2018 promoting our 1st Newcomer’s Dance Too! Project in Flemingdon Park (funded by the Toronto Arts Council) At the 2015 Syrian Refugee Wellness Conference, hosted by Adeena, founder of the Afghan Women’s Organization Cheers To 10 Years: Remembering My First Class By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri I remember running my very first Zumba Fitness program in April 2014. It was an 8-week program at the Annex with 4 participants, all of whom saw my little flyer at a local laundromat or cafe. I had a black Denon speaker, a Nokia cell phone with my playlist on it, and a pair of colorful sneakers from Pa ..read more

Red symbolizes love and fertility; yellow is the color of turmeric, a powder native to India and used as a natural remedy; blue represents the Hindu God Krishna; and green is for new beginnings," (https://people.com/human-interest/holi-everything-to-know/)   How We're Celebrating Holi in Toronto By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri Holi is around the corner and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate it than with dance! Holi, India’s festival of colors, is a celebration that rings in Spring and the triumph of good over evil, similar to Diwali. While the celebration’s origins lie in religiou ..read more

Hello Friends, The holidays are around the corner and that means there will be lots of delicious treats. From Hannukkah to Christmas to New Year’s Eve, it can be difficult to maintain a healthy active lifestyle and diet. After losing my dad due to diabetic complications, and then seeing my grandmother almost lose a foot due to type 2 diabetes, our family has come together and made it a habit of making delicious treats that are both nutritious and better balanced. We know that giving up everything can lead to binge eating and the opposite results. We continue to make delicious meals and dessert ..read more

Session with Weston Frontlines (ages 7 to 12) Our Session with L’Amoreaux CC at Stephan Leacock CC, Scarborough (ages 10 to 18) Our Session at Success Beyond Limits - JaneFinch (ages 13 to 18) Our Session with L’Amoreaux CC at Stephan Leacock CC Scarborough (ages 10 to 18) Our Session at Success Beyond Limits - JaneFinch (ages 13 to 18) Session with Albion Boys and Girls Club & Rexdale Community Health Services (ages 10 to 18) This Year’s Highlights: Sumera’s Youth Self-Defense & Dance Series By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri This year, our series had a different feeling to it. It felt GOOD ..read more

The youth at the Rexdale Hub learning how to escape hair grabs from the back The youth at Weston Frontlines learning how to escape a wrist grab The youth at the Rexdale Hub learning how to escape hair grabs from the back The girls at Success Beyond Limts, Jane Finch learning situational awareness The girls at Stephan Leacock CC learning situational awareness Ceejay, Sumera (Me) and Jesse at Stephan Leacock Community Center After 2 years of pandemic-related restrictions placed on Toronto recreation, we returned in-person with a fun dance and safety series under particiPACTION’s community ..read more

5 Ways To Get Back Into Physical Fitness After Covid-19 By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri After living in a city with the longest lockdowns in North America, and with pandemic restrictions that limited in-person recreation on and off for 2 years, getting back into regular physical fitness may not be as easy as we thought it would be… I’m a fitness instructor and I found it difficult to go back to performing the physical activities I did before the pandemic. While our team ran online fitness programming for our members and benefited from participating in online classes as well, working out at home was ..read more

I love this article by Harvard Health for the simple fact that it raises awareness of the benefits of exercise that we often don’t see, the hidden ones in the BRAIN. I was raised by my grandparents. I noticed that as I grew older, so did they both mentally and physically… My grandfather tried to use exercise and a plant-based diet to manage his heart failure and weight for more than 40 years. My grandmother, however, adopted a better diet, fasting, and exercise (cardio and resistance training 3 times a week) in her 70s' after having 2 strokes as a result of not managing type 2 diabetes and al ..read more

3 Outdoor Halloween Activities For Kids - Under $10 By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri As part of a fitness team, I'm invested in the physical and mental health and social well-being of our littlest people! We know there is a strong connection between regular physical activity and kids doing better in school and in their social life, along with feeling happier and having better self-confidence. Because Halloween is celebrated by kids walking door to door to get treats in Toronto and across Canada, this blog will include 3 physical activities involving your household/current social circle that you can do ..read more

Bringing in my favorite season with a delicious Pumpkin Pie Square Recipe! Healthy, low-carb and dairy and gluten-free. Desserts don't have to be bad for you when made nutritiously, are low in sugar and fat, and consumed moderately. Here's the Recipe: Filling: 2 eggs 1/2 c almond milk (OR ANY NON DAIRY MILK) 1/3 c maple syrup or raw honey 2 c pumpkin puree (no sugar added) 1 tsp each cinnamon & ginger 1/4 tsp each nutmeg, cloves & cardamom  2 tbsp vanilla puree (I use clear Mexican vanilla) Crust 1/2 cup ground almonds or almond flour 1 1/2 cups brown rice flo ..read more

By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri Before Fall rolls in, I wanted to take a moment to share some of the key takeaways from our first outdoor kid’s fitness program in the High Park area. 1. We had a total of 18 kids registered across 2 sessions - that showed me that there was more demand for a program like this than I had imagined (YAY!) 2. We never had to cancel a class due to rainy weather (YAY!) 3. All of the parents were highly flexible and communicative -parents were always ready to reschedule a class in case of bad weather and awaited my email updates 2-hours before a class start time. I was lucky ..read more