Yoga Workshops for Everyone

Friday, May 27, with Peter Blackaby, 1:00pm-3:00pm ET, $45
on Zoom

Life can be turbulent and much of what happens is beyond our control. We feel swept away by the thoughts and feelings that arise in the maelstrom of life. This class will seek to weave a way through the thoughts and emotions back to proprioceptive sensations and finally to the potentially quieter place of our interoceptive selves, a place where we can steady ourselves and restore some sense of equilibrium.

Pete Blackaby is a yoga teacher and osteopath based in Brighton, UK, and the author of the book, Intelligent Yoga. His outlook and approach encompass the complex relationship among things and the way perception influences everything.

Image: Under a Stormy Sky by Vincent Van Gogh

Sunday, May 29, with Donna Oliver, 2:30pm-4:30pm, $40
at the Studio

The Tiger Qigong forms are great at loosening and increasing the flexibility of the spine, improving balance, awareness and the co-ordination of mind and body. Its a great workout session that will leave you feeling energized and de-stressed.

Friday, June 3, with Tama Soble, 1:00pm-3:00pm ET, $40
on Zoom

The psoas muscle is powerful and intelligent. It lies deep in the torso connecting spine, pelvis and legs. Understanding how to release, stretch and strengthen the psoas can help us to integrate and stabilize the entire physical body and free up the respiratory system. We will explore postures and breathing practices to deepen our awareness and understanding of the role of the psoas in a balanced, resilient and steady body and mind.

Sunday, June 5, with Tara Detwiler, 2:30pm-4:30pm, $40
at the Studio

This class will explore gentle movement, self touch, and optional partnered touch as ways to ease constriction in the pelvic, shoulder and jaw girdles. These girdles connect the spine to the limbs. Our self protection responses — fight, flight and freeze — arise when we perceive threat. Our limbs engage. After, if not fully deactivated, tension can remain in the girdles. To understand how this works, we will review the essential functions of the nervous system. 

Tara Detwiler was introduced to Rolfing when she was 20 years old…

Sunday, June 12, with John Campbell, 11:00am-12:30pm, $30
on Zoom

Yoga Nidra is a meditation practice that dates back to the time of the Upanishads. Today, yoga nidra is widely used both as  meditation and as a therapeutic tool for PTSD, other psychological trauma and distress. Yoga nidra is experiential and produces a state of deep relaxation, similar to sleep, in which we remain aware. From this place, we experience, notice and welcome the comings and goings of different aspects and layers of the self such as physical sensations, feelings, emotions, thoughts and beliefs. In yoga nidra, we are given the opportunity to feel past all these fluctuations and rest in the unchanging, peaceful, welcoming ground of our being.

John Campbell has been practising yoga at Esther Myers Yoga Studio for over 35 years and is a graduate of the EMYS Teacher Training Programme.

Sunday, June 19, with Mar Jean Olson, 11:00am-12:30pm ET, $30
on Zoom

Join us in learning about our vital lymph system. We’ll focus on easy exercises for the flushing, drainage, and circulation of this open network which continually changes and is essential to our immune system. Everyone is welcome.

Sunday, June 19, with Donna Oliver, 2:30pm – 4:30pm, $40
at the Studio

Beautiful soft flowing movements characterize this energizing set. Wuxing translates to Five Phases. Gentle stretching of the torso and limbs encourage Qi to flow from one organ system to another in a “phase” or cycle to nourish the 5 major body organ systems and keep the whole body functioning at its best. Standing is required.

Wednesday, June 29 and Thursday, August 11, with Monica Voss, 10:00am-11:30am, no charge
field trips

Walking a labyrinth increases focus and concentration. As we walk in contemplation, we pay more attention to our breathing and our thoughts and sometimes the less helpful thoughts decrease and by the end, the mind feels refreshed.

Those taking public transit will meet outside the High Park Subway Station (toward High Park Av.) at 9:30am and walk to the Labyrinth together. If you are travelling by car enter the park from Bloor Street West (not the Queensway) and follow the road to the Grenadier Restaurant parking lot. Let’s convene just outside the entrance to the Restaurant at 10:00am.

