Yoga Tree Bay & Dundas

The location, facilities and instructors are absolutely hands down phenomenal at this Yoga Tree location.
I had originally signed up for the 30 day unlimited yoga intro package for $ 40 in the month of December. At the time I was looking for a place that was convenient for me to become more physically active. Although I must admit, this was not the best time to purchase the pass because I was not able to optimize the full potential of my pass due to the limited classes offered closer to the holidays. Nevertheless, my goal was to try a variety of different classes within those 30 days to decide whether or not I’d be interested to invest more time practicing at this studio.
On my first day, I loved every single moment of my experience. Entering this studio was like coming to a 5-​star spa retreat, from taking your shoes off at the door to smelling the relaxing aromas in the studio. The receptionist was very informative and helped me register my 30-​day pass. The change room was very modern, with built in lock combination lockers. They have a hang out area along with a hydration station where there is complimentary tea, fruit infused water and filtered water.
The studio offers a variety of different classes and all of the yoga instructors I had were very knowledgeable and approachable. I attended 12 classes with 5 different instructors within the month of December. Each class allowed me to learn more about yoga through the techniques and postures that were taught.
Below are some tips, the top 3 things I loved about this studio and a few recommendations I had.
Tips:
— In partnership with local businesses in the neighbourhood, your pass allows you discounts to places like bareburger, aroma, fresh, etc…
— They offer free tea and fruit infused water
— 10% off for students purchasing the auto-​renew program
What I love:
— Environmentally friendly studio by minimizing the environmental footprint by using energy efficient materials like cork flooring, energy saving light bulbs and enforcing a no-​paper policy
— The community initiatives that help raise awareness and funds for multiple organizations
— The pass allows you access to 5 locations (however some of the locations are very far from one another)
Recommendations:
Affordable class:
This location is predominantly university students, which makes it very challenging for students like myself to afford this luxury. It would be great if this location offered the economy $ 10 admission for everyone with or without Yoga Tree memberships (like their Richmond & Spadina location).
I loved this studio so much after my first day, I decided to sign up for the auto-​renew program on Dec 21(fully paid) even though my last day was December 31. I didn’t attend my first class in January until January 4^th and learned that they had a promotion on January 7^th for 50% off the 1^st month of auto-​renew. I was very upset at this because if I procrastinated long enough, I could have saved more money. After speaking to the yoga advisor, I had learned that I was not able to retrieve the difference back. The auto renew program is a minimum commitment of four months for $ 99. By saving $ 50, I would have been able to put it towards another months membership fee.
New student orientation:
Although I was provided directions to the change rooms and the studio rooms, it would have been great if there was a guided tour for new students to orient them around the facility, as well as explain/​demonstrate how to use the lock in the locker rooms.
Class Variety:
All the Yoga Tree locations offer some different classes; for example, only the Richmond & Spadina location offer the Jivamukti class, only the Richmond Hill location offer Iyengar & Yoga with Meditation, etc…
It would be nice to see some of these classes offered at the Bay & Dundas location from time to time (eliminating travel time to far locations such as Vaughan & Richmond Hill).
Overall, I love attending the 6:30am — AM Power Flow classes with Stefanie on Tuesday and Thursday. It’s a great challenging class and it’s a great start to my day. I would most definitely recommend everyone and anyone to come to her classes.

The instructors here are amazing! I particularly love Queenie’s core yoga class and Kim’s Power Vinyasa class which provide a good balance of strength and flexibility. I also enjoy the hot yoga classes which are very challenging — Jelayna and the Friday 4:30 hot yoga instructor are both incredible at guiding through and correcting posture in the Level 1 class — great for newbies!
The studios are clean but can get crowded depending on the time and class. So definitely arrive early to save yourself some mat space! :)

