Yoga Classes

Updated on Thursday, April 11, 2013

lunge

Drop-in

All Levels

Suitable for all students, particularly those relatively new to yoga or looking to deepen their knowledge of foundational poses. Classes focus on the fundamentals of postures, including breathwork and attention to alignment, while incorporating dynamic flow and varied sequences.

All Levels Complete

Our signature class, All Levels Complete incorporates components of pranayama (breathing techniques), asana (movement), restorative postures, and meditation.

Level 1-2 Complete

An extension of our signature class, Level 1-2 Complete provides deeper work in pranayama (breathing techniques), asana (movement), restorative postures, and meditation. We encourage you to find the level of class that allows you to safely explore your perceived boundaries.

Community Class

An All Levels class with community in mind! For $5 (+HST), explore your practice with integrity, awareness, and a foundation of breath. Our teaching roster will feature alumni of our teacher training programs and teachers on our drop-in schedule. Free for members!

Fundamentals

Designed as both an introductory class for new students and an excellent way for experienced students to brush up on the basics, Fundamentals covers the essentials that form the foundation of a safe, effective, and enjoyable yoga practice, while exploring more deeply a specific aspect of the practice each week.

Gentle Yoga

Yoga for everyone and every body! This class is designed to be accessible to all bodies regardless of physical or other limitations. The instructor will strive to ensure that individual needs are met within this class setting. Come and join this welcoming class where you can explore yoga in a safe and supported manner.

Levels 1-2, 2, and 2-3

Classes that increase in difficulty to encourage you to find new levels within your practice. Each level offers progressively deeper work in asana, meditation, and pranayama in order to challenge students to move beyond perceived boundaries. We encourage you to find the level that works best for your practice.

Restorative

A deeply nourishing experience. Props and gentle movements are utilized to restore, relax and heal the body. This class is suitable for any level of experience.

Reiki Restorative

The intention of Restorative Yoga is to facilitate deep opening in the body and relaxation of the mind. Reiki, a Japanese healing modality where the practitioner channels “universal-energies” through their hands into the student’s body, is a beautiful compliment to Restorative Yoga. Attend this very special class and experience the healing benefits of both Restorative and Reiki!

About our Practitioners

Nadia Vallescura believes that yoga, spiritual practice, and energetic healing can propel one to a path of self-discovery, expansion of consciousness, and balanced living. Through authentic connections with others, Nadia inspires her students to embrace the mystery, stay present, and support each other in the process of being.

Nadia began practicing yoga in 2003 and discovered essential energy systems in her yoga studies with Paul Grilley. She completed over 500 hours of Teacher Training and Restorative Teacher Training under the guidance of Scott Davis and Pat Harada Linfoot at Octopus Garden Yoga Centre. She has studied with Michael Stone in a Precepts Course at the Centre of Gravity and with Matthew Remski in the tradition of Ayurveda. Under the guidance of Kathy Roseborough, she became a Reiki Master.

Sehr Athar was first introduced to Reiki during a restorative yoga class in 2011 and had a profound healing experience. Since then she has obtained her Reiki Master level certification with Stephanie Cookson at Transense Healing Arts Studio. She has been offering Reiki to clients for over a year now and is also a registered practitioner with the Canadian Reiki Association.

Sehr is currently working towards completing both her 200-hour Fundamentals Yoga Teacher Training and 40-hour Restorative Teacher Training at Octopus Garden Holistic Yoga Centre. With a Masters in Social Work, Sehr is passionate about alternative healing modalities and is interested in how Yoga and Reiki support people on their paths to self-growth and discovery. Her goal, as she keeps learning, is to share these modalities with others.

For more information on Reiki, please or visit www.createhealingspaces.com.

Self-Practice

Our Self-Practice classes nurture an individualized approach to practice. Featuring a semi-private style of learning, these classes instil principles of empowerment, concentration, and self-directed study, revealing some of yoga’s most important teachings.

Tensegrity

A class that brings the Tensegrity Series to life! The Tensegrity Repair Series (by Gioia Irwin) is a set of 20 exercises designed to restore balanced tone and healthy range of motion to the muscle and connective tissue matrix of the human body. Explore your range of motion and reconnect to healthy patterns of movement. This class is ideal for all levels of experience and is especially ideal for those seeking to recover from imbalances due to injuries and over-use.

Yoga with Live DJ

This class will explore challenging and creative sequencing to a dynamic mix of music served up live by Anita Katakkar.

With Indian/Scottish roots in multicultural Toronto, Anita Katakkar’s
music practice represents a link between her heritage and community. She
has studied tabla for over 15 years with composer and musician Ritesh Das
and in California and Kolkata with the pre-eminent exponent of the Lucknow
style tabla, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri. Anita has toured internationally and recorded with
the Toronto Tabla Ensemble and Jeff Martin, and has toured nationally with
The Tea Party.

In her latest fusion project Rakkatak, Anita has teamed up with local
Toronto musicians to create an atmospheric backdrop for her work. Inspired
by accompanying yoga classes, Anita has created Yoga Trax, music to link
breath and movement inspired by sounds from the city and nature.

Preregistered

Kids Yoga

Head to yoga after school and find a new way to play! Young yogis will grow through a weekly program of age-appropriate physical postures, philosophy, breathing, sensory-based games, and creative crafts. Get ready to discover new worlds of fun in playful exploration, self-discovery, and body awareness.

Parent and Baby

In this welcoming and baby-friendly space, find the time to soothe aches and pains, re-align your hardworking body and mind, and cuddle and enjoy your little baby while connecting with a community of other parents.

Prenatal Yoga

This weekly series of classes will offer a caring and nurturing space where women can celebrate the little person growing within, soothe and enjoy their changing bodies, and connect to their own strength and potential in preparation for labour and motherhood.