Powerflow Yoga — Local services in Jersey City

I am pretty much a beginner at yoga, have been taking classes semi-consistently for about a year, and enjoy following routines on YouTube. My first experience at Powerflow was through classpass and it was absolutely baffling to me.

First of all, they make you wait outside if you arrive late so that you enter after everyone has finished centering themselves, because otherwise it's distracting. This is totally fair. I only bring this up to juxtapose with the fact that class is conducted in the least soothing, least relaxing way possible. Hot yoga is already challenging. On top of that, the instructor was very loud and it felt like I was being yelled at the entire time. She yelled out changes in poses like they were drill orders. At one point, she was going too fast for me to hit every pose feasibly so I just had to ignore them and go at my own pace.

It's a big room, it's crowded, I get it. You could invest in a mic? That's not the only thing that's disrupting about the way she leads class. For one pose, she was across the room from me, but it was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear her telling one student, "Look here! Look here!" And literally slapped the wood floor in front of their mat to demonstrate where they should look.

How is that necessary? How is that not distracting to other students in the class? Her conduct was giving sloppy. The class felt like the antithesis of what yoga practice should be about. If you want to be yelled at, there are plenty of other workout formats to try! I want my yoga classes to be like an escape from the outside world, a place where I can feel grounded in my own body, let go of anxieties and stresses from my life. Instead, I found myself in an environment that only grated on me even further. Powerflow will not be the place for me to develop my practice. I won't even bring up the playlist of pop, jazz, and mumble rap. So confused.

Another alarming thing I noticed: we did the pose where you are sitting and twist over your knee. The instructor encouraged a student to push for her full bind, even though the student was clearly sacrificing posture of the low back in order to reach all the way around. Yoga is not just about striving for the cool poses; even I as a beginner know that much.

There are a lot of good reviews, somehow. I know there aren't that many options in JC, but yoga classes are not all held like this. It should not take going on a retreat with the instructors to get something out of your practice....

I've been taking at Powerflow Yoga for several years in Hoboken and now Jersey City and I can't gush about them enough. Haven't taken from a bad instructor there yet, Jeff Scios, James DelosReyes, Sarah Marsh are all the teachers I take from regularly and they're ALL as Top Drawer as you can find! Susan Tee however gets the Top Award this week for proving 'Most Calm, Cool & Collected' in a potentially volatile situation during Friday's 5pm Hot 26/2 class. A very irritable woman was in class and not doing well, as a matter of fact she'd professed her fear and anxiety before hand, and was voicing her anxiety throughout. Susan gently approached to assist if she could, and this woman loudly bellowed, "I'm not having a good, time, I wish I wasn't here and I don't want to talk to anyone!" Susan calmly stepped back and let her do her thing, one could surmise this angst riddled lady was looking to be shown the door, but Susan took the high road. She let her do her thing and the woman thankfully remained quiet and showed better yoga etiquette afterwards. Susan instinctively knew the best way to handle this Dame, and she proceeded in teaching a genuinely wonderful class as she always does. Bravo, Susan Tee! You and the Powerflow team are yet again showing how it's done!...

Unfortunately, this no longer feels like a true yoga studio. The schedule is starting to dominate by Pilates and circuit training, which shifts the focus away from traditional yoga practice.

Despite being branded as "Hot Yoga," the studio is often kept at a lukewarm temperature due to instructors frequently airing out the room. While it's important to accommodate those sensitive to heat, that's precisely the purpose of non-heated yoga studios. Those attending Hot Yoga expect — and deserve — a genuinely heated environment.

Without echoing other negative reviews too much, it’s unclear why instructors insist on keeping the lights fully on throughout the class. A more ambient lighting setting would enhance the atmosphere and support a more meditative, focused practice.

When the class is full, you're almost guaranteed to encounter your neighbor's body — whether it's a bump from their bum or a drop of sweat — since the assigned mat spaces are only about 6 inches apart.

The studio should either rebrand itself to reflect its current focus—such as 'Power Pilates'—or return to its original identity as a dedicated Hot...