Amanda Zapanta got Sleuthed!

Enlivening Vinyasa with Amanda Zapanta
Greenhouse Holistic
783 Driggs Avenue, Brooklyn

Mon 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Advanced
www.greenhouseholistic.com

Amanda Zapanta asked us to grab a bolster, two blocks and a blanket before we got settled into her Monday morning class. Yoga Sleuth was preparing for a playful, yet rigorous and alignment-focused vinyasa class at Greenhouse Holistic’s Driggs Avenue location in Brooklyn.

We began class lying down in Supta Padangusthasana, holding the big toe or our shins. Amanda had us take our toe down toward the floor, but encouraged us at the same time to take the foot up toward our head. Bringing the foot back to center we switched hands and took the leg across the body into a releasing spinal twist.
Amanda reminded us we could stay here, while offering a deeper version of bending the bottom leg and taking hold of the foot while holding onto the top outstretched leg.

Letting go of the twist, we then rolled onto our bellies and came up into a backbending Salabhasana, which Amanda also jokingly referred to as “Superman.” We then brought our hands to the floor and pushed into a Down Dog Split. The sequence continued with opening up our hips, flipping over into “Rock Star”, lowering into Marichyasana B, then bending our knees and scooping up our shins with our arms and laying down into a supine Pigeon shape before switching sides.
And that was just the warm-up to Amanda’s creative and demanding class.

Amanda Capobianco Saturday 10:30 AM class got Sleuthed!

Juicy Vinyasa with Amanda Capobianco
Greenhouse Holistic 
88 Roebling St, Brooklyn

Sat 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Intermediate
www.greenhouseholistic.com

Yoga Sleuth heard that Amanda Capobianco knows how to pack in a room of yogis, and was not disappointed the Saturday morning we popped in to check out her class. With 28 students making a mess of the space, our mats set up in disarray, Amanda helped to make room to accommodate everyone who showed up for class.
When we all found some order and Amanda her seat at the front of the room, there was enough space to fit one more, to which she said, “That’s for the spirit.”

Guiding us through meditation to help quiet our bodies and minds after all the disruption with the Tetris game we started out with, Amanda urged us all to “breath in the positive, exhale anything you don’t need, let go of all the negative.” Then she lulled us into a meditative state by leading us through her Durga Jai chant.
Our opening song still ringing in our ears and vibrating through our bodies, we soon were standing, savoring in the half Sun Salutations we took before taking a variation on Classical Surya Namaskar A, letting the breath guide us to bend and straighten the front leg of our Low Lunge before completing the sequence.

YogaCity NYC | Yoga Sleuth Reviews the Best Yoga Classes in New York City

Devotional Spirit with Alanna Kaivalya
Greenhouse Holistic 88 Roebling & North 7th 

Mon 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM 

Intermediate 

www.greenhouseholistic.com

"I walked into Greenhouse Holistic just as class began. Alanna Kaivalya sat in the center of the room, poised behind the harmonium. She began by asking us to go around and say our names, responding with “Hi Shira” and “Hi Jason” and “Hi Amanda” as we each take our turn. I felt instantly at home, even in Williamsburg, which is not a neighborhood I frequent, even for yoga. But for Alanna, whose classes I’ve taken at a variety of Manhattan locations, it was worth a venture into Brooklyn.
At the beginning and end of class, we chanted a Sutra. Chanting with Alanna is not just chanting - not just repeating - it is singing, it is using our voices to connect, and to connect deeply. As we sit and sang, she asked us to place our right hands over our hearts and close our eyes.

Alanna is not just a yoga teacher, but also a musical artist with two albums out on iTunes. The second she started out with her gorgeous voice and harmonium, I broke into a subconscious smile. I could not help it. Because I was not just a student, but also a sleuth, and when I opened my eyes to see if the other students are reacting the same way, they were. The devotional energy was palpable.

After chanting, Alanna explained the Sutra, "The only thing we are asked to do is to let go, to surrender. This is great news because it takes all the trying out of things, suggests that there is nothing to do, but to let go."

The asanas were woven around this theme of surrender, turning our palms up in Child’s pose “in a gesture of receptivity.” Alanna also integrated some of the recent hubbub about yoga in popular culture, not shying away from discussing a wide range of topics. As we flowed through an abundance of Sun Salutations and Chaturangas, she reminded us that yoga does not ask us to be a certain kind of person; it just asks us to practice.

Alanna is clearly a master teacher. This is evident in her practical use of anatomical knowledge (through challenging poses she makes me never doubt where my psoas is) and her vast knowledge of the Yoga Sutras and Sanskrit pronunciation. However, she does not conflate mastery with seriousness. She constantly reminds us to lighten up. She references Woody Allen ("90 percent of life is showing up") right after referencing Pattabhi Jois ("Practice and all is coming").