Namaste Ya’ll

Before we begin I want to divulge two important personal truths. First, the last time I did Yoga of any kind was a Denise Austin DVD back in 2014. Secondly, I have made a true commitment to putting my health and well being on the right track in 2017, its been tough, but I’ve lost weight, I’m eating better, and although I hate to admit it…I feel better too. I say all this to set the stage of being invited to come out to Yoga Agora and experience one of their classes. On the one hand the health conscious side of me was like awesome, the woefully out of shape side was a bit more hesitant. But I gave it a go. Here’s how it went.

Yoga Agora provides a full range of classes. From beginner (Level 1) to advanced (Level III), classes with meditation, and even a Friday night class set to LIVE music. Cool right? Another really awesome aspect of Yoga Agora is that a majority of their classes are $8 which is an amazing price for a good hour of exercise. Plus there are a group of classes that are donation based, pay what you feel is right, pay what you can. As someone who is in between things employment wise (read unemployed) the rates and donation ability make Yoga Agora very accessible wallet wise.

You can view the entire schedule and find the right class for you here.

Let’s start off with the class I attended, it was an Open Level, meaning there were all sorts of experience levels in the room. From beginner to advanced. The instructors gave multiple modifications with each move. I have a tendency to compare myself to others, but in this scenario because so many people were doing so many different things, my competitive self was shushed. Plus since my body is just getting back into exercise the modification options made me feel I could participate fully, despite my body’s insistence that it doesn’t bend that way.

Another aspect of the instruction I really enjoyed was the hand-on assistance. Visual and auditory learning are great, but often I need someone to physically show me how to do something. From re-positioning my legs in downward dog, to getting a deeper stretch in child pose. Having that hands-on touch made each future move better and helped me connect some dots from my body to the pose position. The instructors I worked (Randi & Jodi) with were incredibly kind and helpful.

At the end of the class, I felt really accomplished. I had forgotten what a workout Yoga is/was. (For reals I was feeling pretty sore the next day, but man I slept like a baby that night.) Laying in corpse pose taking a beat just for me, made me feel really inspired to make Yoga Agora a weekly habit. Sometimes it’s hard to allow yourself the time to put your mind and body first, but Yoga Agora helped me do that, and I’ll be back.

So no matter your level of practice (I feel all fancy saying I’m starting a yoga practice), your physical ability, or even your funding situation. Yoga Agora makes great yoga accesible to everyone in Astoria. Namaste ya’ll and maybe I’ll see you in class.

As always thanks to Yoga Agora for the invitation, and my future yoga buddy, Marielle, for taking these great photos, and giving me encouragement when I was really feeling it!

Yoga Agora (33-02 Broadway)
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This post was sponsored by Yoga Agora. Thank you for supporting the businesses that support We Heart Astoria!