Our Story
The beginning
Alternity began as a question. In 2006, Rezo started articulating a vision: what if commerce could serve consciousness instead of consuming it? What if a single space could hold books, ideas, products, food, and community — all carrying the same intention?
The first version opened in 2009 inside a Toronto bookstore called Willow Books. A few hundred titles — multidisciplinary, fringe, alternative. Mind-body-spirit, ecology, psychedelia. Word spread.
Alternative Thinking
By 2011, the shop had taken over the full space and renamed itself Alternative Thinking — a holistic lifestyle boutique that grew to hold books, crystals, jewelry, ceremonial tools, clothing, eventually food. On 11/11/11, a live stream of the Thrive documentary drew over a hundred people through the door. The alternative community hub had announced itself.
A back room was kept open for gatherings — most operating under a Gift Economy model. Meditation, sound jams, workshops, performances. Free or by donation.
Alternity, the living room
In 2016, a second location opened. Alternity — "a vibrant community living room," in Rezo's own words. A space for theories, research, ceremonies, first-hand encounters. Workshops, classes, talks, gatherings.
Synthesis
The years that followed asked harder questions. What does it mean to be a conscious business? The inquiry began in earnest in 2017 — we quickly adopted the theory that greater exchange theoretically lays in a mutually beneficial relationship, a symbiotic exchange.
Then came 2020. Pivoting to ecommerce. Years of disruptive construction surrounding Alternative Thinking as the Mirvish Village neighborhood was redeveloped. The slow erosion of what had been a thriving community.
By 2024, the path clarified. Alternative Thinking moved into Alternity. Both came home under one umbrella. The domain shifted from alter8.com to alternity.ca. Alternity, the Hub, had arrived.
Today
Alternity — located in the very heart of the city — operates truly as a hub for the culture we represent. Our message and mission, embedded in the Oneness philosophy, have only grown more relevant:
The lineage
The work is shaped by thinkers who refused easy answers — Robert Anton Wilson, Terence McKenna, Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley, Buckminster Fuller, Timothy Leary, John C. Lilly. The philosophical wing of the psychedelic tradition.
Closer to home, Rezo carries the direct mentorship of Hugh Philips, retired diplomat/civil servant from Barbados with 45 years of practing integral yoga alongside studying anthropology, comparative mythology, herbalism, Quantum Physics, Kabbalah, Indigenous Pathways, transpersonal psychology, esotericism, ancient wisdom, neuroscience, Taoism and shamanism.
The stewards
Alternity is family-built.
Founded the project — two decades of consciousness research, festival immersion, and the conviction that the world he wanted to live in wasn't going to build itself.
The steady hand. CFO, voice of reason, the structural intelligence that lets the rest of the team dream without losing the ground.
Joined in 2017, after years of traveling the world — festival culture, psychedelic communities, immersions in ancient studies across South America and Asia. She is charge of the operations and carries the global vision & expansion of Alternity.
Together, the three opened 333 Bloor.
A notible mention to our team members over the years who have impacted who we are. To this day, an amazing crew of dedicated people who wish to participate in creating a better world.