is already part of a wider support network rather than a one-off benefit.

For Rogue Vinyasa, the fundraiser also fits the way many yoga studios are trying to stay relevant beyond the mat. The studio describes itself as community-driven and inclusive, and founders Matt Coppens and Jessica Ryan say they have more than 25 years of teaching experience between them and a decade of friendship. Ryan says she has taught since 2010 and holds 1,500 hours of yoga-specific training, a Bachelor of Kinesiology and national athletic therapy certification. In a crowded wellness market, that blend of credibility and civic use is exactly the kind of move that can keep a studio visible while sending real money to people who need it.