Blog > classes > class types

Most of our drop-in classes cost $10, but check the schedule for these:

• Community Class (©): is a class offered at a $5 reduced rate, to support our community.
• Pay What You Can (¢): In recognition of the challenges of many in our community, these classes are an attempt to remove the financial barrier between students and their yoga practice. We trust that everyone will recognize the intention of this offering and pay to their ability.

Here is a bit about the kinds of classes we offer, have offered, and plan to offer:

• African Dance with live African Drumming: will include traditional and contemporary dance styles (Bijagos, Balanta, Fula, and Manjaco) from Guinea Bissau. African Dance is a great way for people to enjoy themselves while having an amazing workout and learning a facet of culture from Guinea Bissau.
• Anusara: Anusara means “flowing with Grace,” “going with the flow,” “following your heart”. Anusara is a hatha yoga system founded in 1997 by John Friend that blends together a celebration of the heart with the biomechanical precision of the Universal Principles of Alignment.™ Classes are mixed level and suitable for beginning and experienced students. For more information about Anusara Yoga go to: www.anusara.com.
• Beginning Belly Dancing: In this delightful class, we will practice the basic vocabulary of Middle Eastern movement: isolations, shimmies, traveling, turns, beautiful arms, and finger cymbals. Includes improvisation and a simple choreography that we build upon each week.
• Break Dancing: If you have ever been curious about breaking (breakdance), this is your chance to get down! Come learn the truth about this complex, energetic dance form while sweating it out to funk and soul music. In this fun, invigorating class, you’ll learn the pillars of breaking: toprock, drops, footwork, and freezes. No experience required; everyone is welcome. We recommend you take at least four in a row to gain a good appreciation for this style of dance.
• Embodied Anatomy Yoga: is the study of anatomy, experientially through the practice of Yoga. We will explore our different body systems -skin, muscle, bone, fluids, organs, endocrine, nervous- their different qualities and functions through yoga postures and movement. All levels of experience are welcome. This class emphasizes a sense of curiosity and play as we find our unique alignment within yoga postures. EAY is for folks who want to gain ease and efficiency within their yoga practice and gain kinesthetic awareness through a slow, deep, student focused class. This class is free for the duration of Nicole’s training in EAY. Students are encouraged to ask questions and give feedback to nicolebindler@gmail.com.
• Forrest Yoga: Forrest Yoga balances active sequences of movement and longer holding of poses to build both strength and flexibility in the body. Each class focuses on specific areas and issues while toning the system as a whole, giving special attention to alignment and taking care of oneself. Deep breathing and abdominal exercises work to fortify the core, helping students go deeper into poses and feel sensations that often go unnoticed—a great practice for clearing toxins from the system, healing from injury, relaxing the mind and energizing the spirit.

  • Forrest Yoga Basics: The class covers basic moves, techniques for breathing and relaxation, fundamental yoga positions, plus helpful guidance for preventing and healing from injury. Ample demonstration, thorough instruction and hands-on assistance give beginner students all the basic building blocks to practice Forrest Yoga. More advanced students will find Basics classes useful in deepening their practice, as well as being a relaxing and centering experience.
  • Forrest Yoga I: Fun and moderately-paced with detailed alignment instruction, Forrest I classes move through a wide range of breath work, seated and standing poses, moving sequences and some basic inversions. Teachers provide hands-on assistance and offer opportunities for students to “up-level,” beginning to work toward playing with more advanced poses. It is recommended that students be familiar with Forrest Basics classes or have some experience with another yoga style.
  • Forrest Yoga II: A vigorous and comprehensive yoga workshop, this more advanced class uses asana and pranayama work to generate heat and explore limits. Forrest II classes highlight inversions, backbends, hip-openers and/or twists that enable students to go deeper into cultivating physical and emotional transformation. It is recommended that students be familiar with Forrest Basics classes or have experience with another yoga style.
  • Forrest Inspired While maintaining a strong Forrest approach with attention to the core, alignment, and hands on assists, this class influenced by various styles of yoga, pilates and dance. Sequenced in a Forrest fashion that begins with pranayama, gentle warm-up of the large joints, and core work, then flowing into vigorous standing sequences that prepare the body for more advanced hip-openers, backbends, twists, inversions and arm balances. This class creatively incoporates new concepts, philosophies and postures that excite and inspire the teacher.

