All Together Now: A Practice Space Opens to New Ideas

AS PUBLISHED IN YOGACITY NYC

Like many good things, the “open practice” time at Sangha Yoga Shala hatched out of a conversation between friends. Alana Kessler, owner and director of the 6-month old studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and fellow-instructor Elise Espat both practiced Mysore-style ashtanga but at different studios. They thought it would be fun to practice together.

But when talk turned to action in early October, they decided—with the input from the rest of the studio’s staff—to do something quite untraditional. They decided not to limit the “open practice” to ashtangis, as is customary in Mysore style. Instead they made it inclusive of the other styles offered at Sangha Yoga Shala, including Iyengar.

The idea was that students would help each other, no matter what tradition they came from—a groundbreaking notion given how passionate Iyengar and ashtanga practioners are about their individual styles.

Kessler says the bottom line is cultivating the teacher within.

“In Mysore ashtanga the teacher doesn’t speak. It’s self practice. Everything is adjustments and is experiential. We believe that the body does what it’s ready to do. The foundation of Iyengar is to meet with teacher once a week and the rest is experiential. In both traditions, you’re trying to take the ego out of practice, and let the real teacher manifest in the space.”

Questions arise, however, about the practicalities of this arrangement. How might someone trained in movement and breath-based ashtanga tradition know how to adjust someone from the extremely precise, alignment-based Iyengar practice—and vice versa?

Kessler says it’s a conversation. Practitioners are primarily teachers, and they’re interested in the exchange. Although their knowledge is coming from different modalities, it refers back to the same source, the Krishnamacharya lineage.

“Recently, somebody was having a problem with a trocanter thing on her right hip. She asked Cory, the Iyengar teacher, why. I knew it was a sacrum imbalance because I’d been through that pose and been injured there. Cory gave the exact same answer that I did –we just came to it from a different place.”

Just a few weeks into this new offering, attendance is still growing. The two morning sessions (T/Th 9:30-11:30) and one afternoon (Friday 3:30-5:30) are not times everyone can make. As well, the studio is also still building its Iyengar program, with one certified teacher and another currently seeking certification.

The morning I visited, four Mysore-style ashtangis and two vinyasa practitioners were well into their morning practice. The steady, rhythmic sound of the breath filled the room, interrupted only by the occasional click of the heaters. When it was time for one woman to attempt the deep twist of marichyasana D, another woman got up from yoganidrasana, a supine pose in which the feet cross behind the neck, to adjust her.

It was peaceful in the room, a harmonious balance of effort, grace, and community, unruffled by one student stopping to help another. Providing space to practice and be influenced by each other might help to break down barriers between traditions, but on the most immediate level, it helps foster community.

And as Sangha Yoga Shala—which means “community yoga house”—says in its mission statement, “Only in community can we transcend and truly make a positive impact on the world.”

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AS PUBLISHED IN YOGACITY NYC

Mala Yoga: Small is Beautiful

AS PUBLISHED IN GAIA MAGAZINE

Mala Yoga sits on the second floor above a corner real estate office in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, at arguably one of the cutest intersections in the neighborhood. With coffee shops, restaurants, a Montessori school and a small independent bookstore nearby, this could be Main Street, USA. The church spire rising in the distance completes the picture.

But it’s Court Street, a bustling, residential part of Brooklyn. Run by three yoginis, two who left white-collar careers for yoga, Mala has only a sandwich board outside to mark its presence. It gets most of its students from walk-ins and word of mouth.

Opened in November 2007, Mala bucks current trends of expansion and franchising as one of the smallest studios in the city, at just 700 square feet–including the bathroom. Space is used efficiently: students’ bags and shoes go in one small closet, props in the other. Subs for the week are posted on the bathroom door, and the sign-in desk is tucked up next to the wall inside the practice space.

Such a vibrant place doesn’t feel small. In fact, there’s a bit of a love-fest going on at Mala. Students praise the smart, down-to-earth teachers, and teachers adore their students.

“We have really fantastic students here,” says Angela Clark, of of Mala’s co-founders. “They’re really into practicing, really into knowing who they are.”

Mala’s warm community of professionals, freelancers, and new parents is also remarkable.

“People are gregarious here, we all talk to everyone,” says Robyn Sklarson, VP of Library Content and Development for Sony Pictures Television who assists classes as a part of Mala’s new-teacher apprenticeship program. “If it’s a really packed class, everyone gets cozy and squishes up next to each other.”

Popular classes sell out at 26 – 30 people—when there’s an inch or less between mats—and so students get to know each other. Teachers walk through the class before it begins, learning names and discussing injuries or issues.

“You never have to worry about not getting an adjustment or getting lost in the shuffle,” says Sklarson.

Mala has done exceptionally well in its first year of business thanks to its location and handpicked staff, but also to the founders’ pre-existing popularity at other studios. One Mala fan, Rick Jakobson, a professional cook, had practiced with all three founders at Area Yoga just a few blocks up Court Street. “I’m teacher-centric–I like to hear the same voices,” says Jakobson.

Co-founder Stephanie Creaturo explains the vision that infuses the studio. “Practice is a thread — the beads on the mala are your life.” All three founders wear mala beads that have been blessed by Amma, the hugging saint.

“You come to the practice in your 20s, keep practicing into your 30s, as you go through family life, and get older,” says Creaturo. “Yoga can be with you through the stages of your life. That’s how we approach it.”

Mala Yoga 162 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11201 718 237 9642 malayoganyc.com

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AS PUBLISHED IN GAIA MAGAZINE