Please register for this event. You will be contacted by email by 8:30am should we have to cancel due to inclement weather.

Sunday, July 10, with Sandie Collins, 11:00am-12:30pm ET, $30
on Zoom

Derived from Zen Buddhism, the Enso circle symbolizes many things: strength, the circle of life, connection, letting go of expectations, the beauty in imperfection and simply a circle or circle of togetherness.  

We will begin with yoga including circular movements. Focusing on breath and awareness of thought and feeling, we’ll draw or paint and meditate on the process and the product. The very imperfections are what make the Enso so beautiful.

Materials needed :
– pencil, marker, brush any size or a large round brush, if you have one or are willing to invest in one
– paper: cartridge paper, any size newsprint or bond paper (18” x 24” suggested)
– black watercolour or tempera paint or acrylic or ink
– bowl of water, paper towel for clean up
– paper weight or stone to hold paper in place

Check out  The Zen Circles of Kazuaki Tanahashi

Enso/Zen Circle image by Sandie Collins

Monday, July 11 and Friday, August 5, with Tama Soble
9:00am-11:30am, PWYC
field trips

Take your yoga outdoors. Feel the ground underneath your feet and allow nature to enliven your practice. Please pack a water bottle and bring a yoga mat.
We will meet outside the Heath Street exit of the St. Clair West Subway Station at 8:45am.

For more information email: tama@estheryoga.com

You will be contacted by email by 7:15am should we have to cancel due to inclement weather.

Wednesday, July 13 and September 14, 7:00pm ET, on Zoom
RSVP to receive the link.

Everyone welcome, please enquire. Long distance learning is possible.
Ongoing intake throughout 2022/2023.

For those interested in becoming a yoga teacher, enhancing a previous training or simply expanding their own practice and knowledge.

We offer a uniquely organic approach to yoga practice and teaching. Our programme combines asana, pranayama and meditation with lecture, discussion, and practicum to create a balanced outlook that will enliven all aspects of your teaching and your approach to the body/mind. You are supported, encouraged, and empowered to question and explore, to find your own path and voice. 

There is a new non-academic option for those not intending to teach.

Meet the faculty and learn the details of this comprehensive training. Bring your questions.
Contact Tama Soble for more information or to make a private phone or Zoom appointment, tama@estheryoga.com

Friday, July 15, with Monica Voss, 1:00pm-3:00pm ET, $40
on Zoom

Many of us have spent years releasing the lower spine, pelvis, legs and feet onto, then into the ground, learning to go with the pull of gravity towards the centre of the earth and accept support. Gravity is unconditional, continuous and unchanging, as far as we know.

Gravity is also pulsating – like the universe itself – and acts in an upward surge, causing an updraft, upswing, rebound, or simply the other half of the downward force. This is the energy that holds the earth in its orbit. The opposite movement, away from the ground when we’re vertical is a little more difficult to access, yet it is tangible, visible and palpable.

We’ll use relaxation, breathing practice, stretching and yoga postures to release, warm, stimulate and experience not only rooting the lower body, but expanding and blossoming through the upper part.

Image: Small Yellow by Wassily Kandinsky

Sunday, July 17, with Kathy Felkai, 11:00am-12:30pm ET, $30
on Zoom

An interactive workshop for students living with chronic pain and for yoga teachers who would like to learn to guide their students toward management and recovery. We will explore gentle yoga postures and breathing exercises to help relieve pain, improve mobility, reduce anxiety, lift mood and rediscover the joy of movement.
Painting: Lilies and Vetch by Tom Thomson

Kathy Felkai began practising yoga when she was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. She …

Sunday, August 7, with Monica Voss, 10:30am–3:00pm ET, $60/full day, $30/half day, sliding scale available, included in your unlimited at the Studio.
morning only: 10:30am-12:30pm, afternoon only: 1:30pm-3:00pm
on Zoom

Take a day to celebrate breath, relaxation and natural movement as the sun glows warm, the gardens ripen and the crickets begin their evening chirruping. Bring shiny summer freshness into your body and heart with yoga. Everyone is welcome.