Yoga with Jelayna at Om T.O. 2016!
If you are a true yoga fanatic, you may have already heard of Om T.O., an event where hundreds of yogis from across the GTA celebrate the summer solstice by practicing yoga outside, all day, for free! This year, Om T.O. takes place in the Distillery District in Toronto this Sunday June 19th from 9 AM – 5 PM. There will be nine classes of various styles at the main stage, each lasting 40 minutes and led by teachers from studios across the GTA. There will also be a separate stage of family-friendly classes, including Father’s Day-themed “Daddy and Me” classes! Finally, there will be a meditation booth where you can get your zen on at any point throughout the day, and vendors will be selling food, clothing, and other yoga goodies. All you need to do to participate is to bring your mat and a filled-out waiver form, which you can print off their website, omto.ca. There, you will also find the schedules and class descriptions for the day.
Yoga Tree is so excited to be participating in Om T.O. for the third time. Our very own Jelayna Da Silva will be starting off the day at the main stage with a Hatha Seamless Flow class from 9-9:45 AM. Jelayna’s class will have you moving fluidly, each pose building on the one previous to safely wake up your body and get you ready for the rest of the day.
Jelayna led a class at Om T.O. last year and she also taught for Om T.O.’s Fit for Fall event, so she has a great sense of what the day holds:
“It’s a great and truly unique experience,” says Jelayna. “Having the opportunity to practice and move with hundreds of other yoga practitioners and Torontonians creates an amazing energy that could only come out of hundreds of bodies moving together in synchronicity… Om T.O. gives people the chance to connect on the common ground of yoga. It also allows them the opportunity to try several different styles of yoga. Finally, you’re outside – which is an unbeatable experience. It’s a celebration of the summer solstice, yoga, community, and Toronto, all rolled into one day.”
If you need further incentive to attend, just read about Jelayna’s view on practicing and teaching yoga: “Both are a constant learning experience. You never ‘arrive.’ You never ‘finish.’ There is always more to learn, more to teach. I am constantly being shown new things everyday by the students I’m blessed to teach, the teachers I’m blessed to learn from, and the practice I do daily. It is a privilege to be given permission to guide people through their practice and experience of yoga. I never take this for granted. My intention is to honour others’ minds, bodies, and points of view. Ultimately, my hope is to share peace with others by helping them find their centre, where peace constantly dwells. If we are given permission to slow down and [are] shown the way inside of ourselves, all the while being reminded not to be afraid but to trust the process, then peace can be attained daily.”
I also really liked what Jelayna said to me about her view on yoga: “What I adore about yoga is that is encourages you to accept, and fall in love with this ongoing learning process… It reminds us we are all in the process together. ‘Yoga,’ loosely translated, means ‘Union.’ The more we practice it, the deeper we come into union, first with ourselves… [and] eventually [with] the rest of the world. It shows us how connected we all are. It also constantly calls us back to the present moment, the only place it’s truly possible to really be.”
I hope you get to enjoy this amazing event and check out Jelayna’s class at Om T.O.! 🙂
