Mat Pilates Fundamentals workshop series
Guided by Margo
A series of four in-person workshops
Mondays at 11:00 AM to 12 noon
May 30, June 6, June 13, June 20, 2022
Guided by Margo
A series of four in-person workshops
Mondays at 11:00 AM to 12 noon
May 30, June 6, June 13, June 20, 2022
Have you heard about the incredible benefits of mat Pilates but aren’t sure where to start? This four-week workshop series is for you! Have fun exploring the basic concepts and movements of mat Pilates. Exercises will be broken down so you can learn how to approach certain movements and then build with challenging and inspiring modifications.
Through the progressive sessions you will build body awareness to improve your alignment and intention, and ultimately increase your strength, flexibility, and endurance.
Pilates is a type of mind-body exercise developed in the early 20th century by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates, after whom it was named. Some of the principles that guide the Pilates method include concentration on each movement, use of the abdomen and low back muscles, flowing precise movement patterns, and steady controlled breathing. Pilates focuses more on muscle tone than building muscle and, while it specifically focuses on the core, the exercises coordinate movement and breath to work the smaller and deeper stabilizing muscles of the body just as much as the major muscle groups. Some of the benefits you can expect from a Pilates practice (especially when complemented with a yoga practice) include:
While Pilates is often practised with the use of machines called Reformers, it is just as effective as a series of mat-based exercises. For mat Pilates, all you need is your own body, a yoga mat, and potentially some yoga blocks and a strap.
A 4-week in-person series of 90-minute workshops with Ginty Burns
Tuesdays at 11:30 am June 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2022
For those with limited yoga experience or those coming back after a break and needing a refresher – a series of four weekly 90-minute workshops to explore basic yoga poses and sequences. Each week will focus on a different selection of poses, providing guidance on proper alignment as well as options for those whose bodies don’t always want to cooperate. You will receive a handout each week of all the poses covered. Class sizes are kept small to allow for individual attention.
Examples of poses/sequences covered: (subject to change depending on participant needs)
Week 1: Easy Pose, Thunderbolt, Mountain, Forward Fold, Table, Child, Downward/Upward Dog, Plank, Cobra, Savasana
Week 2: Sun Salutation A, Chaturanga, High/Low Lunges, Warrior I and II, Extended Side Angle, Triangle
Week 3: Sun Salutation B, Chair, Chair Twists, Wide Legged & Seated Forward Folds, Lunge Twists, Goddess, Boat, Half Lord of the Fishes, Pigeon
Week 4: Tree, Eagle, Half Moon, Warrior III, Dancer, Camel, Bow, Bridge
Cost: $95 for all four sessions (discounts applied for those on a monthly membership at Yoga Seven)
“Loved the 4 week yoga basics workshop with Ginty! The small group setting was perfect for exploring and practicing many different poses. It was great to get individual attention, make adjustments, ask questions, and practice together in a supportive and fun environment!”
“After leaving yoga behind for several years, I decided, at well over 65, it was time to re-visit it. I was delighted Yoga Seven’s Yoga Basics workshop. In each session, we reviewed at least 12 different yoga postures. The small group was perfect… an informal and friendly atmosphere that allowed each of us to ask questions and for clarification of some movements. Ginty was patient, encouraging and understanding of any of us nursing some sensitive areas of our body, and I gained sufficient confidence to try a number of yoga classes and identify my favourites. Ginty went above and beyond by providing handouts of each week’s poses. I highly recommend this workshop to anyone who is contemplating yoga or to those who have been practising but would like to confirm correct posture, movements, breathing, etc.“
Guided by Tommy
Coming in September
Do you feel intimidated by arm balances and inversions? Or maybe you’ve tried them in a regular yoga class, but found little opportunity to really break through and keep practising them? Whether you’re just starting to explore going upside down or wanting to advance your inversions, this 4-session intermediate workshop series is for you!
With each class building on what went before, Tommy will give you all the guidance you’ll need to build a solid foundation. You’ll be able to move past your fears and work towards challenging poses such as crow and handstands with confidence.
Cost: $125 for all four sessions
(discounts applied for those on a monthly membership at Yoga Seven)
Guided by Stephanie
Sunday May 15, 2022
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
In person or live streamed
Cost: $45
Discounts of up to 15% for Yoga Seven annual/monthly members
A FREE education session with Y7 yogi Michelle Watson
Sunday, March 20, 2022 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
In this 90-minute session, Michelle will discuss women’s health and how essential oils can provide a healthy and safe alternative to traditional medicine. Topics will include sleep, stress, PMS, menopause and more. You will also learn how to safely and effectively integrate oils into your daily life. While oils will not be sold at the event, you will be given guidelines about how to use those you may already have at home. There will be opportunity for questions.
In person or live streamed. Registration required.
