Earth YogaNYC

Earth YogaNYC is a hot spot, no pun intended, for UES yogis. Believe us: the word about the Hot Morning Power Flow class is already out, with mats filling the studio to the brim. In true yogi spirit, we even heard the teacher, Yarrow Bucans, tell the front desk to allow people on the waitlist to join the class despite already being at capacity … really embracing the philosophy of shared spaces before even entering the studio. While tight quarters in an already heated room may not sound ideal, the class never felt uncomfortably crowded and the room allowed for enough space to flow, leaving us with the perfect start to our Sunday. However, we definitely suggest showing up early if you’re particular about your spot and don’t want to play a game of Tetris with yoga mats to make space.

RUNDOWN

WORKOUT

In this 75 minute Hot Yoga class, we faced parallel to the mirrored wall to accommodate for the large size of the class.  And no, 75 minutes is not a typo, but don’t be discouraged just yet! The class is formatted to include a warm-up, standing series, mat series, and then final savasana so the time is broken up and the challenges vary. Yarrow began the class with some cat-cow movements and then went right into sun salutations, directing us through our Vinyasa flows. We were led through a flow, repeating these movements several times, building heat and digging further into our muscles. The studio is heated to around 90-100 degrees, which aided the movements by allowing the muscles to loosen up more … and ensuring that a good sweat is had by all. We were happily surprised though that even with the packed class and heated room, we weren’t overwhelmed by the heat as you sometimes are in a hot yoga class. After a combination of power holds, strengthening, stretching and core work, it was finally time for Savasana, and we felt we had definitely earned the reprieve.

INSTRUCTOR

Yarrow Bucans rose to the challenge of teaching a packed class. She delivered a good sweat and seemed to instruct positions that were cognizant of the space. Overall, we left the class feeling like we got a good workout in, but there was nothing about Yarrow’s style that was distinct or unique, which left us feeling fairly indifferent. Her delivery didn’t annoy us and there was none of the sometimes over the top spiritual yogi talk, but there was also nothing that seemed too inspiring. Yarrow also seemed to be less hands on with form corrections, giving us the idea that this class may not be as suited for beginners.

SPACE

Earth YogaNYC has a zen feel from the moment you walk through the door. The studio is clean and polished, which is definitely not the case at many hot yoga studios around NYC. The front desk staff is friendly and there are people on-hand to give the studio a wipe down immediately following each class. Earth YogaNYC gains serious bonus points in our book for this hygiene pleaser, as several other hot yoga studios we’ve visited around NYC will often greet you with the pool of sweat from the person before you as you lay down your mat. There are male and female changing areas, complete with bathrooms and showers, but no lockers for your belongings. The changing areas are also not spacious enough to accommodate every class goer at once, so shower there at your own risk if you’re cutting it close on time.