Sol Yoga
🔗 solyogaflorida.com
📍 48 NW 25th St #104 Miami, FL 33127
📞 770-687-8542
💌 hello@solyogaflorida.com
📱 Instagram / Facebook
POWER FLOW
with April Gardner ✶ 12/25/2023
The studio was stylish, spotless, and energizing. I enjoyed the pink motif. I’m partial to pink - it relaxes and energizes me at the same time. The aesthetic of this studio entrance is such a nice tropical treat for the eyes: sincere Miami vibes.
The studio had a very special style of lighting I had not encountered before. It was nice and hibernation-friendly dim with a meek perimeter-based light that gave you ample visibility but allowed you to fully zone out in savasana without turning the room completely dark. It was very, very, very calming not to battle overhead lighting. It gave a surreal sci-fi appeal to the room. The room smelled clean but not overpowered with heated disinfectant, which is a serious bonus for me when practicing hot yoga. Neurotoxin aromatherapy just isn’t my thing.
Unless your placement in the room doesn’t affect your practice, I recommend getting there 15 minutes before the class for sure because that class filled up in the last five minutes like ants crawling on a picnic. I prefer to be in the back or middle row because visual representation is sometimes more effective when I’m in a flow state; sometimes, it’s hard to reckon with verbal cues. The infrared heat was hot, hot, hot, but there was no out-of-place hot spot that you sometimes feel when there is wonky placement of the panels - you’ll be guaranteed to sweat regardless of where you’re standing. There were a few Barbie babes photographing themselves in the mirror prior to practicing - but no one was using their phone when it truly mattered once the practice had begun.
April kept me guessing. It was a wonderfully powerful class that kept me surprised the entire time. It was elevating to follow a sequence that I couldn’t envision as it was happening. April kept the funk alive. I never knew what was coming next, and it kept my mind and body extremely present. I couldn’t run ahead in my head to what I presumed was in store and literally had to just go with the flow. April was very in tune with how to create power via lots of fun and outlandish transitions. It’s a special class for me when the teacher is so knowledgeable about the poses that they can provide power from the negative space in between them. For me, the hardest part of class was not a particular pose - it was the constant creative transitioning from one pose to another.
You could guarantee that April was dedicated to the practice on another level because she had a full class on Christmas morning. Granted, I’m certain a lot of us had just completed celebrating Hannukah about a week prior, and the idea of Christ’s immaculate conception and birth was semi-irrelevant - but I was filled with gratitude that this studio was open on Christmas day and that such a highly trained expert had dedicated her morning to instructing us.
During savasana, someone came and placed an ice-cold towel over my brow and pressed it gently into my forehead. Receiving a relaxing touch and something nice and icy on my third eye was such a gift. My forehead melted, and my jaw dropped open - I didn’t even know I was clenching them - until the towel fairy gifted me full release. April is a wonderful harmonium player; her sounds captivated me. It was envigorating to chant om on top of her robust melodies.
I definitely recommend this studio to anyone who wants to get a kickass workout but also achieve a high level of entertainment during their practice.
(Tip: Power Flow is called Sol Power at this studio)
POWER FLOW
with Gabriella Bhatia ✶ 1/9/2024
Gabriella's opening to the sequence was the perfect meditation I needed to reacclimate to Zen after a very hectic morning. I'm not used to getting such calming vibes from the start of a power flow class. We are usually heading straight into intense stretching to prepare us for the fire ahead. Gabriella ensured that we were properly zoned out into the void before letting us get close to the fire. The opening was more akin to a soft flow class. It was a wonderful surprise to be able to relax so hard immediately before going all out.
Don't get me wrong, Gabriella’s sequence brought the fire once it started roaring - but it was so nice for a change to ease up into the burn instead of starting off with the 3rd degree. We began the class in Savasana - and Gabriella led us through breathwork. I personally heavily depend upon breathing cues from an instructor to truly enjoy my practice. Most instructors are so focused on the body that they forget the breath, and I for sure forget it because I, too, am attempting to perfect each pose. And in a power flow class, there isn’t generally enough time for me to perfect each pose, so I’m particularly forgetful of my breathing patterns.
Throughout the practice, she consistently focused on breathing cues - I was so in my element under her guidance. She was incredible at performing body scans throughout the practice, even during the most powerful parts. Being able to hear cues regarding relaxing various particular body parts during the practice brought such peace of mind during such intense asanas.
I enjoyed the mandala flow. We spun around the mat slowly but surely, and we enjoyed a lot of very challenging transitions and holds. I loved the cues for amplification on each pose. I had fun in the moments when inversions were optional. I’m definitely in love with popping up into a headstand whenever possible during a power flow. It’s a nice meditative pause for the mind and an intense workout for the body, even though I’m not moving.
Gabriella had a nice way of walking by you when you were in a long-held pose, holding it with all of your might and letting you know how beautiful your pose looked. I am so focused on aligning myself correctly I forget that it’s more than just the math and biomechanics of the pose that exist - it was nice to hear her exclaim/remind me of the aesthetic beauty that comes with the hard work. She is a very skilled instructor. One of the students exclaimed to me prior to the beginning of class that he had followed her from studio to studio because she was such a learned and solid teacher. Once this class was over, I could definitely see why.
The cold towel massaged into my third eye at the end of class was such a blissful experience. I’m always so spent and in a daze during savasana. Once that icy, cool cloth hits my head, I always feel my entire existence melt into a liquid state.
Gabriella’s class is top-notch, and this studio is very nice to practice in. Again, a shout-out to the lighting at this studio. I’m in love with the floor being the source of lighting - it provides ample illumination to feel focused, but it’s so damn soothing to be able to look up and around without a hotspot beaming into your eye or third eye when your eyes are closed. This space rocks.