Michelle’s journey with essential oils started from a desire to find natural remedies for a variety of personal ailments. She was drawn to the healing benefits of oils and their ability to create balance within the mind and body. In 2020, Michelle enrolled in a two-year program in a pursuit to become a certified clinical aromatherapist. Throughout the program, her research has focused on women’s health and the role essential oils can play in providing natural alternatives to more traditional pharmaceutical-based interventions.
Michelle is proud to call Port Credit home, where she lives with her husband and son. Her passions include yoga, stand-up paddle boarding and her French bulldog Charlie.
Michelle is not affiliated with doTERRA, Young Living or any other multi-level marketing organization.
April 3: Learn to fly with Tommy
A series of four intermediate arm-balance workshops (details below)
April 4: Yoga Basics workshop series with Ginty
(details below)
April 24: Spring tune-up workshop
With Stephanie DeBou, April 24 (details coming soon)
Summer itself is a special event… so we have decided not to compete for its attentions! Watch this space for special events coming later in the year.
Not sure about a 12-month commitment? A monthly option is available for $145/month – email info@yogaseven.ca for information.
Also available: The same pass with an annual commitment for $115/month – email info@yogaseven.ca for information.
Angie completed an RYT200 program at Kula studio in Oakville. Angie guides mindful movement with emphasis on breath and alignment, and encourages development of body-mind awareness, by drawing inwards during the practice and observing the activities of the mind and sensations in the body. Angie guides meditations inspired by eastern traditions, in particular Buddhism and Classical Tantra. May we practice yoga out of love of ourselves, in order to find the truth for the benefit of all beings!
Tommy started practicing yoga in the late 2000s as a complement to his triathlon training. He would eventually ascend to racing as a professional before a career-ending head injury in 2014. As a yoga teacher. Tommy combines his years of athletic training, coaching and meditation into all of his classes. He specializes in teaching vinyasa, hatha and yin for athletes for strength, performance efficiency, injury prevention, and recovery enhancement, as well as meditation to adjust their training and racing mindset. He enjoys teaching all levels and abilities and creates fun and dynamic asana sequences to challenge and help you deepen your personal practice.
Having a fascination for yoga since she was a young child, Margo finds the practice a powerful force that elevates physical and mental wellbeing. Completing her RYT 200 with the Indian Yoga and Meditation Centre opened many new facets of yoga beyond the physical practice, such as pranayama, yoga Nidra, and meditation.
Recent injuries became a learning opportunity for Margo to change the way she approached instructing her classes. Through this new perspective, she aims to create safe sequences that encourage mobility and strength, as well as providing physical and mental tension release.
Ginty finally listened to her doctors and started practicing yoga when a studio opened up just 100 steps from her home. Her aim was simple—to keep her body moving in spite of the natural effects of aging—but she fell in love with the discipline and opportunities for self discovery inherent in the practice. When an opportunity came to co-found Yoga Seven in 2014, she leaped at the chance of learning about the business of yoga as well. Coming late to the party (at the age of 63), she took her RYT-200 at the Jesse Barlow School of Yoga in Sri Lanka and continues to learn in both the practice and the business. Off the mat, she is involved in many ways with community theatre, and takes a strong interest in weird shoes, diet, and alternative medicine/therapies. In her “spare time” she enjoys gardening and cooking.
Stephanie DeBou is a Toronto/Mississauga based Yoga and Meditation Teacher. She has studied under a number of revered Toronto and International teachers, completing 500 hrs of yoga teacher training at Octopus Garden Yoga Studio. In addition, she has taken many specialized teacher trainings including Restorative Yoga and Functional Movement. Her studies have taken her from Vancouver to Thailand to India to deepen her yoga and meditation practice and knowledge. As a movement and a meditation teacher, she likes to explore the shifting spaces between stillness. Stephanie is passionate about teaching movement that can be a meditation unto itself, and meditations that identify the subtle shifts of the mind and body. She guides her sits and classes with lighthearted compassion and clarity, inviting all to explore the deeper aspects of their mind and body experience.
Yolande is quick to dispel the myth that yoga is only for the young, the strong and the flexible among us… she believes this couldn’t be further from the truth, and that the practice of yoga can provide a gentle and healing path to movement for anybody…or any body, no matter the age, shape or size.
Yolande believes our bodies deserve love and respect, no matter what shape they happen to be in! Human beings were meant to move and yoga is a gentle and loving way to do just that.
Yolande personally discovered yoga after losing a loved one more than a decade ago; it was on her mat that she was able to process her grief, calm her mind, and strengthen her body. She fell in love with the practice and decided to become a teacher. Yoga has transformed her life and nothing makes her happier than sharing it with others!
