If yoga class were a drink, C2 at CorePower Yoga would be a margarita with a spicy rim. CorePower Yoga is known for its trendiness, whether it be the music or the athleisure clothing for sale in the lobby. Regardless of your yoga experience, you are going to sweat, which is why we highly recommend taking the front desk up on their free towel offer with your first class. To get the most out of C2 the key is to be aware of your body alignment. Basically don’t cheat the revolved triangle pose just to touch the floor.
C2 is the trademark CorePower Yoga class. It’s about 98 degrees in there and will make you melt almost as much as Nick Lachey did your heart back in 1999. Class starts out with setting an intention for your practice and then quickly moves into Sun A. This a warm-up flow transitioning among easier poses, such as mountain, backbend and chaturanga. Two flows of Sun A is followed by Sun B, where the first sequence is slow but each poses is held for multiple breaths increasing the difficulty. You’ll move through strengthening and balance poses, such as chair, crescent lunge, warrior 3, standing splits and more. The real challenge is moving seamlessly from one pose to the next. In typical yoga fashion, every posture and movement is optional, with the instructor offering varied adjustment suggestions to the class.
After completing three Sun Bs on both our left and right sides, the focus moved to core work. This is usually no more than one song in length but depending on the instructor can run the gamut of burning to a short break. Post abs comes more complex poses tailored to help you move into the “fun pose.” The instructor demos a pretty advanced pose, typically an inversion of some kind, and then the class has about three minutes to play around with it. This is nowhere near enough time to perfect a pose like fallen angel, but provides some much needed guided practice. If you’re looking to get upside down, you’ll need to do put in some work on your own time.
With the 50-minute mark in sight, half pigeon is cued, and the next 10 minutes are dedicated to restorative stretches and a savasana finish. Be prepared to have your head/neck/legs massaged by the instructor at this time. Personally we don’t mind this mini kneaded relief, but if touching isn’t your thing, make sure to raise your hand when asked at the beginning of class.
Finding the right instructor at CorePower is EVERYTHING. At CorePower Yoga on Comm Ave, we love Allison B. for her relaxed yet equally peppy nature. Also on our fave list are Shauna, Jenna H. and Chad. These ladies and gent can both tell and show you how to move into poses, and they seem genuinely thrilled to be teaching yoga. Plus, their taste in music (Chainsmokers, Kygo-type genres and the occasional throw backs) doesn’t hurt either.
All the rooms at CorePower Yoga Comm Ave have wood floors and the walls are covered with mirrors, which is a little controversial for the yogi world. Some think having the visual is helpful for alignment, others think it’s super distracting and visually everyone looks different in postures so it shouldn’t matter how you look. You decide for yourself what you prefer. There is only one room in the studio which has windows and the lighting is usually dim with the shades are drawn.
The retail space in the lobby is hauuuuge. They have everything you need and some things you don’t need but definitely want.There are racks and racks of must have apparel with brands like Alo, Alter Ego, lululemon and Spiritual Gangster. They also sell jewelry, mats, beauty products, and anything else your heart desires before or after a yoga class. The locker rooms are quite spacious, which is a pleasant surprise around town. There are lockers (bring your own lock), five showers, towels for purchase, shampoo/conditioner, lotion, Q-tips, hair dryers, brushes, straighteners, deodorant, hair spray, and tampons; the only things missing are plastic bags for your sweaty clothes.
1119 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 Brookline Yoga $$
CorePower Yoga Comm Ave
Brookline Yoga $$
1119 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
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CorePower Yoga Comm AveYoga
If yoga class were a drink, CorePower would be a margarita with a spicy rim. CorePower is known for its trendiness, whether it be the music or the athleisure clothing for sale in the lobby. Regardless of your yoga experience, you are going to sweat, which is why we highly recommend taking CorePower Yogaup on their free towel offer with your first class. To get the most out of this class the key is to be aware of your body alignment. Basically don’t cheat the revolved triangle pose just to touch the floor.
