Class Descriptions
We welcome you to Ganges Yoga Studio where we offer a variety of expressions of Hatha Yoga, as well as other comprehensive disciplines, to assist you in achieving your health and fitness goals. Our focus is to serve our diverse community and we strive to balance the athletic with reflective sessions.
Hatha Yoga can be traced back to 11th Century India, where asana and pranayama were studied alongside diet, purification methods, meditation, sound vibration and energy gestures, with the aim to elevate awareness and consciousness.
The Yoga Teacher’s Training Immersion programme at Ganges Yoga Studio studies these aspects in more depth, whereas our daily, scheduled classes focus more on physical postures/asana, breath awareness/pranayama and meditation.
Hatha Yoga: All levels
This varied and accessible practice is for the bold and enthusiastic, and the novice stepping out to explore mindful movement, body awareness and simple breathing practices. Each session is unique to the moment, always fun and interesting and always leaves each individual participant feeling as if the class had been designed just for them!
$20 per class. Drop-ins welcome!
~ led by Celeste
Yoga with a Chair
Chair Yoga, Easy Does It:
Chair Yoga, Easy Does It, is for folks who do best with a shorter session, concentrating slowly on specific movements for rehabilitation, pre or post surgery to the knees and hip joints, for shoulder injuries and gentle movements for strengthening the core and back muscles. Learning to regulate breathing patterns, and introducing skills to balance the nervous system is important, in order to adapt to the physical and emotional challenges which arise in our daily lives.
Chair Yoga for Level 1:
Folks spend more time on a variety of standing and seated postures. Range of motion in all the joints and strengthening the limbs, with focus on balance are explored here. Hand-eye/ coordination games add to the fun of this very popular session. Learning to regulate breathing patterns, and introducing skills to balance the nervous system is important, in order to adapt to the physical and emotional challenges which arise in our daily lives.
Chair Yoga for Level 2:
Similar poses explored in Level 1 are now challenged with longer holdings and deeper bends. Spinal twists are performed in a variety of ways; both seated and standing. Reclining relaxation is a benefit in this class for those who can get down and back up from the floor. Learning to regulate breathing patterns, and introducing skills to balance the nervous system is important, in order to adapt to the physical and emotional challenges which arise in our daily lives.
$20 per class. Drop-ins welcome!
~ led by Celeste
Restorative Yoga
Using extra props like cushions, blankets, and sandbags assists in deep physical and mental rest. Paying attention to regulating the in and exhale and taking a pause from the busyness of our lives, Restorative Yoga can take one into deep states of stillness, peace and tranquility. We practice staying close to the floor, so practitioners must be able to get down to the floor and up again without assistance.
$20 per class. Drop-ins welcome!
~ led by Celeste
Hatha Yoga: All Levels
Yoga Flow
A vinyasa flow class of traditional Hatha Yoga poses and sequences. “Vigorous” means strong, healthy, and full of energy and together we add some fun. The class is geared to intermediate to advanced students but all levels are welcome with options to make the class as challenging as you want it to be. Remember, the most important part of yoga is your outfit! Well, actually, it’s your attitude! So bring your outfits and your positive energy and let’s rock this class!
All classes are by donation. Suggested donation is $20 or whatever you can afford. blisshouseyoga@gmail.com
~ led by Howie Baral
EveryBody Stretch
EveryBody Stretch is a guided stretch class using the emotive tones of classical music to enhance and develop every stretch and movement and is most popular with the 55 plus age group but it is open for EveryBODY!
Participants are encouraged to stretch comfortably within their own limits. They will feel the benefits of a regular stretching routine. Regular exercise can lower blood pressure, gives one better brain function and can increase one’s self-confidence and self-esteem.
Join Catherine in this unique class and stretch out your body, relax your mind and enrich your soul in this fun supportive class.
Contact Catherine to register: cdbennett53@gmail.com
~ led by Catherine
Melt Performance
If you have ever experienced the pain and discomfort of plantar fasciitis, arthritis, neck and low back pain, hip and shoulder issues, or repetitive movement injuries, then you may have a connective tissue issue and Melt Performance can help. The MELT Method™ is a gentle self-care technique that enhances mobility, stability, and performance and is clinically proven to reduce chronic pain while restoring overall well-being.
Developed by manual therapist and exercise physiologist Sue Hitzmann, it uses specially designed hand and foot treatment balls and custom made soft rollers (along with your own body and breath) to calm the mind, tap into the autonomic nervous system to boost control, and restore the supportive qualities of the connective tissue system. In this all levels foundational class you will learn to hydrate fascia, release tension and compression which causes imbalance and poor posture, decrease the risk of injury, and get out of pain!
