Frequently Asked Questions

Please bring a reusable water bottle, a towel and a sticky yoga mat, if you have one (note there are mats available for rental at KYS). Wear exercise clothing that will move with you. Please plan to arrive at KYS 15 minutes or so before your first class to meet the instructor and to complete a short “new student” form. This will give you plenty of opportunity to ask questions, to familiarize yourself and to be welcomed to your mat with the gift of ease.

At Kalyana it is a priority to honour and respect each of our students. When our clients set yoga as a life priority in their schedule, we wish to make certain that they’re able to truly devote that time to themselves. Therefore, we endeavor to begin and end class on time. We lock the door in between classes for the safety and security of all attending class, ensuring confidence and peace of mind.

Please allow for an easy beginning and arrive on time (at least 5 – 15 minutes early is ideal) that way you can be sure to maximize the benefits of your yoga practice!

Like anything in life, practice means progress. Growth in your yoga practice requires patience, perseverance, commitment and consistency. To experience the vast benefits of a yoga practice, we recommend practicing four to seven times per week. A consistent practice of two to three days per week will invite progress over time. Develop and nurture the spirit of repetition in your practice and you will feel and see results at and away from the mat.

Like with any new activity it would be best to start with the fundamentals. Allow yourself to become familiar with the poses, the language of the poses and the language of the body in those poses before heading into a non-fundamental class. Please see class descriptions for greater insights.

It is up to you.

Reflecting upon the eight limbs of yoga we review non-judgment and this is a great place to start. Upon hearing this unfamiliar (and perhaps to some it may seem like an unusual) sound we may feel somewhat uncomfortable in our unknowing.

OM = AUM is often used to begin and/or end a class. It is meant to unite and bring harmony to release us from any duality within ourselves and amongst ourselves.

It is known as the primordial sound, the sound of creation. It is known as the mother of all languages. The repetition of OM enables mental and emotional calmness, overcomes obstacles and promotes understanding. You may use the sound to release from judgment and to set the tone for your time at the mat as well as life outside the four corners of the yoga mat.

Namaste is literally translated from Sanskrit to mean I bow to you. The most meaningful expression that I have seen is:

I honor the place within you where the entire Universe resides; I honor the place within you of love, of light, of truth, of peace; I honor the place within you, where, when you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.

~ Gandhi

Yoga means yoke or union. It refers to the harmonious connection of mind, body, and spirit. In this harmony resides the rediscovery of abundance. We rest in ease away from the mind’s chatter and life’s demands and into the infinite possibilities of all that is.

Flexibility is as much of mind as it is of body. As we learn to release from our self judgement, the body will also release. There is a yoga for everyone and there are ways to modify the practice as required by each and every body.