Enter Organic Yoga as a rookie, cocoon yourself in bright colored silks and emerge more experienced after an aerial yoga session.
At Organic Yoga, classes like these are held for those on spiritual journey, or those simply looking for a great workout. Aerial yoga is similar to yoga in the traditional sense, except poses are done utilizing fabric hammocks. The studio is located about five minutes away from Binghamton University’s campus at 301 Main St. in Johnson City. At $8, students can take a class for less than the cost of a movie ticket.
Classes are kept small for intimate teacher-student attention, according to studio co-owner and instructor, Bryce Farrell, a senior majoring in biology at Binghamton University.
“There’s a ton of yoga studios in this area,” Farrell said. “But we wanted to be a small community so we try to have relationships with everybody who’s coming here.”
The studio opened about two years ago, after Farrell and her father, Dr. Jerome Farrell, took a yoga teacher training course together. Eventually, the father-daughter duo decided they wanted a studio of its own and chose to open one downstairs from Jerome’s dentistry practice office.
At first, the studio grew slowly, teaching only family and friends. But after sometime, the practice grew to members of the community and local students. The studio’s name, as it suggests, came organically.
“I just kept saying I want something natural and organic” Bryce said. “The definition of organic [being] that every part is necessary for the whole thing to be.”
Bryce defines yoga in many ways, touting both its relaxing qualities and physical benefits.
“It can be exercising, or stretching,” Bryce said. “Or [a way to] give yourself a chance to even sit still and be present.”
She also says that yoga can be a way to work through a problem.
Fellow BU students Basak Erdogan and Pelin Gullu, both seniors majoring in computer science, find that they enjoy the benefits of this exercise.
Erdogan and Gullu, both international students from Turkey, had taken aerial yoga classes at home and found that they liked the classes at Organic Yoga too. Erdogan describes it as a mix of laying in a hammock, meditating and practicing yoga.
“I feel in control of my body,” Erdogan said. “When I feel stressed out, I come here to relax and calm down.”
Jerome shared that the teachers they have hired make the studio unique from others in the area.
“Well all studios have Yoga as a common theme,” Jerome wrote in an email. “We’re really [all] more interested in each teacher having a good soul and good attitude and then we’re not so interested in steering them into any particular approach as much as allowing them to bring their own interpretation of yoga to their students.”
With this idea in mind, Organic Yoga is not only diverse in the styles of classes it hosts, but also holds workshops and special events to add variety.
Previous events include “class and a glass,” which is a combined yoga class and wine tasting, and “glo-ga,” which is a themed class where attendees wear glow in the dark clothes and accessories with a black light illuminating the room.
With new events, classes and programs going on all of the time, one of the goals of Organic Yoga is to give every individual a unique experience.
“We just wanted everybody to be able to get something out of yoga, no matter what that was,” Bryce said.
For more details on prices, schedules, and more visit their website at http://www.organicyogajcny.com/ or facebook.com/organicyogaJCNY.