{"id":54640,"date":"2016-12-14T07:15:19","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T12:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=54640"},"modified":"2021-05-15T09:36:55","modified_gmt":"2021-05-15T13:36:55","slug":"woom-center-yoga-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/woom-center-yoga-studio\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Most Tricked Out Yoga Studio in New York. Try the Sound of Healing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
Photo by Asi Zeevi<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s no secret that mindful movement<\/a> is in the future of fitness. From spin<\/a> to HIIT<\/a> and yoga<\/a>, top studios and instructors have incorporated moving meditations into their workouts \u2014 or, should we say, experiences<\/em>. That\u2019s at least what it felt like when I took a Vinyasa yoga class at the Woom Center<\/a> in New York City.<\/p>\n

Their signature yoga class isn\u2019t your typical flex-and-flow routine. Instead, they\u2019ve created an experience inside the woom (room) that combines sound therapy, vocal meditation, visual installation and aromatherapy<\/a>. All of these forms of therapy bring awareness to your senses of sound, sight and scent. Then, there\u2019s the sense of taste: Every experience ends with a complimentary shot of an anti-inflammatory elixir that you take in their caf\u00e9 after class, because taste is also part of the mind-body experience.<\/p>\n

Incorporating both eastern and western holistic practices with yoga and meditation, the Woom Center promises to \u201craise your vibration\u201d with an offering of 12 different \u201cexperiences.\u201d Their classes includes restorative yoga<\/a>, sound baths and breath work<\/a>, Kundalini<\/a>, sacred singing and dance.<\/p>\n

I thought now that I\u2019ve tried downward dogging in a room filled with Himalayan salt<\/a>, what can I do to take my yoga game to the next level? So I signed up for a class. Here\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>These Headphones Will Transform Your Yoga Practice<\/a><\/p>\n

Woom Center: The Sound of Healing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The beginning of the signature yoga class focused on sound therapy<\/a> \u2014 also known as a sound bath \u2014 which includes sitting in a lotus position blindfolded. (Nope, no peeking.) Wearing the eye mask provided to us, we were instructed to tune into the different sounds. Our instructor, Jeanette Doherty, played the harmonium (a small instrument with a keyboard that sounds like an accordion) and led a kirtan (devotional chanting).<\/p>\n

While chanting isn\u2019t necessarily my thing, the sound of the harmonium was soothing and helped me relax. The perfect primer for meditation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And apparently it\u2019s not just in our heads. Studies<\/a> have shown that sound therapy can help lower blood pressure and help reduce symptoms of insomnia<\/a>, mood and headaches.<\/p>\n

Sound baths have been popping up all over New York City, including NTM Sound Healing and Breathe Salt Rooms<\/a> (where I took their salty yoga class). But the Woom Center is one of the first yoga studios to have sound therapy incorporated into their yoga classes.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>10 Easy Yoga Poses to Help Relieve Stress<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The
Photo by Asi Zeevi<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soothing Sights, Guided Imagery<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After the sound bath, we began to start the yoga practice with cat-and-cow poses<\/a> and that\u2019s when the visual installations began projecting around the blank white walls. As we repeated the asanas, the screen projected neon lines (a la Dan Flavin) to peaceful clouds \u2014 all to the beat of our flow. I felt like I was in a trance-like state, or almost lucid dreaming<\/a> through series of warrior<\/a> one, two and three. Triangles and supine twists<\/a> helped release the knots on my back and sides.<\/p>\n

We slowly transitioned through each pose and held them for a few breaths. With the room slightly heated, I was able to work up a sweat. The neon lines on the walls formed helixes and spirals as we moved from downward dog to plank<\/a>. When we held a pose, the guided images would ripple, creating a pulsating effect to help us concentrate on a spot on the wall.<\/p>\n

The visuals helped me concentrate on the poses, but they didn\u2019t draw attention to nailing them down. Instead, they brought greater awareness to my breath and showed me how to use it through the asanas.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s some science behind the moving lights, too. Some research<\/a> has shown that guided imagery can help people living with chronic pain<\/a> manage their symptoms. Focusing on images that evoke feelings of relaxation or relief can also help people living with arthritis or joint pain improve their outlook<\/a> and emotional state, according to some experts.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>5 Relaxing Yoga Poses to Do Before Bed<\/a><\/p>\n

Sensory Immersion: The Future of Fitness<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While the Woom Center caters to a wide range of wellness seekers (and the impact of the experience will vary considerably), for me, taking in the floating clouds and strobes of light had a powerful effect. Each ray shot a dose of positive energy my way and jolted me into a sort of outer-body experience \u2014 sans mood-altering drugs, of course.<\/p>\n

This type of immersive workout can be found at other fitness studios in New York City, like IMAXShift in DUMBO, Brooklyn which uses immersive visuals of exotic locations, solar systems and epic adventures; and Monster Cycle, which uses music videos. I\u2019ve tried classes at these studios, but their visual effects are meant to challenge your physical limits. In the Woom, they\u2019re meant to be transcendental.<\/p>\n

\"The
Photo by Asi Zeevi<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Woom-Sah: Finding Our Zen<\/h3>\n

We ended our yoga practice with savasana<\/a>, but it wasn\u2019t your traditional corpse pose. Instead, we used blocks to hold up a bolster, which would become our place of rest. We placed one blanket beneath our head for support, and another over our legs to keep us warm. This was a restorative savasana. We were instructed to put the eye masks back on, and lay with our palms face up for the next five minutes.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>How Yoga in a Salt Room Helped Me Deal with Anxiety<\/a><\/p>\n

During savasana, our instructor sprayed the room with their signature blend of 13 pure essential oils: rose for relieving anxiety, sandalwood for better sleep, geranium to uplift mood, and Petitgrain sur fleur, frankincense, myrrh and rosewood for relaxation. While aromatherapy has been used for centuries to help with reducing anxiety and stress, only a few yoga classes I\u2019ve taken have used them in their practice. The calming scents helped me relax so much that I wished savasana were longer; I didn\u2019t want to leave the Woom.<\/p>\n

After class, we moved to the caf\u00e9, where we each took a complimentary shot of an elixir<\/a> that was made with apple cider vinegar, honey, turmeric<\/a> and cayenne pepper. I had reached a sleepy state of zen during savasana, but the elixir quickly snapped me back into reality. The bright and peppery flavors danced around my tongue as I experienced a heightened awareness to taste. It was like my internal alarm clock finally went off, and I felt more awake than ever before. It was just the right time to exit Woom.<\/p>\n

For more information on the Woom Center in New York City, or to try a class, visit WoomCenter.com<\/a>. Newbies pay $10 for their first experience; single experiences are $25-30.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your yoga studio just got an upgrade. The Woom Center offers holistic healing by incorporating sound baths, aromatherapy and guided imagery into flows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":54658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,6,19],"tags":[159,265,56,173,282,341,355,286],"class_list":["post-54640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exercise","category-fitness","category-yoga","tag-anxiety","tag-fitness-class","tag-group-fitness","tag-meditation","tag-stress","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2yoga","tag-yoga"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}