Yoga & You
Yoga Centre Toronto’s Newsletter
Special 2009 Holiday Edition

December 2009

As you’ve come to know, we always strive to fill this newsletter with information that you’ll find useful and informative so that you’ll be inspired to practice more and better yoga. While we always hope to inspire and help you, there are times we hope you will be able to inspire and help others, too. As the holiday season approaches, this is one of those times.

Access to Yoga

If you’ve been to YCT lately you’ve probably noticed that our annual ACCCESS TO YOGA fundraising campaign is now under way, (Campaign letter attached). This year, our Access to Yoga campaign is celebrating the privilege of having direct access to the source of the yoga we practice and teach, which is why the campaign is called Access to the Source. What is the source, you may ask? The source consists of Mr. B.K.S. Iyengar himself, his daughter Geeta S. Iyengar, his son Prashant Iyengar and their place of study in Pune, India, called the Ramamani Memorial Institute.

It’s not much of a stretch to say that Mr. Iyengar is currently the best known yoga practitioner and teacher in the world. Amongst his many accomplishments is being named to TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. We at YCT feel honoured and blessed to have direct contact with Mr. Iyengar and his family. Our teachers regularly leave their homes and families for a month at a time to travel to India to study with the Iyengars and to bring their unfiltered teachings back to you at YCT. How’s that for dedication? The Iyengars are constantly making adjustments to the poses and to the pose sequences to ensure that we obtain the maximum benefits from our practices. They are also developing new practices to help heal various injuries and ailments. All of this information is sent directly to us at YCT. This is just one of the many things that make YCT stand head and shoulders above other yoga studios.

YCT is a charitable organization that is run on a not for profit basis. The regular classes we offer are just a small part of what we do. With the blessing and support of Mr. Iyengar, we are able to help students by offering special classes for back care, cardiac problems, multiple sclerosis, knee problems, children, teens and a host of other special needs. Mr. Iyengar has developed the practice of yoga to the level where the treatment of special needs by yoga is now possible. Not many yoga studios can make this claim.  Unfortunately, we cannot afford to offer these therapeutic classes without your generosity because they require specialized equipment and many of the students involved cannot afford to pay for the classes or for the equipment.

If you’ve already donated to our Access to the Source fund, thank you very much. We really appreciate your support. If you haven’t donated yet, it’s not too late! Remember, every dollar you donate goes directly to helping YCT students in need or to furthering our clinical studies. That’s why every donation, regardless of its size, will make a difference. Think about it – a one and a half class costs just $23 (approximately). Your donation of just $23 allows someone to take a class which they otherwise would not be able take. Larger donations allow for more classes to be taken. So far, we’ve raised $23,600 for the fund. Our goal is to raise $40,000. Please help as best you can and donate to the Access to the Source fund. Cash, cheques and credit cards are all welcome (although cash and cheques are preferred so we don’t have to pay a fee to the credit card companies). In donating to the Access to the Source fund, you’re giving the gift of yoga to someone who will cherish it and you’ll receive a tax receipt for income tax purposes, as well.

In Celebration!
B.K.S. Iyengar will celebrate his 91st birthday on December 14, this year.  Join us the week of December 12th through 17th, at YCT, as we celebrate with sweets and treats, in honour of this special occasion.
 
Practicing at Home

• As you know, one of the best ways to improve and develop your own practice is to practice at home. It doesn’t matter how much time you’re able to devote to your home practice. Every little bit helps. As mentioned in previous newsletters, please don’t be shy about asking one of your teachers if you’d like some advice on putting together a home practice. They’ll be happy to help. If you need to buy some equipment for your home practice, please ask at the front desk.

• The convenient Yonge Street location close to the Eglinton subway station.
• The bright, clean and modern studio complete with all the equipment and facilities you’ll need, including mats.
• Yoga has stood the test of time and provided benefits to people like you for hundreds of years and is not the latest fad.
• Our teachers are highly qualified and experienced and have completed a rigorous three year training program to guide you.
• You receive personalized attention and very detailed instructions about how to do each pose in a safe and effective manner so you don’t get injured.
• You receive advice and demonstrations about how to use our props and equipment to do the poses you find difficult to do.
• There are plenty of classes every day of the week to choose from.
• There are different levels of classes so you can practice with students of similar ability.
• There are many extra classes and seminars if you want to learn and practice more.
• You’ll benefit from our direct link to Mr. Iyengar, who lives in India and who is constantly refining and improving the poses.
• Most importantly, if you practice regularly, you can expect to be stronger, more flexible, less stressed and in better overall health!

We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a new year, 2010, that is filled with all the good health and happiness that you could ever hope for.
As we all know, good health will be essential to enjoying 2010. You may come to YCT to practice yoga and improve and maintain your good health or you may come to YCT to help remedy a particular ailment. Whatever your reason, make sure to remember your yoga practice when you make your new year’s resolutions. A consistent and persistent practice will improve the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of your life in 2010. Consider taking more classes, trying out new teachers, attending a workshop (there are workshops available for all levels), taking an intensive or attending a sadhana in 2010. The more yoga you do, the better you’ll feel, and the better you feel, the more you’ll enjoy 2010.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank you for being a student of YCT. We know there are many different styles of yoga and different yoga studios from which to choose. While we may think that YCT is the best place to take classes, for a whole bunch of reasons, it’s nice to know that you think so, too. We really appreciate your loyalty.