Interview: The Yoga Element

With the holiday season and new year approaching, there is no better time to pause.

Last week I was invited to a yoga, meditation and mindfulness workshop with Cecily Milne from The Yoga Element at The Thompson Hotel in Toronto. It was a three-hour afternoon of practicing yoga, meditation and drinking green juice. I left feeling a sense of calm that I hadn't felt in months.

I interviewed Cecily to get her insight on her craft, and how us mere mortals can learn to quiet our minds. Enjoy!

1. What is The Yoga Element?

The Yoga Element is the result of my passion for movement and well-being. It represents the balance between having a healthy, mobile, pain-free body as well as a deeper sense of awareness in our everyday interactions.

2. How long have you been practicing yoga?

I started practicing yoga in 2003 when I was a university student. For almost a decade, yoga was my main outlet for movement; a couple of years ago, I started incorporating other forms of practice into my life including strength and mobility training. Today, I integrate these other movement modalities into the yoga "asana" practice, reflecting my understanding of what it means to have a "fluent body, fluid mind".

Free Yoga? Yes please!

It's no secret that I love yoga.

I've blogged about it, tweeted about it and preached about it to anyone who will listen. My good friend Kelly who is also a fellow blogger once said, "Saying you're not flexible enough for yoga is like saying you're too dirty to shower."

So when Kingwest fitness (171 East Liberty Street) approached me to speak about their All You Can Yoga event, I was happy to inform my lovely readers. Located in the bustling Liberty Village in Toronto, the All You Can Yoga program offers anyone and everyone the opportunity to attend free yoga classes, back to back and on multiple days. There is no need to register, just show up!

Dates: June 5-6, July 10-11, August 14-15 (weekends)

Classes are daily at: 10a.m., 11:15 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:45 p.m., & 3:00 p.m.

By helping with the promotion of this event, I will be a member of the gym for 3 months. So I hope to see you (if you live in the city) at the yoga classes. I'll tweet & blog reminders for the July and August sessions. If you see some girl with lots of hair toppling during toppling tree, yeah that's me.