Yoga to the People

I really enjoy the vinyasa classes at YTTP. Donation based with a suggestion of $ 10 which, even if you donate a full 10 is a heck of a lot cheaper than most NYC studios.
There are of course mixed reviews on this place, but I like it for a fairly fast paced more workout style vinyasa. I’m not the biggest yogi (more a runner) but have been practicing a while and have been to a variety of studios and there is always good flow to the YTTP classes. Some instructors are better than others (you never know who you are going to get!) but they all follow a fairly similar format for the most part.
Do arrive early as classes get full, and expect that you could be close (like really CLOSE) to your neighbor. I don’t mind it but some people seem to not like it. It can get warm as well, so bring a towel for your mat and some water if you are a sweaty person (I am so I say it from experience)
Overall YTTP is great for someone looking for a good stretch, alignment, workout session. No one is going to care if you don’t work as hard one day to the next, or if you want to hang out in child’s pose all of class… If you want more space and personalized classes with adjustments this isn’t your place but you can’t beat the price.

Legit for affordable yoga.
They offer bikram and regular vinyasa, catering to all yogi-​tastes.
I personally haven’t purchased their package deals, but several friends swear by them if you plan on frequenting the joint.
DEFINITELY arrive earlier. Sometimes, the gods will smile upon you and grant you that spot with two minutes left to spare. These times are rare and should not be your mo.
The instructors are very friendly and welcoming to all levels of practice, so novices don’t be frightened.
Since this is the Williamsburg location, prepare yourself for beards, hipster bros, and a bevy of tats.

I love the place. Sure it’s crowded… because it’s awesome! I love the staff, and the open and positive attitude. You can be ANY level and be treated the same. Other students are respectful. The place is clean and lovely. OMMMMMMMMM

What YTTP is about is why i’m giving it 5 stars. The classes are usually awesome, it’s also what you make of it, but sometimes they have instructors that i like more than other ones. The thing is I dont think anyone of the teachers has a set schedule so you never know whose teaching when, lately its been different every time I go. So far I’ve introduced 2 friends to this location who loved it. Will go back as much as my schedule and level of tiredness allows.

I’m definitely a fan of this place. I done hot yoga classes and vinyasa here. I started my yoga craze with Bikram yoga so I thought why not try out YTTP. I wasn’t a huge fan of the hot yoga, to be honest. The poses just didn’t do well for me (but I’m biased because my last studio in VA was an actual Bikram studio).
I went with my roommate to do a vinyasa class and pretty much fell in love. Obviously the donation based helps a lot, the beginner level poses is good, too. I’m a huge fan of the candle lit setting classes– especially the last class on Sunday– it really ends the weekend right. For the most part the instructors are good– they aren’t always the same which is a bit of a bummer.
I highly recommend this place if you are a beginner looking to get into yoga– it’s inexpensive, relaxing, and you really feel great afterwards!

Yoga to the People is a yoga company with multiple studios around the country. This review is for their Brooklyn location.
I like YTTP. They have well-​trained instructors and have clean and big practice rooms and changing rooms with showers. They offer their hot yoga classes that are reminiscent of Bikram’s 26 postures and their donation-​based power vinyasa classes that are more creative/​different each time. I came here two days in a row and tried both types of classes out.
If you’re into Bikram, you’ll like their hot yoga. It’s disciplined, methodical, and really hot. Everyone comes out beet red after class. Their power vinyasa classes are all-​levels so you don’t need to know how to do arm balances or crazy back bends. At the same time, it’s a really good workout and the teachers push you. Don’t be intimidated!
I thoroughly enjoyed my two-​day experience here, and would come back for more. There are so many yoga studios in New York, so I recommend trying out a bunch before committing to just one. YTTP is a solid choice!

I’ve just started coming to this location and am really enjoying the teachers. The night classes get a little jam packed, but its great to have a space that encourages healing and strength without the pressure of $ 20/​class.