$20 per class
~ led by Jerome
Melt & Pilates
Hydrate connective tissue to alleviate chronic pain, increase neurological balance and prevent future injuries. Realign the joints and spine while strengthening deep core stabilizers to support ideal alignment and good posture. Increase endurance and dynamic balance using functional movement exercises.
$20 per class
~ led by Jerome
Salt Spring Insight Meditation
Salt Spring Insight Meditation Community is a community of new and experienced meditators dedicated to cultivating happiness and well-being through exploring and practicing the teachings of the Buddha, in both meditation and compassionate action.
We seek to live our lives with mindful awareness, opening our hearts to joy and to suffering, in order to live with the freedom of kindness, clarity and wisdom. We follow the tradition of Theravada Buddhism, as practiced in Burma, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, but also find support within the Zen and Tibetan traditions. Popular Theravadan teachers in North America include Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg.
This is an open group. Everyone who attends is a valued member with a place in our community. People with all levels of meditation experience (or none) are invited to attend any of our offerings.
Email questions to David & Christine at saltspringimc@gmail.com
Osho Kundalini Meditation
The meditation is in 4 – 15 minute segments guided by music. There is no talking. The first segment is shaking the body. The second is dancing. The third is sitting with music still playing and the fourth is sitting or lying down in silence.
Please arrive early to be ready to start at 5:30pm.
Suggested donation: $10
~ Facilitated by Amrita and Prakash
Crystal Bowl/Harmonic Toning Sessions
The mood of each session is very relaxed leading to deep meditative states.
In each session, we begin with the intention of being present with the light and love that already exists in each of us. We become witness to a deep healing presence radiating into and extending out of our hearts. This healing presence becomes greatly magnified as we join our hearts in a group setting.
These sessions are non-denominational and all-inclusive which are especially open to those in need of physical, mental or emotional healing.
~ led by Adam Huber
Attune: Sunday Sound Bath
The Attune Sound Bath is a wonderful place to come to let yourself receive and let go with the aid of sound as an ally for relaxation and nervous system soothing. By attuning to the harmonizing sounds of healing instruments, we entrain our cells, energy body and inner waters to resonate in a way that allows us to naturally heal ourselves over time. We nourish the energy body with harmonious tones that shift
our natural energetic baseline.
Most people will find deep rest at a sound bath, while others experience an emotional release, a feeling of activation or subtle energetic movement facilitated by the sounds. Each sound bath is different, bringing us on an inner journey of deep presence with emotion, body and mind. Marie-Jeanne’s approach to the sound bath is compassionate, slow, intentional and grounding. The use of metal singing bowls resonates deeply within the body, having a hypnotic effect.
Other instruments used are: gong, drum, ocean drum, chimes, bells and voice. We will start this event with a brief sharing circle to set intention. Participants are then invited to lie down comfortably for the duration of the sound bath. Then we finish the event with another sharing circle.
Suitable for 15 years old +, all paths of life are welcome within this space.
Payment: $20-$30 sliding scale at the door, or pay online in advance through this link:
speakingsymbols.com/sound-baths
~ led by Marie-Jeanne
Improv Theatre Class
You know you’re funny. Other people should too. You know you’re a good actor. We want you to explore that. You know you’ve been wanting to push your edge of public speaking. This is your chance.
Ari and Piet facilitate an improv class that builds on their many years of improvising on and off stage.
Don’t know any of the above? We’re calling your bluff. The class is open to all skill levels, and is the perfect opportunity to explore the best education life has to offer – Saying yes to what you’re presented in the moment, and embracing it!
No experience necessary.
Cost: $10 cash
~ led by Ari & Piet
Kirtan
*Kirtan is taking a break*
Ananda Kirtan Band consists of Vikash Knox (dotar/vocals), Adam Huber (guitar/vocals), Johanna Sanjeevani (harmonium/vocals), and Damian Finegan (tabla).
Though we come from a range of different backgrounds and experiences, we share a love for Kirtan and devotional practices from the Yoga tradition.
We feel very grateful to be offering bi-weekly Kirtan evenings at the Ganges Yoga Studio where we aim to create an energy of deep peace, inner listening, and connection to the divine source of all through the mantra and chants that we share. Kirtan is traditionally experienced in a call and response format and in this way creates a beautiful back-and-forth dance that helps ground the body and the senses into the present moment.
A special devotional feeling is felt by many people who join the chanting.
By donation – no one turned away for lack of funds.
~ led by Ananda Kirtan Band