Three studios in three days: New York City

A few months ago, I travelled to New York City for work. My day job, that is. For those three days, I felt like a real New Yorker: I dressed head-to-toe in business casual, packed a bag with everything I’d need for the day, and I set out on foot in the neighborhood of Chelsea, ready to make moves, eat in trendy restaurants, and practice yoga in some of the most well-known (and oldest) yoga schools in the United States. 
 
Laughing Lotus Yoga Center
 
That first night, I stopped at Laughing Lotus Yoga Center, a massive third floor loft space unlike anything I’d ever seen. The walls are colorfully graffitied, and the wood floors are covered in glitter. Music echoed through the hallways, hallways adorned by larger-than-life portraits of Hindu deities. I felt warmth, but it wasn’t artificial heat. The energy of the studio was infectious, and this is likely due to the vibrant woman behind it all. 
 
Dana Trixie Flynn is the “cosmic mom and creatrix” of Laughing Lotus Yoga Centers. She studied with Sharon Gannon of Jivamukti yoga (more on Jivamukti below). Almost 20 years ago, Flynn co-founded Laughing Lotus Yoga Center with Jasmine Tarkeshi, where the two created and trademarked their own yoga flow. The vinyasa style incorporates elements of Hip Hop and other traditions, like Thai Chi:
 
“Lotus Flow™ is an uplifting, innovative, and soulful journey — a practice steeped in the timeless traditions of yoga, infused with music and spiced with divine inspiration.”
 
I set myself up in one of the practice rooms – there are multiple practice rooms in these big city studios – and, like a tourist visiting the Statue of Liberty, I took photos of the space. At the front of the room, a mural of Ganesha holding up a boom box. On the sidewall, a graffiti collage of words and phrases like “Love,” “Peace,” and “May all things be wild and free.” 

The Soul Sweat class did indeed make me sweat. Though it was a strong physical practice, it was also beautifully themed: the instructor cued Garuda mudra in the opening meditation, throughout the asana sequence, and again at the end of practice to encourage balance, commitment, and fearless flight. 
 
Flynn has said, “Another word for magic is repetition.” The Soul Sweat sequence was repetitive and truly meditative. It was magical.  

• Style: I would describe Lotus Flow™ as a powerful vinyasa class with philosophy, chanting, and meditation interludes, all intentionally synced with music.
• Heat: The studio was warmed to about 75 degrees, and the chaturangas heated things up quickly! 
• Rentals: A yoga mat is included with a drop-in. Pick up a clean mat from the “clean mat” wall, and hang it up on the “used mat” side of the wall when you’re done! They’ve really got a system down, these New York studios. 

Dharma Yoga New York Center
 
Sri Dharma Mittra founded the Yoga Asana Center in 1975. The space is currently known as the Dharma Yoga New York Center. A student of Sri Swami Kailashananda, Dharma Mittra has been practicing and teaching yoga since 1958. You might know him as the 79-year-old man who balances only on his head in the middle of city streets.

The 7,500 ft. yoga center is something to behold. Reverence is the first word to come to mind. As soon as I got off of the elevator, I knew I was in a place of devotion. A place of tradition. The lobby was already filled with students when I arrived. They were quietly talking, patiently waiting, congregated around shelves of books written by and about Dharma Mittra.
 
The studio space is covered in red carpet and more traditional decor – altars, mandalas, live plants, and photos of pilgrimages and gurus. I could see fire escapes outside of the windows and was reminded where I was: in the city that never sleeps and not some sacred retreat center. 
 
Dharma Yoga “has roots in all nine forms of yoga, including Hatha, Raja, Karma, Kriya, Bhakti, Japa, Laya, and Jnana,” and it is especially known for the practice of advanced asana. That evening, I practiced in the Dharma III Intermediate class with a senior teacher trained by Dharma Mittra. 
 
My ego said, An intermediate class? No problem, but my body was not quite ready for what followed…
 
We practiced forearm stand, we practiced urdhva dhanurasana, we practiced the transition from vasisthasana to hanumanasana, we practiced forearm stand again, then scorpion, dhanurasana, tick tocks, tortoise pose, and did I mention forearm stand? It was wild. 
 
The class went more than 20 minutes over time, which I later learned is typical of NYC studios and especially of Dharma Mittra’s classes. If you know me, then you’ll know there’s nothing more that I’d rather do than balance on hands for almost two hours. Though I felt exhausted, it was an incredible experience. 

• Style: Dharma Yoga is a system of classical yoga. The classes include chanting, traditional Surya Namaskar, and advanced asanas. 
• Heat: The space is non-heated. 
• Rentals: Yes! Mats are available at the studio.  

Jivamukti Yoga
 
I think I saved the best for last. Jivamukti Yoga Center was recommended by a number of friends, and some of my favorite teachers have been influenced by the style. 
 
David Life and Sharon Gannon created Jivamukti Yoga in 1984. They studied with Swami Nirmalananda, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati. David and Sharon are considered “innovators in yoga” by Yoga Journal: they co-authored three books, they trained teachers all over the world, they established a 125-acre wildlife refuge in upstate New York, and they continue to be activists in the community. 
 
The Jivamukti method is rooted in this idea of activism and compassion for all beings:

“… the practice of asana becomes more than mere physical exercise to keep one’s body fit or to increase strength or flexibility; it becomes a way to improve one’s relationship to all others and thus lead to enlightenment – the dissolution of the sense of separateness, the realization of the oneness of being, the discovery of lasting happiness.”

 
​Vanity Fair has said David and Sharon are responsible for “making yoga hip and cool.” I’d say being up in the second floor studio, above the bustle of Broadway Street was seriously the coolest. Here’s a little more about the studio that’s not really a studio but a fully-equipped yoga school:

• Style: Jivamukti yoga is the closest to the style of yoga I prefer to teach and practice: it’s a steady and strong vinyasa class at a pace that does not compromise alignment. It includes plenty of inversions and a thoughtfully curated playlist. We created our own music in the beginning of the class by chanting together. All three studios I visited on that trip included live harmonium play and chanting. 
• Heat: The studio is non-heated, but the large classes and vigorous flows make for a warmed space.
• Rentals: Mats are $2 and are professionally laundered after classes in the washer and dryer onsite. 
• The space: I can’t think of any other way to describe Jivamukti other than as a yoga school. The studio has a number of practice rooms, props and chanting booklets for classes of 50+, multiple bathroom stalls, lockers, a washer and dryer, a fully-stocked boutique, and a vegan café. 

​I left Jivamukti with a t-shirt, a vegan brownie, and a big smile on my face. 
 
These studios were so very different, but yet the same in the way they paid homage to tradition. Hundreds of thousands of students passed through those studios and their yoga teacher trainings around the world, and I was quite humbled to be part of these classes. 

Update: Since this post was published, the physical Jivamukti space has closed. Online offerings are still available.