Studio/About
A studio built
by breath, water,
and time.
FoundedToronto · 2020
FounderJeyda Deyna
LanguagesEnglish · Français
— The Founder
Sailor. Artist.
Breath practitioner.
Toronto Breathwork is led by Jeyda Deyna — a multidisciplinary practitioner whose work draws on twenty years across professional sailing, communication design, visual art, and the science of breath.
Jeyda began sailing in 2008 as an instructor and quickly moved into competition — racing internationally and training with the all-women's Canadian Olympic Match Race team. The decade on the water taught her, before any breathwork certification did, what calm under pressure actually looks like.
A graduate with honours from the RTA School of Media at Toronto Metropolitan University, she moved through architecture and design collaboration in Toronto, then spent three years in France — painting, selling artwork, and reconnecting to making things by hand. That arc — from race tactician to designer to artist — is the studio's spine.
"I connect with breathwork through my inner wisdom and physical experience first — and then I make sense of it with my mind."
In 2020 she integrated breathwork into her creative practice and the project that became Calliope Journey — earning recognition from CBC Radio-Canada for the approach. She subsequently completed YOGABODY®'s science-based breathwork certification in the United States, and has been guiding individuals, teams, and brands ever since.
Multilingual and fluent in French, Jeyda works with leaders, athletes, artists, and entire teams — and is the founder of Creative Clarity Convos, a podcast on flow, breath, and the long arc of a creative life. The studio is small and deliberate, and the work is held close.
A short history.
2008Sailing instructor. Then sailor.
Jeyda begins teaching sailing, competing internationally, and training with the all-women's Canadian Olympic Match Race team. Two decades of on-water work begins here.
2014Graduates from RTA School of Media.
Bachelor of Communication and Design from Toronto Metropolitan University (then Ryerson), with honours. The design lens that still shapes every workshop, retreat, and brand collaboration today.
2014Toronto design collaborations.
Two years working with architects and designers across the city, developing the spatial sensibility that would later define the studio's aesthetic and corporate program design.
2016France, painting, reconnecting.
Three years in France — painting, selling artwork, and exploring web design. The making-by-hand chapter that became the seed of what is now the Create pillar.
2020Breathwork integrates. CBC takes notice.
Breathwork joins the creative practice as the project that would become Calliope Journey. Recognized by CBC Radio-Canada — twice — for the integrative approach to flow, breath, and creative practice on the Toronto Islands.
2022YOGABODY® certification.
Completes the science-based breathwork certification with YOGABODY® in the United States. Toronto Breathwork takes its current shape — creative, embodied, evidence-informed.
2023Brand collaborations begin.
Programming with Massive Music, Andreu World Toronto, Carrot Common, and Arterial Toronto. Corporate sessions and creative team activations move from word-of-mouth to a deliberate practice.
2026Where you find us today.
Three pillars, international retreats, corporate programs, a podcast, and a small community of practitioners across art, design, music, sailing, and film. Still answering most emails personally.
Press &
recognition.
CBC Radio-Canada
Featured twice in interviews en français on the integrative approach to creative retreats and breath practice on the Toronto Islands.
— Training · Olympic
Olympic Match Race Team
Trained with the all-women's Canadian Olympic Match Race team. The performance-under-pressure work that became the spine of every program.
Sailing since 2008
— 02 / Timeline
— 03 / In the world
Creative Clarity Convos
Jeyda's podcast on flow, breath, and the long arc of a creative life. Conversations with artists, athletes, founders, and the people who shape how we think.
— Certification
YOGABODY® Certified
Science-based breathwork certification, completed in the United States. Honours graduate of the RTA School of Media, Toronto Metropolitan University.
Evidence-informed practice
What we hold to, quietly and consistently.
— i.
Functional before theatrical.
If we can't tell you why a practice works, we don't run it. The work is grounded in physiology, real coaching, and lived experience — not in atmospherics.
— ii.
Small, on purpose.
This could be larger. By design, it isn't. Smaller groups, fewer events, a calendar held close — so the work stays close to the person doing it.
— iii.
Access is a design problem.
Pay-what-you-can community sessions every month — never marketed as charity, never gated. The premium programs fund the open ones, by design.
— iv.
Slow partnerships, always.
We work with brands rarely and only when the values align. We have turned down more partnerships than we have accepted. We will keep doing this.
— v.
The boat is real.
When the practice goes on water, it's with certified charter partners — Transport Canada inspected vessels, licensed skippers, real seamanship. The standards on the water are not adjacent to the wellness work — they are the wellness work.
— vi.
I answer my own emails.
You almost always reach Jeyda directly. That is, and intends to remain, the through-line of how this studio operates — at every stage of growth.
"I’ve been to several breathwork session at other places, and this is by far and non the best."
— Repeat guest · Toronto
— Begin
Come find us.
A public session, a private enquiry, or just a hello from across the lake. We are, mostly, easy to reach.