Affordable yoga has made its way closer to Stern, with the opening of a new ‘Yoga to the People’ (YTTP) studio located on 23rd Street and 3rd Avenue. Right in Stern College’s backyard, new specialized yoga classes are being offered at the inexpensive price of just $5 per class. In this newest location named ‘YTTP II’, a variety of different style yoga classes are offered, such as: Flow to Flexibility, Dharma Yoga, Rocket Flow, Ashtanga, and Kripalu Flow. These titles may be meaningless to a currently non-practicing yogi or to a person who does not speak sanskrit. What may be important are not necessarily the definitions of each type of practice, but the fact that any inexperienced or experienced yogi can affordably and easily introduce a greater practice of yoga in his or her daily life.
That being said, it might be nice to know what you are actually getting yourself into.
Dharma yoga practices inversions and backbends. An inversion practice is the art of going upside down. If you are at all curious about positions involving your heart towards the ground and your feet in the air, this is the practice for you. It may seem like an impossible task, but the teacher breaks down the practice so that if you are a beginner you can build up strength for the pose. Even if your feet are not yet in the air today, one day soon you will have the strength and concentration to attain this position.
Ashtanga yoga is a flow class that builds up strength through repetition and requires a certain self-awareness and focus in each pose. For those looking for a good class on building up different asanas (poses) and learning a variety of different poses, this is a good practice. You will break a sweat while focusing on your breathing, meditating and growing stronger.
Kripalu flow is a mix of many types of yoga classes which allow the participants to deeply engage with poses they may not have ever encountered in a different YTTP studio. Each posture is given as a suggestion. The instructor shows different versions of each position in order to allow the yogi to chose for his or herself what kind of work they need or want to put into their practice. This is a great class for beginners or advanced yogis. The instructor allows requests, tailoring the class to your own desires and specifications.
Rocket Flow, my personal favorite, breaks down highly complex poses, allowing regular yogis to begin moving their practice towards a more advance stage. In this class you will encounter arm balances and inversions, and your legs may end up in places you would never imagine them to be. I suggest this to people already familiar with yoga and those who wish to push their practice to new and less familiar places.
While this new location is exciting, nearby, and affordable, a beginner yogi may view these classes as being too highly specialized. This is not a problem since there are multiple YTTP locations of power Vinyasa Flow. In the East Village, the St. Marks Street location offers donation-based Vinyasa Flow classes. In the mix of the eclectic St. Marks Street, one may develop his or her inner yogi with the constant moving and breathing exercises and poses offered in the classes. The teachers are randomly scheduled throughout the week; therefore, a yogi is never limited by a single teaching style. As one would expect from a community-based yoga class, the classes are often large. Vinyasa yoga focuses on aligning breath and movement, creating a constant flow throughout the class. Transportation to this studio can be taken either via a quick 6-train ride downtown, a 30-minute walk, or a 10-15 minute jog.
38th St. and 6th Avenue houses one of YTTP’s hottest locations, literally. On the third floor, a hot power Vinyasa Flow class is offered. This class is similar to the classes offered at St. Marks, except the room is 105 degrees. On the fourth floor, Traditional Hot Yoga offers what is more commonly understood to be Bikram Yoga. The class has 26 set poses and lasts 90 minutes. The room is about 105-110 degrees. While this may sound like torture, these hot classes can be very soothing for tight or sore muscles, and might allow New Yorkers to enjoy a heated space in the cold winter.
Yoga satisfies the body, mind, and spirit. As students, we often have trouble with any combination in those three departments. It is nice to be able to have spaces in this busy city that allow for personal time and growth. With these YTTP locations so close and so cheap, there is almost no excuse to not become a yogi.