Yoga in Bensenville

Instructors at North Shore Yoga and therapists at Integrated Healing Center promote holistic well-being with a one-two punch of movement-based classes and salutary bodywork sessions. Owner Sharyn Galindo honed her yogic talents over 10 years of dedicated practice, including occasional sojourns to Mysore, India and Thailand where she studied Ashtanga techniques while accumulating enough frequent-flyer miles to vacation on Jupiter. Under her tutelage, North Shore Yoga instructors emphasize Ashtanga and Vinyasa yoga styles, helping students deepen stretches by heating rooms up to 84 degrees for the majority of sessions. To augment a lifestyle of physical wellness, Integrated Health Center's therapists dole out healing bodywork and alternative treatments, including acupuncture and massage sessions that can help address clients' individual needs by incorporating aromatherapy or organic, herb-infused oils.

Body & Brain Holistic Yoga's classes incorporate yoga, tai chi, meditation, martial arts, and signature breathing postures to forge a mind-body exercise that helps students to awaken their inner ki energy. The one-hour sessions attempt to improve flexibility, strength, breathing, and energy sensitivity, which contribute to holistic health. Much like a dive-bombing red-winged black bird, classes often vary their approach, ensuring a more dynamic experience from session to session

Former Yoga Trek students Kate Wester and Catherine Cappel carry on ownership of the studio passed on to them by their former instructors, leading a staff of impassioned yoga teachers as they guide students in the physically dynamic Vinyasa and Ashtanga styles of yoga. The instructors accommodate students of all skill and fitness levels except in the most advanced sessions, which transition between challenging poses at a rapid pace. Beginners and intermediate students can build up practice over time, learning to incorporate meditation and mindful breathing techniques to center thoughts while bolstering physical stamina with traditional yoga poses. Instructors help to prepare students before class by passing out any yoga mats, supportive props, or chakra-warming space blankets guests need.

The certified Bikram yoga instructors at 26hot draw students from all over the western suburbs to their facility, conveniently located near the Roosevelt Road exit of I-355. Within the 1,800-square-foot space, which is kept at 105 degrees and 40% humidity, yogis move through 26 postures designed to build muscle and cardiovascular health. The one-legged balancing stick pose, for example, puts bodies into a T formation, and the tree pose encourages birds to alight on squared shoulders.

The studio's reception area appropriately greets students with fiery-red couches and warm-yellow walls. At the desk, students can rent yoga mats and towels or purchase beverages such as chilled coconut water.

Dharma Studio co-owner Loree Shrager discovered the healing power of yoga after suffering from severe scoliosis and back pain. Through gentle stretching and gradual strengthening, she was able to carve out periods of relief in her life. Today, she uses her PhD in clinical psychology, her work as a therapist, and her experiences as a mother to inform her teaching. The other half of the Dharma Studio foundation, Natalie Morales, emphasizes self-discovery during her classes, which range from lighthearted Funyasa to challenging yet deeply relaxing Yoga Nidra sessions. Together, the duo promotes a family and community vibe—their children's program was featured on Univision's Primer Impacto, and their studio’s walls display the work of local artists.

To make guests comfortable, Shrager and Morales have compiled a team of compassionate instructors and imbued the studio with a warm ambiance devoid of air horns. The Miami New Times said that the "quaint one-room studio exudes peace, from walls accented with paintings of Buddha to soothing, lingering aromas of incense," and even named it the Best Place to Meet Single Women in 2010. The studio may have earned the title thanks to events such as a Saturday-night Dharma After Dark class, during which live musicians serenade students with guitars, violins, and melodic crystal bowls.

Inside the spacious practice room, serene shades of lavender combine with energizing plum tones and soft lighting to create a warm, inviting space for yogis to hone their mind-body practice. Abhyaasa Yoga's four certified yoga instructors bring an eclectic mix of experience and expertise to their classes, combining meditative techniques with powerful yoga postures to create a mindful, flowing style of yoga that fosters strong, flexible bodies and peaceful minds. To cater to practitioners of all experience and fitness levels, Abhyaasa Yoga hosts introductory classes in which beginners become acquainted with the basic poses, breathing techniques, and playing cards while doing a headstand, in addition to more challenging sessions such as the Rock Your Asana! Vinyasa class that gets students sweating with vigorous posture sequences set to upbeat, motivating music.