The studio offers both Pilates as well, but I chose a Saturday afternoon yoga class. The studio is gorgeous: spacious, and light, with dark hardwood floors. Very chic!
The class was with Joschi himself, and class filled up quickly. Joschi called on people by name, and many people seemed to know each other as well. He got a sense of the newcomers’ level of experience (I told him that while I took my first class 7 years ago, my practice has been infrequent at best).
There were a range of levels, from beginners to very advanced yogis. Still, everyone seemed to follow along with ease, and Joschi was quick to help out if someone (often yours truly!) was struggling. The class was challenging but fun, and I never felt myself counting down the minutes for the class to end, as I often find myself doing during fitness classes. At one point during uttanasana (forward fold), Joschi asked Julie if she trusted him (she did), and proceeded to flip her upside down!
He encouraged us to flow with confidence and wear a smile, and although I didn’t quite get up into kakasana (crow pose), I felt myself get a little closer.
Monika and Joshi in their studio
Joschi and Monika have generously offered to give one New York reader (or anyone who commutes regularly to NYC) 5 classes for $25 (an $85 value), to be used within two weeks before March 1. It’s a great deal, and if I didn’t write my own blog, I’d enter the giveaway!
Here’s how to enter:
1. Comment below about your yoga experience. If you’ve practiced before, how did you come to let yoga into your life? What was your first class like? What is each session like for you now? If you’ve never tried yoga before (all the better!) what appeals to you about it?
2. Tweet this contest, @lilveggiepatch, with a link to the page. Leave a comment letting me know you did so.
You have until Sunday, January 23rd to enter.
Good luck, yogis and future yogis! I’m off to do a little lunar flow myself 
I can’t enter! But I kinda love how dark the studio is!
well it is a tad far for me to enter
but i wanted to say i have never tried yoga and i neeeeed to! i just dont know where to start. i wish i lived in NYC!
I don’t have twitter, but I’d just like to say I’ve never done yoga before. I heard it is extremely DIFFICULT utilizing different muscle groups from the body. Anyway, love ur blog!!!
I’ve never tried yoga before, and I think the sense of relaxation really appeals to me.
I love yoga–it has seriously changed my life. The first class I took was weird. I didn’t like “looking into my third eye.” But I’ve taken a number of different types of classes and each session and type of class is a little different for me than the last. I think Bikram yoga plays a great role in helping me feel sweaty and detoxified, but I really love a good vinyasa flow class. I love the connection between my breath and body–those classes are the closest I’ve come to feeling a truly spritual connection. I think it makes me a better person too–I’ve learned to be more tolerant of things that would normally make me upset or unhappy and I think that’s a beautiful thing!
my first class was crazy! I had no idea what I was doing. My friend Katie went with me. That was cool. It is really difficult. I want to try again
I’m nowhere near NYC, so I’m not entering the contest…
I really need to bring some yoga into my life, I’ve always been afraid to take a class, but maybe I’ll look into it.
Jen
my body looks more like a potato chip than a pretzel when I do yoga
obvs i can’t win, but this looks AMAZING! and you got to do it with julie, which just makes it that much cooler
I kind of suck at yoga. but am determined in 2011 to un-suck
I used to do some hot yoga and absolutely loved it but it didn’t fit with my schedule. I need to check this place out asap 
xoxo
s
I saw this and decided I definitely had to enter…!
Yoga has been a HUGE part of my life during the last couple years. I had taken the odd class from time to time at the gym before then, but I was never really convinced by them enough to make it a regular thing — the classes I took were either always too challenging or not challenging enough. In 2008, though, I took my first class at the Jivamukti Yoga School down by Union Square. At the time, I was in desperate search of some form of exercise I could fall in love with — I wanted to get into shape without it feeling like a chore. The Jivamukti class was not only physically challenging, but it also opened my eyes to the fact that the benefits of yoga practice go way beyond building lean muscle and becoming more flexible. I left the class feeling lighter, physically and mentally, and ever since then, yoga has been go-to therapy for everything. If ever I’m freaking out about something, I know I can always come back to my mat and my breath to collect myself and keep going. I also love the fact that it’s such an individual practice. Everyone approaches and feels poses differently, and everything can really be molded to how one feels (and that can definitely change daily!)
Since Jivamukti was my first studio, it’s definitely special for me, but I’ve been REALLY wanting to explore new studios and teachers! NYC has so much to offer, so it’s definitely time