New yoga studio

Winter has settled into me quickly. In addition to the crushing depression brought on by the chapping winds, freezing rain, and lack of sun, my joints have started their annual swelling and aching. It's probably made worse by all the holiday food in such abundance, but luckily I have an ace up my sleeve: I found a new yoga studio. Inner Hearth Yoga in Point Breeze is a tiny studio above Make Your Mark Coffee on Reynolds Street. They provide mats, blocks, and straps if you need them, and also have blankets and eye pillows (which I didn't use, but I appreciate). The blankets were offered mainly to people who were having difficulties warming up right away, as additional padding and leverage for sitting. What a novel idea! The instructor, Max, is a student, so the class was only $5 (the reason I went), however it was the best yoga class I've had in a while, and a great change from all the DVDs I've been using for my practice. Max pulled a muscle in his shoulder a month ago, so the workout was largely ab-based, but still included vinyasa. E. came (actually, to be fair, he brought me), and in addition to us, there were three other people in class, and we sort of practiced all facing the center of the room, which means we all faced each other. It was a refreshing way to structure the class and allowed everyone to see the instructor, plus lighten up a bit as we made awkward eye contact for a brief moment in time and smiled. Most importantly, the small class in the tiny, warm studio allowed Max to watch each of us modest yogis in our postures and posturing, and guide our bodies into correct and glorious alignment.