Bloomington, Minnesota: Light on Shopping
The Mall of America doesn’t quite lend itself to the spiritual practices of non-materialism and non-attachment. But here you can certainly shop your way to enlightenment: In addition to over 500 stores, the mall contains the largest indoor amusement park in the country, an underground aquarium, and a 14-screen movie theater. All told, MOA, as it’s affectionately known, takes up 4.2 million square feet—big enough to hold seven Yankee stadiums.

Satisfied and spent or still unrequited, shoppers head to Bikram Yoga Bloomington, a 10-minute ride away from the mall’s hustle-and-bustle. “It helps to regain your equilibrium after shopping,” says Laiki Huxorli, co-director of the studio. “Either you found what you wanted and you feel high, or you didn’t find what you wanted and you are disappointed. You have to come back to a centered space.”

This centered space offers Bikram’s traditional 90-minute series of 26 postures and two breathing exercises done in a room heated to 105 degrees. At the three-year old studio, yogis can find between 2-3 classes a day and a diverse clientele ranging in age from 15 to 7o.

But what sets the studio apart are the facilities that make practicing in a toasty environment a breeze. Instead of a conventional furnace blowing around hot air, creating drafts, smelly air, and temperature fluctuations, the studio’s energy-efficient radiant heating accompanied with a fresh-air exchange and ionization system allows you to breathe easy. And the antibacterial, hypoallergenic floor is “completely sealed and impervious to sweat,” says Luxorli, to avoid funky-smelling carpet and wood common to Bikram studios.
With the studio so close to the Great Mall, a radical idea might be to skip the shopping altogether. “It can be exhausting to spend a day at the mall,” she says. “If the family wants to shop and you don’t, grab a cab and come here. Take yoga, mellow out and meet the family afterwards.” Or serious shoppers can try another strategy: Go to yoga first, then hit the mall. Says Huxorli: “When you are in a sort of very calm and centered space, you can shop better.”

Travel Tip: The Out of Towner, a 10 Class Package ($140) is available to people whose home address is 50 miles away from the studio and that never expires.
Drop in rate: $18/class
What to Bring: yoga mat and drinking water
www. Bloomingtonyoga.com

New Orleans: A Post-Hurricane Haven
New Orleans is still a place to celebrate, whether you’re traveling to New Orleans as a FEMA worker, businessperson, parade-goer—or just coming home. And although the hurricane rocked lives, it also strengthened people’s resolve to rejoice. So it makes sense that the studio voted Best Yoga Studio by the city’s local paper is dedicated itself to the soulful celebration of creativity, music, art—and of course yoga.

It’s not that the folks at Wild Lotus doesn’t take yoga seriously. They do. The two-room Uptown studio offers 29 classes of different yoga styles, from Anusara to Power. But what makes this one of the most beloved studios here is its uniquely New Orleans celebratory spirit. “This is a really juicy, soulful culture and so we try to have those qualities too,” says founder Sean Johnson. Wild Lotus incorporates a bit of New Orleans funk into its classes through chanting, live music, poetry, writing workshops, and offbeat sequencing. “We don’t just teach the same old Sun Salutations over and over. We think it’s really important to mix things up.” Johnson—himself a singer and harmonium player—hires teachers with a creative bent and offers eclectic events like a recent concert featuring Indian master Aashish Khan performing with New Orleans musicians. But this playful spirit doesn’t overshadow a main purpose of yoga—service to others. From June 10-17, Wild Lotus and Johnson are taking part in the New Orleans Revival Retreat, where yogis will come together to do community service projects to help rebuild the city. (www. Transcendretreats.com)

Travel Tip: Wild Lotus accepts the Yoga World Pass (www.yogaworldpass.com), which allows members to practice as at discounted rate at certain studios when they travel.
What to bring: Mat and water
$12/drop in class; $10 with Yoga World Pass
www.wildlotusyoga.com

Las Vegas: Finding Spirit On the Strip
If you think you can’t find great yoga among the glitz and glitter of Las Vegas you’re wrong. Look no further than the Venetian, the world-famous Italy-inspired resort and casino. The Venetian houses the Canyon RanchSpa Club; with three studios and a large menu of classes, the SpaClub is an anomaly on the Strip because of its extensive and highly-respected program taught by top-notch teachers. Here, the yoga is so good that frequent business travelers often arrange their meetings around their favorite classes. Those who know Vegas love The SpaClub because anyone, not just hotel guests, can come for the day. After your yoga class, you can also sign up for a massage or facial; use their sauna and whirlpool; eat some healthy spa cuisine; get your hair and nails done; and even go for a jaunt on their rock-climbing wall.

