Inspirational Peace

Wish you could start and finish each day on the sand, with the ocean in front of you and forested background? Heidi MacPherson makes this her daily ritual on Chesterman Beach stating there is “no better life than at the beach”.

After 25 years as a landscape architect and two sons off to post secondary school, Heidi semi-retired in Tofino with her husband in June 2013, making a “complete 180” in her words, from her former life in Whistler, BC. She was looking for a slower pace of life. As part of this quest, she gave up her car and now walks or rides her bike everywhere in Tofino for a peaceful journey.

Heidi is a generous and inspiring woman of many talents that she is sharing with the community of Tofino. The Inn commissioned Heidi as a landscape architect to design the entry portal that welcomes each guest onto the property. In addition, Heidi is a yoga instructor twice a week at Ancient Cedars Spa and often at Coastal Bliss in Tofino. She is also a piano teacher who had over three hundred students in Whistler through the years - many who have gone onto successful music careers. Heidi continues to play and teach music in Tofino, and has begun incorporating her music into her yoga teaching practice stating her “playlists come from the movement of the class”.

Most recently, Heidi started apprenticing with local hand-blown glass artist, Sol Maya. One of the first shapes Heidi created was a glass heart that evolved into a higher purpose. Her glassblowing skill has come to benefit her “passion project” of supporting the Kelty Patrick Dennehy Foundation. Kelty Patrick Dennehy was a student in Whistler who took his own life. This foundation’s mission is to provide mental health resources for young people to prevent teen suicide. All the proceeds from the glass hearts that Heidi makes are donated to this foundation. Her glass hearts are available for purchase at Ancient Cedars Spa.

*Photo credit Keenan Bush. Photo is of Heidi and her mentor Sol in their glass blowing studio.