Where: I.AM.YOU. Studio, 132 Mulberry St Suite 6E, New York, NY
I.AM.EXHAUSTED. Also, if I do this on a regular basis, I’LL.BE.SMOKIN.HOT.
Lauren Imparato’s class is the epitome of boutique NYC fitness. I love everything about it: the quirky locale, the creepy elevator, the unexpectedly demanding woman, the ridicu-sick music, and most of all, the absolute exhaustion that ensues.
On Lauren:
A tall brunette with thick, bang-cropped hair. She is visibly appreciative to every woman who walks in the door (we are 100% female persuasion, baby); I love this quality of gratitude in teachers, who sometimes lose it when they get too popular. Before class, she seems nervous; she has a distinctive, high pitched laugh; but when the clock strikes midnight she comes at us with an unexpectedly deep, commanding voice. The nervousness (was it?) vanishes; suddenly, she owns us.
During the meditation/chanting at the beginning of class, everything goes wrong. Some kitchen appliance starts beeping. The buzzer to the building rings 6 times. Someone’s cell phone goes off. When the buzzer gets to lucky 7 as she’s belting out an om shanti, she breaks down and starts hysterically laughing. “It’s just not in the cards today! No more chanting for you.” We begin.
Throughout the hour of Vinyasa, the previously calm Lauren buzzes around the room like a mama bird tending to all of her chickees. She is maniacal about form. There is not a single moment during the class when she is not adjusting someone. The adjustments are excellent; her grip is firm and confident.
On the class: Fascinating. HARD. Terrific music. One of my favorite things in life is when I find a yoga class, regardless of the style, that is completely different from anything I’ve done before. This was one. Here’s what it was.
- Sitting meditation/chanting: 10 minutes.
- We sat, legs crossed, as Lauren brought us through several oms. It's two-tone om that always confuses my pea-brain. Then she actually sang some Sanskrit verses and we had to sing them back to her. I’m embarrassed to say that I squirmed a little - probably because I brought a friend who was new to yoga. When I go to a class alone I’ll belt it out like Borat singing the National Kazakh anthem. Note to self: shame on you. Stop being self-conscious in yoga class. That's a rookie move.
- Lauren brought us through a meditation where we visualized removing all of the internal parts of our body. First we removed all the muscles, then all the bones, followed by the organs, leaving a hollow body “that’s still you on the outside”. Then we filled the body up with a blue light. Might sound silly if that’s not your jam, but I LOVED IT. The blue light gets me every time. Love that fluorescent shit.
- A full 6-0 minutes of Vinyasa to trendy DJ jams. No, not 15 minutes stretch + 30 minutes Vinyasa +15 minutes static poses. One full hour of Vinyasa. Holy moly. My mat was so slippery I was scared for my life. Also I was tired, so I was feeling dramatic.
- 10 minutes of static-ish poses, pigeon, floor twists, candlestick, etc.
- Sivasana. Lauren came around with an incense stick, waved it around to make sure that smoke was everywhere, and then gave each of us a little neck/head massage with lavender aromatherapy. Didn’t have strong opinions about the incense. Lavender was AWESOME.
On the crowd:
- Hot girls
- Hot girls
- Hot girls
- I am told there are also hot dudes that come. My particular class was all chickadees though. I recommended Lauren to an extremely athletic male friend for a private session and he noted that “she crushed me like a bug.”
Notes:
- Not for the faint of heart. I brought a (God love her, fairly uncoordinated) friend who really struggled because she wasn’t used to the Vinyasa sequence.
- No water for sale. Since I hate plastic bottles, I put this as a major plus. Don’t worry, there is still water to drink - there’s a kitchen right behind the mats, and you can just get a cup from the cabinet and drink free tap water (or bring an empty bottle and fill up).
- The lighting is awesome if you go to an evening class, because it starts light and the sun gets a little lower with every salutation. By the end of class, it’s dark out.
- As if my sudoriferous glands weren’t already working hard enough, the room was quite warm. Wear minimal clothing.
From I.AM.YOU Studio website: Lauren never anticipated that yoga would become part of her daily life. A California girl raised on athletic fields, basketball courts, and in swimming pools, she traveled east for the classrooms of Princeton, and after graduating, moved to New York for life as a young Wall Street professional. She turned to yoga – hesitantly at first – as a way to diversify her Manhattan treadmill workouts. She soon realized that with regular practice, on and off the mat, yoga can change you from the inside, out, as well as from the outside, in. She realized the power to deconstruct what she thought was true, and reconstruct her ideal self, in her ideal world. In spring 2009 Lauren resigned her job at Morgan Stanley to launch I.AM.YOU., a lifestyle brand and yoga studio in Manhattan's Little Italy. At the studio Lauren teaches intense, fun, and athletic vinyasa classes, each set to unique music designed by I.AM.YOU.’s Resident Mixologist. Together they strive to make every class a 360-degree experience, paralleling every moment of life. Since launching I.AM.YOU., Lauren has traveled to London, Bogota, Miami, Madrid, Mallorca, Turkey, Mexico, the Hamptons and more to teach. She looks forward to bringing I.AM.YOU. across the globe, just as the I.AM.YOU. music brings the globe to New York. Lauren graduated with an Advanced Certification from Conquering Lion Yoga, a program that unites Tibetan philosophy and the teachings of Geshe Michael Roach with the Indian Hindu traditions. She received a secondary Advanced Certification from Kula Yoga School, the ultimate in creative, anatomy centric yoga. She complimented this with a Certificate from the Advanced Studies Yoga Anatomy Program under Leslie Kaminoff. Lauren is also a graduate of the Institute of Integrated Nutrition and a certified Holistic Health Coach, as well as accredited by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. She holds an Intermediate Level Certificate from the International Wine Center, and a BA in Romance Languages & Literatures from Princeton University. Lauren gives thanks to all her teachers, especially Kelly Morris from Conquering Lion, where it all began, Schuyler Grant from Kula, and Yogeswari and Lady Ruth from Jivamukti, and above all, her family.
Find out more about I.AM.YOU Studio at iamyoustudio.com
Find I.AM.YOU Studio on facebook
Follow I.AM.YOU Studio on twitter
Watch about 8 million videos of Lauren by clicking here
Read more about Lauren on Bloomberg
Location