55 Monkeys!

A great big Thank You to everyone who participated in our yoga survey! The information you provided and your unique insights have given us a wealth of information on how to move forward. Today's post is the first in a series of blogs that we'll publish over this week and next to let you know how we are implementing your suggestions.

For me, the most exciting development is how we are expanding the class schedule. It's not simply expanding into new times, but really responding to a common sentiment: more diversity!

Foremost, everyone wanted more lunchtime offerings. So we are expanding from the current 5 lunchtime sessions up to 12.

I know, right? From 5 to 12? How can that be?

We're adding four classes at 11:15 am and opening two former classes to the pubic. And, our Feldenkrais - Awareness Through Movement class will now be open to you under the current concessions, rather than being a separate course.

Two of those 11:15 classes will be Gentle Yoga, and the two other 11:15 classes will introduce Chi Power - a blend of conditioning techniques and movement exercises from karate, qi gong and tai chi that provide a powerful energetic boost!

To diversify the Power Yoga classes, three of the lunchtime sessions will be Power Yoga Basics. These classes will take our normal all-levels Power Yoga and provide more detail on the practice. It's perfect for beginners, but those of you who have been doing yoga with us for awhile will benefit too!

The remaining four lunchtime yoga classes will be our all-levels Power Yoga classes - adding in more postures, trying new directions and sequences, and essentially providing a more diverse, fun practice!

In addition, we'll be starting our family-focused classes. Monday mornings at 10:15 am, we'll be starting our Antenatal Yoga class for new mothers to come and practice with their babies. Wednesday mornings at 10:15 am we'll hold our Prenatal Yoga class for those mums to be! And finally, on Friday mornings at 10:15 am, we'll hold Fertility Yoga - a class designed to support fertility and a place for those women trying to conceive to come together and share their experiences.

The diversity doesn't end there! We are bringing in new teachers as well! Al, one of our amazing massage therapists and energy workers - as well as a karate sensei - will be teaching Chi Power. Valerie Love will be taking on Gentle Yoga - but because of her extensive travel schedule I will be sharing the class with her until July, when she takes on the class full time. Elissa will continue to teach on Mondays at 5:30, now leading Elemental Yoga, an exploration of the energetic elements of Air, Water, Fire, Earth and Ether through yoga postures that release, invigorate and rejuvenate the whole person!

But, wait! There is one more class we are adding to the schedule!

With a great deal of gratitude, I want to give something back to those of you who have been here and supporting us over the past year. I feel very grateful to have each of you in my life - those new to us and those who have been with us from the beginning.

As a further opportunity for you to explore the yoga practice in more (and intermediate!) ways, I am offering a FREE once-a-month yoga class for students who have been with us for more than six months (if you started coming to us with the the last Groupy deal from October of last year or before) and who are currently on an active class card (or a regular drop-in). It also includes those of you who are corporate clients!

These free classes will be held the second Saturday of each month from 9:00 to 10:15 am. Classes are one hour and 15 minutes so that we have enough time and space to really explore and have some fun with our postures. We'll also get a longer relaxation time and a bit of time to go deeper into the practice - how yoga works and why we practice!

If the 9:00 class fills (you'll need to let me know that you're coming - we won't be using ezybook since we pay per booking), then we'll hold a second class from 10:30 to 11:45 am on the same day. If the first class doesn't fill, then there's no second class. Just let me know as soon as you know that you want to come!

So when are all of these things starting?

The new schedule begins the first week of April, with the first FREE class on 14 April. Look out for our new printed schedules - as well as the updated timetable on our blog and website (coming soon!), as well as on ezybook so you can make your bookings!

I hope you are as thrilled as I am - and look out for more blogs about our new developments right here . . . based on your suggestions!