This updated review is solely for Yoga Tree’s Teacher Training program. YTT is either from Jan-​April (weekends, mine included Friday evenings), July (entire month weekdays), Sept-​Dec (weekends).
Signing up for the 250 hr YTT at Yoga Tree has proven to be one of my best decisions for 2015. I had my reservations in the beginning. Would I be able to wake up on weekends? Am I going to like yoga less? Can I even do this w/​a full time job? Am I going to survive the philosophy component? The answer is yes yes yes yes!
YTT was an absolutely rewarding and exhilarating experience. It has also allowed me to challenge and learn more about myself, and I have gotten stronger mentally and physically as a result. I loved our small class size, as it likely benefitted and allowed us to have more social interactions in a very supportive and positive teaching environment. The teaching component was excellent as well. They started us with baby steps, teaching sun salutations, specific poses, sequences, one hr classes etc. Each week, we were teaching something.
The guest speakers were all amazing and lovely people. I truly enjoyed every session. Anatomy, Kids Yoga (oved this), Prenatal Yoga, Philosophy (interesting!), Yin Yoga, Restorative, etc. Sessions with Jason & Karin were always fun and enjoyable. They are very knowledgeable, kind, patient and supportive. There were times where I felt weak in a certain area, but they always found something good in all of us as well as letting us know what could be improved on. Karin & Jason have always encouraged us to be better, which in turn, has inspired me to pass this joy and passion to others. Our ‘bible’ aka the manual was very comprehensive and I always go back and look through my notes. So happy I did YTT at Yoga Tree!

I love Yoga Tree studios and I have been going to their studios since Dec 2014. They offer a large variety of classes (hot, hatha, yin, restorative, Iyengar) across 5 locations in the GTA. Although this is not my home studio, Bay & Dundas is my favourite Yoga Tree studio. It is conveniently located close to Eatons & Dundas subway station.
The studio is very luxurious, clean, and beautifully designed. They have 1 hot room, 1 reduced heat room, and another large studio. The washrooms are fully equipped including soap, lotion, and even hair ties, qtips and face cotton balls. The lockers are convenient because you don’t have to bring your own lock to use them. There is also a sauna & massage rooms which currently are not in use yet.
I work downtown and I went to the lunch hour yoga. It is short (50 minutes to an hour) and really convenient for those who work and want to fit in a yoga practice during lunch.
There is also a mat storage space available for $ 10/​month for those who don’t want to carry their mats back and forth. Free tea and cucumber water is available for all the students. I love looking at the yoga merchandise for sale. Also, there is the Pekoe Kombucha bar that’s open for those who want to drink kombucha after class.
I did my Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) at Bay & Dundas in Winter 2015. Jason (owner) & Karin (Senior Instructor) are very experienced teachers and I learned a lot from them. The majority of the teachers teaching at Yoga Tree are trained through their own YTT program. The teacher screening process is intense, and it really shows through the quality of classes.

I’m a newer yogi and Yoga Tree was the second place I tried, after Yoga Sanctuary. By comparison Yoga Tree is far better, especially the lobby and change rooms — there’s proper ones. Being new to hot yoga I found the instructor (Rita) to be very helpful. I have had upwards of a dozen instructors thus far and most do a fine job. However I found Rita to be an absolute yogi master. Her voice is so calming that you actually meditate, & the way she explains how to flow from pose to pose you feel like a pro. I have yet to feel awkward or confused in one of her classes. As well I found Aaron to be a very relaxing instructor, very helpful in a genuine way. Overall I would highly suggest Yoga Tree. Great location, an ever greater team.

Went for a free session as a member had an invitation.
Was so impressed upon registering that they use a white board like registration form that saved trees!!! Love it.
The staff is friendly and the area is incredibly clean.
The yoga teacher was good but not the greatest. Although she embodied everything I would want in an instructor physically. She was strong, she was serene and she was in amazing shape. There were no adjustments, no engagement and nothing that left me wanting more.
After the class there is beverage station which offers a flavour of tea — yes just one (at least the day that I went) and it was a concoction I can’t even remember but not for my taste buds.
Moving on to the change rooms, it was clean, open and everything was easy to find. I did not decide to sign up because I looked around and realized what I would be paying for. I would opt for a cheaper studio with a better yoga instructor because at the end of the day I come for the yoga and not the tea or the facility.

I’m a big fan of this place not only because of the location but the staff is amazing and the place is clean.
Front staff: fast and friendly. They take the time to learn your name and always there to greet you or see you off. Email them with any issues and they quickly respond and provide solutions.
Instructors: knowledgeable and attentive. I like that these instructors walk around to make sure poses are being done correctly and they stick around after class in case you have questions. They are motivating and passionate about what they do. Love them! I highly recommend the 5:15pm class Mon– Fri.
Place: huge location that is always clean with changing rooms, lockers, showers, saunas, and sitting area where you can enjoy chatting with other yogis and complementary tea (my fav is the crème earl grey).
Services they provide include mat and towel rentals at a small fee, mat storage rentals for $ 10/​month, and a juice bar (kombucha is great after a class). They have a small but nice selection of mats, accessories and yoga clothing to purchase as well.
I suggest doing the unlimited monthly pass which allows you to use any of their locations.
Bonus: your yogatree pass allows you to take advantage of discounts at bareburger, aroma, and fresh, just to name a few.

