O2 Yoga

To be honest with you … this is the first and only yoga studio I’ve ever been to. So although I’m giving a rave review, but I don’t have too much to compare it to!
What I can tell you is that I look really forward to classes and am going to check out some Intermediate and Power sessions so I can push myself and go more often. I just feel good after class.
The studio itself is really clean and fresh feeling … it’s above my fave bar JJ Foley’s, in a nice new building. The area is «eh» but super close to work so I just walk over. I bought a 30-​day deal on Groupon, and so far I love it and am considering a membership … pricing seems comparable to other studios I checked out online.
Oh, and there’s another O2 Yoga in Somerville so you can go back and forth between the two places. Pretty sweet!
The teachers have all been amazing and offer corrections as needed during class. I’ve taken Basics classes with 5 different teachers and really enjoyed the different styles of each. Mimi is my favorite … but of course, she’s the founder! Her energy and enthusiasm are catching and I just love her classes. The best thing is that in every class I’ve taken so far, I’ve tried something different and have challenged my body. It’s such an amazing, rewarding feeling!
So I highly recommend you try O2 Yoga, you won’t be disappointed!

Trying out yoga studios is like dating in sweats. I was hoping to click with O2 immediately, but I’m not sure I’m ready for a relationship with it yet. «It’s complicated». Will go on date 2 to fully assess (:
Great space for yoga, very clean and peaceful for a great practice. I also love that everything in the studio, from hand soap to sanitizer, is environmentally friendly.
I decided to give O2 a try based on the good Unilocal reviews and I think my yoga instructor has mentioned it before. The style of yoga taught at O2 is mostly Ashtanga, so if you’re looking for another style of yoga, you may have to look elsewhere. I’ve taken Power/​Vinyasa yoga for a year and a half, so that’s what I’m used to – the quick paced, sweat-​inducing yoga that makes you cringe a bit as you go into your 5^th sun salutation and sweat is pooling on your back, but gives you the greatest floaty, relaxed feeling as you’re lying in savasana pose.
I took the Basics class with a few friends, with Carol as the instructor. I think the Basics class was a bit too slow and a tad too basic for my liking, or maybe I’m just a Power Yoga gal. I found myself a little confused with Carol’s verbal instruction at times – I remember looking over at my friend with that «Wait, WHAT are we supposed to do?» face, only to find that he had the EXACT same face.
Maybe it just takes a little while to get accustomed to any instructor’s verbal descriptions – I feel like some instructors use very basic, easy-​to-​understand terms, and others use more technical terms that may not be immediately understood by someone who’s not a 10-​year veteran yogi.
I paid $ 18 for 2 classes, so I’ll give O2 another try, and maybe try something a little more intermediate or advanced, since I didn’t feel the Basics class was challenging enough, but for now I’m giving O2 4 stars for the great space and ok class. Hopefully after class 2, I’ll bump it up to 5!

Probably the most gorgeous studio in Boston: both modern and old fashioned at the same time. I just wanted to lie on my mat and stare at the ceiling the whole time because I felt like I was less in a studio and more in someone cool’s really cool condo. The room was not heated, but the session kinda kicked my ass nonetheless.
The thing that really turned me off was the ‘tude my friend and I got from the locals who clearly were not cool with interlopers on their turf. We got a lot of stares, and I was wondering if we had transgressed someone’s invisible «THIS IS MY SPOT» sign or something. Even the instructor was a bit of an interrogator, being kind of abrupt when asking about our previous experience because we weren’t regulars.
[[And this is the kind of shit that really turns me off about yoga, regardless where it is: the superiority. If yoga is all about the lifelong practice of self-​acceptance and the journey to be comfortable with yourself, then the yoga scenesters are totally. doing. it. wrong. Seriously, just concentrate on yourself, Trophy Wife, not on your coordinated outfit and what other people are doing. mmkay?.]]

I also reviewed O2’s Somerville studio, so if you want to know more about the styles of classes, see my review there. This is going to be a little more specific on the studio itself.
After practicing in Somerville for several months because it’s close to my house, I decided to go to the South End on Tuesday nights because I prefer Mimi to the Somerville Tuesday night teacher. The South End studio is just about a 5 – 10 minute walk from Tufts Medical Center, right near where I work. The Silver Line also stops right on Washington St at E Berkeley (which I recommend catching after class if it’s dark… the area’s a little dicey to walk through at night if you’re going back downtown).
This studio is simply gorgeous. It’s right above JJ Foley’s and is soooooo spacious and elegantly but simply decorated. I was floored when I walked in, after being used to the crowded and worn Somerville studio. Six changing areas, two bathrooms, and much much cleaner than Somerville. It’s also quieter (unless you come the night before St. Patrick’s Day when JJs is hoppin’)…much less street noise and much more calming.
Mimi’s classes are always packed in Somerville, but I haven’t seen it happen yet at the SE. Which is nice, because I’m not kicking someone in the face (or being kicked in the face). Mimi has also clearly taken steps to make this a «greener» studio. When my schedule allows, I will definitely try to work more classes at this studio in.

