Stick with what you know

YogaWorks

138 Fifth Ave, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10011

www.yogaworks.com

212.647.9642

Having recently moved from LA to NYC, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks drowning in a sea of boxes and cluttered surfaces. Now that things are starting to calm, I decided I’d let my practice languish for long enough and it was time to get back on the mat.

           

I’ve been eagerly researching studios since I found out I was moving here. I was very curious to see what the differences are between yoga on the east and west coasts. Seeing as my home studio in Los Angeles was YogaWorks, I figured it was only fitting to start my journey in NYC where I left off in LA so I chose to visit the Downtown location and take a YogaWorks Flow 2/3 class from Jenny Aurthur. Every time I have a lapse in my practice (which I’ll admit is more often than I’d like), I worry about jumping back in at the 2/3 level. I’m always concerned that I won’t have enough strength and stamina to make it through the class without coming out of all the more advanced poses early. 99% of the time I am completely fine, but the mental chatter that accompanies me to class on these days is so loud it could drown out the NYC street noise. This day was no different than the others and as I walked over to the studio I tried to focus on being present with where I was each step I took. I took comfort in realizing that this was actually quite easy, and necessary because if I wasn’t present I was likely to run into oncoming pedestrian traffic, or worse actual traffic.

 

After finding the entrance to the building hidden amongst a lot of construction, I was buzzed in and took the elevator up to the 4^th floor where the doors opened into the lobby facing the reception desk. As I signed in, the girls at the desk began discussing their excitement about a visiting teacher from LA. I immediately felt a little more at ease.

 

There were two studios on opposite sides of the lobby, both had dark wood floors and skylights and windows to add lots of natural light. Apparently I hadn’t gotten the memo about showing up right as the class was scheduled to start because I spent about 15 minutes prior to class with just one other guy (who upon talking to him I found out was a visiting student from LA!)

 

The class filled in right as it was starting at 9:30 and we began sitting in a supported Sukasana (easy cross-legged pose) and soon were tuning in with 3 OMs. My concerns about struggling through multiple sun salutations and vigorous vinyasas were still present but quickly dissipated when, to my surprise, I realized we were still sitting on our mats 20 minutes into class. 

I was even more surprised that we didn’t do a single sun salutation the entire class. This was definitely not the kind of flow that I was expecting, but since this was my first class back, I was okay with that. During the second half of the class we worked on some sequences linking balancing poses (tree to warrior 3 to half moon, etc) and suddenly the class started earning its level 2/3 status. Even though we were working hard, Jenny kept the mood playful so that we didn’t take ourselves too seriously, which can be tough to do when working on balancing poses.

We finished the class by somersaulting ourselves into a nice long supported legs-up-the-wall.

I noticed after class that the bathrooms/changing areas are pretty small and there was a bit of a wait to get in. No one seemed to mind, as they all knew each other and happily passed the time catching up.

After class I went around the corner to check out City Bakery, a cafeteria-style eatery on 18^th St. They had a plethora of baked goods, but trying not to undo all the good I had just done, I wanted to find something a little lighter. I went to the back to check out the lunch options, but wasn’t thrilled with the offerings. They had a few sides, some fruit and yogurt and some oatmeal. I ended up with some fruit and yogurt that was tasty, but according to the weigh scale that told me the cost of my purchase, it wasn’t as “light” as I was hoping for…