Health & Fitness in Edmonton

The instructors at Lion's Breath Yoga are all different?they hail from different backgrounds and started doing yoga for different reasons. One thing that links them, though, aside from being part of the Lion's Breath team: they've all found where they fit. Inside the peaceful facility, these individuals help students do the same by leading a wide range of yoga classes. This yoga continuum, as it's called, stretches from gentle entry practices for beginners to vigorous practices for those looking for more of a challenge. No matter which grouping you fit into, the goal here remains the same: help you transform your life, body, and mind, all while avoiding more drastic measures of transformation such as replacing your limbs with Lego blocks.

Aromas of warm cedar emanate from the recycled cork flooring where instructors lead Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, yin yang, or detox classes within a studio heated to a warm 34–36 degrees Celsius or a hot 40–42 degrees Celsius. As the heat helps bodies release toxins and deepen stretches, the yogis guide their students through fluid movements and deeply held postures designed to strengthen muscles. After completing limb-limbering poses, students repose on a rented mat to experience a deep relaxation that's second only to sharing a sauna with Plato. Once they complete muscle-toning workouts in the cedar-ceilinged studio, guests can freshen up in the vibrant orange changing room or socialize in the welcome room.

Voted Best Gym in the Bay Area 2011 by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, World Gym San Francisco is home to plentiful cardio and weight machines, group fitness classes, and chiropractic care facilities. After receiving a towel in the sea foam-green lobby, guests set foot in one of the gym's spacious exercise rooms to stretch on mats while waiting for exercise balls to hatch into personal trainers. Inside cardio rooms equipped with flat screen TVs, guests can catch up on news while their hearts catch up on skipped beats. Steam rooms and dry saunas relax bodies tuckered from group classes such as boxing, spin, and yoga. A cafe vends fresh smoothies approved by the gym's nutrition programs, and a tanning bed bronzes newly toned physiques.

World Gym maintains its 35-year legacy of body-sculpting know-how at its Jacksonville Beach Boulevard location, jump-starting workout routines with cardio equipment, free weights, and more than 50 weekly exercise classes, including yoga, spin, and Zumba, taught by certified trainers. After running, jumping, lifting, or stretching, exercisers can linger at the smoothie bar to slurp up chilled energy, before retiring to steam rooms that vaporize stress with misty heat. A colorful, carpeted childcare center entertains youngsters as parents submit backs to certified massage therapists who wrestle tension out of muscles.

In oases of wellness scattered across Canada, GoodLife Fitness strives to improve people's lives with exercise classes for all ages and skill levels. For cardio, there's RPM, a high-energy spinning class, or Jillian Michaels's metabolism-boosting BodyShred. For mental serenity as well as healthy flexibility, there's hot yoga and Pilates. And for strength training, there's BodyPump, a barbell class; BodyFlow, a mix of yoga, tai chi, and Pilates; and BodyVive, a low-impact workout using Vive balls and tubes. GoodLife also offers corporate and business partnerships to ensure wellness in the workplace.

Since 1998, the instructors at Salsaddiction have been infecting students of all ages with their passion for Latin dance, helming classes at numerous locations around the city, including the 4,000-square-foot Integration Pilates dance studio. Once they turn on the music, they’ll divulge salsa styles, such as the flamboyant L.A. school or the group-based, partner-swapping rueda de casino. The fiesta continues at regular social events where students can try out their moves between conversations with peers or uncooperative pairs of feet.