About
Nourished by the wisdom of her mentors and her decades-long personal practice, Carly Forest has led thousands of students through foundational practices and trainings over the past 20 years. As an accredited Enneagram teacher and endorsed Insight Yoga teacher she supports and guides others through the delicate work of self-inquiry towards a life infused with curiosity, courage and care. Her teachings and healing work constellate around the central task of supporting others to wholly inhabit their lives: to embrace the full spectrum of their humanity and skillfully greet the paradox of life.
Carly has been studying and applying the Enneagram for the past decade, and completed her teacher training in 2015 through the Canadian Institute of Enneagram Studies under Dr Penny Whillans. Her studies of spiritual psychology, reverence for poetry, dedication to self-inquiry, and relationship with the natural world have all left deep impressions and continue to inform her work. Her teachings and private practice have also been influenced by the work of Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Sandra Maitri, Marion Woodman, Bill Plotkin, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Noel Taylor and Terrance McKenna.
Over the past 20 years Carly has also sat on regular retreats in both the Vipassana and Tantric Buddhist traditions, and continues to have ongoing mentorship from her teacher Sarah Powers. She has completed extensive trainings in mindfulness yoga and meditation at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the Insight Yoga Institute in California, and has been training with the International Institute of Medical Qigong since 2013. Carly was the Yin Yoga and Mindfulness instructor to the Canadian National Women’s 7s Rugby Team, winners of the Bronze Medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Carly is incredibly grateful to live and work on the traditional territory of the Lkwungen-speaking peoples, the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada).
Photography and website created by Berkley Vopnfjord
My Approach
Lit From Within: Practices that support a life infused with courage, wonder and care
Our outer circumstances and conditions are always in flux. Impermanence is the only certainty we are granted. Yet sitting in the immensity of change and how it manifests in our lives can feel overwhelming and, at times, incredibly frightening and disorienting. Learning how to find our deep inner ground and take refuge, again and again, in this ultimate homecoming is the task of our lives; a mark of true adulthood and an ennobling rite of passage for us all.
My offerings are the practices that have helped me stay illuminated when the world around me has darkened. These practices have increased my sensitivity, empowered my capacity for self-healing, strengthened my inner resolve, softened my heart and ultimately helped deepen my trust in the mysterious unfolding of my life. I offer these practices not as a panacea or a cure but as balm for the aching heart. I ultimately hope that you too will meet your challenges and triumphs with inclusion and curiosity.
I offer these practices and perspectives in the form of contemplative retreats, teacher training, through my online seasonal school and in my private practice. I draw from the unique sparks and inspirations that have kindled my heart and lit my soul from within. I weave together embodiment practices that balance and enliven the subtle body while strengthening and nourishing the physical body; psycho- spiritual inquiry and education; and, nature-based practices that encourage living seasonally and simply. These practices are not meant to emphasize perfection or achievement but instead remind us how to lovingly come home to who we are right now, reminding us how to rekindle our inner fire, again and again, and share our radiance and warmth where we can.