YOGA CENTRE TORONTO
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : y**a@y***************o.ca
Mission Statement
Founded in 1972, Yoga Centre Toronto (YCT) promotes active living and well-being through teaching and practice of Iyengar Yoga. This style of yoga is for everyone – all body types, ages, and levels of fitness and mobility. This style of yoga is for everyone – all body types, ages, and levels of fitness and mobility. Our students come from all walks of life, ranging in age from 8 to 85. Our teachers are internationally certified and undertake continuing professional development. Yoga Centre Toronto offers back care, cardiac, and multiple sclerosis classes, as well as special needs classes for those with joint and mobility problems or other health issues. These classes serve over 100 students in each of three 10-week sessions/year. Many students recover or learn how to adapt their practice for their condition and move to general classes. Yoga Centre Toronto contributes to developing and strengthening an evidence-informed approach to practice.
About This Cause
Founded in 1972, Yoga Centre Toronto promotes active living and well-being through teaching and practice of Iyengar Yoga. This style of yoga is for everyone – all body types, ages, and levels of fitness and mobility. Our students come from all walks of life, ranging in age from 8 to 85. Our teachers are internationally certified and undertake continuing professional development. Each student works at their own level under the guidance of an experienced teacher in three streams of classes: (1) Over 30 general classes/week, helping beginners to experienced students live healthy and active lives: This includes classes tailored to the needs of teens, pregnant women, and seniors. Increasing mobility, stability, strength, and alignment is a key focus in all classes. The intense concentration draws attention inward, quieting and integrating the mind and body. Students are also encouraged to develop a home practice in order to build activity and the benefits of yoga into their daily routine. (2) 9 classes/week for those who need adapted practices to help them achieve their full potential: Our teachers are trained to address the unique needs of those with injuries, illnesses, and chronic diseases in a safe and inclusive way. Some students have so much back pain that they find it difficult to sit or stand. Others are blind, have acquired brain injury, or are undergoing chemotherapy. We offer back care, cardiac, and multiple sclerosis classes, as well as special needs classes for those with joint and mobility problems or other health issues. These classes serve over 100 students in each of three 10-week sessions/year. Many students recover or learn how to adapt their practice for their condition and move to general classes. (3) Three-year teacher training and upgrading based on an international curriculum: Graduates must pass a rigorous national assessment before they are certified to teach. In addition to on-going life-long learning, many teachers progress through advanced teacher training. Yoga Centre Toronto regularly hosts assessments for teachers from across Canada. All classes are open to everyone, regardless of ability to pay. We raise over $50,000 annually for the Access to Yoga Fund. It covers bursaries for class fees, special props that allow us to adapt the practice to a student’s unique needs, and other requirements to ensure that all can benefit from yoga and actively participate in our community. Our teachers also offer free or reduced fee outreach classes across Toronto, serving those who would not otherwise be able to practice yoga. Furthermore, Yoga Centre Toronto contributes to developing and strengthening an evidence-informed approach to practice. For instance, our senior teacher has produced a comprehensive compendium of practices suitable for those with many different types of health problems, from asthma to fibromyalgia. We also support research. For example, results from studies on the effects of Iyengar Yoga for those with cardiac and chronic respiratory problems have been published in the peer-reviewed literature. Current studies include yoga’s effects on pulmonary hypertension, kidney, and eye health, as well as fertility, pain, and addiction support. Goals: The primary goal of YCT is to provide the access of Iyengar Yoga to everyone regardless of age, race, gender, ability, size, injury, illness or mental and physical condition. Within this framework, the goals are: • To focus on concentrated movements to fine tune the body and to increase mobility, stability, strength and alignment. • To draw the attention inward, quieting and integrating the mind and body • To empower practitioners with tools and techniques for fostering the well-being of body and mind • To focus on the disciplines of the postures or asanas and the breath • To introduce postures gradually and systematically, and eventually include standing poses, inversions, forward bends, and twists as well as positions for both quiet reflection and complete relaxation • To properly understand and synchronize the poses and the breath to exercise, strengthen, balance, and cleanse every system of the body, including the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, immune, digestive, nervous, and respiratory • To counteract the stresses of daily life • To adapt the asanas for all ages and levels of fitness, injury, illness, and chronic disease Achievements: Yoga Centre Toronto is an important Iyengar Yoga Centre, not just because of its large student base, but also because of the 1) Teacher Training Program, 2) the Continuing Education Program to train teachers for higher levels of certification and, 3) the comprehensive Therapeutic Program 4) YCT is one of only two major centres in Canada that have the population and resources to support some of the work of the Iyengar Association of Canada. We are one of the only two major Iyengar Yoga Centres with the resources to train and conduct the higher levels of assessment. Perhaps the greatest achievement of YCT is reflected in the numerous testimonials given by the students with chronic fatigue, fibro myalgia, cancer, and mental and/or physical injury. For example, here are excerpts from two people who regularly attends classes at YCT: Irving G. As a person with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), yoga has had a huge effect on me physically. I have increased mobility, leg strength and balance. My core strength and stamina are markedly improved; I’m in better physical condition then before I was diagnosed with MS. I can walk further and for longer periods than when I was first diagnosed. Ghislaine A. I feel that I am on the path to where I want to be as a spiritual level, and I am learning that the practice teaches me to look inside myself. Yoga has brought me an awareness of a philosophy of life that makes sense to me. I am no longer looking for the meaning of life. I am no longer trying to be perfect. I am, instead, accepting who I am and learning more about myself. (Other such testimonial are posted on the YCT website: http://yogacentretoronto.ca/) Other significant achievements include the following: • Cardiac study presentation with the University of West Virginia research project in 2009 into the benefits of Iyengar yoga and optical conditions • YCT featured in the documentary focusing on LAM disease • Teachers in Training establishing Outreach classes as part of their curriculum to spread the work of Iyengar Yoga • Partnership with the J.D.D Diamond Centre working with students who are not adapting easily to the traditional classroom instruction. The YCT implemented two structured Iyengar yoga classes per week for middle and high school students with marked and measurable success Clients/ groups served Yoga Centre Toronto is a seven-day-a-week operation. The YCT curriculum includes general classes ranging from Foundations, to Levels 3 and 4, therapeutic classes for practitioners with medical problems such as cardiac or physical injuries, as well as classes for teens, seniors, and students with MS. Our primary constituents are individuals from all walks of life, professionals and non-professionals, who currently use our programs and services or attend yoga classes on a regular basis. Within this framework, we target our goal to provide the access of Iyengar Yoga to everyone regardless of age, race, gender, ability, size, injury, illness or mental and physical condition. Our secondary constituents are individuals who occasionally attend regular classes or use our programs and services as needed. We also target students who would like to be Yoga teachers. YCT offers a 3 year Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training Program that is a recognized Ontario Education Program, and attracts students not only from Ontario, but all of Canada. Geographic area served: North Toronto, the GTA, and South Western Ontario for regular and therapeutic classes and Canada wide for the Teacher Training program.