Shawmut Yoga

Shawmut Yoga is a great little neighborhood spot. It’s like your local watering hole- you wouldn’t go out of your way to go there but you love it because it’s in your hood. This studio offers up four different class styles: Heated Power Vinyasa (temps 90-95), Warm Power Vinyasa (temps 85-90), Hip Hop Yoga, and SPA Yoga (extra assists and massages). The morning classes at Shawmut Yoga tend to be less crowded aka not quite as hot, you’ll still sweat but nothing a little dry shampoo can’t fix.

RUNDOWN

WORKOUT

We love morning yoga classes that take into consideration how damn early it is. Heated Power Vinyasa started off nice and slow using a strap to help stretch our legs. From there we loosened up our backs through some cat and cow. The first Sun A was pretty simple: mountain, side bends, baby back bends, front folds- all that good stuff your body is craving in the morning (besides coffee).

Sun B focused on hip openers: one legged downward dog, crescent lunge, runners lunge and one of our favorites, extended side angle with the option to take the bind. At this point in class we were feeling pretty open and loving all the room to move around so we went for bird of paradise, totally an Instagram worthy pose. What was most challenging about the flows were the number of breaths we held each pose. This pushed us to focus on deepening the pose and gave us time to adjust our bodies for better alignment in the pose. Note: the chaturangas were few and far between- we threw in a couple extra for good measure.  

The cool down was lovey, lots of time spent in sleeping pigeon and a few solid minutes in shavasana. We walked out of Shawmut Yoga feeling stretched and centered.

INSTRUCTOR

Hannah is new to the yoga teacher scene, but definitely a teacher to look out for (in a good way). In her words she is “beginning to find her flow” which is pretty freakin cool. We loved how relaxed Hannah was, she really embraced the yogi mentality and didn’t take any pose too seriously. Her motto was if it’s in your practice take it, if not that’s great too. For the time being Hannah is subbing the occasional class at Shawmut but we wouldn’t be surprised if she’s a regular sooner than later.

SPACE

If you’re looking for an intimate no frills space this is it. Shawmut Yoga has the old school charm you’d expect to find in the South End- cute bay windows, rustic wood floors, and even a touch of crown molding. This is a san mirrors studio, we liked just focusing on our practice without the distraction of trying to discretely see if those cute yoga pants your yogi neighbor is wearing are lulu (we’ve all been there). There aren’t cubbies or lockers so be prepared to leave your personal items on the window seat (doors are locked during class times). We recommend coming with a full water bottle as the only place to fill up is the bathroom sink. This quaint studio is shower-less, not ideal for those who love an early morning sweat. What the studio does offer are free matt rentals, which is a big bonus in our book.