Turnersville, NJ hosts two yoga studios: Yogi Power Yoga, a Baptiste inspired studio, and Experience Yoga. I had the extreme pleasure of practicing at both studios this weekend, both about 20 minutes from my home and very convenient for running errands, shopping and even getting my car maintenanced whilst out on my yoga trips.
I took Baron Baptiste's Power Yoga Teacher Training in 2003. I remember my very first class with Baron blew me away. I had gone to NYC to the Omega convention and had heard that he was a great teacher so I took one of his classes. I felt like a train had hit me. I had never done power or vinyasa style yoga before that class and had been feeling a little plateaued in my hatha practice at that time. After my first class with Baron I realized how much more there was to yoga and how much more my body needed to strengthen! I started reading more about him and decided to enroll in his training with my friend Liz, who currently owns Prancing Peacock Yoga in Yardley, PA. We had taken our first 500 hour training together, so we thought it would be fun to room together in Maya Tulum and take this training together too.
Baron Baptiste asks you to push your edge. He humbles you by helping you destroy your ego. He inspires you to go beyond the confines of your practice and your life. That week with him changed my life. Not everyone that took the training agreed. Many people thought (and still think) that he doesn't need to push you as hard as he does. And that the practice is all physical. The thing is, and this is any teacher or any class, you only go as far as you want to. It isn't the teacher that pushes you, it's you that pushes you. And as far as it being only physical, well, that's hogwash (there's a word I haven't used...ever). Baptiste classes are quite spiritual, with a depth to them that goes way beyond the physical. But then, anyone can decide to ignore those teachings if they aren't ready to hear them.
I was not sure what to expect from Yogi Power Yoga. I thought it would be a power yoga, physical type class. I never imagined it would be as good as it was. Lindsey Rozmes was subbing for the regular teacher. I didn't mind this because I didn't know the regular teacher anyway. Walking into the room I smiled. It was warm. Not heated, just warm. "Ahh, yes." I decided to do the drop-in ($13 - sweet) and unrolled my mat and sat down. I didn't tell Lindsey about my wrist, I figured I'd do what I could regardless. The room continued to fill in and I found myself in the front next to a shirtless man who was sweating already before we even got going. I found the temperature to be perfect and wondered if I'd get to sweat at all.
Yogi Power Yoga is a small studio in a storefront of a small plaza. Entering the studio, you have to walk through the yoga room to check in at the back. The white curtains allow you to see outside the passer-bys and watch your car. The light wooden floors and yellowish walls, allow the studio to be bright and light.
Lindsay welcomed everyone and began with a simple thought to have for class because, as she explained, "when I'm in class and a teacher asks me to set an intention, I often find myself unable to." Her simple guidance was perfect. The flow was not the traditional Baptiste inspired style I was used to, but power for sure. About half way through I was dripping sweat - something that does not happen often. I realized I forgot my towel as beads of sweat dropped down my forehead and off my nose, plopping on my mat. I smiled and looked at the sweaty man to my left. He had a towel and it was soaked through - just as was his mat and his little shorts. I wished I had remembered mine. Instead I grabbed the end of my yoga pants and used them to wipe my forehead. Then I noticed the sweat down my back and then the fact that my entire outfit was soaked through clinging to me. "Well, I guess I don't have to wonder if I'll sweat now," I thought to myself.
I found the class to be thoroughly enjoyable. From a good, detoxifying practice with some interesting twists to your normal Vinyasa sequencing and the spiritual guidance and wisdom that Lindsey shared, it was amazing. So much so that I decided to purchase a 6-pack so that I could come back again and check out some other teachers there too.
After class I checked Yogi Power Yoga's website from my smart-phone (which my friends call my "mentally challenged phone"), but I could see the schedule but not the teachers. I went on facebook and looked up Lindsey and messaged her to see when she taught again. Then a friend responding to my facebook post told me that she lived in NYC and only taught on the weekends. Damn! When I got home the internet confirmed so, but since it was a holiday weekend, Lindsey was subbing Sunday morning as well. My "plan" was to go into Philadelphia Sunday morning for a Guided Asthanga series class at Shanti Yoga Shala...but I pondered this and determined I'd rather practice once again with Lindsey close to home.
