New York: Vinyasa Yoga In The Village
They say if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. New York that is! I had such an amazing time exploring Brooklyn. I was excited to see how the yogis do it in the Big Apple so I had to get in at least one class. The yoga lifestyle can only happen if I put in the prep work and schedule in advance.
So about a week before my trip to New York, I made a phone call to the Locale Village Shop and Yoga in Bed-Stuy, now known as And Yoga Studios. A friendly guy answered the phone and told me about the studio and shop, we talked for a long time going over the class types. I told him I needed a good recommendation. I wanted something new and insightful to add to my practice. I’ve been working on perfecting the art of hot yoga for a long time and wanted to explore more yoga techniques and styles, especially if I want to teach at some point. So there were three options:
Village Vinyasa I
Village Lift Light – Strength Training
Village Aerial Yoga I-II
I went with the Village Vinyasa I class because, although I have taken a Vinyasa class before when I visited Paris, I had been out of the loop for a while. He told me about the benefits of the Vinyasa flow and how it is a true yoga practice. It is considered a “moving meditation” which allows you to focus the mind and body simultaneously through deep breathing. The breath is so important in any physical practice; it aligns the mind to focus on one thought at a time.
I took an Uber about seven minutes away to the studio. There were cute coffee shops and people hanging out in the morning. When I got to the studio, the instructor was super chill and the room temperature was mild and relaxing. We started off with some breathing and stretching. We did a lot of poses different from Bikram which was really refreshing.
I tried the Downward Facing Dog, Warrior, Triangle, Bridge, Plank, and Half Moon Poses. My heart is strong so I kept up quite well! I stretched out my hamstrings, lower back, abs, neck and shoulders too. It was a good deep stretching work out. At the end, I felt great, it was a stress relief! Afterwards, I walked around the shop and took in all of the details. Very cool, laid-back atmosphere. Definitely check out this cozy spot off Marcus Garvey in Bed-Stuy! Holla!