‘Hot yoga’ was not hot. Rather just a warm room and you don’t sweat much.
I had a bad experience in this studio that originally I was considering monthly monthly unlimited, but not anymore. One staff I dealt with was kind of condescending and argumentative. Blank faced, deadpan and unfriendly.
With yoga being so cheap and accessible these days, what draws customers in is the ppl and he service. But this studio felt cold and business driven, nothing spiritual as yoga atmosphere should be. This is enforced by the staff I dealt with. I can spend my money on other yoga studios that actually feel like one with better service and people. no thanks.

If you are looking for HOT yoga, do not go here.
I love hot yoga and heard that Yoga Tree Bay & Dundas offered hot classes. They were also featured on some Blog as one of the top studios for hot yoga. They advertise a hot room to 38 C, which is a couple degrees less than most hot places (40C), but that is not too bad.
Don’t get me wrong, the space is fine, relatively clean, and serene. The staff at the reception are very friendly and nice. But the hot studio itself is VERY drafty and NOT HOT. They have humidifiers spraying around by the window to try to achieve that hot feel. They do nothing.
The classes I have attended are quite vigorous with many chaturangas and things like that, very active, but I barely broke a sweat. This is unusual for a hot class. In a true hot yoga class, you will be sweating even while doing very few movements.
It is really too bad, because the setup of the studio is great. There are self-​locking lockers, it is clean, there are multiple classes at many times during the day. Nice smelling soap in the bathroom, clean showers, etc. The instructors are great too — friendly and trying hard.
Another thing too — they allow people to enter the studio late. Serious yoga studios do NOT allow late-​comers! What is the point of lying on the mat during the intro of the class listening to the instructor talk about all this zen stuff about release and calm when you have people coming in, slamming their mat down, and throwing the blocks down to set up? It is not calming, and I just lay there watching them come in.
This place has potential. It just needs fixing up — enforce no late comers, and do not advertise ‘hot yoga’ as being held here. It is warm yoga. I hate to think what their ‘reduced heat’ classes are. Room temp? Are the normal classes ice-​yoga?

This review is based on my first class experience.
I have been looking for a yoga studio close to home and came across the Yogatree website and liked the look of it. Today was my first class, they have a special offer of $ 40 for the month (unlimited classes) and I started with the beginners class. The place was extremely clean and they have mats for rent too. The studio space for this class was called unity (I think? :/​) and was spacious. There are props stacked in the corner for use (including blankets, I guess that can be used during relaxation time) and the lighting was dim (not dark though, I went at 5).
The class was good for a beginner level because the focus is in breathing and posture. Also, the instructor was pretty helpful at the end of the class with answering my questions.
Will definitely be going for more classes and try the variety that they offer. If the experience changes… So will my review ;)

I went for the opening day Hot Yoga class. understand it was a promotion day for free class. But It was not worth my hour of time due to the following reason.
— Hot yoga class was not hot due to heat system defects
— The room still had paint smell in it, which made it very hard for proper breathing
— The class was crowded and unprofessional
— They have allowed late arrivals and had a guy outside of the entrance; looking into the practice through the glass door for a good 15min (creepy)!!!
Since it was a new space, the environment was nice and clean. Would go back in maybe a couple of months when the hype is over and the paint smell is gone.
For a first time experience, it really did not live up to all the other yogatree standard I had.

WOW! I went today for the free opening day classes and took the Restorative class with Mary. The facilities are gorgeous, modern, clean, and detailed.
I really liked the instructor who was gentle, helpful, instructive but unfortunately doesn’t teach regularly at this location.
I’m thinking of the $ 40 month pass for this studio. I’m just getting back into yoga and there’s a large variety of classes from restorative, basic to advanced and hot yoga.
The customer service was great, I was helped immediately coming in. The locker got stuck and the combo didn’t work but their response was great, problem acknowledged and solved efficiently.
I vaguely remember going to the Spadina location years ago and was not impressed. This seemed to be a totally different studio and not part of the same brand.