Where to do yoga in Sunset Park, Brooklyn

I have been living in my little oasis of Sunset Park for ten years now and I love this community. We are snuggled in between Park Slope and Bay Ridge, and up until a few years ago I had to explain where we are all the time. These days I can receive a standing ovation for being in a neighborhood that is yet to gentrify (this really happened to me at an a comedy open mic in the East Village) and it seems that we are now indeed on the map. While I said snuggled I don’t mean to suggest we are a small area, we run north-south from 25th Street to 60th Street and east-west from the East river to 9th avenue. People have been connecting with me lately and asking for local yoga classes and so here goes.

Privates are good for busy people

I offer private yoga classes in my home or at the home of the student. So far everyone has come to mine. I am in a brownstone and the large front room with bay windows is a perfect studio and the backyard is good for small groups. I supply the mat and props. A private yoga class is a perfect opportunity to nurture yourself and focus on an area in your life that needs love, attention and healing. Privates are also good for busy people that want the benefits of yoga for healthy living and need a time customized for their schedule. You can also ask at the studios that I am just about to share with you about taking privates with their teachers.

Teaching a yoga class to a small group in the backyard of my Sunset Park brownstone.

Unit 108 (unit108.yoga)is across the road from the gates of Greenwood Cemetery and close to the delicious Baked in Brooklyn (bakedinbrooklyn.com). My buddy Daniele Gates, teaches Yin at Unit 108 every Monday night, and this would definitely be a good class to check out. I work with Daniele at Breathe for Change (breatheforchange.com) and she is a beautiful yogi overflowing with authenticity and a wealth of knowledge from our sister science of Ayurveda as well as from yoga. Amy, a mentor of mine from Integral Yoga (iyiny.org) loves a class series that has been happening on Tuesday mornings, each class focusing on a different chakra. It is sublime. I ran into her at my favorite local cafe, Cafe Slimak (www.slimakbrooklyn.com) which is a great place to convene apré class. Good food, good conversation and good prices! Back to Unit 108, they have a good range of classes and would work for the experienced yogi as well as the beginner.

Here you will find a sacred space

Not officially in Sunset Park but close enough to warrant a mention, especially because I go there and love their offerings is Abhaya Yoga (abhayayoga.com/locations/gowanus) in Gowanus. It’s across the road from Lowes on 9th Street. Here you will find a sacred space offering retreats with incredible and I would say auspicious teachers, meditation, kirtan, teacher trainings as well as a great range of classes. It’s also a co-working space.

Next in the local yoga scene we have classes at Industry City( https://industrycity.com/event/yoga-class/)and also at St. Andrews Catholic Church.

And drum roll please, watch this space because I hope to be returning to the recreation centre at the park itself run by NYC Parks to be offering an exciting new program this September! I taught there for two years and just loved the friendships and connections formed by working in the heart of the community.

When I first came to the area there was nothing and it’s great to see this local interest. My prediction is that in the next five to ten years, practicing yoga and meditation will be as common place as working out and eating well, not just in Sunset Park, but everywhere! And that’s a good thing!

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Ann-Marie Everitt is a yoga and meditation teacher based in New York City. Inspired by the thousands of people she has witnessed overcome suffering through yoga as well as by her amazing teachers. Anxiety, depression, insomnia can all be flipped. By getting to know you she finds the right combination of Hatha, Sound, Meditation and Conversation that will resonate where you are in your life. She also works as a meditation trainer for the ground-breaking organization Breathe for Change — bringing yoga to educators with a strong social justice platform. She has studied Hatha Yoga, Philosophy, Meditation, Sound Healing, Yoga for Trauma, Yoga for Arthritis, Gentle Yoga, Chair Yoga, Mindfulness and Metta (Loving Kindness)