Balance Gym fitness instructor Kathy Murphy blends yoga positions with heart-pumping TRX suspension strength moves in her Inner Strength class to give clients a total body workout.

Whether you want to find your inner-goddess, burn fat, or crush calories – there is a yoga class for everyone – women, children, and men in Chestnut Hill.

Avenue yoga instructors are traveling across the country and are studying new cutting-edge body-bending trends to provide our community with the best workout possible. Today’s full body workout classes incorporate yoga, and yoga’s role in physical therapy is also growing.

We spoke with the Avenue’s 3 most visible Yoga Studios: Balance Gym, Chestnut Hill Yoga, and FitLife.

A Balanced Approach to Yoga

The wellness philosophy at Balance is to incorporate yoga as part of their overall strength, cardio, and flexibility training.

“We offer training for mind and body – yoga goes perfectly with this,” says Balance co-owner Amy Carolla.

Balance clients range from professional athletes to seniors reaching 80 years old – and all of them reap major benefits from incorporating yoga elements into every workout.

More than Your Average Yoga Class

Trainers at Balance regularly research and study various methods and trends in the yoga world. Balance introduced yoga classes when they first opened, but soon realized that traditional yoga was not all their clients wanted.

“We went out to the West coast and discovered unique ways to incorporate yoga into a strength training program,” says Carolla.

Balance trainer Kathy Murphy’s Sculpt, Tone and Transform class at Balance incorporates many techniques from the California trip – yoga elements are fused into her popular heart-pounding fitness class. In this high energy, hour-long session, participants engage in 20 minutes of flexibility and balance training, 20 minutes of light weight training, and 20 minutes of yoga.

Additionally, another class, Inner Strength, focuses on developing abdominal muscles, improving posture, and toning the entire body with a yoga and weight training combination. Heart revving yoga, combined with light weights and suspension training, helps strengthen your body, quiet your mind, and refine your physique says Murphy.

Yoga to Calm Your Soul

Classic Vinyasa flow yoga classes are also available at Balance. Clients often take this relaxing yoga class before or after a more intense strength training or cardio class such as Indoor Cycle or Kick-n-Strength. Since many group fitness classes at Balance are held at half-hour intervals, it’s easy for clients to attend multiple classes – starting with, finishing, or tucking a yoga class in between.

Men, Women, and Children Thrive at Chestnut Hill Yoga

Two baby boomers who have been squash partners for 30 years came to Bobbi Tighe of Chestnut Hill Yoga with a simple request – offer us a private yoga session so we can keep playing our favorite game.

The session quickly turned into a Men’s Yoga group class where other squash, golf, and tennis players, as well as non-athletes, come to strengthen their core and relieve muscle tightness and that overuse, injury or age sometimes bring.

General stretching techniques using yoga postures that focus on tight hips, hamstrings, and backs are incorporated into this hour-long, Men Only Yoga class held Thursday nights at Tighe’s studio at 8524 Germantown Avenue.

The Importance of Breath to Reduce Stress

All of Tighe’s classes incorporate breathing as an important element of stress reduction. Though she has been teaching yoga for over 20 years, her goal of sharing the essence of yoga technique with others has changed little, “I want people to be comfortable. We get there by getting underneath the tension, whether it is physical tension or what’s in your head,” says Tighe.

Just for Kids

A mother of a 10-year-old, Tighe understands the importance of helping kids build body confidence. Her Kids’ Yoga class averages about 10 students per session – ranging from ages 8 to 12.

She enjoys watching children in her weekly class improve over time, and believes her young students teach her more than she does them.

Tighe says, “They teach me so much about the possibility of the body and remind me that, as adults, we can get way too serious on a mind and lifestyle level.”

Tighe emphasizes that her Kids’ Yoga is not a play class.

“It does have a tone of light heartedness and simplicity, but I expect my students to try all the yoga poses as well as the basics of meditation and relaxation,” says Tighe.

Young students quickly learn how yoga helps their athleticism and ability to concentrate.

Yoga Is a Good Fit at FitLife

A quick glance at the FitLife group exercise class schedule shows a wide range of yoga classes. Their offering includes: Hatha yoga (strenuous full body workout designed for all levels), prana yoga (a restorative and mind-centric yoga), and restorative yoga (focuses on physical health and mental well-being). All of these classes range from 50 to 70 minutes.

FitLife’s large exercise room with its wall of mirrors and huge windows offers the perfect atmosphere for studying yoga. Like other gyms, FitLife’s yoga instructors recommend using yoga to supplement a well-rounded approach to flexibility, strength training, and cardio workout.

Using Yoga during Physical Therapy at FitLife

Every client at FitLife Physical Therapy works with an exercise physiologist and physical therapist during each session. As rehabilitation and recovery is a personal process, the FitLife team incorporates training and exercise modalities most appealing and interesting to their clients.

“Based on their past experience and interest, we’ll incorporate a variety of yoga poses into their treatments plans” says Janet Helms, Exercise Physiologist, and FitLife Manager.

Physical therapists and exercise physiologists add core stability and training elements into most rehab programs where breathing and creating a strong bracing affect are critical to healing. Yoga techniques are often subtly incorporated into these treatment plans.

As Physical Therapy clients heal and prepare to return to their normal activities, they often require assistance in transition. Clients are encouraged to bring their favorite yoga DVD from home to the rehab sessions.

The FitLife team will review the yoga program with the client and recommend safe approaches to complete the exercises. As part of their discharge planning, they teach clients to understand any limitations they may have and help them recognize opportunities to make adjustments to specific poses and moves so they can enjoy group classes in the future.

Name Your Yogi!

We know there are many other yoga instructors and studios in Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy. If you have a favorite, please make a note of them in the Comments Section below!