Shawn (Vashista) Roske

Shawn Roske is the owner and founder of Playstories Canada. He has years of education and experience in facilitating and instructing live action role-play (larp), tabletop narrative play, and improv education.

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At Carleton University, He earned his master's degree in anthropology with a focus on pedagogy in new religious movements. He then received a post-graduate certificate at Algonquin College in Behavioral Science.

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His experience in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board since 2014 has given him a solid foundation as an educator. And at Hillcrest High School he spent 4 years expanding the potential of transformative play with an RPG program he initiated in the autism unit.

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Shawn is fueled by his passion for challenging traditional forms of education and implementing active learning exercises in education and awareness movements, so every student and seeker can find new ways to enjoy learning.

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He won the 2017 Civic Games contest in the skill-building category for the larp "Last Item on the Agenda" in Boston, MA. Although this was a significant award, Shawn considers his greater achievements to be gaining rapport with and helping struggling students with his active learning methods.

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Finally, Shawn has been studying yoga, shamanism, ritual and ceremony for 30 years. And most intensely with the spiritual teacher, Swami Berdhanya Tiera. She endowed him with the name Vashista, which is an Indian name derived from the Sanskrit words “vashi” meaning “to rule” and “ista” meaning “lord”. It can also be interpreted as “ruler of the universe or the impeccable one.” And so Vashista's anthropological background and spiritual pursuit allows him to bridge social science and mindfulness traditions to fully integrate spiritual disciplines and transformational studies to develop the unique offerings of Playstories Canada in the fields of learning, healing, and consciousness.