Sunday mornings class was different only in that there were only 3 of us there! I was really shocked. Lindsey brought the same intention and inventiveness to her class that she did in a crowded room just two days before. Again, I sweat through and through and enjoyed every moment of it. I thanked Lindsey after class and told her to keep me posted when she would be coming back in town to teach again. Unfortunately I cannot make her regular Saturday morning classes, but I'd love to practice with her again if it were a Friday or Sunday.
I had also planned to check out Experience Yoga for a Yin class that same evening (Sunday). I was starting to feel a little sore in my upper body and legs, so I figured this would be a great way to end the weekend and segue into my full yoga week. I had run by Experience earlier in the day after my class at Yogi Power Yoga. I was surprised to see it in the Kohl's shopping center! I can't even imagine what the lease must be for that place!
I stolled in and met the teacher, Anne Maxwell, a "Senior" teacher. She was very gracious and inviting and I loved the vibe of her and the studio. It turned out that only myself and one other woman took the Yin class, the other woman, a regular at the studio, chatted with me for a while about how she loved it there and how nice everyone was. She'd determined it was only this slow because of the holiday weekend.
Anne started us on our backs against the wall. She invited us to "relax and let everything go." But I found my legs wanting to slide apart and my knees buckling. Throughout the practice (which was 1/2 against the wall and half seated) her only remarks were "relax and let everything go." This confused me a bit. I'd taken so many classes I didn't realize how much my muscles were wound up. Relaxing and letting go was a lot harder than it seemed!
I know that a Yin practice stretches the connective tissue, so I really had to work at not tightening and engaging agonistic muscles when I stretched. I didn't have the support of props like in Restorative, so it was all up to me to "relax and let go." I think I fought almost all of the postures in some way or another, yet at the end I wound up feeling wonderful, stretched and very relaxed. I thanked Anne (and Gregg, the owner, who had comped me the class) and headed home for a nice relaxing evening.
I've lived in south jersey for just about 10 years now and am just finding some of these local gems. Granted, they haven't been open all that time, but it's wonderful to know that yoga is making its way to South Jersey! And what a way to create balance - a perfect blend of Yang & Yin classes with some pretty great teachers. Feeling Blessed.
I took Baron Baptiste's Power Yoga Teacher Training in 2003. I remember my very first class with Baron blew me away. I had gone to NYC to the Omega convention and had heard that he was a great teacher so I took one of his classes. I felt like a train had hit me. I had never done power or vinyasa style yoga before that class and had been feeling a little plateaued in my hatha practice at that time. After my first class with Baron I realized how much more there was to yoga and how much more my body needed to strengthen! I started reading more about him and decided to enroll in his training with my friend Liz, who currently owns Prancing Peacock Yoga in Yardley, PA. We had taken our first 500 hour training together, so we thought it would be fun to room together in Maya Tulum and take this training together too.
Baron Baptiste asks you to push your edge. He humbles you by helping you destroy your ego. He inspires you to go beyond the confines of your practice and your life. That week with him changed my life. Not everyone that took the training agreed. Many people thought (and still think) that he doesn't need to push you as hard as he does. And that the practice is all physical. The thing is, and this is any teacher or any class, you only go as far as you want to. It isn't the teacher that pushes you, it's you that pushes you. And as far as it being only physical, well, that's hogwash (there's a word I haven't used...ever). Baptiste classes are quite spiritual, with a depth to them that goes way beyond the physical. But then, anyone can decide to ignore those teachings if they aren't ready to hear them.
I was not sure what to expect from Yogi Power Yoga. I thought it would be a power yoga, physical type class. I never imagined it would be as good as it was. Lindsey Rozmes was subbing for the regular teacher. I didn't mind this because I didn't know the regular teacher anyway. Walking into the room I smiled. It was warm. Not heated, just warm. "Ahh, yes." I decided to do the drop-in ($13 - sweet) and unrolled my mat and sat down. I didn't tell Lindsey about my wrist, I figured I'd do what I could regardless. The room continued to fill in and I found myself in the front next to a shirtless man who was sweating already before we even got going. I found the temperature to be perfect and wondered if I'd get to sweat at all.
