The Scoop
When I first heard about WOOM Center on Well + Good, I knew I had to go. Weird yoga class focused on heightening the 5 senses? Count me in!
I should preface this review by saying I was warned by my friend Leslie that it was going to be weird. So I prepared myself for a super duper weird experience.
The truth is, I experienced some VERY weird stuff as a theater major in college. One of my required acting classes was chakra focused, I kid you not. I also drew my classmates naked for a class assignment… and yes they drew me naked too. Somewhere out there there is a sketch of me naked and I fear it will surface when I’m like running for president or something…
So… WOOM Center seemed pretty chill in comparison to theater school.
Even though it was not nearly as bizarre as I was expecting (yes I’m disappointed about that, apparently) I still LOVED the whole experience and can’t wait to go again.
The Deets
WOOM Center
274 Bowery, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10012
$25 for a 60 or 75 minute class
website || instagram || facebook
The Studio
Wow.
That was my first reaction when I walked into the studio. In addition to the yoga classroom where class took place, they also have a BEAUTIFUL lounge area and cafe. Can they decorate my apartment for me? Please and thank you.
I didn’t get to try any food while I was there, but after class the owner fixed us up a magical, spicy, elixir which was so damn tasty.
Bonus, they have the most ADORABLE pup hanging around as well. Such a sweet dog.
The yoga room has all the essentials and there’s no fee for mat rental. I even saw them clean these fancy Lululemon mats post class which is always comforting.
One thing I would recommend is bringing a towel. I didn’t see any hanging around the studio, but I was sweating BUCKETS during class since the room is a bit toasty and wish I would’ve had one.
The Class — The Woom Yoga experience
I’ve alluded to this quite a bit on instagram, but last week really sucked. I was struggling with some anxiety surrounding midterms, which I still haven’t even taken. It was messing with my digestion and I just felt like a mess.
Also, I’m usually a very early person but was running late by my standards to this class. By running late I mean I wasn’t 10 minute early so that gave me even more anxiety on top of the anxiety I was already feeling from school. Oh boy.
I was taking the class with Leslie and our friend Amber and by the time my body hit the mat, I was on the verge of a full scale anxiety attack for no real reason. But I surrendered to the experience and it was exactly what I needed.
Class started with an extended blind folded meditation. Yes, BLIND FOLDED. It wasn’t a silent meditation either but we were guided to use our voices in various ways. Humming, buzzing, chanting nonsensical sentences that I can’t remember.
Having taken a fair amount of intenSati classes where you say affirmations while doing cardio moves, making noise in class didn’t freak me out. I could see how it can be a bit intimidating to someone that’s usually silent during all work outs. Wearing the blindfold, though, is very freeing.
When the time came to take off the mask and start the traditional yoga flow part of class, the walls of the room were filled with funky, abstract geometric projections. As if making weird noises didn’t remind me of theater school enough, I was also reminded of my days as a media designer for student theater products 🙂
I loved the yoga sequence. We were instructed to use blocks for the majority of class, both in our downward dog and other positions that I don’t typically use blocks. The idea was to shake things up and not let us fall into old patterns. It definitely kept me on my toes and I couldn’t just sink into my usual position — I had to really think about adjusting my dog and chatarunga accordingly.
As I mentioned earlier the class was hella sweaty. I honestly went in expecting the yoga aspect to be really chill and not particularly tough. Uh, I was very wrong. I’m also pretty sure the room was lightly heated, y’know like a cozy womb (get it?) so that added to the sweatiness.
While the projections were cool, I don’t think they added a ton to the experience. I did like that it kept the focus off of the people around me, I didn’t find myself looking around at what other people were doing. It also made me feel off balance at one point, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The final savasana felt so good. We used our eye masks again and set up for a more restorative version of the posture using blankets under our knees and the blocks as little barriers next to our legs. Love love love using a blanket under my knees during savasana — always a great option if your lower back is bothering you.
During savasana there was a blend of oils spritz around the room and live instruments used as well. Considering what a mess I felt like in the beginning of class, I can’t even describe how much better I felt at the end of class.
One other thing I want to point out about WOOM was how passionate everyone was. Francesca who led the yoga aspects of class clearly loved what she did, it was SO apparent. Co-founder Elian led the sound therapy portion in the beginning and also you could just feel her passion for what she was doing. After class everyone was also so friendly to chat with. I could definitely see myself chilling after class and eating something at the cafe.
Bottom Line
WOOM Center is just the right amount of weird. I like that it’s a totally different way to experience yoga and they shake things up.
I will definitely be back and want to try their other class formats. They also throw cool sound therapy events that sound equally as magical
Want more class reviews? Check out my other studio reviews here.
——–
YOUR TURN: What’s the weirdest fitness class you’ve EVER taken?
Leave a Reply