Yoga in Antioch

The 7 experienced instructors at Yoga Sol harmonize their disparate backgrounds to bring students a well-rounded yoga practice. Owner Tara Clay brings expertise in clinical psychology, whereas CJ Lamborn contributes her experience as a Pilates instructor and understanding of the healing power of yoga. Marlena Salinas has a compelling story—trained as a hypnotherapist, she started practicing yoga after the birth of her son and uses language to help clients release pain as well as gain confidence. This is just a snapshot of the studio's staff, but it embodies the wealth of knowledge behind each session, be it Hot Yoga, Vinyasa Flow, Power Yoga, or restorative Yin. The instructors teach students of all experience levels, tailoring sessions for injured participants, expectant mothers, and people who are primarily made out of pretzels. Practice areas adjoin a retail space with yoga mats and blocks.

Recognized by the Green Yoga Association for its eco-friendly space, Sol Yoga helps students trim down and limber up while treading lightly on the environment. Inside the softly lit practice room, yogis stretch in the sun-like warmth that shines down from overhead radiant heat panels, loosens up tight muscles, and escorts toxins from the body through pores. HEPA filters fill the studio with fresh air while sustaining a relentless, merciless rampage against odors, airborne contaminants, and dust bunnies disguised as dust people. After cleansing their bodies and minds during vigorous Vinyasa power flows, students relax in the spa-like locker room complete with hardwood lockers, slate-tiled floors, private showers, and organic toiletries.

Absolute Yoga's instructors uphold the studio’s mission to "make yoga readily accessible to every body" by guiding pupils through more than 50 classes ranging in style and difficulty level each week. Within two separate practice spaces, studio owner Leslie Luft and her band of certified instructors lead a wide variety classes, from prenatal yoga for expecting mothers to core-strengthening Pilates sessions and yoga classes rooted in more meditative modalities. To further foster a close community of health and wellness, Absolute Yoga hosts intensive workshops that help attendees expand their understanding of specific subjects such as inversion and balancing poses and holistic baby-food making.

Mark Sandler and Carrie Gaynor—co-directors of Absolute Yoga & Wellness—teach yoga as an extension of the healing arts they both practice. Mark focuses on the mind, bringing his studies of yogic philosophy and psychology under Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati to the classroom. Carrie draws upon the medical know-how she garnered in her two decades as a nurse to enhance the benefits of her practice. Together, they seek to restore health to bodies through exercise and associated physical therapies, such as kinesis myofascial integration and yoga therapy, in which students hold asana on a psychoanalyst's couch.

Recycled, earth-friendly materials lay the groundwork for Tierra Yoga’s studio. Reclaimed wood turned art adorns the jade-green walls, and natural, biodegradable rubber yoga mats rest on the recycled flooring. Tierra Yoga’s instructors lead Hatha-based classes within the serene, open, thoughtfully designed space, breathing in time with their students as they practice self-awareness and connectivity to nature. Their classes, like phone calls to various ex-spouses, range in difficulty. This range provides a space for students of all fitness levels, from gentle yoga that focuses on perfecting foundational steps to athletic, vigorous classes in power-yoga sessions.

Inside the Douglaston School of Music and Art, certified yoga instructor, Daniela Crocchiola, uses her years of experience and extensive training to guide students through hot vinyasa yoga and ballet bar classes. Brought to her mother's yoga classes as a young cobra, Crocchiola learned the benefits of regular stretch sessions at an early age and credits the practice for helping her grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. While working in Manhattan in fashion and cosmetic marketing, Crocchiola studied a variety of yoga styles, such as Bikram, ashtanga, and kundalini, and obtained 200 hour yoga teaching certifications recognized by the Yoga Alliance and by loyal downward facing dogs everywhere. In addition to being a certified yoga instructor, Crocchiola's skills equip her to lead Pilates and ballet bar workouts.