Trying to maintain your commitment to a regular yoga practice can be challenging. We have probably all experienced this. We have a lot going on, and we try to squeeze yoga in when we “get a chance.”
Laura Baron, founder of Yoga Be, knows this all too well. Laura learned the difficulty of fusing a healthy lifestyle with her previously demanding profession as a litigator.
“Most of the classes are 90 minutes, so if you’re doing a 5:30 p.m. class and have to go back to the office to put in another few hours, the whole commitment could be three hours, which sometimes would add an additional layer of stress,” she told the Toronto Star.
Laura went on a six-month sabbatical in India, and upon her return, she decided to turn her passion into her business. She left the law firm where she was employed, and opened Yoga Be Inc. three weeks ago. Yoga Be is the Toronto PATH system’s first underground yoga studio. This is the latest venture in the underground network to tap into the corporate world’s health and wellness trend.
Opened in the Metro Centre three weeks ago, Yoga Be has caught on with people working nearby.
“Lunchtime is the busiest right now,” said Laura. “We were expecting a much slower start than we’ve had, since August is traditionally the slowest month of the year for yoga, but all the classes are full.”
Jennifer Posthumus, a manager with the City of Toronto’s employment and social services division at Metro Hall, told the Toronto Star she typically attends Yoga Be after work, but she likes the 20-minute, mid-afternoon “Coffee Yoga Break” that can be done in work clothes. This is a brilliant way to encourage people to take a moment and maintain a healthy yoga practice.
“You can just look at your calendar and say I don’t have a meeting and I haven’t taken a break and I’m going to go downstairs and do something good for myself,” said Posthumus.
Labour lawyer Nini Jones is also keen on Yoga Be’s arrangement with Kupfert & Kim, a gluten free, meatless PATH restaurant. Kupfert & Kim and Yoga Be reached an agreement that allows students to have lunch delivered right to the studio.
“When I saw they were offering that service it was a bit of a draw for me, because I love the food,” Nini Jones told the Toronto Star. “Although it’s on the PATH, it’s a bit of a hike for takeout from where I am. I’ve been (to yoga) four times and I’ve already ordered from them twice.”
The partnership “made a lot of sense,” said Kupfert & Kim co-owner Daniel Suss of Baron’s overture. “I see the same type of person interested in both healthy eating and yoga class.”
Yoga Be classes are $23 drop-in rate. Monthly packages are $165 for unlimited classes. Both these options (and more) can be purchased on Yoga Be’s website. David Good (teacher of a great yoga video we shared here on 42Yogis) teaches regular classes at Yoga Be.
There are other cities where underground yoga could be popular including Houston. Downtown Houston is home to a large network of underground tunnels that allows people to walk from one part of the city to another without having to go out in the blistering Texas sun.
Have you heard of other underground yoga studios? Let us know in the comments.
H/T Toronto Star