A young businesswoman who saw yoga as a “lifeline” during her chemotherapy for ovarian cancer decided to make it her career, so much so that she now teaches her passion… on paddle boards.
In 2015, Andréanne Rochette’s life changed completely after an ectopic pregnancy.
After just a few weeks of pregnancy, she went to the hospital because of bleeding. She risked internal bleeding and needed urgent surgery. When she wakes up, the surgeons tell her that she has growths on both of her ovaries, which may be cancerous. Another operation will be necessary, he is told, and soon.
“For the first time I hear the word cancer in the bedroom. And that’s where everything stops,” says the 36-year-old.
A few weeks later, when she is confirmed that she has stage three cancer, she returns to the operating table.
mourning for motherhood
As a result, her left ovary and part of her right ovary were removed, so that she had to mourn the loss of motherhood due to her insufficient ovarian reserve,” she says with emotion.
“I felt like I was in a nightmare, in a reality that didn’t belong to me,” she adds.
chemotherapy
Then she began a “very difficult” six months of preventive chemotherapy.
To survive this ordeal, she takes refuge in yoga, a sport she’s “relearning,” she says. “I used to stretch, I would move on a mat, but internally nothing was connected or balanced like it is now,” she says.
“On the water there is a letting go, you have to adapt to an environment that is constantly changing and, to me, reflects life,” says Andréanne Rochette, 36, founder of Yogi Nomade. Photo Elisa Cloutier
180 degree rotation
The guy who worked for the Quebec Chamber of Commerce and Industry in communications then did a “180-degree turn” and gave up the “corporate, rock, and high heels” lifestyle for the yogi lifestyle.
“I realized that I had to do everything in my power to take care of my health. […] I’ve given up toxic consumption so I’ve changed my diet and prioritized green or unprocessed foods, but that’s also what I read, my surroundings, what I do. “A new way of life has arrived,” she explains.
An avid paddleboarder for several years, she decided to combine her two passions and set up her own mobile yoga studio, Yogi Nomade, with the aim of “inspiring people to take care of themselves”. “I want to help people find the yoga that I couldn’t find before I became ill,” she says.
She has been giving SUP yoga courses on various bodies of water in the region for six years now.
“If I hadn’t been pregnant, I would never have known. [que j’étais atteinte d’un cancer] and I wouldn’t be here today. My pregnancy saved my life. The only child I would have had but didn’t have allowed me to survive,” she concludes.
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