our studio teachers:

Sairupa Krishnamurti enjoys offering therapeutic, inclusive, and safe classes that emphasize wellness from within. Sairupa's yoga teaching is highly influenced by Ayurvedic Medicine, and she is currently striving towards a long-term goal of becoming a Naturopathic Doctor. Her teaching approach focuses on the whole individual, creating a safe space to engage in self-care at the level of involvement one is ready and comfortable with!

Maggie O'Connor "I love to get to the heart of the matter, by practicing yoga that reveals inward creativity and grows wholeness." Her classes are influenced by ayurveda, freedom yoga and punk rock yoga and her favourite teachers are from the ashtanga, iyengar and anusara lineages. They are therapeutic, inclusive and safe classes that emphasize self-awareness and restoration through playful and peaceful practice.

Esther Cieri is certified to teach Hatha yoga, Prenatal yoga, the Pilates Method and the Alexander Technique. Her deep interest in continuous learning takes her around the world. Esther's commitment to helping people develop their potential is based in non-hierarchical learning, where people learn about themselves from their own experience of moving and breathing. The profound and life enhancing changes Esther sees in her students are inspiring to her and reveal that yoga and pilates enrich, challenge and harmonize all thats done on a daily basis.

Dianna Last is a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher who received her training under the direction of Roy Hintsa, Dr. Diane Reibel, Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and Dr. Saki Santorelli. She studied at the International Meditation Institute in India for five years. Dianna is certified as a Yoga Ed Instructor for Working with Those At-Risk and is a teacher for The Mindful Edge® – Stress Reduction and Life Strategies program for teens in high schools.

Julie Gladstone is the founder of the Starving Artist Yoga Network, and a certified yoga instructor with 10 years teaching experience, a certified Acupuncturist, and a visual artist with a BFA from Concordia University. Her teaching experience includes private prenatal classes in Mexico, training the woman's Lacrosse team and the Medical school at McGill University, and teaching youth-at-risk at Program Mile End in Montreal. Julie is passionate about the link between creativity, the alchemical process and spiritual practice and is dedicated to carrying on the tradition of yoga being available to anyone who has a desire to learn.

Salimah Kassim-Lakha teaches Kundalini and Laughter Yoga. A teacher once told her "Yoga has nothing to do with the postures" and the vibrations of those words brought her attention to Kundalini yoga. "Kundalini Yoga is for the Yogi who lives here, now. She, You, bring self realization to a board meeting and time with your partner in bed. Breath, intention, being in service and using the power of the body to create a specific effect.

Mary-Anne Labelle is happy to share the art of Tai Chi. She came upon Tai Chi over 25 years ago and explored Wu Style with Sifu Philip Mo. She has been studying various Yang style Tai Chi forms under the tutelage of Master Hung Ting Seng since 1998. To enhance her practice and understanding of the form, she started teaching in 2002.

Mai Cao has been training in the martial arts since 1996. She began her training in Kobudo (Okinawan weaponry) and attained the rank of black belt before beginning her training in Shaolin Kung Fu, under Sifu Rupert Harvey (Golden Harmony Kung Fu) 12 years ago. She is currently an instructor and black sash at Golden Harmony Kung fu, at Spirit Wind Healing Arts and a Kung Fu and Chi Gung instructor at Eight Branches Healing Arts and Academy for Eastern Medicine, where she also practices Zen Shiatsu and studies nutrition.

Mai first began teaching when invited to the Butterfly Peace Garden, a sanctuary for war affected children in the eastern province of Sri Lanka (2004), returning twice (2007 & 2010) she expanded her teachings to various affiliated centers across Sri Lanka ranging from convents to refugee camps and detention centers. Mai has also taught at SKETCH (working arts for street involved and homeless youth) in Toronto (2010).

Poney Chiang Dr. Chiang received a Bachelor degree in microbiology and a Doctoral degree in biomedical research from the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto. He received Diplomas in Zen Shiatsu and Medical Qigong Therapy from Canada and China. This was followed by a Master's degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York, where he graduated with collegiate and national level distinctions. He is a New York State licensed acupuncturist and is a Diplomate of Oriental Medicine from the NCCAOM.

