Strengthen your body... Free Your Mind ... Live fearlessly... Welcome to Chelsea Yoga.
100 West 23 St. 4th floor
About Chelsea Yoga
Chelsea
Yoga invites you to awaken to your natural state of bliss at New York
City’s first and only gay-owned-and-operated yoga studio. In the spirit
of yoga we believe that there is no difference between “gay” or “straight”,
“male” or “female”, “us” and “them” – we are ALL beings of light and
we are ALL connected. And from the foundations of Acceptance within
the gay community now blossoms a vibrant new space for people from all
walks of life to breathe together, to sweat together, to cultivate compassion
and laughter together, and to joyously redefine “Community” for the
whole world. And the first step to realizing the incredible potential
we all have within ourselves to be the incredible beings we dream we
can be – just show up!
OUR CLASSES
The
Yoga Practice at Chelsea Yoga embodies the principals of Tantra Yoga
which believes the body is a laboratory where we do experiments with
the breath and the intelligent sequencing of asanas to strengthen and
tone the body, to cultivate flexibility and inner calm, and to move
past our fears and limitations. Each class will incorporate various
elements such as meditation, readings, music, mantra and silence to
stimulate and enhance the physical practice.
Through a wide variety of classes, from vigorous Vinyasa to heart-opening Anusara, to gentle Restorative, let Chelsea Yoga be your home of transformation!
OUR TEACHERS
The audaciously attractive teachers of Chelsea yoga bring a wealth of knowledge and experience from various yoga backgrounds such as Jivamukti, Ashtanga, Vinyasa and Tantra yoga. They will guide you to the unveiling of a universe of infinite possibilities...
Frequently Asked Questions
I’m STRAIGHT / BI / HETEROFLEXIBLE / NOT SURE, can I come to Chelsea Yoga?
Of course!
I’m a WOMAN, can I come to Chelsea Yoga?
Absolutely!
I’ve never practiced yoga before in my entire life, can I come to Chelsea Yoga?
Get your ass to yoga class!
Why should I practice yoga?
Because life wants us to be whole in the widest and truest sense of the word. Read more here: (click here)
Is there something I need to know before I come to class?
No, just come with a towel, a bottle of water, and an open mind.
I want to come to class, but I don’t have a mat, what do I do?
We have mats for sale or rent at the studio.
Where are you?
100 West 23 Street (South West Corner at 6th ave)
4th floor (Buzz 4th floor)
Please be on time for all of our classes. If you are late, you will not be let in.
Is there a shower?
Sorry there is no shower at this time.
What are the costs and class times?
Please click here to see our schedule and costs.
"The
gesture Namaste represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within
each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an acknowledgment
of the soul in one by the soul in another. "Nama" means bow,
"as" means I, and "te" means you. Therefore, Namaste
literally means "bow me you" or "I bow to you."
To perform Namaste, we place the hands together at the heart charka, close the eyes, and bow the head. It can also be done by placing the hands together in front of the third eye, bowing the head, and then bringing the hands down to the heart. This is an especially deep form of respect. Although in the West the word "Namaste" is usually spoken in conjunction with the gesture, in India, it is understood that the gesture itself signifies Namaste, and therefore, it is unnecessary to say the word while bowing.
We bring the hands together at the heart chakra to increase the flow of Divine love. Bowing the head and closing the eyes helps the mind surrender to the Divine in the heart. One can do Namaste to oneself as a meditation technique to go deeper inside the heart chakra; when done with someone else, it is also a beautiful, albeit quick, meditation.
For a teacher and student, Namaste allows two individuals to come together energetically to a place of connection and timelessness, free from the bonds of ego-connection. If it is done with deep feeling in the heart and with the mind surrendered, a deep union of spirits can blossom.
Ideally, Namaste should be done both at the beginning and at the end of class. Usually, it is done at the end of class because the mind is less active and the energy in the room is more peaceful. The teacher initiates Namaste as a symbol of gratitude and respect toward her students and her own teachers and in return invites the students to connect with their lineage, thereby allowing the truth to flow—the truth that we are all one when we live from the heart." - Aadil Palkhivala
Why Should I Practice Yoga
Have you ever asked yourself why you're really practicing yoga?
By Richard Rosen
Most
beginning students will tell you they got into yoga to alleviate back
pain, relieve stress, or become more flexible—fairly simple responses.
I started my own practice after reading that yoga asanas are the best
form of exercise ever devised; that belief kept me going for several
years.
But the reasons you practice might not be as straightforward as they seem. It's entirely possible that after closely examining your innermost motives, you'll find nothing more than a hankering for looser hamstrings—but don't bet on it. Yoga is full of surprising twists and turns.
It's no secret that we often do things for reasons we're totally unaware of; sometimes our unconscious motives become clear only after a good deal of self-reflection. So it's important to realize that questioning the intent of our practice inevitably leads us to inquire about the meaning of our life as well. We could just as pertinently ask: Why am I really alive?
At the outset, it's natural to assume that our practice and our life are totally separate, that we practice for an hour or so a day and then forget about it. But after a while, the two inevitably begin to merge. As Sri Aurobindo, the great 20th-century Indian sage and progenitor of Integral Yoga, reminds us, "All life is yoga."
In Aurobindo's view, yoga is threaded through the warp and weft of our very existence, and in effect it chooses us. We practice yoga because we really don't have any other choice. Of course, we do decide what form our practice takes—we can go off and live alone in a cave and meditate, or we can stay at home, raise a family, and root for the Yankees. Performed with the proper attitude, each of our everyday actions can be an asana, each breath a pranayama, each thought (or space between two successive thoughts) a seed for meditation.
We may have been gifted with the life-enhancing tool of yoga, but for what reason? The clue is in the Sanskrit word yoga itself, which as you no doubt have heard means "union." For our purposes, though, it might be better to define it as "wholeness," a word etymologically related to both healthy and holy. So why do we really practice yoga? Because life wants us to be whole in the widest and truest sense of the word.
