COMMON STORIES: YOGA AT THE COMMON

Posted on: June 21, 2019

I’m from Calgary, Alberta, and I grew up on a farm.  I moved here two years ago and didn’t know what to expect.  I wanted to be in a bigger city, and I loved it.  But what’s really been great for me, especially in the last year, is the community that I’ve built within the yoga community, and here at the Common.

My yoga practice has changed a lot over the last 10 years.  I had a concussion four and a half years ago, so I live with chronic migraines as a result of that.  Nurturing and supporting my body with movement, stability and strength in a way that is sustainable is what my practice means to me now.  There are so many styles of yoga, different classes and instructors.  For me it’s about the mindfulness aspect.

When the owners of ALIVE yoga & fitness, Stefanie and Sebastian, reached out to me to ask if I would guide the practice at the Common, I was grateful.  The community here is different than what I’ve experienced thus far in the GTA or downtown Toronto, and the class has seen a successful turnout right from the beginning, with 12 to 30 students at each class.

Downtown is so much more fast paced.  Everyone just wants to get where they’re going.  I enjoy the energy of downtown, but I like being just outside of it.  I’d driven past Cloverdale, but I didn’t know what the mall was like, what stores were here, or what the community was like.  I didn’t realize that something like the Cloverdale community could exist in a city like Toronto.

This is by far my favourite class to teach each week because everyone has been so welcoming, and the feedback has been great.  Teaching this class has offered a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow in this big city and create my own piece of the community here.

~ Brittany Zeer, an instructor at ALIVE yoga & fitness, teaches yoga at the Cloverdale Common every Sunday at 11:30 a.m.  Admission is free!

Common Stories is a monthly blog series that will bring you people’s stories, told at the Cloverdale Common.  The Common is the designated space within the mall created to seek the community’s input regarding the proposed Cloverdale redevelopment.  Visit us in the North end of the mall and let us know your thoughts and visions for the future of Cloverdale.