• Gentle Vinyasa: Gentle Vinyasa yoga is an intuitive group class that features personal modifications and emphasizes integrating mind, body, spirit, and breath–all within a playful, safe environment. Students are encouraged to just “be,” whether they are pushing their limits physically or allowing themselves to honor their current level of practice. Gentle Vinyasa yoga is a great way to transition from the weekend into the work-week. An integral part of this gentle Vinyasa yoga class is the practice of self-compassion. Students are encouraged to accept the beauty of their practice without needing to achieve anything other than coming into the present moment and truly experiencing it.
• Hatha Yoga: Explores the foundation postures of yoga through clear directions. Hatha classes promote strength, flexibility and balance without strain.
• Hoop Dancing: Spin your way to improved health and happiness with hoop dance! This adult series will teach you the fundamentals of hoop dance and plenty of mesmerizing tricks that you can incorporate into your own dance style. Strengthen your body as you learn to spin the hoop around your waist, chest, neck, hands, and legs. Improve your balance and coordination with off body moves, tosses, and isolations. This low impact exercise will have you burning calories and seriously strengthening your core. Let go, meditate and relieve stress as you discover your inner rhythm. Hoop dance is the perfect mind/body exercise for those who want to get fit and have fun!
• Honey Sweet Flow: The first hour of class will be geared toward creating lots of heat (and clarifying sweat) in the body. The last half hour will then use this heat to safely move deep into the body through longer held postures, thereby detoxifying and creating spaciousness. Previous yoga experience recommended. Drop-ins welcome.
• In and Out of the Chair Yoga: Yoga seeks to balance the body and mind, body, spirit. It turns out most asanas or exercise postures are variations on that theme and can be done sitting, standing, lying down, and upside down. Chair yoga seeks to benefit from these postures practicing them standing and sitting in a chair. Both vigorous and gentle, we get to build strength and flexibility important for folks recovering from illness, struggling with illness or whose bodies would prefer just not to spend their yoga class getting on the floor and then trying to stand up again. Clearly balance and rotation skills are very important to us all and remain the central goals in the class. Classically structured, the class includes some breathing, postures and meditation time. All levels and ages are welcome to this class.
• Kundalini Yoga: as taught by Yogi Bhajan is known as The Yoga of Awareness. It is the path of awakening our teacher within. This practice is based on yogic anatomy, being our 8 chakras, and our 10 energetic bodies. The space is opened and overseen by chanting the Adi Mantra (Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo) 3x, at the beginning of each class. This mantra summons the teacher within as well as the Masters of the lineage, and also provides protection to both the facilitator and student. This style of yoga is composed of precise series of movements called Kriyas, each one working on different aspects of our yogic anatomy and consciousness. Within, and in addition to the Kriya, a variety of pranayam (breath meditations and techniques), mudras (hand postures), and mantras (the repetition of sacred sounds) are included in the practice. Working with our energy in this way awakens and unlocks our (often dormant or stagnated) kundalini energy, which is based in our lower spine, and causes it to rise and circulate throughout the body, mind and spirit. KundaliniEnergy is our most potent form of creative energy, and working with it develops divine consciousness, enhances prosperity, and facilitates vast and profound transformation to all areas of one’s life.
• Mommy and Me Yoga Core: This class is designed for mothers and their babies (5 weeks to a bit past crawling). It gives moms the opportunity to reconnect with their bodies and focuses on their core to redevelop strength and awareness to these very supportive muscles. The babies will be on a blanket or in a car seat next to you while you are enjoying your practice. Class always ends with a soothing Savasana and a short relaxing massage.
• Moving Towards Mysore: Mysore is a town in India where Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009) has passed on the ancient system of Ashtanga yoga as taught to him by his teacher, Krishnamacharya. Contained within the context of historical ritual this led class will move towards the classic progressive series of postures, but also bring awareness and intelligence to alignment. The process produces intense internal heat and a purifying sweat that detoxifies muscles and organs. With regular practice, the results are: improved circulation, a light and strong body, a calm mind, and a distinct and natural progression in to self knowledge. Previous yoga experience recommended.
• Open Practice: a time and space for your personal yoga practice. There is music, but no cuing or assists. Come when you want; leave whenever you have finished.
• Pilates: Focuses on the core muscles that balance the body, awareness of breath and alignment of the spine. Can help ease or prevent back pain. Studio 34 also offers private sessions, with an array of specialized equipment. More information…
• Restorative: This class will begin with minimal free-flowing movement to warm the body, then we will transition toward a sequence of longer held, supportive postures. When the body is supported properly, space and freedom are created in the joints and spine. This method of practice results in calming the nervous system, revitalizing the adrenals, and thereby relieving stress and fatigue. As the body settles into its natural state, the mind will begin to follow suit. And if the postures don’t do the trick, the soothing music and poetry will!
• Seven Gate Movement: For experienced movers of all sorts (dancers, yogis, martial artists). This class incorporates movement improvisation, experiential anatomy, spontaneous choreography, and contact improvisation. Move from the inside out with this performance practice and healing practice of solo and group scores. In this class, we will align our chakras and our bones, dance with and without music, partner with each other and the floor, and embrace our habits while expanding our repertory. Find out more about who you are as a mover and broaden your edges a bit! Not sure if you have enough previous movement experience? Feel free to contact Nicole to find out if this class is right for you: nicolebindler@gmail.com.
• Tai Chi: Yang style tai chi, as brought to America by Professor Cheng Man Ch’ing is described as an internal, soft martial art. The form, consists of 37 postures that are performed at a slow, flowing pace. The movements are said to promote circulation, lung function, flexibility and strength. The regular practice of tai chi has benefits for many different facets of physical and mental health and general well-being. A beginners’ class consists of simple warm up movements and then direct instruction of the progression of postures that make up the form. Instruction on the principles of tai chi is incorporated into the class, as tai chi is as much a philosophy as it is an exercise. The principles practiced in the form have applications throughout daily life. Although the form has only 37 postures, it is not something that can be learned in six or eight short weeks. But progress can be made from the first few weeks, and the benefits accrue with time.
• Very Beginner Yoga: This Community Class is for the tentative student with limited mobility due to physical, medical or lifestyle circumstances. You don’t need to be able to touch your toes; you just have to be willing to try.
• Vinyasa Yoga: Uses the flow between poses to cultivate physical and emotional openings.