Yoga brings many of us a strong sense of peace, tranquility and fitness —but usually at a price.
Classes can run anywhere from $16 to $20 per class, and up to $120 per private session.
Toronto’s yoga community, under the guidance of internationally renowned yogi YuMee Chung, has come together once again to offer up the Passport to Prana initiative, where you can get more yoga for a lot less cash.
The Passport to Prana is a like a yoga debit card. A card costs $30, which entitles you to one free class at 48 studios across Toronto. If you were to pay an average of $18 per class for 48 classes, you would end up shelling out a whopping $864.
“I love that it’s too good to be true,” says Chung, the brains behind the passport. “People have access to every part of the city and every style of yoga.”
The initiative, found at passporttoprana.com, started with Chung and other yogis in Toronto looking for a way to spread their enthusiasm for yoga. The passport began with just eight studios more than four years ago, and has spread like wild fire all the way to Ottawa and soon to Vancouver.
The passport may be one of the few extras people aren’t cutting out since the recession.
“This is our best year yet,” says Chung. “I hear stories of people who went to every single studio.”
This growing enthusiasm for yoga is exactly what Chung and her associates were hoping for. Chung’s passion for yoga began when she was a busy lawyer trying to find balance between her work and the rest of her life. After seeing chiropractors and physiotherapists to ease the strain of her long hours at a desk, she found the benefits of yoga took care of all her pains.
The 48 yoga studios offer a variety of yoga styles to try. Some more vigorous styles such as power or flow yoga are great for yogis looking for an intense workout. People looking for a more relaxing type of meditative exercise would do well trying hatha yoga, which is slow and stress releasing.