He is a 22nd generation practitioner of Daoist cultivation from the LongMen (Dragon Gate) sect of the QuanZhen (Complete Perfection) school of Daoism, as well as a practitioner of Daoist internal martial arts. Dr. Chiang graduated with distinction from the Mastery Academy of Chinese Metaphysics with Diplomas in Classical Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology. He provides Feng Shui and Astrology analysis through his consulting business Space-Time Feng Shui. Dr. Chiang's style of medical practice is a unique combination of Daoist Chinese medicine and medical metaphysics.

donate here...

now you can support Six Degrees online with Paypal (click here)

Thank you!

for teachers...

If you are interested in teaching in the self-serve yoga and movement studio, email our manager these items:

• info about your yoga teaching experience/yoga resume
• info about your self-care (stress mgt, health care, various practices)
• what the concept of ‘self-service’ or ‘self-serve’ yoga/mindfulness means to you or your teaching philosophy
• what you best love to teach
• your teaching schedule/availability

find us online at these resources:

www.yogatoronto.ca

www.starvingartistyoga.blogspot.com/

www.punkrockyoga.com/wp/

Self-serve Yoga

Posted October 5, 2011 - 9:15pm

Six Degrees has created a new “self-serve” yoga and movement studio to magnify its on-going community health activities.

The mandates for this project include: making health resources accessible to more people, promoting and supporting self-awareness and self-care as preventative medicine, and providing resources for personal and professional development in holistic health and well-being.

Six Degrees Self-Serve Yoga Studio is being intentionally created as a space where:

yoga is taught in a safety-first, anti-oppression and mind-body-spirit framework;
teachers have credentials or experience in holistic health care such as TCM, Ayurveda, MBSR, Osteopathy etc, and are values-aligned regarding inclusive community health;
and students experience increased wellness and inspiration to support unique and balanced life pursuits.

All studio programming will be offered for fees on a sliding-scale, by-donation or pay-what-you-can basis, encouraging students to attend to their practice as a normal, regular health resource, rather than as a luxury of a certain lifestyle or as an entertainment activity.

drop-in class descriptions

PALE FIRE morning sessions (the class and the mysore time) are opportunities for yogis to learn or practice Gentle Ashtanga. This includes modifications for mindfulness, tridoshic balance and joint safety.

Lunch time yoga classes are short, thematic sessions. It is 45 minutes of simplistic yet thoughtfully sequenced restorative and warming hatha, vinyasa and pranayama.

Punk Rock Yoga This is Hatha yoga with a twist, featuring a contemporary musical soundtrack and taught with a beginner's mind, for fun and challenge. It offers an open-minded and straight-forward approach to yoga philosophy while embracing the ancient yoga tradition of Do-It-Yourself. This drop-in class is ideal for beginners, and is taught in a safety-first, anti-oppression and mind-body-spirit framework. Punk Rock Yoga was created "to scrub the elitism and rigidity out of modern yoga."

Kung Fu (also Gung Fu) is a compound of two words combining Gong meaning achievement or merit and Fu meaning man.

A literal translation could be "human achievement". Originally to practice Kung Fu did not apply specifically to the martial arts, instead it referred to the process of ones training, the strengthening of the mind and body, the learning and perfecting of ones skills through great effort rather than what was being practiced. In this class it is this "process" which is emphasized.

Praying Mantis Kung Fu was the last complete system developed at one of the North Shaolin monasteries in the 17th century. Its built upon the basic stances and striking techniques of North Shaolin Kung Fu, the oldest known system of Kung Fu (aprox. 475 AD), and incorporates sticking, hooking and grappling techniques modelled after the movement of the praying mantis. It also uses the sensitivity and circular principles found in Tai Chi to re-direct oncoming force to one's advantage, making it an ideal system of self defense against stronger opponents. Those who appreciate challenge will likely find joy in this practice and leave Mai's class feeling energized and relaxed.

Esther's yoga and pilates classes are taught from the perspective of the Alexander Technique.

NO pilates classes on Feb 22, 29 & Mar 7.

These classes will offer the opportunity to develop a practice that one can truly call their own as one learns from a personal experience of moving, breathing and being. In finding out about how to use the support system we have from the ground and our breath, we can cultivate a practice that develops mobility, stability and wholeness. Both classes offer a space in which to engage in a process of self discovery, self reflection and self healing at a pace that is self determined.

