Author Archives: The Branches

Formerly Queen Street Yoga Yoga & movement. Rooted in community. We’re here to create a better world with Yoga as our common ground. We lead down-to-earth classes, expert teacher training, and an engaged intergenerational community. We opened our doors in 2005, and have become known for our highly experienced teachers, our innovative approach to movement, and our efforts in community care and social justice. Our aim is to make the practices of yoga and meditation more inclusive, more accessible, and more relevant for your day-to-day life.

Announcing Queer & Trans Yoga Class at QSY!

Last week Emma and Leena posted a post with some helpful definitions on gender, sex and identity. You might want to check that out first, if you’re not familiar with some of the terms below)

We’re pleased to announce a new class is joining our schedule starting in May:

Queer & Trans Yoga

Sundays 6:00-7:00pm with Shannon Knutson

A class for folks who self-identify as queer, trans, LGBTQ+ and want to be part of a positive community space. All abilities, bodies, and sizes are welcome and celebrated in this beginner-friendly class. Sliding scale price ($3-15) with all proceeds going to local Queer and Trans-Positive organizations.

Our intention is to provide a gathering place for yoga practice for those who may feel underrepresented in yoga studio communities, and help create a safer space where students can celebrate who they are. Queer and Trans Yoga is for all levels, and we will focus on breathing, mindfulness, and strength-building in a supportive and body-positive environment.

A private, all-gender changeroom and washroom is available at the studio.

An optional community gathering to share coffee/tea/snacks will be held once a month after class. Join our Facebook group “QSY Queer and Trans Yoga”, or call or email us for details and updates.

Continue reading “Announcing Queer & Trans Yoga Class at QSY!”

Seeing Gender as a Spectrum: Some helpful definitions to start a conversation

qsy washroom sign photo You may have seen this sign at our studio. Perhaps it makes sense to you, or maybe you’d like to know more background about what it means.

At QSY, we view gender as a spectrum, and while many people feel completely comfortable going into a “women’s changeroom” or a “men’s changeroom”, there are others who feel they don’t fit into these ends of gender spectrum.

To really (over) simplify things, we could say:

Sex is in your genitals and chromosomes
Gender is in your head/our culture
Orientation/Attraction is in your heart

Continue reading “Seeing Gender as a Spectrum: Some helpful definitions to start a conversation”

Om Mani Padme Hum (Emma’s Savasana Songs + Free Download)

This post is brought to you by Emma. Listen to her recording of the song below, and read on about her personal connection to this particular mantra.

In university I was deeply interested in Tibetan Buddhism. I began to study with a Buddhist nun at the Kitchener Public Library every week. In my third year of university I was fortunate enough to participate in a study-abroad program at a spiritual community in Northern Scotland. Right across the road from the wind turbines, green roofs and colourful gardens of the Findhorn Foundation community, was the Shambhala Retreat Centre, a Tibetan Buddhist meditation centre. Every morning I rose early and walked down the gravel path to attend meditation in the colourful meditation hall. It was at the Shambhala Retreat Centre that I learned the Om Mani Padme Hum chant, and connected it to my meditation practice.Continue reading “Om Mani Padme Hum (Emma’s Savasana Songs + Free Download)”

Enliven Your Spine with an Ergonomic Desk

Do you identify with this photo?

Many of us do. Many of us use computer stations or laptops that are not positioned well for us to maintain healthy posture. Andy, Leena and I have become aware of the effects of non-ergonomic computer use while we’re working away at the studio, and we’ve been experimenting with different ways of elevating our screens, keyboards and mice so that we can work in a more optimal position for our spines. Check out the various desk arrangements we’ve experimented with. We are lucky to have lots of yoga blocks around to play with! Over the course of the day, we alternate between standing and sitting desk arrangements. (Read more about the benefits of standing desks in this article). We also try to take regular stretch breaks (which sometimes turn into dance breaks in the front studio) to move our bodies and rest our eyes.Continue reading “Enliven Your Spine with an Ergonomic Desk”

Anatomy Nerd-Out! Understanding your Lumbar Spine.

During our yoga teacher training this past year, one of our teachers-to-be sent us an email asking for clarification about the lower back and forward folding. What exactly is supposed to be happening back there? It’s an interesting subject and Leena has written a delightfully detailed reply. Check it out!

