Bikram Yoga Chelsea

WWW.BIKRAMYOGACHELSEA.COM

Location: West 26th Street in Chelsea, New York City. Located across the street from the Fashion Institute, Tyra Banks Show as well as The Martha Stewart Show. Walking distance from subways and buses. Around the corner from Whole Foods and your choice of any cuisine. Buzz yourself to the 3rd floor and take the elevator or stairs up. (3 SWEAT DROPS)

Facility: A handsome man by the name of Rafael greets as you enter. He is the new owner of the Chelsea studio. I have been to this studio before so I know there was not much to renovate or update, but I could already tell how Rafael added his little personal touch to the space. The studio is painted a lighter beige color - it has a warmer feel as incense burns from the table and green plants surround the counter area. There are cubby holes for shoes, pegs for coats, benches for relaxing and magazines for reading. Even the door into the studio is a sliding door, which I think is really classy ala Rafael. The lobby is where most of the Bikram socializing would happen, this is the spot where students hang out at until class starts (for those who don't want to jump right into the heated studio). The ladies locker room is small with one toilet and two showers. There are many shelves to place your belongings and some pegs for hanging your clothes but if there are more than 8 women in class, the locker room tends to get really congested. and if there are classes back to back, it can get sardine-like (2 SWEAT DROPS).

The Studio: Small square studio with front and side mirrors. The celings are high but the fans blow the heat right back down. The heat comes from 4 heat blowers affixed to the ceiling at all four corners of the room. I am not a big fan of these blowers because they are loud and blow heat in one direction. I try to place my mat away from this steady strong stream of air at all times because it can get pretty intense. I usually like to practice in the front row because I focus better and to be honest with you - I wear contacts but I can barely see with them on. Anyway, most of the heaters are aimed at me in front so I hightail it to the middle of the room. I know it's unyogi-like and I should work on my own practice but I spent a lot of time checking out people's postures, outfits, nail color, etc. in the second row! (2.5 SWEAT DROPS).

The Class: John Salvatore taught my first class that week and I was in heaven. He is my most favorite male Bikram teachers aside from Rafael and I could not have been any happier. His class is energizing, funny, a complete riot all the while I do not realize how hard I am working in between laughing. Johnny's class is a CLASS ACT - literally. He is definitely one of a kind. He really set a precedence and my expectations were high. No other teacher I took that week is worth mentioning at all. I never caught a class taught by Rafael and Paola (2 of the toughest teachers in NYC). There was one teacher who kept reprimanding us throughout the whole class and another one that seemed as if she was on speed because she could not stand still the whole class. She was constantly walking around, turning/off fans and heater, opening/closing windows, etc. I don't think she stayed still for one minute. How ironic to be distracted by a teacher rather than a student?! But I swallowed my negative annoyed thoughts and pushed through that class with these challenges. I decided to keep on concentrating on my practice even if the teacher was a bit freaky. I think she needs Bikram yoga more than anyone else and on that note, I will try to avoid her class when in NYC again. (3 SWEAT DROPS)

Overall Assessment: Maybe I am being biased when I say I love this studio. Or maybe it's because I love Rafael (I used to take his classes consistently when he first moved to NYC and I credit him with my practice ethics). But all in all, I also have to realize that there are more and more new teachers being certified and with this said - I do not know a lot of them. There is a benefit to taking new teachers, it's like a box of chocolates - you just never know what your gonna get. I just think that your just gonna get a lot of new teachers at this studio and that may not be a bad thing but is it a good thing? I am pretty teacher-centric. If the teacher is awesome then it doesn't matter where we are practicing (as long as it's in a heated room:) (2.5 SWEAT DROPS)