Julie's Deep Release Yoga is a combination of hatha yoga and yin yoga in which primarily floor poses are held for a longer amount of time to encourage both deep opening, and core strength in the body. The postures are taught in conjunction with mindfulness practices, breath awareness and information about energy pathways in the body including meridians, acupressure points and chakras.

DaoYin 導引 is a gentle form of Chinese Mind-Body exercise involving breathing, meditation, vocalization and movement techniques to lead breath energy within the body. Practiced to reduce stress, prevent illness and promote longevity.

Proceeds from this class go to The Daoist Foundation (Daojiao jijin hui 道教基金會) a non-profit religious and educational organization dedicated to preserving and transmitting traditional Daoist (Taoist) culture.

The first part of the class is spent on refining a carefully choreographed 60 minute basic Daoyin sequence designed to harness Qi as well as expel pathological Qi. During each class, the instructor will introduce refinements in this basic DaoYin sequence to build on foundations accumulated in previous classes. The remaining 30 minutes of the class is devoted to the more self-contained sequences listed below. Poney will share his insight into these rare DaoYin sets, based on his knowledge in Classical Chinese Medicine and Taoist Inner Elixir Alchemy. The course objective is to enable students to gain a comprehensive DaoYin learning experience and be empowered with the skills needed for self-healing and self-discovery.

Introductory Curriculum:

Dance of the Meridians
Acu-Pointing QiGong
Dragon Gate Six Healing Sound
WuDang Five Animal DaoYin
Taoist Eight Section Brocade
HuaTuo's Five Animal Play

Intermediate Curriculum:

WuDang Five Element Walking Form
Taoist Standing Postures
Taoist Talismanic QiGong
Dragon Worship DaoYin
Dragon Gate Nourishing Life DaoYin

course descriptions

TAI CHI 24 - National (Yang) Style, with Mary-Anne Labelle

8-wk course for beginners Sundays, 4-5pm
Register in advance for eight weeks on a sliding scale $75-90

Tai Chi is a martial art practiced for centuries in China and has gained popularity in the West as an exercise that promotes health and peace of mind. Tai Chi, a series of interconnected flowing movements, can strengthen the heart, lungs and immune system, improve circulation and ease stress. The “24” form, designed for beginners, is for people of all ages and physical condition. As we progress through a simple combination of postures, we will explore some of the basic Tai Chi principles.

Gentle Hatha Yoga, Seasonal Practices for the Winter (from an Ayurvedic perspective)

Thursdays, Jan 26 - Mar 15, 6-7:15pm, with Sairupa
Register in advance for 8 weeks on a sliding scale $100-125

A gentle Hatha Yoga course inspired by Ayurvedic seasonal practices for rejuvenation, immune-enhancement, and upliftment during the winter season.

With pre-registration you will also receive handouts on hatha practices you can do at home, and ONE complementary ayurvedic head massage (30 minutes). A few drop in spots are also available (by donation).

MBSR Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Tuesdays Mar 6 to Apr 24, 7-10pm
Mindfulness Everyday is a non-profit organization and is offering this 8-week course on a sliding scale at Six Degrees only $250 - $440 plus HST
There is also a materials cost of $40 plus HST (book, workbook, cds)

Mindfulness Everyday is a dedicated team of teachers with formal mindfulness training who are highly experienced in conducting MBSR workshops in Toronto. Mindfulness Everyday offers a number of programs based on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), first developed in 1979 by Jon Kabat-Zinn, founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Mindfulness is the ancient practice of present moment, non-judgmental awareness of one's life experience.

Dr. Kabat-Zinn describes mindfulness as an approach to life based on the understanding that: “the present is the only time that any of us have to be alive – to know anything – to perceive – to learn – to act – to change – to heal”. MBSR programs have helped thousands of people transform their lives. The course is challenging and life-affirming.

Through a series of 8 weekly sessions, participants learn and integrate mind-body techniques, designed to uncover and strengthen resources that are already within them. Several studies have shown that MBSR can lower stress and increase vitality and well-being.

Please contact Maggie for more information maggieoc@gmail.com