Dear Dedicated Yoga Police followers,
I will be on a hiatus from now until mid July as I indulge myself in yoga teacher training intensive at Downward Dog.
Wish me luck, send me any reviews and complaints on yoga studios and of course celebratory reviews of functional yoga studios!
Cheers!
The Yoga Police
Emma Blue
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Review of Octopus Garden
I love Ashtanga yoga. I love small studios where you dont need to worry about your belongings getting stolen. I love well trained teachers and plants and sculptures and a relaxed vibe to a place.
Oh and also I loved the Octopus Garden! The only reason I didn't venture their sooner is because I'm an uptown girl, wayyyy uptown and the Octopus Garden is located in the Annex.
They accept the Passport to Prana and have classes all day long. Ch-ch-check it out.
Oh and also I loved the Octopus Garden! The only reason I didn't venture their sooner is because I'm an uptown girl, wayyyy uptown and the Octopus Garden is located in the Annex.
They accept the Passport to Prana and have classes all day long. Ch-ch-check it out.
Review of Yoga Sanctuary--College St.
The Yoga Sanctuary—College St.
Something about the name The Yoga Sanctuary carries OOMPH. It is one of the better known studios in Toronto and for good reason.
It invites community in with the quiet laughter echoing in the high ceilinged practice studio.
The studio boasts assistants, much like Downward Dog who walk around and give adjustments while the teacher instructs, which is the way to my heart.
Our teacher made a few jokes, which I found funny and every yoga class should have a few funny jokes.
The classes vary from pilates to hatha flow to ashtanga and the teachers are well trained and have been teaching for many years.
I really enjoyed the conversations with students before and after and while the space was damp and sparsely decorated, it did indeed feel like a sanctuary.
Check out the Solstice Dance party complete with a groovy Dj on June 20th, I'll be there!
Something about the name The Yoga Sanctuary carries OOMPH. It is one of the better known studios in Toronto and for good reason.
It invites community in with the quiet laughter echoing in the high ceilinged practice studio.
The studio boasts assistants, much like Downward Dog who walk around and give adjustments while the teacher instructs, which is the way to my heart.
Our teacher made a few jokes, which I found funny and every yoga class should have a few funny jokes.
The classes vary from pilates to hatha flow to ashtanga and the teachers are well trained and have been teaching for many years.
I really enjoyed the conversations with students before and after and while the space was damp and sparsely decorated, it did indeed feel like a sanctuary.
Check out the Solstice Dance party complete with a groovy Dj on June 20th, I'll be there!
Review of Tula Yoga Spa--Central location
Watch out! Yoga police here. To inspect your oriental (is oriental an un PC term?) décor, the vinyasa instruction, your studios hospitality and the overall vibe of your yoga studio. I love my unpaid job as the Yoga Police!
When I asked the reception at Tula Yoga Spa if people make jokes about the guests being tools, she replied without smiling that she had never heard that before.
First impressions are everything if not everything and having help that laughs at my jokes is right up there with teachers who pronounce Sanskrit correctly.
This was Tula Yoga & Spa’s Central location. They have clothes haphazardly displayed, expensive potions and a small tea area (gold star for this) as well as closed off rooms for who knows what—probably spa services. The best part was the ominous attendant dressed completely in black standing behind a partially opaque curtain that made me feel like I had stepped into the matrix.
To their credit the studio at Tula Central is working with a hodge podge layout and it’s not easy to make hodge pode flow seamlessly.
However, if you get the opportunity, I recommend visiting just to see the female washroom. I burst out laughing. I described it to my boyfriend as such:
“As if some people one night came up with the idea for a yoga studio and spa while drinking and then executed in the daylight by maxing out their credit card at Pier 1 Imports”.
There was hardly room for the wash basin with all the matching sets of stone platters to hold napkins and soaps, flowers (fake?) and in front of the showers, the quintessential changing screen, since we can’t like, be naked in front of each other, that would be unnatural.
On to the yoga ! A heated fusion class, the studio itself was averagely nice. Candle light along the borders of the room and a sign outside warning to not make any noise in the studio.
