Yoga Tree, founded by Jason Lu and Debbie Fung held a launch event at their Spadina and Richmond location on April 21 to celebrate the opening of their third location.  This is their first downtown studio (their other two are in Richmond Hill and Markham).  The studio offers a variety of different classes including hot yoga (and “reduced heat” yoga – set at 10 C less than hot yoga) as well as Hatha and Ashtanga yoga.

The event, which was also to celebrate Earth Day and to subsequently raise money for the Japan disaster featured yoga demos and classes in one studio as well as the typical post-work cocktail hors d’oeuvres – all healthy and nature-friendly – in the other.   The delicious appetizers were catered by a variety of different places, including Freshii (mini wraps), sushi from Matsus, delicious desserts from Eternal Spring Organics as well as virgin appletinis made with Almond Fresh products. The drink had a sweet, dessert-y taste to it – different from other apple martinis I’ve had in the past.  Besides mingling and nibbling on appetizers, attendees were also treated to a fashion show featuring clothing from Lululemon.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the event was that guests had to mingle in bare or stocking feet (other than parties at people’s homes, I’ve never attended anything else where I wasn’t wearing shoes) as most street shoes were not friendly on the floors.  The shoes were checked when guests or media signed in at the desk and placed in a cupboard.  The only problem was that the desk was right at the main entrance, which wasn’t very big.  The check in could easily have been elsewhere in the studio.  Other than that problem, however, the event was very good.

Yoga Tree downtown is located on 140 Spadina Avenue, just south of Richmond Street.  For more information on classes, please visit their website.