We host regular workshops, specialty classes, and events to deepen your practice in a community setting. Payment is required at the time of registration and GST will be added to the price. We often require a minimum number of participants to run a workshop, so if you are considering attending, please register one week prior to avoid disappointment.
Candlelit Yoga & Meditation
with Kelly Yaskiw
September 20th, 7:30-9:00 pm
Nourish your nervous system with this grounding candlelit practice. Kelly will lead you through 90 minutes of gentle yoga postures, yoga nidra, pranayama, meditation, and mantra designed to calm your mind and body. This class will offer you an opportunity to slow down, be still, and listen to your internal wisdom. The practices are beginner friendly and open to all.
Investment: Before September 16th $20/ After $30
Fall Yoga Workshop
with Jenafor Ryane
Saturday, September 21st, 1:30-4:00pm
After the long, warm, playful days of Summer, Fall’s swift arrival can feel abrupt and can present some physical and mental challenges. Fall sweeps in with crisp air, shorter days, and a long list of “to-do’s”, which challenges our immune system, our energy levels, and our ability to remain grounded and mindful. But with a regularly scheduled Yoga practice specific to Fall season, you can remain peaceful, stable, and healthy no matter what the Fall winds blow your way!
In this 2.5 hour workshop for Fall season, Jenafor will introduce Fall Yoga practices informed by Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Jenafor will guide you through a gentle Hatha practice, followed by Yin, Restorative, Shavasana, and a grounding Meditation to close. Fall Pranayama (breathing) practices will be offered throughout the workshop.
A Fall Yoga handout with reflection questions will be provided along with time for journaling for those who want to. Bring your journal and a pen if you wish. This is a follow-up workshop to Jenafor’s Summer Yoga workshop, and the second installment in her Seasonal Yoga series. Watch for her Winter Yoga workshop later this year.
Investment: Before September 16th $35/ After $45
This workshop is now SOLD OUT!
Friday Night Kirtan
With Kelly, Tia, and Damian
Friday, September 27th, 7:30-9:00pm
Kirtan is a form of Bhakti (devotional) Yoga where community gathers to share in call-and-response chanting, therein discovering that which unites us to each other. Most of the chants are in the ancient but timeless Sanskrit language. These sounds vibrate within the physical and subtle body, quieting the mind and purifying the heart. No experience is necessary, and song sheets are provided.
Investment: $5-$20 Sliding Scale
Youthful Vigor: Qi Gong for Healthy Bones & Joints
with Wesley Salter
Saturday, September 28th, 1:00-3:30pm
Qi Gong for Healthy Bones & Joints is an amazing practice focused on bringing a youthful vigor into the major joints & bones of the body. From a place of peace & calm we will awaken deep breathing and relax into a soothing moving meditation. With the intention of discovering a more fluid range of graceful motion within the body’s joints and packing an abundance of Qi into the bones [energetic storage units] we will celebrate a growing younger with our practice. Raise your energetic vibration and empower a direct connection to the universe & nature, by tapping into your ‘life-force’ potential.
Qi Gong, often referred to as ‘Taoist Yoga’ or ‘Standing Yin Yoga’, is a powerful ancient Chinese practice based on the premise that the human body is an energy system. Once guarded as a secret practice, Qi Gong practitioners mirror the movement of nature to awaken the flow of Qi. This unique practice is composed of tension-releasing stretches, graceful moving meditations and nature-inspired standing postures, all harmonized with balanced breathing and a present, clear mind. The intention of the practice is to cultivate BIG Qi [Life Force/Prana], prevent disease, and to promote a long healthy life.
Workshop-at-a-glance:
Kula Cultivation
Feel the Force • Bone Breathing/Packing Qi/Invigoration
‘Bye-Bye to Stiffness’ Qi Gong Flow
Inner Smile Meditation
**This is an all-levels workshop that is open to all students. No equipment required.
Bio: Wesley Salter • B.Ed • E-RYT • Qi Gong Instructor
Wesley is a Qi Gong & Yoga Instructor who has worn many creative hats during his adventures around the world: DJ, Break Dancer, Teacher, Actor & Singer. After practicing yoga for over twelve years, Wesley completed his certification in the styles of Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, Kundalini & Holden Qi Gong. As a Qi Gong & E- RYT Yoga Instructor based on the West Coast of Canada, Wesley’s credo is simple: ‘Big Breath = Big Life!’ For a taste of the ‘Slow-Flow’ awesomeness check out the WesleyQiGong YouTube Channel.
Investment: Before September 23rd $35/ After $45
Yoga for Anxiety
5 Week Series with Sarah Kinsley
Tuesdays at 7:45-9:00pm
October 1- October 29th
Yoga is medicine. Yoga is Self-Care.
In today’s world, we can all relate to thoughts, emotions and body sensations related to anxious states. We live in a world of false refuges claiming to reduce the anxiety we feel on a daily basis. We all have habitual ways of coping-some ways are more skillful than others. Yoga offers a systematic, time-tested approach to meeting our current state of being. Yoga is a skillful and nourishing approach to meeting these states.