This place is amazing.
It’s clean and comfortable. The classes strike a perfect balance of challenging and satisfying, hard work and relaxation. The teachers are excellent.
It also has a welcoming, community feel. It is partly the people and the atmosphere, but also because Mimi, the owner, takes environmental and social responsibility very seriously. O2 has a larger mission to support people to achieve peace and balance within themselves, AND within their social and ecological context. I love this about O2.
I started going because my boyfriend and his roommate are both peace activist veterans, and O2 gives a special deal to veterans. Studying yoga at O2 has really ameliorated my partner’s back issues from the army and helped him enormously. He brought me as a guest once, and from that moment I was completely hooked. I fell in love with this studio, and now I go regularly and I can’t imagine going anywhere else!

I’ll admit that I started coming here because it is about a five minute walk from my apartment. This is the first yoga studio I have ever been to, and I don’t think I’ll like another studio as great as this one. First of all, the atmosphere is great. I feel like when I’m walking up the stairs to the studio, all my worries are slowly going away (haha). The staff is so welcoming and friendly (and NEVER in a fake way!). This place is spotless, it is a large room on the 2^nd floor with many windows. There is a statue of Buddha in the front, and a few plants scattered. There are two individual bathrooms, cubbyholes, and two individual changing rooms. Too bad no showers here. That’s ok.
More onto the yoga part. The instructors are very knowledgeable regarding yoga. I admit that I prefer some than others, only because I’m picky. They start off the class with asking if anyone would like to focus on any particular body spot which I think is pretty cool. The beginners classes are really great. I feel like they want students to have a really good foundation of breathing and basic postures/​poses before moving on. They include modifications but also the full postures. I like this. I think they really focus on small but important details (and I like that because I always focus on the details). I always break a sweat during classes, and my muscles are shaking in some postures (I’d say that’s good I guess).
When the owner, Mimi teaches, the classes are packed! She is a kind and genuine person. I really like her. She tries to know the students by name. I think that is great.
There are monthly intensives and other yoga-​related events at the studio. The yoga studio has a lot of events that 100% (yes that’s right, 100%!) of the proceeds go to a local charity. How philanthropic is that.
I highly recommend this studio. I have gone to one other yoga studio since my first time here (about 6 months ago), and I prefer this studio much more.

O2’s South End class schedule complements the Somerville lineup well, and since I’m in need of a studio with a later Monday night class, I made the trek out for Heather’s 7:30 Basics class.
The studio was less packed than the Somerville location usually is… and it’s gorgeous! There are tons of windows, allowing for great natural light, bamboo floors, and a weird antique buddha chest thing at the front of the room. There’s also a meditation type room on the left-​hand side.
There’s also two hour street parking before 4 pm and unlimited after 6pm right out front!
Class was great, as usual, and I’ll definitely drop in again when I’m in the area. There’s a mix of teachers who teach at both locations, and some who I don’t know from Somerville.
And with South End restaurant hot spots right around the corner, I know I’ll find more excuses to make it out here and grab a swanky dinner afterwards.

This is an amazing space and there is plenty of space, so it isn’t one of situations where you are cramped into a small room and you can barely move without someone’s hand or leg in your face, at least most of the time.
Mimi and her staff are excellent teachers, they always ask about any injuries and usually ask if you want to focus on a particular area. They walk around the room and demonstrate and tweak you into correct position which I love. They have position of the month and a bunch of steps so if you go regularly, you can feel your progress as you get closer to doing that difficult pose.
I worked with O2 instructors starting last May and I have found, they will challenge you as much as you want to challenge yourself. Some instructors are definitely more challenging but you can find an instructor and a class that works for your level and what you want to achieve.
The two things that make this place not quite perfect (and this goes for many yoga studios) are: lack of showers and there could be better sound proofing from the neighbors.

