Yoga at the Beach

A review of Soul Flow at Vira Yoga Collective on Long Beach, New York.

I’m coming to you from Long Beach, New York, where I am hot from too much sun, smell vaguely of sweat, and feel full of gratitude for the salty sea air. Although my skin stings to the touch, I am in quite a pleasant mood: I kicked off my day with yoga and a 3-mile walk on the beach, fresh coffee and pastries in tow.

In New York City, even yoga spaces dedicated to slowness and intention find the rush of the outside world seeping in. Apple Watches light up despite warnings to keep them in Theater Mode. Friends whisper about weekend plans pre-child’s pose. And somehow, I always feel like I’m the last to wipe down and roll up my mat, even when I rush to get my socks back on before the instructor can say “namaste.”

This morning’s class at Vira Yoga Collective was different.

For one thing, I am accustomed to hot vinyasa, usually taking classes at Y7 or CorePower (or what my partner calls Corporate Yoga™). This was not that. The space was unheated, airy, and full of bright sunlight. This ambiance actually allowed me to focus on the asanas, my pranayama, with more acumen than when struggling to breathe, slipping all around the mat, trying to balance by mere candlelight, and three inches over from the next sweaty body.

The instructor, Liz, was experienced and exuded calm—not the floaty, woo-woo kind, but one grounded in real, relatable thought, as if she were saying, “life is hard, but we are okay, and can get a little more okay each time we return to the mat.” She opened the class by drawing a parallel between getting to the beach and arriving to one’s mat. Both require prep, sometimes mental exertion, but once you’re there, it’s worth it: the cool breeze on your face, the steady rhythm of the waves, the chance to tune in to your breath and quiet your thoughts. Right after Liz’s opening homily, the soft music flowed in, and it felt like I was immersed in a beautiful spoken word performance.

I’d assumed that taking an unheated class would be easy-peasy. Well, I’d been smug and wrong. I was surprised to find that the class itself—called Soul Flow—challenged me. Liz had us move through quick sequences with plenty of twists and balancing poses, some of which I don’t encounter in my typical vinyasas, and I was sweating within minutes. The memorization of these poses added another layer of challenge (at least for me, since I had to remember which Sanskrit word meant what by the time we reached the left side).

What I loved most was our ability to play on our own mid-class. Liz demonstrated with precision and grace how to deepen the day’s postures, then let us explore and move however our hearts desired. It felt like real practice I could learn from even after the class ended.

Coming from Manhattan, I also appreciated how spacious and clean the studio felt. It’s on a second-floor walkup with light wood floors, plenty of cubbies, bathrooms just outside in the hallway, and fresh-feeling mats and props to borrow.

Beyond the physicality of the class, what struck me was the energy in the room. The practicing yogis were respectful, quiet, and attentive (maybe it was Liz herself who was able to get the class to stay present, and not the fact that these were Long Beachers and not NYCers). I didn’t get the sense that anyone was itching to be somewhere more important. The people and the room itself simply felt entrenched in relaxation, maybe even joy, like it was a privilege to be there and not a chore to check off.

One final observation: there were more straight men in this class than I typically see in Manhattan studios. I didn’t know which paragraph to put that into, so I’m leaving it here.

Vira was offering a bunch of workshops this weekend, both on the beach and in the studio, that I was disappointed to miss. But I’ll be here next weekend, so I’m hoping I’ll catch one then. Or I might just take another class tomorrow morning before heading back into the city.

In the meantime, I am logging off to read A Gentleman in Moscow until I drift off to sleep, sun-tired, content, and feeling accomplished that I made it to the mat, even while on vacation.

~ Still Chloe

P.S. I went to Vira the first time a few years ago, and though I hadn’t been back ‘til today, I actually continued to read their newsletter. It’s inspiring, playful, and not too cheesy. So it makes me like the studio and their instructors even more.