This 6-week series will provide students an opportunity to practice asana (postures), energy expansion using the breath (pranayama) and meditations that can be used in our daily round. Classes will include psycho-education on working with anxiety based on the Yoga sutras, Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Everyone welcome. No prior Yoga experience is necessary.
Investment: $70-$100 Sliding Scale
Meditation and the Wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita
5 week series with Padma
Thursdays 7:45- 9:15pm
October 3rd- October 31st
Come learn meditation and explore the wisdom teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, a classic yogic scripture. The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most studied and renowned books about spirituality in the east. It teaches in depth, about how to be and act effectively, powerfully and freely in your life. Discover meditation, breath work and philosophy in this 90 minute class with Padma. Enhance your happiness and brighten your awareness. No Meditation experience required and experienced practitioners are most welcome.
Padma is one of Canada’s most renowned teachers of Meditation and Self-Awareness. She is the host of the nationally-aired television series Padma Yoga and has lead meditation workshops internationally since 2000. For more about Padma check our her website www.padmameditation.com
Investment: sliding scale $110 to $130.
Drop in $30
Jivamukti Open Class
with Jonni-Lyn Friel
Saturday, October 5th, 1:00-3:00 pm
Jivamukti Yoga, developed by Sharon Gannon and David Life , offers the contemporary yogi a creative approach to living in the world today. Grounded in the ancient scriptures and ethical practices of yoga, Jivamukti, a Sanskrit word which means “living liberated,” is a practical philosophy that teaches how spiritual values can help us work with the challenges of everyday life with more joy, compassion and positive effectiveness. Jivamukti Yoga offers vigorously physical and intellectually stimulating yoga classes. Classes include Vinyasa (flowing asana sequences), hands-on adjustments, Pranayama (breathing exercises), meditation, Sanskrit chanting, Yogic philosophical teachings and deep relaxation with music playing an integral role in the class.
Join certified Jivamukti Teacher Jonni-Lyn Friel for this fun, uplifting and challenging class. The class will be themed around the Focus of the Month for July.
Investment: Before September 31st$25 / After $35
Raven Rising:
Special film night and discussion on reconciliation and protecting our coast
Saturday, October 5th, 7:00-8:30 pm
The Heiltsuk Nation is taking an oil shipping company and Canada to court over a catastrophic diesel oil spill in their territory. The Nathan E. Stewart sank, but the Heiltsuk are rising.
Raven People Rising is a film chronicling the efforts of Indigenous people to chart a sustainable and just course through the troubled waters of the Great Bear Sea. In this 30 minute film, set in one of the Earth’s last tracts of intact temperate rainforest, meet elders, youth, and tribal leaders who describe a mixed inheritance: on the one hand, the incredible violence of residential schools and cultural erasure, and on the other, an unbroken lineage of ancestral teachings that powerfully connect people to place.
After the film there will be the opportunity to discuss how to support First Nations in the struggle to protect our coast and respond to the climate crisis with the film maker and a representative from Ravens Trust.
This event is by donation (suggested $5-$10) with all proceeds going to support the Heiltsuk Nation legal battle. For more info please contact Silas Rose:silasmail@gmail.com Raven People Rising
Body Positive Yoga
6 week series with Christa Martel
Sundays 3:00-4:15pm
October 6-November 10th
Body Positivity is a social movement rooted in the belief that all bodies are good bodies. It is the practice of promoting acceptance and appreciation of all body types.As a class for every body, Body Positive Yoga focuses specifically on creating an inclusive space where postures are explored for ways to actively love our bodies. Expect lots of modifications, playful exploration, and most importantly, space to be comfortable in your skin.
Beginner to intermediate appropriate – this series will focus on developing and
practicing interception as part of the postures, meaning a tracking
of physical sensation in the shapes presented. The class will be
accessible, in particular to larger bodies. We will consider and work
with shapes to make them accessible to every body, and emphasize
the inner practice of yoga as a foundation for the course.
This class is open to people of all sizes, genders, races, ages, and levels of ability.
Investment: $80-$100
Ganesha: Exploring Sacred Stories
with Cedar Sorenson
Saturday, October 26th 1:00-3:30pm
Would you like to learn more about this popular elephant-headed God, known as the ‘remover of obstacles’? Ganesha also represents wisdom and abundance! His appeal transcends many cultures and traditions, and like all deities, he represents a universal energy current within and available to us all. This class will offer ways to invoke the boons & graces of Ganesha through mantra, mudra, visualization and more in a moderate hatha yoga class. You will be introduced to the creative, and playful world of Indian mythology, with some stories of Ganesha, and explanations of the meaning of the symbols associated with him. You will come away with a new understanding, hand-outs and new tools and practices to add to your daily sadhana (yoga & spiritual practice).
Investment: $35 before October 7/After $45
Refund Policy:`
– If you cancel 7 days prior to the event, we can offer you a full refund or credit at Hemma.
– If you cancel within the week prior to the event, we can offer you a credit at Hemma, minus a $5 administration fee.
– If you cancel the day of the event, or don’t show up for it, no refund or credit will be offered.
– It is rare that we cancel a workshop, but if we do we will give you 24 hours notice and offer you a full refund or credit at Hemma.
Thank you for your understanding.