58 YOGA JOURNAL
TOP: EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER/ISTOCK; BOTTOM: RYANJLANE/ISTOCK; OPPOSITE PAGE FROM LEFT: CRIENE/ISTOCK, DEBORAH LOPEZ
- NEW YORK CITY
New York City is home to some of Western
yoga’s most notable teachers, including
Eddie Stern, Genevieve Kapuler, Elena
Brower, Dharma Mittra, Alison West, and
Lauren Ash. “HealHaus in Brooklyn is my
go-to haven for spiritual support,” says Ash,
founder of mindful lifestyle brand Black Girl
in Om. “The studio’s mission—to promote
healing as a lifestyle—is a beautiful example
of what it means to hold sustainable space
and intentional presence for diverse people.”
New York’s got everything from trendy
new Y7 yoga —which utilizes heat, hip-
hop music, and dark candle-lit rooms—to
traditional Iyengar Yoga at the Iyengar Yoga
Institute. And if you need a break from the
city, head north 90 miles
to the iconic Omega
Institute—a wooded,
42-year-old health and
wellness campus that
sees more than 23,000
students a year.
- LOS ANGELES
Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the first Indian spiritual teachers to make his home in the
West, called Los Angeles “the Benares of America” (Benares is another name for the Indian city
of Varanasi) when he arrived in the 1920s. After setting up the Self-Realization Fellowship's
international headquarters atop Mount Washington, he opened a clifftop compound in
Encinitas and a waterfall and shrine-studded campus on Sunset Boulevard where a portion
of the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi are laid to rest. Today, the Lake Shrine—with its waterfront
meditation garden and gold lotus–topped temple where resident monks hold services and
give lectures—remains an oasis for contemplation. LA’s robust Kundalini scene (Golden
Bridge Yoga Studio, RA MA Institute in Venice) traces its roots back to 1969, when Yogi
Bhajan started teaching the distinctive style on Melrose Avenue. Wanderlust headquarters
in Hollywood is LA’s latest yoga hub, hosting fusion classes and workshops by wellness gurus
such as Taryn Toomey and senior yoga teacher Annie Carpenter.
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- SALT SPRING CENTRE OF
YOGA, BRITISH COLUMBIA
In 1981, members of the Dharma Sara
Satsang Society, a yoga community inspired
by the teachings of Indian Ashtangi
master and silent monk Baba Hari Dass,
purchased a 69-acre patch of cedar forest
and meadows on Salt Spring Island. Today,
the property’s restored turn-of-the-century
farmhouse is the longest-running yoga
retreat center on Canada’s West Coast.
Public offerings include monthly full-
moon pujas (spiritual cleansings), while
10-week residential programs combine
service (tending the on-site farm, preparing
vegetarian meals) with asana and theory
classes covering classic yoga texts.
9. OJAI, CALIFORNIA
A bustling hub of ashrams, yoga
centers, and spiritual retreats—
and dubbed Shangri-La by locals
(a nod to the surrounding valley’s
cameo as the fictional utopia in the
classic film Lost Horizon)—Ojai’s
surrounding Topatopa and Sulphur
mountains are what attracted Indian
philosopher J. Krishnamurti in the
1920s. Today, his teachings continue
via programs at the Krishnamurti
Educational Center.
10. CHOPRA CENTER,
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA
The palm-shaded Omni La Costa Resort
& Spa may seem like an unlikely setting
for the cutting-edge work of the Chopra
Center’s Mind-Body Medical Group, but
here, experts in hypnotherapy, integrative
oncology, and pranic healing (a form
of no-touch energy healing) combine
holistic practices and Western medicine.
Try one of their Perfect Health retreats
where itineraries feature daily yoga
and meditation, Ayurvedic meals, spa
treatments, and medical consultations
from Vedic educators and integrative-
medicine experts.
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NORTH
AMERICA
