Our yoga studio of the month is YogaWorks, a valued Barefoot Yoga customer since 1999!  YogaWorks founders Maty Ezraty, Chuck Miller and Alan Finger opened their first studio in 1987. They shared their vast knowledge and love of yoga with integrity, quality and authenticity. With the demand for well-trained teacher, the renowned YogaWorks Teacher Training Program was created.

Now YogaWorks has 29 locations in California and New York and they are still expanding. Their mission is to bring everyone into the fold of yoga—honoring, embracing and guiding each student’s growth and fulfillment. YogaWorks has many styles of yoga under its roof like Mysore-style Ashtanga, Iyengar, Therapeutics and other signature classes with emphasis on excellence in teaching. They also offer pilates and pilates teacher training courses.

YogaWorks Studio at Santa Monica – Montana Ave

They have classes for beginner, intermediate or advanced students and take special pride in classes catering to children, seniors, athletes and those in need of physical rehabilitation. In addition to classes in the studio, they offer online yoga classes that you can stream at home. These online classes vary in levels and lengths so you can pick and choose when and where you want to practice and for how long.

Take note of their reward system. For every class you take, you can accumulate points toward perks like a yoga mat towel.

Check out the boutiques at most of their studios that features quality yoga essentials like Barefoot Yoga mats, rugs, mat bags, blocks and eye pillows.

Posted under Styles of Yoga, Yoga Studios, Yoga Supplies, Yoga Teachers

Now there aren’t just yoga classes, but doga (dog yoga) classes for our furry friends as well! Contrary to what you might think, doga classes aren’t a new phenomenon, they’ve been around for a while and are now catching on in a big way.

Doga class attendees feel it helps their dog, as well as themselves, to experience the benefits of yoga together. Heck, if yoga is such an amazingly valuable practice for humans, why not for our fellow canines as well?

Doga classes incorporate everything from meditation and massage to gentle poses involving both you and your pooch, which can include anything from camel pose (shown above) to a quite literal downward-facing dog (shown below)!

Whatever the pose, one thing is for sure: doga is an amazing way to bond with both your pooch and your practice, so why not give it a try? It’s sure to bring a new level of harmony and perspective to any yogi with a canine companion!

Want to know more? Check out the links below and don’t forget to visit us at www.barefootyoga.com for you or your furry friend’s yoga needs!

• Downward-facing human? Yoga has gone to the dogs
• Bonding With Their Downward-Facing Humans
• Yoga – with dogs

Posted under Styles of Yoga

The first blooms of spring are already in sight. Everything dormant is now growing and so for the month of March, let’s set our intention for growth. What does it mean to grow? Yes, there are yoga poses to strengthen, lengthen and possibly ‘grow’ your spine. But growth also means stepping out of our comfort zone, challenging ourselves, testing and knowing our limits, and learning from our experiences, good or bad.

We all have our favorite poses that we tend to incorporate into our practice again and again. We have our favorite teachers who we think are more suited to our needs. We have our favorite style of yoga that we practice daily. If we kept to our favorites, we deprive ourselves from potential growth and learning. Can we attempt that challenging pose and be alright with the outcome, physically, mentally and emotionally? Can we push ourselves not to give up on it and attempt it again next time?

Can we be open to another teacher’s style  and take whatever he or she has to offer and incorporate into our own practice? If you like Vinyasa, why not try Restorative or Yin Yoga for a change? If you usually take a 5 count breath, try stretching it to 8 and vice versa. Expand yourself and attend that Kirtan concert or meditation workshop you’ve been curious about. Use positive re-enforcement and imagery to help you in your quest. Start your exercise with no expectations of success or failure and let the end result guide you to your next step.

Find yoga supplies for your own spring growth at www.barefootyoga.com!

Posted under Health and Fitness, Styles of Yoga