They packed too many people into their vinyasa class and keep the radio on (with bad, pop music) throughout the entire class.
Instead of a «donation based fee» — they should just charge people and cap it when it’s maxed-​out for the space.
I’ve never experience a yoga class before where they leave the radio on the entire class while being asked to focus on your breath???

Yoga by donation! + option for hot yoga. This is the only place I practice yoga.

Love love love yttp. Any other hot yoga classes range from $ 25-​$ 30 a class so for $ 10 a class it’s great. I do wish they would post the instructors name along with the schedule so you can take it into consideration when choosing a class. Also for those advanced in bikram… This is a different sequence class. Has more positions then traditional bikram. Which I personally like more. :)

I’ve known about YTTP forever but never attended. My schedule has been a little weird lately and I haven’t been able to attend my usual classes, so I decided to go today for the 9pm vinyasa and decided I still much prefer Hosh, another donation studio across McCarren Park.
Pros:
— the member of staff standing in front of the studio was very welcoming, said hi, showed me where the blocks were when I asked
— the existence of the 9pm class in itself is good for people who end work late
— donation based community yoga = yes!
— nice studio design and smelled fine when i went
Cons, oh boy:
— Personally didn’t enjoy the style of the instructor — she was bright and bubbly and chattered on about how ‘everything you need is right here’, but it seemed false and hollow. I also like instruction that’s calming, not exciting, especially at 9pm on a weekday evening.
— No breathing techniques covered, just instruction to ‘exhale loudly’ with a ‘haaaa’. I love vocalizations but open mouth exhales are not always helpful in poses.
— flows were SO basic. Warrior 1 on both sides, vinyasa. Warrior 2 on both sides, vinyasa. I appreciated being able to go at my own pace though.
— Close to 0 alignment instruction. What little there was, was completely against what I’ve been taught — eg. heels aligned in Warrior 1. That’s the traditional alignment but for me and probably most others in this class, heels far apart is the only way to rotate the front of both hips facing forward. nothing about grounding down through the back heel, nothing about rotating the back foot inwards. Personally, the first time I placed my feet wider in Warrior 1 and could really feel my hips coming parallel to the front of the room, that was a breakthrough.
— calling poses too early without adequate warm up, prep or instruction. e.g. calling chaturanga to up dog on first vinyasa of class.
— also called revolved side angle pose fairly early and I felt we hadn’t been warmed up adequately and the instructor didn’t explain how to use blocks to achieve the pose. I caught all these people struggling/​falling over out of the corner of my eye and the instructor did absolutely nothing to help them! i get the class is crowded — but even adjusting one or two people wouldn’t take that much time?
— instructor chattered on and on during savasana. come on! it’s the final resting pose! i was trying so hard to tune her out. she read the longest quote ever and I ended up a pretty annoyed corpse. :/​/​/​/​
My practice has grown and evolved since I started my practice and I probably wouldn’t have these gripes were I still a beginner yogi, or were I still just wanting to go to yoga for the ‘workout’ aspect. Having been lucky enough to have yoga teachers who, right from my first class, put so much time and detail into alignment/​prep for deeper poses/​designing flows, though, I now think that breath technique, correct alignment, and hands-​on adjustments are so essential to avoiding injury (!), reaping the full benefit of asanas, and the practice of yoga. I just can’t rate YTTP well when there is much better, less crowded donation yoga nearby.

I began going to BK’s YTTP because I hate going into the City when I don’t have to. (read: Lazy).
Still donation based — unsure of their hot yoga class though. They provide more things such as water, towels, and etc than the other location I’ve been to.
Here are my thoughts: it gets crowded FAST. Unlike the branch at St. Mark’s there is only one studio that does the power vinyasa flow and one for hot yoga. In the City, I believe it is about three+ studios with a more intimate vibe? This, you are seriously mats-​to-​mats with your neighbor. There is slight ventilation compared to the one on St. Marks.
On the occasions I went, I believe it might have the same instructor or not? I’m unsure, but I recognized the routine, it was the same every single time versus at the other location there are more instructors, better playlists, and you get to switch it up a little.
Either way, I was getting a good workout in. Overall, I have never had a terrible experience, but it sure has a different vibe than the City’s, and it’s not a bad thing. Just different.