I’m beginning to build a biased against studios with NO TALKING signs. One way you know you are in a community is that you will hear laughter and stories being exchanged. I suppose you could do these things outside the studio, like in the “lifestyle boutique”, but in a world increasingly worshipping the individual, why not invite that community in? Life naturally has noise, not stifled silence.
The teacher was probably new, at one point I wanted to take over for her because the transitions were rough, she made NO jokes and the Sanskrit pronunciations of the postures were horrendous.
In short if you want yoga studios which are breeding grounds for community check out Jivamutki, Downward Dog, 889 Yonge st., Yoga Queen and the Yoga Sanctuary.
If you want mirrors, heated classes, frenetic instruction and few hands on adjustments, check out Moksha Yoga and Tula Yoga.
When I asked the reception at Tula Yoga Spa if people make jokes about the guests being tools, she replied without smiling that she had never heard that before.
First impressions are everything if not everything and having help that laughs at my jokes is right up there with teachers who pronounce Sanskrit correctly.
This was Tula Yoga & Spa’s Central location. They have clothes haphazardly displayed, expensive potions and a small tea area (gold star for this) as well as closed off rooms for who knows what—probably spa services. The best part was the ominous attendant dressed completely in black standing behind a partially opaque curtain that made me feel like I had stepped into the matrix.
To their credit the studio at Tula Central is working with a hodge podge layout and it’s not easy to make hodge pode flow seamlessly.
However, if you get the opportunity, I recommend visiting just to see the female washroom. I burst out laughing. I described it to my boyfriend as such:
“As if some people one night came up with the idea for a yoga studio and spa while drinking and then executed in the daylight by maxing out their credit card at Pier 1 Imports”.
There was hardly room for the wash basin with all the matching sets of stone platters to hold napkins and soaps, flowers (fake?) and in front of the showers, the quintessential changing screen, since we can’t like, be naked in front of each other, that would be unnatural.
On to the yoga ! A heated fusion class, the studio itself was averagely nice. Candle light along the borders of the room and a sign outside warning to not make any noise in the studio.
I’m beginning to build a biased against studios with NO TALKING signs. One way you know you are in a community is that you will hear laughter and stories being exchanged. I suppose you could do these things outside the studio, like in the “lifestyle boutique”, but in a world increasingly worshipping the individual, why not invite that community in? Life naturally has noise, not stifled silence.
The teacher was probably new, at one point I wanted to take over for her because the transitions were rough, she made NO jokes and the Sanskrit pronunciations of the postures were horrendous.
In short if you want yoga studios which are breeding grounds for community check out Jivamutki, Downward Dog, 889 Yonge st., Yoga Queen and the Yoga Sanctuary.
If you want mirrors, heated classes, frenetic instruction and few hands on adjustments, check out Moksha Yoga and Tula Yoga.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Review (sort of )of Downward Dog Downtown
Although I never officially voiced my longing to find a yoga studio in Toronto to consider a home away from home, that was part of this initial quest to sample all the flavors and styles of yoga and report on this here blog!
Now this desire has been fulfilled. I'm talking Downward Dog baby.
Sometimes we hear about a place, again and again, quietly, a casual mention and gradually the tides in our life begin to create the circumstances that lead us to one morning wake up and say
"Enough is enough! I'm grateful to all of the fabulous and my most favorite yoga teachers in Toronto who trained at Downward Dog, I want to go straight to the source!"
Of course the creme de la creme yoga studios are not on board with the Passport to Prana, thus I forked over twenty dollars for a week unlimited at Downward Dog. Usually when I do this, I drag my ass to the studio for the next week so I get my moneys worth. Not with Downward Dog, it's almost as if I float there and pretty soon I find myself walking past the tulips and into the studio once more.
I am very fortunate to have enough training that I could plop right on down in a level 1-2 class with Marla Joy. I'm not going to gloss over and give this teacher a pseudonym. Marla Joy's classes are changing my life. I needed a more nurturing yet totally bad ass teacher in my life. Marla Joy sings at the end of class accompanied by her Shruti box. When we bowed out in gratitude and humility for the space to practice, for all the people all over the universe, I cried. It's usually the most gentle, subtle openings that remind us we can know love and to love is our destiny.
