How Asia Nelson Built The Movement Life in Waterloo and Took It Global
Asia Nelson didn’t set out to build a movement platform. She set out to feel better in her own body. What followed was two decades of teaching, adapting, and quietly shaping how people think about movement in Waterloo Region and beyond, starting locally and extending far past Kitchener-Waterloo.
“I found yoga in undergrad and it just stuck,” Asia says. “It became part of my life.”
When she moved to Waterloo to complete her Master’s in Rhetoric and Communication Design at the University of Waterloo, she brought that practice with her. She was certified as a yoga teacher largely out of personal interest while working in marketing, never assuming it would become a career. At the time, yoga in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region was still emerging. “People would actually ask what yoga was,” she says. Interest grew quickly, and Asia began teaching across studios, working with private clients, and building a reputation rooted in trust within the local wellness community.
Eventually, she reached a turning point. “I realized I could actually take a chance on it,” she says. “There’s an entrepreneurial spirit in Waterloo. It encourages you to try.”
As yoga gained popularity across Waterloo Region, Asia began noticing gaps in the industry. Teacher training programs were increasingly inaccessible, often requiring extended travel, rigid schedules, and a level of privilege many people didn’t have. “I didn’t want this practice to belong to only one kind of person,” she says. Instead of moving her training elsewhere, she kept it based in Waterloo and redesigned it around real lives. Weekends. Flexible schedules. Space for people with full-time jobs and families. That decision helped shape the movement community that grew alongside her work.
In 2011, Asia suffered a serious back injury. The athletic style of yoga she had practised and taught for years was no longer sustainable. “That injury forced me to rethink everything,” she says. Her recovery led her to work with Dr. Stuart McGill, a world-leading expert in low back pain, and to study joint health and movement more deeply. Slowly, her teaching shifted away from pushing limits and toward building strength where movement actually begins.
“I stopped asking how far people could move,” she explains. “I started asking how well their joints were functioning.”
“Most people stop doing what they love because of a joint.
If you take care of the joints first, movement becomes possible for decades.”
That evolution became the foundation of what is now The Movement Life. Many people in the Waterloo and Kitchener area still remember Asia’s work as Pranalife Yoga, the name under which she taught for years before rebranding during COVID. The shift reflected more than a name change. After completing joint-focused certification, Asia wanted her business to better represent how her teaching had evolved — away from a traditional studio model and toward a movement practice built around longevity, strength, and sustainable mobility. Classes and trainings moved fully online, but the personal connection remained central. “People tell me all the time they feel more seen and cared for now than they ever did in a busy studio,” she says. That sense of connection, not flexibility for flexibility’s sake or aesthetics, sits at the heart of her work and defines how she teaches today.
Classes and programs are now fully online, allowing Asia to work with people around the world, including former Waterloo Region students who trained with her years ago and reconnected once she moved online. Despite the digital format, the work remains personal. Asia knows her members. She makes herself available. Questions turn into conversations. “I’m in this to support people,” she says. “That’s always been the point.”
Being based in Waterloo continues to shape how she runs her business. The Region’s mix of innovation and practicality influences how she blends technology with a human approach. “I want it to feel modern but still personal,” she says. “That balance feels very Waterloo to me.”
The Movement Life is for anyone who wants to keep doing the things they love without pain getting in the way. “Getting older isn’t the issue,” Asia says. “Losing capacity is.”
More information about classes and training can be found at themovementlife.com. After twenty years, the work continues to evolve, with the same goal at its core: helping people move well, feel strong, and stay capable for life in Waterloo Region and beyond.
Image credits:
Photography by Meghan Weber @mirrorformfoto
Models: Bettina Mannhardt and Kheaven Brasier
Trina Stewart is the Editor and Publisher of Living Local Magazine. Originally from Cambridge, Ontario, Trina loves exploring the area and embracing the activities, events, and local businesses.
