Over the past few months, a number of new fitness studios have opened up in Boston and in it’s surrounding towns, three of which are yoga studios. I like to do Yoga at least once a week. I use the time to move my body on a recovery day, stretch and clear my head. Not all Yoga is created equal and there is even quite a bit of bickering between the traditional yogis and the modernized classes that I love.
In 2013, CorePower Yoga expanded their empire to the Bay State first with a location in Cambridge and recently in Medford right off 93. I discovered CorePower in California (<- link to my review from LA studios) and was excited to hear they were expanding. They have a third location opening up at Newton Corner in 2014. I finally was able to check out the studio in Medford today for a lunch time sweat session. CorePower offers a variety of classes that will surprise traditionalists.
I attended CP2 which is a heated power vinyasa flow with Carrie. The website describes CP2 with this, “Ready to sweat? CorePower Yoga 2 (C2) is a rigorous yoga class with demanding strength postures that will have you moving, breathing and sweating! True to its name, a C2 class focuses on building and engaging your core strength to support you in more advanced postures. Set to energizing music in a heated, climate-controlled room, CorePower Yoga 2 strengthens, balances, detoxifies and exhilarates the body and mind.” If you like Hip Hop Yoga at BBY, you’ll love CP2!
This description is what got me to try my first class and Carrie gave me just what I needed. CorePower is obviously not your traditional yoga class. The rooms have mirrors in addition to the fun music. We had an ab sequence choreographed to Rockafella Skank. During the power flow, the music was upbeat and had a helpful tempo. When we started to wind down, so did the music and became noticeably more relaxed. We did a lot of runner friendly poses such as triangle and low lunges. We were flowing in class for about 40 minutes. The other time was spent getting our muscles warmed up, stretched and trying a new challenging pose. I gave fallen angel (side ways crow) a few tries before settling into child pose. The heat is not bad either, it just makes you sweat and feels good now that winter is almost here.
I love their Yoga Sculpt class with weights and am excited to try it out at the studio. The location is actually wrong on the website, which Carrie told me ahead of time so I knew! It looks like it’s much farther than it is. It took me literally 10 minutes without traffic to get from Back Bay to the Medford Studio. with plenty of parking, showers and lockers.
Bring your own towel and locks though. The studio is a former Blockbuster location but you would have no idea while inside. The bathroom is noticeably nicer than the Sherman Oaks location I go to when in CA. No designer products like Barry’s but that’s ok.
The heated room had me sweating profusely. I was glad I brought my own towel in addition to my yoga mat to class. I desperately needed a shower afterwards. I was so sweaty that I could see water pellets forming on my shins! In the LA studios, the men take class top less and the ladies in just a sports bra but no one went there in Medford. I’ll be curious to see if people do… Like the LA locations, they also offer super cute clothes from designers that are new to me. Would be a great spot to grab someone workout gift that not everyone will be wearing December 26th at the gym.
For directions from Boston, take 93 north and get off at exit 29. Follow signs for Somerville/Medford. Stay right off the exit and continue on rt 38 north. CorePower is about a mile down on the right, across from a giant storage warehouse. Sign up for unlimited FREE yoga your first week!
Newbury Street also has a new Yoga studio called Karma Yoga. I took a class called Sunday Service on Sunday of course a few weeks ago. It was not my cup of tea. There was no flow. It was very awkward for me which is why I didn’t mention it on the blog. The description was really vague online and I was hoping for hip openers. The teacher asked the class for requests but then ignored all them because she wasn’t teaching Vinyasa and I think that was what we all expected. Karma has a few locations in Boston and they have amazing teachers, with a loyal following. I am excited to check out another class. They don’t have any daytime classes during the week. Karma offers a wide variety of practices including hatha, Yin, Anusara, Jivamukti, Kripalu and more.
The third yoga studio is located is good old Southie, my old stomping grounds called Radiant Yoga. It was opened by Chanel Luck and is her first studio. She is well known around town from teaching at Sports Club/LA. They have 2 or 4 classes every day (25/week) and offer flexible times for moms. In addition to power and regular Vinyasa flow classes, they offer hot yoga as well as a Happy Hour Flow, Family Yoga that starts at 7 pm on Friday nights,
According to Boston Magazine, “Radiant will be the first ‘home’ for the non-profit that Luck founded called, Yoga for Single Moms, which provides single-parents with “wellness experiences for the body and mind” through complimentary yoga classes, along with in-house child care. This gives single moms (and hopefully single dads, too) the benefits of yoga without financial or child care constraints. “Children can enjoy a fun and safe place to explore, create, play, and learn, through yoga,” Luck says.”