C2 is the trademark CorePower class. It’s about 98 degrees in there and will make you melt almost as much as Nick Lachey did your heart back in 1999. Class starts out with setting an intention for your practice and then quickly moves into Sun A. This a warm-up flow transitioning among easier poses, such as mountain, backbend and chaturanga. Two flows of Sun A is followed by Sun B, where the first sequence is slow but each poses is held for multiple breaths increasing the difficulty. You’ll move through strengthening and balance poses, such as chair, crescent lunge, warrior 3, standing splits and more. The real challenge is moving seamlessly from one pose to the next. In typical yoga fashion, every posture and movement is optional, with the instructor offering varied adjustment suggestions to the class.
After completing three Sun Bs on both our left and right sides, the focus moved to core work. This is usually no more than one song in length but depending on the instructor can run the gamut of burning to a short break. Post abs comes more complex poses tailored to help you move into the “fun pose.” The instructor demos a pretty advanced pose, typically an inversion of some kind, and then the class has about three minutes to play around with it. This is nowhere near enough time to perfect a pose like fallen angel, but provides some much needed guided practice. If you’re looking to get upside down, you’ll need to do put in some work on your own time.
With the 50-minute mark in sight, half pigeon is cued, and the next 10 minutes are dedicated to restorative stretches and a savasana finish. Be prepared to have your head/neck/legs massaged by the instructor at this time. Personally we don’t mind this mini kneaded relief, but if touching isn’t your thing, make sure to raise your hand when asked at the beginning of class.
Finding the right instructor at CorePower is EVERYTHING. We love Allison B. for her relaxed yet equally peppy nature. Also on our fave list are Shauna, Jenna H. and Chad. These ladies and gent can both tell and show you how to move into poses, and they seem genuinely thrilled to be teaching yoga. Plus, their taste in music (Chainsmokers, Kygo-type genres and the occasional throw backs) doesn’t hurt either.
CorePower Yoga Comm AveYoga
The Yoga Sculpt class can only really be called yoga because of the 30 second “savasana” and standard “namaste” at the end. Don’t come looking for traditional flow. Sculpt is hard, you get sweaty, your heart rate spikes at times, and it’s hot. You’re not at Barry’s Bootcamp, but it’s a much more intense workout than most power yoga classes in the area. All in all, Core Power Yoga is a great addition to the yoga scene in Boston specifically because it brings something new, just make sure you get to the right class with the right teacher. Cause if you don’t…don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Sculpt with Katie Eckerline starts off slow and meditative but before you know it you’re definitely not in your mom’s yoga class anymore. She’ll get you right out of child’s pose and into down dog, pedal our your feet, blah, blah, blah then two sun As and two sun Bs with light weights, right into a push ups superset with kneeling bicep curls. You’ll have two sets of weights, light and heavy – we stick with 3s and 5s (no judgement). The studio has 1lb.- 10lbs. weights. After push ups, it’s right into standing squats/lunges. All the while, everything is set to the beat while we pump the weights and spike the heart rate (think similar to barre classes).
Sculpt side one is next, a short vinyasa flow, again with the option to use lighter sets of weights. The vinyasa portions of the class are the least intense parts of class and give you an opportunity to stretch and regain your breath.
The last part of class before abs/supine stretching is the cardio party. Being runners, we don’t find it too tough, but looking around the room it seems like we’re in the minority. When Katie yells, time for CARDIO, lots of red-faced BU students wipe the sweat off their faces and look at each other as if they’re about to walk into an exam they haven’t studied for. The Cardio is short and sweet: 1 song, 4 moves, about 30 seconds each twice through. For example, running in place, skaters, high knees, burpees, switching the direction of the room you face with each change. Lastly, belly up core, bridges, or some other supine glute work and then finally stretching.
Katie Eckerline is adorable, friendly, and tough. She has a commanding presence and is right there with you in the workout sweating and yelling and motivating the room. I value taking a class from someone who is in great shape and obviously practices what they preach, and Katie is super strong and fit. She’s smart with her adjustments and corrections and keeps the whole class in sync and on beat. I’d say Katie’s caliber of teaching is not the norm at Core Power Yoga. Reanna Crispin, Cordy Elkins, and Catie Macken are also amazing sculpt teachers who teach a similarly tough and well-taught class, but the others I have taken tend to have styles that try and mimic these great teachers, but miss the mark and they fumble over their words and cues, and don’t have a good enough general understanding of yoga and asana practice to teach with the added layer of weights and high intensity movements.