I’ve been going here regularly the last week. It’s donation based which is awesome because after dropping $ 4K to move into a place, I’m not quite financially ready for a full blown yoga membership.
The classes are heated and a great workout. Their vinyasa class has an interesting structure: they give you a short flow (usually one pose and then a sun salutation) and then let you do the flow on your own.
I do like the open style so you’re free to do what your body needs. I do wish that the flows were longer because I find the whole one-​pose-​then-​vinyasa a bit boring.
But otherwise, I’m very grateful to have this place in my neighborhood.

The heat and the smell of this place is so oppressive it actually makes, for me, an unenjoyable experience. I couldn’t get calm at all because all I could think about as I was trying to breath was what I was inhaling in that room. Also, I would expect it to be warm in any yoga class but I signed up for vinyasa not hot yoga, come on!
The stars that it did give is because it’s donation based so that’s great.

I have been a humble patron of YTTP since I was in my teens (yowza…yeah really). This will also not be a lengthy review of the place but a commentary. All I really have to say about YTTP, across the board, is that there are no yoga studios like it. For me personally, YTTP is the epitome of what I think yoga really embodies. These studios have given access to so many people… which is such a beautiful thing. The fact that it has remained donation based and has expanded for so many years is a testament to why it should be revered.
I’m not usually one to be a zealot, but YTTP has my loyalty and support for sure.
All there is left to say is that you go glen coco, you just keep going.

I do really want to believe in YTTP. I want to. I’m pretty sure — actually no, I’m CERTAIN — if I was still in college (hey, they have a location at ASU!) I would be using these guys all the time, as their donation-​based classes are totally helpful to those in a struggle. But having done yoga for years now… nope.
I went for the vinyasa donation-​based class yesterday (⁶⁄₂₁). I was not a huge fan of the instructor, but then again this is an all-​levels class so I get that it sounds like a script. What I didn’t like is that he’s playing music over his voice (without a microphone), so if you’re in the back of the class, it’s very hard to hear his instructions, as he’s not talking very loud himself.
The classes are packed. PACKED. So crowded that I couldn’t to many poses (happy baby, for example) without touching some other person. Going thru my flow, as I kick my leg back the guy behind me is already ahead of me so he’s at the front and over his mat which forces me to be self-​conscious about all of my movements. He’s sweating like an open faucet, and not only is he sweating on my mat (because our mats are 2 inches apart), but at a few points he flings his head forward which brings along bullets of sweat that are hurled at me. GROSS!
So I don’t care that most the people in the class were sweating. I really don’t. But this was on a day that pretty much was 90 degrees outside. There is a complete LACK of ventilation. Sun is beating down in some parts of the room. They have the windows propped open but there’s no breeze because the windows are barely open themselves. They have no fans. Everyone is sweating and we’re not even doing hot yoga!!! Had I wanted to do hot yoga, I would’ve signed up for that class! Get some fans in this room or turn on the AC if it’s 90 degrees outside, because this is room that should fit 30 people for a yoga class but is packed with close to 60 people.
I’d much much rather take ths $ 10 «suggested» donation elsewhere; it looks like some of their other locations have better reviews, so perhaps I’ll check them out. I retracted into child’s pose for a lot of the time. It was just too hot and I was sick of making sure I wasn’t hitting anyone. It’s like a packed subway during rush hour… just remember, your space isn’t as important as their space.