But back to the yoga, which aims to help guests regroup and regain their footing after the nonstop action of Las Vegas. The most popular classes include a combination of yoga and Pilates called East meets West that’s taught by a 20-year yoga and pilates veteran. The Jivamukti Yoga class is known for its superb hands-on adjustments and vigorous workout. But perhaps the most needed offerings amidst the intensity and stimulation of Vegas, says wellness director Jane Cox, are the Restorative Yoga classes where you stay in one pose for a long period of time and use props to get comfy. “It’s such a highly sensory city, inundated with huge portions, overloading of visuals, the sights and sounds,” says Cox. “Restorative yoga allows people to relax.”

Travel Tip: A SpaClub passport includes yoga classes, as well as use of the fitness center, steam room, whirlpool, sauna, and locker rooms. One day: $35
Three days: $80 Five days: $115
What to bring: yoga mat
www.canyonranch.com

Orlando: Magic Outside of Disneyworld
The folks at Disney say there’s something for everyone at their theme park in Orlando, Florida. Make that almost everyone: There’s no onsite yoga class for frenzied parents of theme park-crazed kids. But travelers need not despair. There are plenty of nearby options for yoga if you know where to look. The Yoga Matrix, a mere 10 minutes from the theme park and close to several major hotels, is a haven for harried parents. “People usually spend at least a week in Orlando and they can’t stay away from yoga,” says Edely Wallace, Yoga Matrix founder and owner. “They love to get away from the busyness of the park.”

Because of this busyness, Wallace’s studio is known for their extensive list of specialty classes that attract people from around the area as well as out-of-towners. Yoga for Stress and Yoga to Unwind work with the breath for instant calm. Yoga for Women’s Health helps regulate mood swings that only seem to get exacerbated during vacation time. And Yoga for Your Back targets sore backs, tight hips, and achy knees. Poses like Cobra, Downward-Facing Dog, Tortoise and deep breathing in Child’s Pose release the lower back. And you’ll even learn the basics of how to stand correctly since good posture relieves back pain, increases circulation into the feet and legs and helps keep the joints moving smoothly. “Travelers love it, especially if they are walking the park the entire day,” says Wallace. And although throngs of children come to Orlando each year, Wallace says that she just doesn’t see much of them in her yoga classes. “When the kids come to Orlando, they just want to see Mickey.”

Travel Tip: Try local hotels like the Ritz-Carleton Grande Lakes (15 minutes from Disney) and Gaylord Palms Orlando Resort Hotels and Convention Center (5 minutes) for more yoga options.
$15/drop in class
What to Bring: yoga mat
www.yogamatrixstudio.com

Cruise Ships: Finding Balance in Choppy Waters
Cruise ships often mean endless buffets and long nights of gambling in a smoky lower deck. But these days, a major reason people go on a cruise is to simply sail away from it all. Major cruise companies like Carnival offer daily yoga classes onboard, but chances are you’ll be taught by fitness instructors trained by a quickie weekend yoga course. So if you really want great yoga combined with your at-sea adventure, look for specialty cruises like Radisson Seven Seas’ Yoga and Well Being Cruise. Here you’ll get teachers like New York City husband-and-wife team Michael Lechonczak and Robin Whitney Levine, who teach at Manhattan’s Equinox and have 20 years of collective yoga experience between them. This dynamic duo each has their own yogic flair: he blends Iyengar, Anusara, and Ashtanga yoga for a highly physical class and she incorporates aromatherapy, Pilates, and reflexology into her yogic mix.

While taking yoga classes onboard with less experienced teachers can be relaxing, practicing with such highly-trained teachers on a specialty cruise can totally transform your trip—even if you are a beginner: “A lot of these folks had little or minimal exposure to yoga prior to coming on board,” explains Lechonczak. At first, he says, the students were very wary of this thing called yoga. “But soon they became passionate, and I don’t think that’s too strong a word.” Because of the small class size, experienced cruise yoga teachers can easily tailor them to the particular to needs and skill level of the students. So why go to such great distances across the seas for great yoga? “It lends itself to developing your yoga practice because it’s isolated from mainland and distractions,” says Lechonszak.

Travel Tip: Radisson’s next Yoga and Well Being Cruise travels from Whittier, Alaska to Vancouver, B.C., on the Seven Seas Mariner in September, 2006.
www.rssc.com


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