In a town that offers so many choices, it is difficult to pick the perfect yoga studio, and several factors come into play when choosing one: budget, location, teachers, variety of classes. Upon returning to New York, I fell in love with the Yogaworks SoHo studio, which I had visited before but had not fully appreciated its resources.
I attended a vinyasa flow class with Lisa Yi, and it took place in the upstairs studio, which I did not know even existed. Right next to the locker rooms, which are equipped with showers, towels and large mirrors, the spacious studio overlooks Broadway and provides a sense of calm in the midst of frenetic city energy. The class unfolded with a few words of wisdom, “Forget the past, do not look ahead to the future, focus on the reality of now,” and while the sequence was familiar, the pace was not: the instructor held each pose for five counts, at the same rhythm, “Inhale 1, Exhale 1, Inhale 2, Exhale 2, etc…” I had the urge to fall out of the poses earlier and struggled to hold more difficult ones: the standing hand-to-big-toe pose, for example. In a word, the pace was unrelenting and therefore the class, which challenged my endurance and ability to concentrate. The class reminded me that yoga is challenging because it forces the individual to slow down, to root himself/herself in the present, which is always competing with memories of the past, hopes for the future.
For more information, visit: www.yogaworks.com.
Comments