Yogi Power Yoga is a small studio in a storefront of a small plaza. Entering the studio, you have to walk through the yoga room to check in at the back. The white curtains allow you to see outside the passer-bys and watch your car. The light wooden floors and yellowish walls, allow the studio to be bright and light.
Lindsay welcomed everyone and began with a simple thought to have for class because, as she explained, "when I'm in class and a teacher asks me to set an intention, I often find myself unable to." Her simple guidance was perfect. The flow was not the traditional Baptiste inspired style I was used to, but power for sure. About half way through I was dripping sweat - something that does not happen often. I realized I forgot my towel as beads of sweat dropped down my forehead and off my nose, plopping on my mat. I smiled and looked at the sweaty man to my left. He had a towel and it was soaked through - just as was his mat and his little shorts. I wished I had remembered mine. Instead I grabbed the end of my yoga pants and used them to wipe my forehead. Then I noticed the sweat down my back and then the fact that my entire outfit was soaked through clinging to me. "Well, I guess I don't have to wonder if I'll sweat now," I thought to myself.
I found the class to be thoroughly enjoyable. From a good, detoxifying practice with some interesting twists to your normal Vinyasa sequencing and the spiritual guidance and wisdom that Lindsey shared, it was amazing. So much so that I decided to purchase a 6-pack so that I could come back again and check out some other teachers there too.
After class I checked Yogi Power Yoga's website from my smart-phone (which my friends call my "mentally challenged phone"), but I could see the schedule but not the teachers. I went on facebook and looked up Lindsey and messaged her to see when she taught again. Then a friend responding to my facebook post told me that she lived in NYC and only taught on the weekends. Damn! When I got home the internet confirmed so, but since it was a holiday weekend, Lindsey was subbing Sunday morning as well. My "plan" was to go into Philadelphia Sunday morning for a Guided Asthanga series class at Shanti Yoga Shala...but I pondered this and determined I'd rather practice once again with Lindsey close to home.
Sunday mornings class was different only in that there were only 3 of us there! I was really shocked. Lindsey brought the same intention and inventiveness to her class that she did in a crowded room just two days before. Again, I sweat through and through and enjoyed every moment of it. I thanked Lindsey after class and told her to keep me posted when she would be coming back in town to teach again. Unfortunately I cannot make her regular Saturday morning classes, but I'd love to practice with her again if it were a Friday or Sunday.
I had also planned to check out Experience Yoga for a Yin class that same evening (Sunday). I was starting to feel a little sore in my upper body and legs, so I figured this would be a great way to end the weekend and segue into my full yoga week. I had run by Experience earlier in the day after my class at Yogi Power Yoga. I was surprised to see it in the Kohl's shopping center! I can't even imagine what the lease must be for that place!
I stolled in and met the teacher, Anne Maxwell, a "Senior" teacher. She was very gracious and inviting and I loved the vibe of her and the studio. It turned out that only myself and one other woman took the Yin class, the other woman, a regular at the studio, chatted with me for a while about how she loved it there and how nice everyone was. She'd determined it was only this slow because of the holiday weekend.
Anne started us on our backs against the wall. She invited us to "relax and let everything go." But I found my legs wanting to slide apart and my knees buckling. Throughout the practice (which was 1/2 against the wall and half seated) her only remarks were "relax and let everything go." This confused me a bit. I'd taken so many classes I didn't realize how much my muscles were wound up. Relaxing and letting go was a lot harder than it seemed!
I know that a Yin practice stretches the connective tissue, so I really had to work at not tightening and engaging agonistic muscles when I stretched. I didn't have the support of props like in Restorative, so it was all up to me to "relax and let go." I think I fought almost all of the postures in some way or another, yet at the end I wound up feeling wonderful, stretched and very relaxed. I thanked Anne (and Gregg, the owner, who had comped me the class) and headed home for a nice relaxing evening.
I've lived in south jersey for just about 10 years now and am just finding some of these local gems. Granted, they haven't been open all that time, but it's wonderful to know that yoga is making its way to South Jersey! And what a way to create balance - a perfect blend of Yang & Yin classes with some pretty great teachers. Feeling Blessed.
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