Classes in Brooklyn

Before opening his own studio, owner and passionate yogi J. Brown spent more than a decade working as an independent yoga instructor. He credits this experience with creating Abhyasa Yoga Center's personal and inclusive atmosphere that welcomes students of all experience and skill levels. Each of the studio's 15 certified yoga instructors have been trained by Brown, resulting in a cohesive schedule of classes practiced in a therapeutic, breath-centered style. Though yoga's physical postures can help students increase strength, flexibility, and patience when training wild spirit animals, Brown and his fellow yogis encourage patrons to perform each pose at their own level of difficulty and link their movements with Ujjayi breathing techniques to sync the body and mind.

Having spent much of her life as a stay-at-home mom, Wendy Chanelis turned to yoga as a way to tone her muscles and awaken her mind. She quickly fell in the love with exercise form and, after studying with many different masters of many different styles such as Iyengar and Jivamukti, eventually decided it was time to open her own studio. She founded Yoga People in 1998 as a welcoming haven for like-minded yogis and curious beginners alike.

Wendy?along with a staff of 15 certified teachers?now conducts a variety of yoga classes throughout each week. Some sessions cater to the beginner, others to pregnant mothers, and still more to meditative practitioners. Beyond yoga, massage therapists employ modalities such as shiatsu, craniosacral, and prenatal massage, which helps babies appreciate backrubs before they're even born.

New York Sports Clubs, part of Town Sports International's network of fitness loci, opens up a number of equipment-stocked facilities across New York to exercisers. Strength-training gear, such as circuit machines, free weights, and medicine balls, molds muscles into chiseled depictions of physical might. Sessions on cardio machines, ranging from treadmills and ellipticals to upright and recumbent stationary bicycles, inspire burnt calories to pack up and move to cooler climates. Each club offers a schedule of group classes that draws from more than 100 fitness styles, including Pilates, yoga, and boxing, ensuring that no member has to jazzercise without a spotter. Each location rewards exercisers for sweating in its vicinity with special features such as babysitting, saunas, and steam rooms.

Yoga to the People believes yoga instruction should be available to anyone who wishes to improve their health, and that inclusion is key to the yoga experience. Instructors welcome students by designing classes that provide a challenge for all skill levels. Experienced practitioners can test their limits by exploring deeper stretches and bends in the heated confines, and first-time visitors can follow sequences at a comfortable pace and focus on finding a balance between the physical and mental aspects of the workout. The studio also offers instructor-training classes that prepare yoga practitioners to lead sessions on their own without the hassle of copying notes onto their forearms before class.

After earning his BFA at the nationally renowned Rhode Island School of Design, Kevin Tarasuk began exhibiting his darkly surreal paintings at galleries around his hometown of Miami before making the move to New York City. Now, he helms the Painting Lounge, a personable art studio where students learn the proper techniques of painting, such as composition, shading, and glaring at clocks until they melt. In workshops, Tarasuk has earned praise from his ecstatic students, who have heralded him as ?a very, very talented artist? and ?a patient and engaging teacher.?

Artist Peter McGouran opened his screenprinting studio and school to fulfill his passion for creating 2-D images layered with emotion, nuance, and color unattainable by computers. Featured on BushwickBK, the artist has worked with Alternative Apparel, American Apparel, Edun, and Next Level to emblazon fashion with artful images and exuberant hues. The pro teaches workshops for learners from beginner to advanced, infusing them with an enthusiasm for the eclectic art form via increasingly complex lessons, hands-on art projects, and freeze-frame group high-fives at the end of every class.