I’ve been going to this studio for five months now for hot yoga classes, mostly because it’s the only studio in the neighborhood. Some teachers are very good, some teachers are not so good. Most teachers get the job done; a lot of them have no idea how to control a room, and just recite the directions like robots. But for $ 10 a class, I’m fine with an inconsistent experience.
However, the past couple of weeks (probably because the studio was offering a teacher training program), taking yoga class has turned into a game of Russian roulette! Teachers-​in-​training are co-​teaching almost every class alongside a more «seasoned» teacher. No announcement on the site that this will be happening; no signs in the studio; and not even a friendly announcement before class starts to explain what’s happening.
I’m all for training new teachers. But the studio management seems to think that it’s OK for paying customers who dedicate their time and money to better their practice to serve as lab rats for people who have barely started teacher training.
I’ve emailed the management nicely raising my concern about a particularly jarring experience I had (new guy marching about the studio military-​style, using halting directions, everyone ends up doing their own thing because «teacher» is so bad, etc). They finally got back to me a week later saying that all the new teachers «have demonstrated to our staff a proficiency in the postures». That is not the same as being able to teach a class!
This is not a very respectful way to run a business, especially in a realm like yoga. It’s necessary to have teachers who not only know how to teach and control a class, but who are able to help people better their practice and help prevent injuries. It would be helpful if they would communicate online who the teacher is for what class (like all most yoga studios in the city do), so practitioners can have the ability to attend the classes taught by the teachers they feel comfortable with. Instead, it’s always a gamble; not a concept I’d like to associate with yoga.

First time ever doing bikram or hot yoga and Yoga to the People made it a very pleasurable experience.
As soon as my friend and I entered, the staff greeted us and asked us to take our shoes off. The staff asked us if we has been there before (which we had not) and if we had our own mats, towel, water and etc. He then proceeded to tell us some info bout bikram yoga and the expectations of the class — THEY DO NOT WANT YOU TO LEAVE THE CLASS (during the duration of the class), EVER!
We went for the 6:30pm class which is 90mins. Online is says they accept donations, bu they charged us $ 10/​each, which is not a bad price in my opinion, especially for an 1 ½ hours class, however, they need to change that on their website.
Our instructor was a very nice young lady who was pretty hands-​on, especially for the newbies. The class was HOT (duh!), from time to time she would open the door and let cool air in. I enjoyed the intensity of the class, we did a lot of poses, stretches and etc. There are mirrors everywhere in the class.
I suggest buying your own mat, towel, water bottle; it save you money and it is sanitary, duh! WEAR SHORTS! — for males and females, because you will be SWEATING. The changing room has some showers, two bathrooms and many lockers, bring a lock to secure your belongings.
I will definitely frequent YTTP!
P. S. — Not a fan of the odor of BO, sweat and musty feet. They need to work on their ventilation and buy some febreeze.

As a 5 year student of YTTP I was utterly blown away by Austin and how he lead the 4:30pm flow class.
Never before have I had the pleasure of enjoying such a harmonious combination of soothing instruction, challenging poses guided with humor and caring adjustments at this studio. Most YTTP instructors do not adjust/​touch students (I’d imagine because the classes are usually so packed) so it was such a treat when Austin pressed weight into my hips during half pigeon! The quote he shared to end class resonates with all:
«To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.» — Oscar Wilde
Love and light!
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The first thing you will notice upon walking in is the pungent smell of feet/​smelly armpits that will assault your senses like a tidal wave. COME ON! There has go to be a better way to keep this joint ventilated. At the very least get an air purifier or one of those incense stick things.
Moving past that, the classes are decent. I lived in California for years and I’ve yet to find a studio in NYC that even comes close in quality. Teachers don’t adjust, don’t explain movements, and don’t go into more difficult poses (arm balances for example) and do not hold poses for long time.
But hey it’s donation based, so if you’re already an experienced yogi this isn’t a bad place to go. If you’re a beginner I’d recommend finding a studio/​teacher that goes through explanations better.
Though most of the teachers here are forgettable, I really liked Kelsey. Ironically just prior to the start of class I was bemoaning in my head how poor NYC classes are. But after class started, I realized Kelsey was an exception. He actually challenged us to hold poses for longer than 2 seconds like most classes, which trust me after a couple minutes can be quite challenging. Unfortunately however, the teachers rotate at random so it’s not like I can plan on taking his classes on the regs.