Never been to a yoga class before?
Tips on making your first experience with Yoga one that is calming, rewarding and memorable:
Arrive 5 to 10 minutes early.
Everyone is required to sign in prior to entering class, so please check in at the front desk so we can extend a warm welcome and handle any paperwork. **Classes will begin at their designated times and doors may be locked. Please be prompt.**
Remove Your shoes before entering the yoga room.
Cubbies are provided in the studio lobby for all your personal effects. For your convenience, changing rooms are also available if you need to change clothes.
Turn off your cell phone.
Even if its stored in the cubby with your personal effects, please turn off your phone. Escaping the demands of the real world will enhance your experience and will keep from disrupting your fellow yogis.
Notify the teacher of any injuries or medical conditions.
This helps us know how to best meet your individual needs.
Please stay for savasana.
If you must leave prior to class dismissal, please take an early Savasana (final relaxation pose), which will alert the instructor of your planned early exit. Also, please depart before – not during – the group’s Savasana or final meditation.
Our Class Guide
Check out the yoga classes available at our studio!
Basic Vinyasa
Beginners welcome! For students with a developing practice, an alignment-based flow. Learn how to work safely in deeper variations and address postural imbalances.
Intermediate Vinyasa
A thoughtful, breath-oriented class emphasizing foundation and alignment with an introduction to intermediate yoga poses to help students safely deepen their practice.
Advanced Vinyasa
Includes introduction* or advanced variations of inversions, arm balances and backbends. *NOTE: We welcome students with a strong foundation to try these classes and work on adventuring into advanced postures.
Restorative Yoga & Yoga Nidra
Complements a fast lifestyle and has an enormous capacity to heal physical and mental symptoms that are stress related, and as we know, many diseases these days are stress related.
When the pace of life is fast, our minds move fast, too. When we are also attracted to a strong, fast-moving Yoga practice, we can easily overstimulate ourselves — and our nervous system takes the beating. We may end up feeling easily overwhelmed, tired, with a racing mind. We get sick quicker and more often.
Restorative Yoga balances a fast lifestyle and has an enormous capacity to heal physical and mental symptoms that are stress related. Practicing restorative Yoga is a great help to anyone who is chronically ill, acutely ill, or recovering from some injuries.
Benefits of restorative Yoga
The beauty of restorative Yoga is that there is no muscular contraction involved. We believe we have to “work” to increase flexibility, but often we achieve more opening in parts of the body that we perceive as tight by softening and relaxing than through an active asana practice. During a restorative Yoga sequence, you still stretch, but you relax fully in the stretch so that tension can slowly be released.
Because the body and mind relax, literally becoming softer, we also create space to get in touch again with our natural qualities of compassion and understanding of others and self.
Restorative Yoga benefits, summarized:
- Enhances flexibility
- Deeply relaxes the body
- Stills the mind
- Improves capacity for healing and balancing
- Balances the nervous system
- Boosts the immune system
- Develops qualities of compassion and understanding toward others
and self
- Enhances mood states
Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra, or yogic sleep, is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping, like the "going-to-sleep" stage. It is a state in which the body is completely relaxed and the practitioner becomes systematically and increasingly aware of the inner world by following a set of verbal instructions. This state of consciousness (yoga nidra) is different from meditation in which concentration on a single focus is required. The yogic goal of both paths, deep relaxation (yoga nidra) and meditation are the same.
Yoga nidra is among the deepest possible states of relaxation while still maintaining full consciousness. The practice of yogic relaxation has been found to reduce tension and anxiety. The autonomic symptoms of high anxiety such as headache, giddiness, chest pain, palpitations, sweating and abdominal pain respond well. It has also been used to help cope with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Hot Yoga
Essentially, yoga practiced in a heated environment. When one hears "Hot Yoga"; Bikram Yoga often comes to mind and rightfully so! Bikram Yoga is a widely popularized version of hot yoga consisting of 26 postures that are repeated twice over the period of 90 minutes.
Our hot yoga classes are similar, however, our interest in incorporating the heat is in finding a deeper release during our yoga practice. The benefits of a heated environment on the body and mind are numerous and allow each individual to explore their yoga practice at a new dimension.
Yin Yoga
Yin Yoga is a quiet practice. It is suitable for almost all levels of students. The yin practice has a slow-paced approach where poses are held in a relaxed manner for longer periods of time. It targets the deeper connective tissues of the body, develops body awareness, and can cultivate deep introspection. This makes a Yin Yoga practice the perfect complement to more dynamic and muscular forms of exercise. Athletes, reduce injuries and remove restrictions to strength and speed.
Learn the principles of yin yoga that can help:
• Improve range of motion
• Speed post-workout recovery
• Build resistance to injury
• Sharpen mental focus
Private Classes
Interested in private lessons or prenatal/post-natal yoga? Please contact the studio for more information!
Sanskrit Terminology
Ever wonder what the words you sometimes hear in yoga classes mean?
Asana (a-san-a)
Any of the various yoga poses.
Hatha (hä’thə or hŭ’te)
A set of postures designed to align your muscles and bones. Hatha yoga brings attention to breath, which helps still the fluctuations of the mind. The physical practice - one of the eight limbs of the discipline of yoga. All classes at 229Yoga are Hatha focused and combine asana (poses), pranayama (breath) and meditation practice.
Namaste (na-ma-stay)
This ancient Indian expression is a greeting people use when meeting or parting. It is commonly translated as, “the light in me honors the light in you.”
Pranayama (prah-nah-yah-mah)
Breath control. “Prana” means vitality and “ayama” is to stretch or expand. By increasing the amount of air you intake, your brain has enough oxygen to perform at its maximum capacity. Consequently, you will see improvement in many areas in your life including memory, sleep, energy and mood.
Vinyasa (vin-yah-sah)
Breath-synchronized movement; connecting a sequence of yoga poses. Flow style sequence linking poses and breath. Builds internal heat, creates suppleness in the body. At 229Yoga, our classes can be vigorous or meditative, usually faster paced than classes not designated Vinyasa.
Yoga FAQ
Tips on making your first experience with Yoga one that is calming, rewarding and memorable:
I'm not flexible - Can I still do Yoga?
Yes! The biggest misconception is that one must be "naturally" flexible to practice yoga. Many forms of yoga regularly use props like blocks, straps, bolsters, sandbags and even partners to help yoga students of all flexibility levels improve. Come as you are!
What do I need to begin?
All you need is your body and a desire to improve your well-being. But it is also helpful to have a pair of comfy pants, leggings or shorts and a shirt that's not too baggy. No special footwear is required because you'll be barefoot. Bring a towel and avoid coming to class on a full stomach. As you practice develops you may want to buy your own yoga mat, but mats and other props are available at the studio.
How is Yoga different from stretching or other kinds of fitness?
Yoga connects movement of the body and the fluctuations of the mind to the rhythm of our breath. Connecting the mind, body and breath helps direct our attention inward. The awareness that we cultivate is what makes yoga a practice rather than a goal to be completed. As you practice yoga, your body will adapt to its own degree of flexibility.
Is Yoga a religion?
Yoga is not a religion, and it is not necessary to surrender your own religious beliefs to practice.