Some great things about Downward Dog include: the general use yoga mat's which *gasps* don't cost anything to borrow! The vibe, the people, who are like grounded tornadoes, very grounded! And the excellent instruction, the music, the singing bowls, the assistants in every class who walk around and help you in ways you didnt know you could be helped, while the teacher is instructing.
I've found the good yoga ju-ju in Toronto. So what do I do with my Passport to Prana? My quest to unearth all the weird and wonderful studios in Toronto? Well I continue, but I may not be so active as I once wasn't.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Review of 889 Yonge
I hope to move into the yoga studio at 889 Yonge st. "Our Tea Garden is the heart of the experience - a place to sip our tea and just be". 889yonge is listed with the Passport to Prana, had it not been for the passport affiliation, I may never have visited.
My first impression from their website was that it was a swanky spa with yoga classes as an afterthought (this is based on my past experiences rather than by fault of the website).
They offer holistic spa services, medicine treatments, yoga classes (vinyasa, detox, ashtanga, beginners workshops etc.) and a boutique.
Located on Yonge St. near Rosedale Ave. I was welcomed by hospitable staff who were down to earth and sharp as a whistle--they laughed at all my jokes and showed me to the studio upstairs.
From their website: "The yoga community at 889 is home to three eco-consciously designed, non-toxic Yoga studios: one filled with natural sunlight and a glorious window overlooking the Rosedale Valley, one which was once the main living area of this late 1800's Victorian home, and one intimate space dimly lit by candles for our 889 Customized Yoga."
The hour long ashtanga class was awe-some. In which the teacher's tone, verbal cues and adjustments allowed my brain to turn off and my body and breath to unify. This is also one of the first classes I have been to in Canada where the teacher pronounced the sahnskrit words correctly.
After class I poured myself a mug of "Shangri-La" tea which was the missing note in my bliss.
The selection of books they carry is so unique, impressed I inquired and was informed, each of the employees has read one of those books.
Downstairs the boutique of clothing and jewelry is carefully selected and arranged, the jewelry is of hand crafted quality I have not seen since I lived at the Shambhala Mountain Center.
The wooden floors, open spaced establishment of 889 Yonge is calming and beautiful. I will be back to check out the other levels and styles of yoga offered and perhaps for a massage and some tea.
A few studios in Toronto could benefit from visiting this establishment and taking notes on how to run a joyful business.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Review of Yoga Queen
In any journalists non-existent career in blogging, there comes a time when personal interests can cloud an objective view.
Thus my Yoga Queen cherry was popped, having tought there, but never been a student.
This was a 'hatha' class, and the pace could not have been more different from my own vinyasa style ( a silly affection for ashtanga does shine through ). And this breakdown of the motions was welcomed by many beginners present and myself, it was a great opportunity to steal--i mean borrow--cues from another teacher.
Founded by fabulous Heather Elson who has been teaching in various capacities for more than sixteen years. Yoga Queen is the only community based yoga centre in Toronto!
Located in Parkdale, you will find intimacy--classes are small, the vibe is relaxed without slouching, playfulness and excellent teachers. As well as a variety of workshops--from a Yoga & Therapy group to Yoga For Smokers who Don't Want to Be, pilates, pre-natal yoga classes, vinyasa, hatha and restorative yoga.
What goes around comes around and these ethics are interwoven with the studios community pay--what--you can classes and karma classes, which are donation based with all proceeds going to charity.
What you won't find: showers or multiple studios.
The studio is one airy bright room with one washroom that opens into the studio. Probably not the greatest place to do a detoxifying flush.
There is no credit card machine. It is simple and more than enough.
My only qualm? The props are beginning to overfloweth, the decor in general should be made more functional and less random looking.
Rock it Yoga Queen!
EDIT: If you can make it to one of Heather's classes and are fortunate enough to have you sing while you are in shivasana, when you leave your body--make sure to come back!
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