Breathe for a Buck

It’s official—soccer moms are out and yoga moms are in. Today’s modern mom likes to wear yoga pants and take care of herself too, not just her family. She believes a happy mom makes a happy family. She is zen. Naturally, she practices yoga.

But does she?

Well if you don’t but you think you’d like to, (really, in this day and age) we know of the perfect way for you to test drive a few great yoga classes around the GTA. It’s called Passport to Prana (prana means breath in case you’re not up on your Sanksrit) and the program starts again this month and runs until February 2009. Designed to encourage all the wannabe yogis to get out there and test drive a studio near them and to help the seasoned vets try something new, Passport to Prana is a $30 card (printed on recyclable paper using vegetable dyes) which entitles its holder to one yoga class at each of the 30 participating studios. It gives everybody (no matter how much yoga experience you have) the freedom to try Toronto’s best yoga studios by eliminating the cost barrier that comes with yoga in the big city. Since the average yoga class in Toronto is $18, this is a true deal at only $1 per class. Every style of yoga is represented from Ashtanga, Flow, and Jivamukti to Hatha, Moksha and Bikram.

Many of the participating studios offer classes for mommies like prenatal, postnatal and even mommy and me classes. The Yoga Space (Yonge and Ossington) offers a huge pre/post natal program and even offers doula services. Leewi Yoga (Mississauga) offers kids and pre-natal classes, and Octopus Garden (Bloor and Bathurst) offers kids yoga during the school year. And there are many more options available, so check out the list of participating studios here for their class offerings. The SavvyMom team likes the 8:30 pm classes at Moksha Yoga Uptown, which are great for yoga mom after babes are in bed (then she can go home and rest her zen head on the pillow before the 5 am wake up).

We’re not saying you need to get the kinks out of your back to find inner peace, but if you’re feeling the need for a change in the old wellness routine, now might be the perfect time to start.

It’s a small price to pay, and it’s flexible too.