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Did you ever want to try out a Moksha yoga class…for free?

On August 29^th Moksha will be hosting a full day of free yoga classes – all studios are participating! This promo was designed to help Canadians de-stress with a relaxing 60 minute yoga class. The nearest studio to me, Moksha Yoga Uptown, is offering 9 yoga classes that day – hot yoga, yin, Hatha, Ashtanga and Pilates classes are all being offered. They will also be accepting donations which will benefit the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) which is awesome way to give back to the community.

For those of you that are interested check out the Moksha website to find what the studio nearest you is offering that day. This is a great opportunity to find out if Moksha is for you and even if it isn’t you will get a fantastic workout. Whenever I do a class there I feel as though I have been completely detoxified. Unfortunately, for me those results are usually counteracted when I head down to Terroni straight after for one of their yummy pizzas and red wine…

I seemed to be in a punishing mood this Saturday as I swapped my regular Pilates class for a 90 minute hot yoga class at Moksha Uptown. I used to go to this particular Moksha studio quite a lot in the winter, but have slacked off in recent months as my schedule has gotten busier. I also found that their 90 minute classes are often a bit too much for me – 60 minute classes seem to suit me better but aren’t that convenient for me to get to. It’s not really so much to do with the heat, but the extra length of time holding poses that aren’t my favourites in the first place. Dancers pose and something called salabasana are definitely positions my body is not meant to be in.

This particular class I found myself in on Saturday was taught by one of their more hardcore teachers – normally @ Moksha you don’t end up doing a lot of downward dogs, but she kept on having us do some flow sequences which meant that I had to take a lot of breaks. I do find, though, that you tend to “get away with a lot” at any of the Moksha studios I have been to. Teachers there just don’t tend to correct – not sure if there is some form of philosophy behind that. So chances are I’m probably not doing a lot of the poses correctly?

What to expect at the studio?

The studio itself is clean, but kind of tight on space. The woman’s change room is actually extremely cramped and you will often find yourself waiting for some space to use. I would not advise showering there either. Bathrooms are also not located inside the studio space which is kind of annoying.

Why go here?

Escape the winter air and feel some warmth

Getting soft skin (I swear after class here your skin feels so soft!)

Try something new

Tip: Check out Yoga Journals’ online pose directory for some good tips/variations about what yoga poses are and how to do them properly.

In an effort to use up some  Passport to Prana, I decided to branch out and try another Moksha studio — Moksha Danforth.

I must admit I judged the studio as soon as I saw the building it was in. It just looked sweaty. I know a building can’t be physically sweaty, but if it could this one would be in the top 10 sweatiest buildings.

I once overhead teachers at the Moksha Uptown saying that each Moksha studio had its own vibe and never really understood how this was possible. After all aren’t they all supposed to be selling the same product: hot yoga? How different could it be?

Well, I soon found out they can be very different. The poses were the same, but the whole experience wasn’t.

The main issue was the heat. I knew that I had signed up for a 90 minute hot yoga class, but I didn’t know I had signed up to do a hot yoga class in a steam room. It was that humid. I think it was around 65% humidity in there. Five minutes in and even my legs were sweating. I thought I was going to die. All I could think was if I can do a marathon I can surely do this.

Highlight of Moksha Danforth was the Big Carrot juice I had afterwards — delicious and freshly squeezed. That and the mani/pedi I had at Urban Nails before yoga made the trip to Moksha Danforth worthwhile.

Where to find Moksha Danforth?

372A Danforth Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M4P 2H1

Phone: 416-778-7744