ID Hot Yoga - FIDI — Local services in New York

I'm writing two review for them - One about their Retreats and the other about their Full Circle Program.

Retreat: Magical Tolan is an ecofriendly yoga & meditation retreat lodge, remotely located on a quiet, private beach front with sweeping ocean views and cooling breezes from every room. Designed to deeply reconnect you with the natural world and your human connection within it. Relax, Restore & Rejuvenate. There is a common dining space & a beautiful ocean side yoga cabana where all the retreat events are held.

Satsanga refers to the act of sitting in the presence of a spiritual teacher, absorbing their energy and listening closely to their words. A true teacher helps you see beyond your everyday fears, grudges, and to-do lists, and invites you to experience a higher state of awareness, so it's easier to rethink your priorities, contemplate the deeper meaning of life, and move forward on your spiritual path - The Retreats founder & teacher - Ulises Calatayud is eager to share with you the gifts of healthy living, spiritual wisdom, and the joys of practice. All of this, along with deliciously home cooked meals in a beautifully tropical setting, are just a few of the many things you will receive when you attend a retreat in Tolan. I gained all this and so much more. It was a powerful, amazing, life-changing experience. This retreat helped to solidify my newly learned practices and has made me want to dig even deeper. I can't wait to continue the journey and hope to return to Tolan for another retreat very soon. I highly recommend this experience to everyone. ~ Mar '18 Tolan Retreat attendee - Stephanie Lackey

Full Circle Program: I travel a lot for work and that’s not good for trying to stay and eat healthy. I’m currently on a work contract here in NYC and I finally decided to do something about getting fit and healthy – but I didn’t want to go back into a gym – at least not yet. I wanted to try something different. YogaCare is 4 doors down from my apartment building. I passed by it for 5 months before I decided to look them up on the web because I felt starting out with Yoga might we be a great idea. Their sign said Go The Full Circle. Upon checking out their website to see what all they offered – there was a small blurb about The Full Circle and to e-mail to inquire. I did and that was the best decision I have made in years. I’m so grateful to have found YogaCare and the people who own it. They are amazing. The Full Circle Program has completely changed me and my life. It was exactly what I needed. I just completed the Winter 2018 Full Circle Program and ended up signing up for the Spring 2018 FC Program. I’ve lost 20 lbs so far and my body continues to change daily due to practicing Yoga several times a week. I’d never done Yoga before much less hot Yoga. Their Bikram teaching standards are some of the best around. The breathing and meditation classes are awesome too. I highly recommend this studio and I highly recommend that you inquire about the Full Circle Program – you won’t be disappointed. It has literally saved my life and the support and community I have gained in the process is truly a...

This review is for (1) Bikram Yoga and (2) the 3 day Urban Meditation Retreat at YogaCare:

(1) BIKRAM YOGA AT YOGACARE If you are looking for REAL hot yoga, this is your place. No music or unwarranted pats on the back. Just a great opportunity to learn about your body and mind with incredibly knowledgeable teachers and alongside a wonderful and welcoming community. I honestly feel so lucky to have found this place.

I came to NYC for a summer internship, disenchanted with yoga in general, but thought I'd give this place a try because of the great reviews claiming similar things to what I did above (and because it was located so near to my work). I knew after my first class with Suda-May, that I would be coming pretty much every day after that. This places captures the EXPERIENCE of yoga very well. A lot places I've been know how to talk a good game about it, but every person here just lives it. I loved that.

(2) 3 DAY URBAN MEDITATION RETREAT Before I went to the retreat, I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it be totally hippie-dippy? Pseudo-intellectual? Etc.? Now, having experienced it, what I can say is that everything you practice and learn at the retreat is extremely USEFUL for your everyday life, and that it is about as grounded in reality as you can get. That's actually kind of the point. One of the things Ulises, the teacher/guide of the retreat, says is "just try it, see what you think." You won't get brainwashed or anything. Just try it with and open mind and see what it does for you.

What do you actually do at the retreat? Each day is a series of breathwork (breathing exercises), meditation, dialogue, and yoga/movement practices. Doing them for 3 days helped me create a foundation to continue them on my own. Additionally, and I think in no small part because of the kind of space created at the retreat, you get to know the other people at the retreat on a deep level. This was wonderful because each person was such a light, and it was great to begin friendships in such a healthy and positive environment.

Doing this retreat is like traveling: you never regret it. Yes, it is something new, and, yes, it may seem a little weird, risky, or out of the norm to some of your friends or co-workers (it did in my world of Management Consulting), but that is the definition of something that can be amazing in your life and even change it. I know it did for me. BIG thanks to Ulises and Candice for...

BELIEVE IT.

I should preface this with a disclosure. I have never done yoga and while I was interested and curious about meditation, I never committed to anything beyond an app.

My wife did YogaCare's FULL CIRCLE program and was so impressed by her experience that she booked me into their URBAN MEDITATION RETREAT and essentially commanded that I was doing this.

I am a cynical sarcastic person, and had a worry that this would be slow torture as I'd been sent 'under duress' -- I couldn't have been more wrong.

What Candice and Ulises have built is a truly warm and welcoming community. One where a complete (out of shape and sedentary) novice like me felt absolutely comfortable and all doubt evaporated in seconds.

This three-day experience was absolutely invigorating and eye-opening. Ulises' approach to meditation is grounded in the "real" world without sacrificing a profound sense of the spiritual. His openness and encouragement made the three days resonate and they continue to. All of this is done with no dogmatic right or wrong -- it is all presented with a 'just try it' sense that made it inclusive and all the more impactful.

Our group was made up of a newbies like me, as well as a number of returning students -- they shared the same kind and open tone that Candice set. Over the course of the retreat, we did all manner of breathing exercises, deep meditation and some yoga movement. While the movement was wildly uncharted territory, I remained open and thoroughly appreciated it.

A highlight for me was after a morning session of breathing and meditation, Ulises led us down Fulton Street to the bustling South Street Seaport to see if we could maintain a meditative consciousness while surrounded by the relentless chaos of New York City. If there is any proof needed of the value of the practice -- this was it.

I have returned to Yoga Care for a number of weeks now to do their breathing and meditation workshops and am beyond grateful for my 'forced' weekend in their kind care and have been inspired to make meditation part of my life as I've already begun to see...