Caring for the Ill, Opening to Life

Sandra Dawn Johannson

Yog Instructor and Pallative Support Worker, InspireHealth inspirehealth.ca

photo by Jaime Kowal

Sandra Dawn Johannson is all about following her energy. Reiki master, certified Kripalu yoga instructor, and healing practitioner for the terminally ill—when you have so many gifts to share, what exactly do you do? “Whatever it is I love,” she says calmly. And what Johannson loves, quite clearly, are her clients—whether it’s the people with cancer she works with at InspireHealth (formerly The Centre for Integrated Healing) or her yoga and meditation students.
In 1998, changes in her personal life led Johannson, then a stay-at-home mom, to her calling. Why help those who are dying? “When people face death, they are more open,” she says. “My passion is connecting with people in their most authentic selves… The feeling of love or peace can help people escape their pain, even if it is only for a moment.”

Johannson was led to InspireHealth while taking a palliative care course. The non-profit organization has improved quality of life for more than 4,000 people with cancer since opening a decade ago. Johannson began as a volunteer, and in 2005 she was brought on staff. Her eyes light up when she speaks of the centre: “It’s a community where we all want to wake up. Wake up to life.”

Johannson also teaches meditation and yoga at her Tsawwassen home studio. She honours her clients in various ways; one that’s special to her is by singing to families of the deceased at memorial services.

How would this woman who gives so much to others like to be remembered? Johannson pauses. “That I joyfully and passionately lived my life in service to the awakening of humanity.”