West Village Yoga

Profile

On the third floor of her brick West Village townhouse, which is located directly across the street from the Spotted Pig, Alex Auder offers a quaint, cozy experience to her students during their 90-minute vinyasa class. Here in her and her husband’s sunlight-filled bedroom, which includes a fireplace and mantel, small desk, and a mattress that she props up against the wall during class, Auder leads up to ten students—mainly women, a handful of which are well known in fashion circles—through a sequence of positions to a mix of traditional music and more-contemporary tunes, while making thorough adjustments during each pose. Auder gained her hands-on approach from her training at Jivamukti—the initial stage to a career path that stems from growing up in the Chelsea Hotel, where her mother (a Warhol star) occasionally led Kirtan chanting. After opening her own studio in upstate New York, Auder moved back to Manhattan to teach out of her home, as well as at Tribeca studio Kula Yoga, where you can find her three times a week. — Randi Eichenbaum

In addition to the group classes, Auder offers privates and semi-private sessions. Group classes can be purchased individually ($25 for first-timers, $30 thereafter), as well as a ten-class package for $250, which does not expire. All spots in group classes must be reserved in advanced.

Pros
Thirty dollars per class is a pretty good deal, considering the small size and attention you receive in Auder’s classes.

Cons
In this super-relaxed setting where a child (Auder’s) could potentially poke their head in, or there’s a momentary pause in the class to answer the doorbell downstairs, West Village Yoga isn’t for everyone.