Good Sweat
Exhale, known for Core Fusion, launches a yoga program
The yoga studio at Exhale Gansevoort Park
At Exhale, Core Fusion classes are king. And yoga has played second fiddle. Until now.
Tomorrow, the popular spa-and-fitness brand, with locations in ten cities (and on one Caribbean island), launches a yoga program.
It’s an interesting fitness development considering the mystery around Exhale’s yoga offerings—classes have been inconsistent location to location, sparse on the schedule, and stylistically quirky (e.g., Music Flow Yoga).
The launch of an Exhale yoga program begs the question, is the powerhouse barre-focused brand joining the yoga bandwagon or merely capitalizing on it? (Exhale’s hour-long yoga classes are $25 in New York City.) With more competition on the barre scene than ever, is the company diversifying its fitness portfolio?
Erin Jacques, Exhale's Yoga Director
The heart of the new yoga program, developed by Exhale and Core Fusion cofounder, Elisabeth Halfpapp, and Erin Jacques, a popular Exhale instructor and its new National Director of Yoga, are five vinyasa classes—Absolute Beginner and Yin Yoga, as well as Exhale Slow Flow, Exhale Vinyasa Flow, and Music Yoga Flow, which already has a substantial following, explains Halfpapp.
The company will also make more of its affiliations with celebrity yogis like Shiva Rae and Annie Carpenter, who teach at Exhale Venice in California, and David Maggone, who leads packed classes at two Boston Exhale studios. It’s unclear why Exhale has never included them in their branding previously. The relationship has always looked more tenant and landlord. But this talent could certainly boost the program’s credibility.
Meanwhile, Jacques is grooming a team of cross-trained instructors. The new Exhale yoga teacher training (30 hours for those with certification, and 250 for those without) includes three mandatory hours of Core Fusion. “We want to create a continuity of teachers from barre to yoga and yoga to barre—an awesome dynamic flow between Core Fusion and yoga,” she says.
Expect more cross-pollination, says Jacques, about the new yoga program. We’ll be looking to see how it germinates. —Melisse Gelula
To celebrate the launch, Exhale is hosting free yoga classes throughout September 22. Visit www.exhalespa.com or www.facebook.com/exhalespa for more information.
[...] • Yoga launched at Exhale. (Well + Good) [...]
Erin has actually been National Yoga Director for at least as long as I’ve been going there, over a year and a half ago! I’m not really sure how this yoga program differs from their current one? Those are the same classes I’ve been taking.. maybe they are improving them or adding more? Either way, I love yoga at exhale. They have phenomenal instructors there.
[...] Yoga launched at Exhale. (Well + Good) [...]
[...] Players: Pure Yoga vs. YogaWorks2. The Indies: 4 small spots we love3. Noteworthy Newcomers: Exhale launches a yoga program4. How to Spend More Time at Your Studio: Yoga studios that double as massage centers and top-notch [...]
[...] as big as ballet, but people are becoming more aware.”Yogi Beans classes were primarily held at Exhale and Gymboree since its launch in 2007. But Chaitoff is now in the final stages of selecting uptown [...]
[...] of Core Fusion, its signature barre class, lest you leave for a cardio workout. Then, it launched a full-fledged yoga program this fall.In the spinning world, Flywheel created Flybarre to keep its clients who might have [...]
[...] Peña’s return is the final arc in his own circle, it also points to a new direction for Exhale’s yoga program, which has been undergoing lots of recent changes in New York.Erin Jacques, the brand’s [...]
[...] Exhale did it, so did SLT, and Physique 57. So it was only a matter of time before SoulCycle supplemented their signature spin class—known for its use of platitudes borrowed from the yoga world—with a yoga class of their own. Even if it just lasts the summer… [...]
[...] launched its official yoga program one year ago, and this fall, it introduces its first-ever teacher [...]
[...] barre at five-years-old, and almost five decades later, she still fits exercise (including ballet, yoga and Core Fusion) into her schedule six days a week. She says that fitness has kept her body young, [...]