Ivy Yoga House Class Descriptions

Yin Yoga is a contemporary, slow-paced style characterized by poses, or asanas, that are held for extended periods ranging from 2 to 8 minutes.

By prolonging these poses, Yin Yoga applies stress to the body's connective tissues. Stress in this context refers to the tension placed on these tissues, distinct from stretch, which is the resulting elongation.

Some of the benefits of Yin Yoga include: increased flexibility, stress relief, enhanced circulation, nervous system regulation, and more.

What to expect: Each instructor will create a sequence of yin poses where you will sit or lay on your mat moving into each pose. Variations and options will be suggested, you will have time to check in with your body and adjust as needed.

Restorative yoga is a practice that involves long-held poses supported by props to enhance comfort and relaxation, both physically and psychologically. This gentle approach allows practitioners to fully recover from the stresses and strains of daily life. As described by Roger Cole, PhD, restorative yoga facilitates deep relaxation, offering a rejuvenating experience that supports overall well-being.

What to expect: The instructor will cue 4-5 poses allowing you to rest for up to 15 minutes in each pose, offering many options for prop use to support the physical body. The intent is rest, so the body should feel supported and comfortable. We have all the props necessary for this rest, including large bolsters, blankets, blocks, eye pillows, and weight.

Yoga Nidra (or yogic sleep) is a self-transformative practice that consciously relaxes the body and mind, facilitating a deliberate disengagement from habitual thought patterns. By guiding individuals through varying brain wave states—from alert beta to relaxed alpha, and potentially into theta and delta waves—it enables profound release of physical, mental, and emotional stress patterns.

What to expect: You'll create a comfortable "nest" to rest in for 50 minutes, with the help of the instructor. While resting in this supportive pose, the instructor will read through a script involving breathwork, a body scan, a visualization, etc. This will help you rest deeply.

Gentle Flow offers a welcoming introduction to Vinyasa for beginners and those seeking a gentler pace. This class provides accessible poses and a slower guidance through modified sun salutations, accommodating all levels. Whether you're new to Vinyasa or prefer a slower, mindful practice, Gentle Flow invites you to move with ease and comfort.

Slow Flow invites participants to experience a slower paced Vinyasa practice with mindful cues and time to transition between postures. Emphasizing breath-movement synchronization, this class fosters calmness in body and mind through Vinyasa flow and longer posture holds, making it perfect for beginners and practitioners of all levels seeking strength, flexibility, and endurance.

Yang/Yin is a class that combines Vinyasa and Yin practices, connecting breath with movement building heat during the vinyasa series, while ending longer-held postures to slow down the body. This style of class is a great introduction to Vinyasa practice, offering a gentle entry point, and also provides the calming benefits of Yin Yoga.

What to expect: Each instructor who leads a Yang/Yin class will develop their own structure, so you may see Vinyasa for half the class, followed by Yin poses for the remainder, you may see a flowy Yin class, or you may enjoy a Sun Salute & Yin class. Be prepared to move with breath, in standing poses to start, ending with more restful Yin poses.

Vinyasa yoga is a practice that synchronizes poses (Asanas in Sanskrit) with the breath, creating a continuous flow. Depending on the instructor's preference, the practice may include core work, backbends, inversions, or standing postures.

What to expect: Classes often start with slower, simpler movements to warm up the muscles, joints, and connective tissue. This is followed by variations of Sun Salutations to build strength from the head to toes, along with standing poses moving from standing to lying and back to standing in dynamic, guided movement with breath.

Hatha yoga focuses on building strength and stability. Through foundational postures like Chair Pose, lunging variations, and balance work, you'll develop lower-body endurance, core engagement, and overall body awareness.

What to expect: This is a steady-paced practice that emphasizes alignment, breath control, and mindful movement to create a strong and stable foundation.

All classes are beginner-friendly! This class will challenge you where you are at, creating fun, new ways to approach movement and joint health.

This is a slightly different class style as it's interactive, allowing you to talk to the instructor and the instructor to gain insight and direction from you, the members. You will be guided through mobility exercises to assess your current range of motion and start working to increase it in a pain-free manner.

Each week will be tailored to who's in the class, focusing on hips, shoulders, spine, ankles, wrists, etc.

What to expect: The class will begin with the instructor asking each individual what body area they feel they want to work on. You can go along with what the others choose, or share any areas you want to work on. Then you will be guided through a number of mobility exercises, while the instructor explains the why. Questions are welcome throughout the class and the instructor is available to assist, as we keep this class limited to 12 people.

This is a class of East meets West in the yoga world. We will start with a grounding practice, seated or lying, followed by a breath exercise to bring our awareness to where we physically feel our breath. From here, you will be lead through half sun salutations, Sun Salutation A and Sun Salutation B. This connection of movement involves moving from standing to lying and back to standing, but we provide modifications for all levels. We will practice three yin poses to finish the second half of the class, balancing the effort we put into the first half with restful poses that create a healthy stress and stretch in the body.

What to expect: The repetition of this class will allow for growth and building strength week after week. You will be guided through all movement patterns and rest.

Somatics is a mindful movement practice that focuses on feeling the body from the inside out. Instead of pushing or striving, we slow down, explore gentle movements, and bring awareness to how our body feels rather than how it looks. This approach helps release long-held tension, improve mobility, and reconnect the mind and body through presence and curiosity.

What to expect: You will remain seated or lying on your mat while the instructor cues poses to slowly begin to move deliberately, with minimal props. This practice allows you to fully connect with the body.

This class is excellent for beginners.

Wildcard classes are new class types and different instructors every week! Descriptions for these classes can be found under specific weeks on the schedule.

Wednesdays 7pm (Yin-Style Class) · Fridays 7pm (Yin-Style Class) · Saturdays 12pm (Vinyasa Movement Class) · Saturday 7pm (Yin-Style Class)

Regular class passes apply. These fill fast so be sure to sign up early!