Q: Can you please help me to understand what the safety concern is for not rounding the spine too much in forward folds? Why do yoga teachers often emphasize a lower back curve?

Are we aiming to tilt the pelvis and have the sacrum be the highest point of our body? What comes to my mind is that we want a even rounding on the spine, but why? Does it provide release for the sacrum? and if so why should we care about this?

A: The vertebra of your spine are designed for movement, and most people don’t move their spines nearly enough. Think of the positions you spend most of your time in: sitting, laying down, walking. None of these positions require much spinal movement. On the other hand, think of a dog running full tilt. Four legged animals use their spine to locomote. One reason yoga is so great for the body and particularly the spine and nervous system is that it helps us awaken, move, and lengthen the spine through flexion (forward bending), extension (back bending), rotation (twisting) and lateral movements.Continue reading “Anatomy Nerd-Out! Understanding your Lumbar Spine.”

A Year of Yoga Musings

This post was written by Lisa French, one of our newest QSY teachers. Lisa participated in our 2014 Yoga Teacher Training Program and wrote this reflection at the very end of the program. Our next Yoga Teacher Training program will begin in September 2015. If you’re curious about our program, please come to an info session in March or April. Read on for a glimpse into the process of becoming a yoga teacher, through Lisa’s eyes.

This past weekend was the final weekend of a year long journey into yoga teacher training. It has been everything that I expected and so much more. Here are some of my thoughts recorded over the span of the entire year in no particular order.Continue reading “A Year of Yoga Musings”

Matthew Remski’s Thoughtful Response to Our Inversion Policy

Leena’s recent blog post on our Inversion policy has received a lot of attention from the online yoga community. The post currently has over 7,500 views. Matthew Remski, who is part of QSY’s Yoga Teacher Training faculty and is currently teaching a course on Ayurveda here at the studio, has written a thoughtful response to Leena’s post, citing his own research into the intersection of yoga, injury, pedagogy and medical research.

Matthew’s response was published on Yoga International and had over 40,000 views in the first few days. We really appreciate the research Matthew has been doing in his WAWADIA project, and the greater context he is able to place this discussion in.

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Student Spotlight — Who Came to the Most Classes in 2014?

This Student Spotlight focuses on Jeremy, Barb and Mary, three members of Queen Street Yoga who came to an average of 182 classes each in 2014! Their combined total? A staggering 548 classes. They get the “Highest Attendance Award” from us. Congratulations!

Leena, the studio owner, joked “That’s definitely more than I practiced last year!”

Leena and Emma caught up with these avid yogis after an Hour Flow class last week. We took a photo, and they chatted about their favourite poses.Continue reading “Student Spotlight — Who Came to the Most Classes in 2014?”

In This Heart (Emma’s Savasana Songs + Free Download)

This post is brought to you by Emma!

Just before Christmas, I spent an afternoon in a friend’s basement recording studio. QSY students have been asking me for years to record the songs that I sing for them in savasana. I recorded five songs, and will be releasing them periodically here on the blog. Each song will be available as a free download, a gift from the studio to each of you. Thank you for being such consistent and caring members of our studio community!

Continue reading “In This Heart (Emma’s Savasana Songs + Free Download)”

Headstand and Shoulderstand at Queen Street Yoga

This post was written by Leena Miller Cressman, director of Queen Street Yoga, about her current thinking and understanding of inversions.

We recently added the following statement to our “Studio Policy and Etiquette” document that we post around the studio and on our website. We are the first yoga studio community that we know of to make a public statement about this. We hope that this adds to important conversations about safety and risk in the wider yoga community.

Inversions at QSY: We choose not to teach full Headstand and full Shoulderstand (where weight is placed on the head and neck) due to safety concerns for the spine. We ask that students do not practice these poses before, after, or during public classes for the safety of all QSY members.

What’s an inversion anyway?

Different styles or traditions of yoga define inversions differently. Most generally, inversions can be any pose where the head is at a lower position than the heart and pelvis. This could include simple and common poses like downward-facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) or standing forward bend (Uttansana), but also arm balancing poses like handstand or forearm stand. The two poses often called “full inversions” in yoga literature are headstand (Salamba Sirsasana) and shoulderstand (Salamba Sarvangasana). Many teachers, such as BKS Iyengar, have gone as far as to say that headstand and shoulderstand are the King and Queen of all yoga poses.

Continue reading “Headstand and Shoulderstand at Queen Street Yoga”