Tag Archives: yoga

‘Spiritual practice’ — 12th Ave yoga studio says it will continue in-person classes despite COVID-19 restrictions — UPDATE

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(Image: Live Love Flow)

A 12th Ave yoga studio says it is exempt from the state’s new COVID-19 restrictions and will continue in-person “spiritual and mindful” classes.

Live Love Flow informed customers about the plans Monday night one day after Gov. Jay Inslee announced a new lockdown on businesses and social gatherings to help slow a dangerous third wave of rapid spread of the virus. Live Love Flow members notified CHS about the update.

“In response to Gov. Inslee’s mandate, we are announcing that we are continuing to run yoga classes as scheduled In-Studio and Online,” the studio’s message said. “Yoga is considered a spiritual and mindful practice.”

The new restrictions seem to disagree. Continue reading →

How a group of ‘Poseurs’ created yoga community on the Hill

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The evening sky above Capitol Hill is dark. Outside, a mean cold nibbles at any piece of skin left uncovered, but the basement studio of 15th Ave E’s Dance Underground, decorated year-round with soft Christmas lights, feels warm and fuzzy. The weekly yoga class, organized by yoga group Poseurs, just finished. Students stream out of the room. Others linger to talk, check in with each other, hug. “I love you,” says one person as they leave.

“Poseurs is the place where I feel like I can go in my pajamas and everyone’s chill with it,” says Alyssa Yackley, who’s been teaching with Poseurs since 2017. “There’s something about showing up to a place where everyone’s there to practice yoga, be in service of the community. There’s not a lot of space in the city to feel that way.”

“I’ve done a lot of classes at Corepower, and it’s a lot of Lululemon, a lot of thin white people,” adds Silver Fox, who’s been going to Poseurs for two years and started teaching classes last year. “I felt out of place. Seattle hasn’t felt like home to me until I found Poseurs.”

Technically, Poseurs is not a yoga studio. For one, the group doesn’t have its own space but instead organizes classes at Dance Underground, the Vajra or Love City Love. The “community,” as the teachers and founder Emily Denton call it, also doesn’t operate like most other yoga studios on the Hill or elsewhere. A core group of 5 to 10 regular teachers volunteer their time, and the classes are donation-based. Continue reading →

Yoga studio celebrates 20 years on Capitol Hill, in ‘feminine leadership’ style

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The yoga center has been at The Greenus building since 1996

8 Limbs Yoga Center is celebrating 20 years on Capitol Hill.

Anne Phyfe Palmer opened the first 8 Limbs studio in the historic Greenus building at 500 E Pike in October 1996, and she has since expanded the business to have locations in Phinney Ridge, Westwood, and West Seattle.

“Anne has an entrepreneurial spirit and a deep passion for yoga,” said 8 Limbs Yoga’s Ashley Dahl. “From the get-go, this model has really worked.” Dahl says 8 Limbs is collaborative and emphasizes partnership behind the scenes. “That process – I would call that a feminine leadership style.” Continue reading →

Apex aerial yoga opens on a body-focused block of E Olive Way

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Upside downward dog? (Images: Apex Aerial Arts)

As E Olive Way south of Denny bustles with food and nightlife activity, the upper blocks of the street have struggled to keep pace. However, a stable lineup of body-focused businesses should be an encouraging sign for Capitol Hill’s newest yoga studio, which recently opened at Boylston and E Olive Way.

Bridget Gunning, a dancer, aerialist and yoga instructor opened Apex Aerial Arts in March in the space formerly home to Vino Verite. “She’s developed a specific brand of aerial yoga,” said Goldie Jones, co-owner of the new studio.

The practice uses an aerial hammock to support the practitioner’s body while doing yoga poses. The hammock is adjusted to be at belly button height when standing, so no need to worry about dangling too high off the ground. Jones, who’s been a student of Gunning’s for eight years, said the extra support does not mean it is an easy workout. “You’re still really using your body,” she said.

Jones said the sling helps stretch out the spine, rather than normal poses, or day-to-day life, which compresses it. Jones said the practice has caused her to grow — physically — since starting the classes. “It give you a much more open, confident posture,” she said.

Classes have only four students, so instructors have an opportunity to work with those students closely. Pre-registration is required. Jones said there are no physical requirements for people who might be considering starting the practice, and Gunning tries to help new students, regardless of their level of skill or strength.

“I’ve seen all kinds of bodies,” Jones said. “People don’t have to be able to do a pull-up to start, but you will be able to by the time you’re done.” Continue reading →

Ritual House of Yoga moves into longtime theater space on 19th Ave E

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(Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

IMG_2873With all the food and drink activity happening on 19th Ave E, it seemed almost inevitable that the long time performance space vacated by the Washington Ensemble Theatre last year would be the area’s next bar or restaurant. Even the space’s property owner thought so.

It turns out, there is still room for other types of sustenance in the neighborhood.

After 20 years as a theater, a new yoga studio is hoping to tap the space’s creative energy and breath new life into the storefront adjacent to Fuel coffee. Ritual House of Yoga will be holding an open house May 2nd-3rd, where the newly opened studio will offer 30 days of unlimited yoga for $40 to anyone who stops in. Classes officially start on Monday.

After spending years teaching and practicing in the yoga Mecca of Boulder, Colorado, Ritual co-owner Sarah Pohl said she was ready to harvest her range of experiences to create a studio of her own.

“We’re basing it more on a feeling of what we want to create than a certain style of yoga,” Pohl said, who’s opening the studio with her husband, Stuart Pohl. In a departure from many studios in the area, Pohl said she especially excited to offer non-heated and low-heated classes.

IMG_2830Ritual has also partnered with Capitol Hill’s Juice Box to bring a “micro juicery” refrigerator stocked with juices and a selection of raw food.

Pohl signed the lease on 19th Ave E in September after barely starting her search for a new space. The space’s natural light, cozy size, and location on the neighborhood’s commercial stretch sealed the deal for Pohl.

“I wanted this to feel like not just a yoga studio but a community space,” she said.

Last year, Capitol Hill lost a longtime yoga studio when Samadhi Yoga shuttered after 15 years at 12th and Pike. Meanwhile, Capitol Hill’s The Grinning Yogi appears to be going strong with its recent expansion to Portland while 8 Limbs recently marked 18 years and an overhauled studio in the redeveloped Greenus Building. Meanwhile, 10th Ave’s Sweatbox is trying to hang in until Pike/Pine development means new customers, not torn up streets.

Meanwhile, 19th Ave E will also be celebrating a reopening Friday as the Molly Moon’s ice cream window at Hello Robin debuts for the season with free scoops for kids from 3 to 5 PM.

For more on Ritual House of Yoga, visit ritualhouseseattle.com.