Espace Varana 4660 Notre-Dame Ouest, Saint-Henri.
Yoga + Wellness Space.
Intimate studio. Relaxing +Revitalizing.

Espace Varana offers:
The practice of flow, and the practice of an extensive variety of poses, from basic, to more athletic.
Osteopathic care, with follow-up by certified instructors, bursting with energy, attentive to your needs, and invested in your positive physical and psychological growth.

At Espace Varana you can:
Stretch.
Improve your breathing, and yourposture.
Rebalance your neurovegetative system.
Improve the function of your joints.
Strengthen your muscles.
Relax your body.
Calm your anxieties, and counteractdepressive tendencies.
Take a break from competing with others, and with yourself.
Breathe deeply, relax, forgive, listen, love, improve.

On the menu:
MORNING FLOW YOGA
MOVEMENT YOGA
FLOW + STRETCH
GENTLE YOGA
RESTORE YOGA
SENIOR YOGA
FLOW + TUNE UP YOGA
FLOW + YIN YOGA
CORE STRENGTH VINYASA
MATERNITY + FAMILY YOGA
PRIVATE YOGA
OSTHÉOPATHY

Andréanne Fortin, the co-founder of Espace Varana, has created a human-centred studio, where anyone can benefit from personalized support in transformation of the body’s structures, as well as preventative, or responsive treatments, targeting certain stresses, and injuries.

Three characteristics of your studio?

1. “Environmentally friendly:
We wanted to create an inviting, accessible, and uninhibited environment, to encourage exchange, and to stimulate community spirit among participants.Our goal is to expand the experience of visiting the studio, beyond the yoga class.So, we built a place in the front where people can sit down and drink tea while flipping through a book or a magazine. We also serve a chai latte, or infusion, before, or after each class.”

2. “Customized, and semi-private classes:
Studio attendants are limited to 12 people, per practice.The small number of students makes it easy to create a relationship, and a dialogue, between the teacher and each student. Courses are tailored to each person’s needs, and each student receives specialized attention. This proximity allows us to support the evolution of the person in their practice.”

3. “Accessible to all:
We encourage yoga for all, without discrimination. In addition to our regular courses, the studio schedule is complemented by specialized courses for seniors, pregnant women, new mothers with baby in arms. We’ve even created a course called YogaMarmaille. Yoga Marmaille makes it possible to attend the class with your children, aged 5 and under. We have received a great response and wonderful feedback from parents able to get out of the house, to continue their practice. We are also establishing a partnership with the Esengo Foundation, a local non-profit organization, to offer yoga classes to people with mental health concerns.”

How would you describe your teaching style, or technique?
‍“Classes are creative, smart, accessible, and varied; though not easy, in the least!The studio team is made up of about ten instructors, with various specialties. The members of our team have studied, and traveled, and gathered, over many years, in their professional and personal lives, skills they make available to yoga practitioners, with no barrier to entry. The courses we offer are diverse, and they focus on offering distinct benefits.For example: Postural Yoga will focus on optimal alignment; while Restorative Yoga will provide deep muscle relaxation, and calming of the nervous system.The Core Strength Vinyasa is more of a creative flow.Yoga Tune Up, with therapeutic ball massages, will aim at myo fascial relaxation.Pilates-inspired Core Strength Yoga will strengthen the body’s central unit.Finally: The Yoga + Movement course will help you to move differently, and renew your sensorimotor habits.We believe in education through movement, and love to share our knowledge! We create monthly themes to ensure consistency between our teachers, and our courses. We have found this wholistic, and interconnected curriculum is the best way to stimulate learning.In March, for example, we launched, for the first time, the 3X/Week Challenge, to encourage people to practice yoga consistently.Each course is given with consideration of, and for, each individual practitioner’s body, and that body’s limitations.At Espace Varana, we advocate for a safe yoga practice, supported by precise, thoughtful, and qualified direction.”

How would you describe your clientele?
‍“Our clientele is mostly between 25and 65.We have developed beautiful relationships with our students, since beginning the studio, in St-Henri. Our clients have proven themselves committed, and inspiring; authentic people, from a variety of backgrounds, who want to adopt a healthy lifestyle that matches their values. They enjoy the fun, welcoming feeling they get when they walkin, and have expressed their appreciation for our drive to offer them personalized attention. We take great pride in meeting, and exceeding their expectations of us, and we are always driving ourselves to help complete our community.”

Three of your best loved characteristics of St-Henri?
‍1. “St-Henri’s dynamism.”
‍2. “St-Henri’s cultural diversity.”
‍3. “The inviting people of the neighbourhood, who make Saint Henri home.”