About The Den

Photo: Pierre Emmanuel-Chaillon

The Den is a movement and wellness studio in beautiful Fort Smith (Thebacha), NWT.

The Den was founded in 2024, and is part of the NSIXTY family, which includes NSIXTY Trading Company and JavaPunks.

The Den offers drop-in classes, registered series courses, workshops, and special events. Most of our offerings are a blend of various movement and wellness practices including yoga, sustainable movement, joint mobility and strength, meditation, and mindfulness.

* Offerings at The Den are currently available for ages 12+ unless noted otherwise. A signed parent/guardian waiver is required for ages 12-17.

At The Den, we invite you to

COME BACK TO YOURSELF.

Life continually calls us away from ourselves. It has us seeking outside of ourselves for answers, for truth, for clarity, for serenity.

Remember and re-align with yourself. Call back all parts of yourself. Turn inward to hear the wisdom within you.

COME TOGETHER.

We’re not meant to do this alone. We’re not meant to be disconnected.

We need one another.

We learn, heal, grow, and transform together.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AS WE TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER.

Our Intention at The Den

At The Den, we start where you are and support you on your journey to where you want to go. There’s no such thing as “beginner” or “advanced” at The Den. You are here to learn, grow, and share in the ways you’re meant to at this time in your life.

We hope The Den will be a soft place for you to land, where you can put life down for a little while. May The Den be a safe and brave space for you to learn (or remember) how to turn inward, listen and build better, clearer, more compassionate relationships with yourself and with others.

May The Den offer you the opportunity to be more playful, curious and kind with your body, mind, and heart. May you build strength and freedom in more sustainable ways, to show up in your life with greater confidence and ease. May your time at The Den leave you inspired and motivated to create meaningful change in your own life and in the world around you.

Simplicity. Intelligence. Depth. Sustainability. Creativity. Safety. Choice. Compassion.

These key elements and more are built into all offerings at The Den.

The Den Logo

Our stunning logo was an intentional creation, including three main symbolic elements: the Bear, the Den, and the Northern Lights. The Bear holds various meanings including protection, strength, healing, and wisdom. We think of her as a mama bear, with protective, wise care of her loved ones. The Den expands this symbolism of protection, with a sense of shelter, safety, and rest. The Northern Lights represent the magnificent dance in the night sky enjoyed by residents in the North. We are indebted to Cristina Castro Moral of Sombras Blancas for this work of art!

Lean into the love and wisdom of all those who came before us.

Honouring Where We Are and Whose Land We’re On

The Den is situated in Fort Smith (Thebacha: “beside the rapids” – Chippewan), within Treaty 8 Territory, comprising the traditional lands of Salt River First Nation, Smith’s Landing First Nation, and the Fort Smith NWT Métis Nation. We offer our gratitude and respect to these ancestral lands and the Indigenous peoples who have been and continue to be stewards of these lands.

We acknowledge that the harmful impacts of Canada’s settler colonial systems are ongoing, and that we are individually and collectively called upon to take meaningful action to confront these systemic forms of discrimination and violence. As a business, we aim to operate in a way that provides equitable access to our services, to continually create opportunities to give back to our community, and to find opportunities to collaborate in support of local initiatives, especially those that are Indigenous-led.

The Den is committed to creating a welcoming, compassionate, truthful, anti-racist, culturally safe, and trauma-informed space for our community, in which we can freely and open-heartedly move, meditate, connect, consult, and collaborate together. We understand that this can be an imperfect and challenging learning process, and yet we remain open and humble to all that is shared as we pursue this intention.

Honouring the Traditions of Yoga

Many of our offerings at The Den are rooted in the traditions of Yoga. We honour the Heart of Yoga, the Yoga Sutras, also known as the full eight-limbed system of wellbeing and transformation. We offer our gratitude to these ancient practices which originated in Northern India around 5,000 years ago, and which provide us with powerful tools to create clearer awareness of who we are, how we show up in the world, and how we can contribute to sustainable social change and social justice. We understand that, as yoga practitioners, we have a responsibility to apply our learning both on and off our mat.

Our Shared Agreements

As we gather to share space and time together, we ask of our guests to respect our shared agreements:

  • Everyone here is invited to gain greater awareness, understanding, and freedom in their body and in their life. Everyone is on their own path of self-discovery and self-mastery. Let’s lovingly hold our own and each other’s paths as sacred.

  • Respect the experience of your fellow practitioners. When we feel a sense of safety, we can feel more open to share and move more freely. Hold what is shared and experienced at The Den with care by respecting the privacy of others.

  • When given the privilege of hearing someone’s story or struggles, focus on listening patiently and kindly validating what is shared rather than rushing to fix and offer solutions. Among the most helpful gestures we can offer one another is to truly listen; to give the gift of being heard and seen.

  • You are needed just as you are, even as you pursue learning and growth. Trust that what you share at The Den is valuable, it is a gift. We never know what someone else may need to hear along their own journey.

We’re all learning from each other.

When Visiting The Den, Please Respect our Studio Policies:

  • Help keep our studio clean by removing your outdoor footwear before entering the studio.

  • Arrive at least 5-10 minutes before the session start time. If you haven’t registered in advance, please allow more time.

  • In-Studio attendance is limited for appropriate spacing. Preregistration is strongly suggested. It will assure you a place in the class AND if we need to cancel a class less than 24 hours, we will notify you. Pre-register on our OFFERINGS page! If you can’t reserve online, please email the studio at info@thedennwt.com.

  • If you have to leave early or arrive late, do so quietly. If possible, let The Den staff know in advance.

  • UNPLUG. Silence your phone and place it either with your personal belongings or in the basket by your mat.

  • Life happens. If you have an urgent need to use your phone, please quietly leave the studio.

  • If you feel the need to take a break while a session is in progress, please feel free to pause in your space or quietly leave the studio until you’re ready to resume.

  • NO PHOTOS or VIDEOS during sessions. Please respect the privacy of others by refraining from taking any recordings or photographs while sessions are in progress. You are welcome to capture the moment either before or after the session, and be mindful of those you may unintentionally include in your media.

  • If you’re sick, stay home and join us when you’re feeling better.

  • If the instructor is sick and the class needs to be canceled, we will notify you.

So Much Gratitude…

We are so fortunate and grateful to have such generous assistance and support in bringing The Den to life!

“It is important that I tell you their names, that you know that I have never achieved anything alone.”

~ Ta-Nehisi Coates

Thank you to Cristina Castro Moral of Sombras Blancas for the creation of our beautiful logo and this gorgeous website. Working with you to develop these foundational aspects of our business has been such a joy and so seamless. We highly recommend her services!

Thank you to Pierre-Emmanuel Chaillon of Epéchile Production for your stunning photos of Fort Smith. You are truly the best!

Thank you to Shelley Gordon at Love My Mat for the creation of our studio’s custom-designed props, using second-hand, thrifted, and deadstock fabrics. We are so grateful to have our studio filled with your lovely, handcrafted yoga and meditation products!

Thank you to Nicole Lawson of Supported Soul for the spectacular Pro Grip Mixalh (Bear) yoga mats that are used in our studio. The design by Coast Salish artist Ocean Hyland / shkwen / ts;simtelot is extraordinary!

Thank you to Harold Beaulieu of Fort Smith for your wonderful work bringing the fresh new colours to the walls and ceiling of The Den. The studio looks fantastic!

Immense gratitude to our local core group of support: Gord Rothnie, Chris & Joanna Westwell, Ian McDonald, and Owen MacDonald. The Den lives and breathes because of your invaluable assistance!