I have been a member with YogaFit for about 8 months and had never done yoga before joining. They have 5 types of classes: Burn (cardio/weights interval training, just a yoga warm-up/cool-down), Barre (still intense, with weights and stretch ropes - also not really yoga except warm-up/cool-down), Flow1 (beginners/foundations of yoga), Flow2 (more advanced, heated yoga), and Restore (meditative, slow-moving, more passive poses).
I mostly stick with Flow2 (2 to 3 classes a week) and I think it is just the right balance of meditation and challenge. I tried one Burn class and hated it because of all the cardio, but Barre is a happy medium for me where I am sweating and shaking but still feel rejuvenated instead of feeling drained. I believe Burn is their most popular format, as the studio is always packed during Burn. When I go to Barre there are 5-10 other people in the class. But for Flow2 there are only between 4 and 8 other students in the studio.
I have been to the Northeast studio a few times, but Loring is much closer to my house. Megan at the front desk is great, always happy to welcome new students and answer any questions. She runs a great Barre class with fun music that is perfectly timed to the workouts. My favorite teachers are Erik S. (Flow2 on Mondays and Tuesdays), Sara K. (Flow2 on Fridays), Alia A.(used to teach at Loring but now teaches at the Linden Hills location), Vee B. (Flow2 on Wednesdays) and Eric G. (Restore on Thursdays). It's really up to each individual to find what they enjoy in a yoga class, but those are the teachers I think really stand out to me as being helpful and dedicated to teaching. Some teachers (I can think of Sara and Alia offhand) start the class by asking students for requests for poses or any areas of the body they want to work on.
Your average yoga class (Flow1/Flow2) will start with some easy stretches, then move to Sun A, Sun B, expanding and adding on to Sun B, a few minutes of corework, some balancing and/or inversions, and a cooldown, followed by shavasana.
I have only had troubles with 2 different instructors. One was moving too fast -- I literally counted in my head and the teacher was switching poses every 1 1/2 seconds, including balances. This went on for another 5 minutes. It was very frustrating and I haven't been back to one of their classes since. The other teacher had issues communicating the movements. They would describe movements and poses very poorly and in an abstract way instead of using familiar terms or sanskrit names. This led to students looking at each other, confused on what to do. At one point we were told to close our eyes while going through movements and half the class ended up facing a different direction, myself included. This second teacher is no longer at YogaFit though, so that is a relief.
I'm glad that the studio is conscious in their design and does not add any cultural decorations that some studios think adds to the "authenticity" of the spiritual practice. You won't find any statues of Vishnu, or mandala tapestries, or ohms painted on the walls here. They have free mats, blocks, straps, and weights for use.
If you're looking for a great place to start a routine yoga practice near downtown, look no further! read more