Claudette has been practicing yoga since 2006 and has been a certified teacher since 2014. She has always been passionate about fitness—an important part of her life that makes her feel better both physically and mentally. Her love of yoga began when she discovered that fitness was not all about cardio and strength. Her body was letting her know that it needed something else to balance things out, so she decided to try a yoga class to increase her flexibility. At first, she I thought “Ok, I enjoyed that but I’m not sure I was doing the poses right or breathing at the right time.” But as soon as she let go of the worry of doing it right, she shifted into just moving into what felt good and was hooked. Her training and certifications include Power Yoga Canada Teacher Training , Baptiste Level 1, Baptiste Level 2, Art of Assisting, Corporate and Private Teacher training, and Restorative Teacher training. She loves to share the benefits that yoga has to offer, both on and off the mat.
Jen’s yoga journey began in 2007 when she was looking for a space to slow down, breathe, and move. One hot yoga class later and she was hooked! Teaching since 2010, yoga has unlocked her power not only in her physical life but in her personal life as well, giving her the self-confidence to walk through life’s ups and downs. As a high school teacher, it has always been her passion to motivate and encourage others, and when she found yoga, she found exactly what she was looking for. Not only does she love the natural endorphins gained from the practice, she also loves the revived sense of happiness, peace, and strength she feels after every class. Through a combination or movement, intention, and music, Jen will create an experience that will leave you feeling strong, motivated and ready to take on the world!
Dave Grohl of Nirvana and The Foo Fighters once said “One of the great things about music is that you can sing a song to 85,000 people and they’ll sing it back for 85,000 different reasons.” It’s no less true for yoga…
All of us find our mats for a reason — or reasons — uniquely our own and those reasons are just as likely to change and grow as our practice does the same. That’s the beauty of yoga for me in a nutshell. I found my mat through injury, but as my practice evolved, so did the reason that I wanted to practice and then, eventually, teach. If I can find a daily practice after fourteen knee surgeries and an ankle reconstruction, then anyone can too.
I honestly believe that there is a yoga practice for everyone no matter your physical challenges or abilities. Let’s work on finding a practice that meets your needs and allows you to grow into greater challenge at your own pace, with a practice that is led, but still uniquely your own.
Katelynn is passionate about teaching and sharing her knowledge of body movement, alignment and anatomy. After dancing professionally on resorts and cruise ships for over 5 years, she travelled to Brazil in 2012 to train and become a Certified Yoga Instructor with David Lee Lurey.
Since then she has completed:
Katelynn has also travelled to the homeland to study Yoga in Goa, India in 2017 with Lisa Messina. Since 2011, she has taught all over the City of Toronto, including Mount Sinai, Toronto General, and Toronto Western Hospitals, the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, and Yoga studios such as Mosaic and Octopus Garden. Her experience is immediately recognized through her clear and concise cueing, seamless transitions, relevant modifications, and thoughtfully challenging exercises. She welcomes all levels and body types, while maintaining a safe space for everyone to participate at their own pace.
Her playful spirit and joy for life are so evident that you immediately feel welcomed, at ease, and ready for a great workout!
Sara empowers people to improve their physical & spiritual health. Her fluid classes focus on connecting breath and movement. Sara has a strong focus on alignment and functional core integration. She developed a keen interest in food & health as a teenager and has been eager to learn ever since. In 2006 Sara began teaching high school level nutrition. Next she took her 70 hour Pilates teacher training in 2008. After developing some severe allergies, Sara turned to yoga to help manage stress and her condition. To deepen her practice, she completed her 200 hour Hatha Yoga teacher certification in 2017 and began teaching yoga that summer. Sara is a life-long learner and continues to build her repertoire of exercises, modifications and therapeutics. She is a creative & enthusiastic teacher who loves wellness and nature!
The secret for Joanne, in getting through some really tough times, dealing with stress, and staying healthy, has been yoga. The studio became a saving grace for her – it gave her a place to go every day and that sense of community and belonging that she was missing – it became her home away from home. In addition to challenging her body and the fitness benefits, it was the sense of community and friendships, and the sense of mindfulness that allowed her to focus and brought her back to life. Inspired by what she had experienced and with the encouragement of her teachers, Joanne completed her RYT-200 certification in 2013. Joanne is grateful to her teachers who have influenced her attention to proper alignment, playfulness and honouring your own body. She has a devoted practice and passion for yoga that continues to grow and expand. Yoga had the power to transform Joanne’s life and beliefs and sharing yoga has become one of her greatest joys.
Joanne realized her life-long dream of becoming an entrepreneur when she co-founded Yoga Seven in March 2014. Prior to embarking on her first entrepreneurial venture, Joanne enjoyed a successful career in working in the finance, media, and entertainment industries. A long-time health and wellness enthusiast, she graduated with a Kinesiology degree from the University of Western. Joanne achieved another life-long dream when she completed her MBA in 2015 at the Kellogg-Schulich School of Business where she had the opportunity to study in Toronto, Chicago, Brazil, Germany and China. Off the mat, she can be found spending time with her family, swimming, and baking … pies are her specialty!