I give 4 out of 5 only because i don’t know what their regular classes are like. I have gone for the monthly intensives taught by studio founder Mimi L.
She is truly a masterful and intelligent teacher. I highly recommend these intensives for anyone looking for a little (or a lot) more information than you get in your average vinyasa class. Incredibly, even though the room was usually packed, I felt attended to and taken care of. This is no mean feat for any kind of instructor in a large group setting. As a bonus, even though I’m not as adept as some of the people in the room, I’ve never felt unwelcome or judged. As a double bonus, if you hang out in the back, you can sneak a few peak around and see bodies doing things you usually have to pay admission to see at circ de soleil. :=) As a triple bonus, if you pay close attention to the instruction and practice at home, one day YOU’LL be that person up front! cool, huh?

Having had my first yoga experiences at Back Bay Yoga, I was a little skeptical that the classes at this studio were going to fulfill my need for muscle and mind bending sweat-​tastic yoga.
It got 2 out of 3, though how do you not sweat doing yoga (no, seriously, I don’t get it =P). The basic and intermediate classes were good, and I think can be as challenging as you make it, but the teachers won’t really push you. I’ve never gotten to that intense mind-​clearing place here, it’s a much more relaxed and chatty atmosphere, but you can still get the ow!-muscles-I-didn’t-know-I-had feeling from practicing here. Mimi, the owner, is incredibly nice and has remembered me even though there are sadly often weeks between my visits.
The only real negative thing I have to say here is that the ashtanga class was terrible; I went twice just to make sure, and both times the instructor was in street clothes and reading off of a cheat sheet for the sequence of poses. He also did no adjustments, didn’t give alternative poses if you’re still building up your practice, and didn’t even warn of safe ways to come out of precarious poses.
Other than that, I love that this studio is so accessible to the South End. The classes aren’t crowded, the instructors are very friendly, and the prices are pretty reasonable, particularly if you get a 10 class card online, which works out to $ 9 a class!

So first of all, I want to thank Tarah H. for introducing me to O2. That being said, I would like to say that I’ve taken Yoga before, and all it did for me was make me sleepy. O2 definitely did NOT make me want to sleep. It made me realize that I am no longer flexible.
If you’ve seen the episode on ‘Til Death where Brad Garrett’s character goes with his neighbor’s wife to Yoga, and he’s flailing his hands all over the place and sweating profusely, well ya, that’s me. I couldn’t stay in downward dog for like more than five seconds without collapsing onto the mat.
The teacher was extremely nice, and I like how if you’re a new student, they let you borrow a Yoga mat for free. Even after that, it’s only $ 1.00 for a rental, so until I find a mat for me, I’ll definitely go with that. There was a lot of breathing involved, which at first through me off, and I know it’ll get some getting used to, but I can get through it.
Even though it’s kind of out of the way for me, I think it’s worth it. I’ll be returning here definitely, arms and legs flailing.

I’m not one for trends and new age spiritual feel-​good stuff. When I exercise, I like to be worked hard and feel every calorie I burn. My turn-​offs include narcissism and pretension. I’ve done yoga before, and while I enjoyed it, I was never inspired to join a studio or go with any regularity.
And then I came to O2 for their open house back in November.
The studio is entirely green. Bamboo flooring in the entry and changing/​lounge area. Cork in the yoga studio itself. I’m still undecided about this choice as it can be quite slippery if a particular pose leads a hand off the mat… but most finish choices would have yielded the same result. The paint colors are rich and deliberate. The space was obviously well thought out, relaxing and melts away as you get carried away in the class. There are mats and towels to rent for a dollar each, which is oh so convenient… free if it’s your first time in to the studio!
The classes are wonderful. The instructors are down to earth and knowledgeable. They always ask about injuries and requests at the beginning of each class. The room starts off quiet warm. As the class goes on, muscles become used to the movements and body temperatures rise, the room temperature evens out.
Mimi, the owner and one of the instructors, is about the nicest, sweetest person you could ever hope to meet. She’s cute, bouncy and energetic. Not at all the space cadette, pretentious yoga-​buff you might expect. She remembers your name and talks to individuals during the class. She’s remembered me every time I’ve been in ever since the first day. Also, her dog Luna is wonderfully behaved and one of the nicest dogs ever.
O2 is now part of my weekly routine. I go at least once on the weekends to recharge myself, work out the tensions gained during the week and know that I’m getting in a good 75 – 90 minute session all at once.
As if I wasn’t hooked enough after that first class, one of the songs played during the cool down was by my lover, Damien Rice.
Good music. Great space. Wonderful instructors.
People new to the studio can buy a 2 class card for only $ 18. (that’s only $ 9 per class) A single class is $ 14, which is comprable to other studios in the area. $ 60 for 5 ($ 12 per class), $ 110 for 10 ($ 11 per class) and $ 200 for 20 ($ 10 per class). Plus, they sometimes have deals and 10% off if you purchase a 10 or 20 class card online!

New Location — Opening October 2007