Yoga and Aryuveda
with Ann Marie Hood
Saturday, Jan 16 & Sunday, Jan 17
$225.00

Ayurveda is the sister science to and medical aspect of Yoga. Emphasizing the unique physical, emotional and mental constitution of each individual, at its best, Ayurveda offers practioners a framework for self observation which roots subjective experience in the elemental qualities of the created world. It also helps to explain why certain kinds of people are attracted to particular styles of yogasana practice and avoid others.

More info and register ->

YIN YANG YUM
with Cora Wen
Friday, Feb 19, Saturday, Feb 20 & Sunday, Feb 21
$225.00

One of the most important aspects of Yoga is to develop balance in body, mind and spirit. We look for flexibility in the body and mind, while developing strength and stamina to ease through life.

Cora will bring the Chinese wisdom of Yin and Yang into your practice and show the interconnected, interdependent ways to harmonize mobility and stability. A body can be very flexible, but not able to control it, or very strong and stable but not have enough mobility and range.

Yin and Yang are complementary opposites within a greater whole, and everything is both, constantly interacting and collaborating. Cora will show her playful and “sneaky” sequences to show you how to find your Yin Yang YUM Yoga!

More info and register ->

Yoga Therapy
with Karusia Wroblewski
Friday, Jan 29 , Saturday, Jan 30 & Sunday, Jan 31
Saturday, Feb 6 & Sunday, Feb 7
$425.00

Deepening our understanding of the tools of Yoga Therapy. These weekends will encompass the topics of posture and creating asymmetrical postural practices (when needed), breath work, meditation, sound and touch.

Topics covered will be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), asthma and/or special requests from enrolled students. We will also look at how to take good care of the caregiver.

More info and register ->

To Our Community of the Heart
from GoGratitude.com

Thank you for being a part of our lives, and sharing time in 2009 together!

May this New Year be one of Joy, abundance, good-will, peaceful awakenings and graceful journeys. May we have courage to look for the blessing in every moment, and the audacity to celebrate it!

May compassion reign in our hearts and kindness ring
through every word. May our waking dreams be filled
with joy, creativity and passionate pursuits. May our hearts and minds be joined as One; unified within, so without.

May we remember we are all Children of the Earth: kindred spirits, brothers and sisters, members of the Great family of Love.

May we choose Love over fear; unity and harmony over separation and discord. May we have the strength to claim our authentic power; standing true in Word, action and deed, and with firm resolve BE the change we wish to see in the world.

May our children see the Light of Love in our eyes. May our elders be honored for the wisdom each bears. May every Heart trust they are Divinely endowed with the birth-right to thrive, and wake each day celebrating the Great-Full-Ness of life.

May we remember Heaven is within our Hearts, opening our eyes to the sacred in all things. May we breathe prayers of thanks into each moment, and with reverence honor the gift this Life brings.

This is our prayer. We give thanks it is so! And so it is!

Yin is our feminine energy. She is the mother energy responsible for compassion, creativity, insight and love. She is the energy of winter. She contracts, slows down and turns her energies inward. She has tremendous power that we can't rush.

As we charge ahead, resenting the discomfort the cold and dark that winters bring, we may overlook the wisdom this time of year has to offer. Nature retracts and recoils its energies inward during these months to conserve, renew and rest before spring. We on the other hand continue to move, expand and consume our energy in times when we should be doing the opposite.

When we neglect to nourish our yin, we can begin to develop signs of anxiety, depression, fatigue, insomnia and illness. These are ways that our bodies communicate to us that we are out of balance.

Yin yoga is a return to cultivating these subtle and powerful energies. We settle into a pose, find our edge (the place we need to explore), and breath. There is no need to rush or to make your body look a certain way. It’s all about the stillness with the magic ingredient of time.

We close our eyes blocking out external distractions and travel deep into the mysteries of our inner landscape. For many of us this terrain is unchartered territory; places we've neglected or abused for many years and have been too busy to revisit. These are the gems of our practice that have been waiting for us to slow down and pay attention.

As we shine our light into these deep, dark crevicesand take our time to explore the details with compassion and patience we begin to breathe life back into these parts of our bodies. It takes tremendous courage to embrace the unknown and to befriend the dark spaces, and in the end it's our only way back home.

Cathy teaches Yin/Yang yoga classes at the Danforth studio Monday and Wednesday nights at 7:10pm and Saturday at 3:15pm. She is also teaching a Yin Yoga teacher training beginning in April 2010.

Treat Your
LOVED ONE
on Valentine's Day!

In this 6-hour workshop you will learn new ways to give nurturing touch to your partner. Our hands-on course will provide you and your partner with the knowledge to perform a 30 minute full-body Thai Yoga Massage.

Lotus Palm
School of Thai Yoga Massage

Recipes from
Orlando's Living Kitchen

Oatmeal Cacao Raisin Cookies

Mantra for January
Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha

This mantra clears away any obstacles that my stand between you and whatever you desire.

Happy New Decade!

We hope you have been enjoying the first few days of 2010.

We are happy to let you know that a wonderful group of 25 yoginis and yogis attended our January 1, 108 Sun Salutations for charity and we raised $400 for CARE Canada!

How great is that?

Kirtan with Kailash
@ Danforth
Friday Feb 5 - 7 to 9pm

Devotional Chanting is all about using your voice to cultivate and sustain the highest quality of mental and emotion experience available to human beings.

When you repeat the mantras ("mind-protectors"), you're pronouncing the very Sound Forms of Perfection--you're making the Supreme, the Best you can imagine, present in the form of your own voice. In so doing, you exchange our ordinary, troubled minds and hearts for something higher, more refined, and infinitely more vast.

The effects over time include greater peace of mind and emotional fulfillment, a reduction in the unhealthy self-concern that causes us so much suffering, and direct knowledge of the Divine.