CREATING BEAUTY FROM THE INSIDE OUT: The YogaWorks Way

In 2008, YogaWorks celebrated twenty years of helping women (and men as well) to tap into their inner beauty, with programs using yoga, Pilates, dance, meditation, and tai chi that create an overall internal and physical balance.

What could be more beautiful than that?

Starting out in a small studio on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, California, these days YogaWorks (www.yogaworks.com) and their once revolutionary ideas (they led the way in promoting yoga as the key to longevity and continuing physical health as we age) are now to be found in seventeen locations, ranging from Westlake Village to Costa Mesa and even all the way to New York City. Their most recent location is in the South Bay, in El Segundo just north of Rosecrans, a beautiful, environmentally conscious facility with expansive practice rooms, community space, and full-service locker rooms.

The YogaWorks teaching traditions center around creating a place where people of every level of yoga experience can congregate and build strength and flexibility, no matter which style of yoga one prefers, including the YogaWorks signature style, drawn from a combination of Ashtanga, Lyengar, and Viniyoga. Those classes build through levels with a progressively more challenging workout; or, for those who prefer a specific yoga style, the studios also offer classes in Iyengar, Viniyoga, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Hatha, and Anusara, as well as Ishta, Kundalini, and Pranayama.

Building that inner beauty is certainly challenging, but there is little doubt that the stretching, strength building, and balance created by yoga is a key building block to having a strong, supple body, whether you are 21 or 71. Adding in mat Pilates and meditation help one’s body to improve even more; and at YogaWorks, you can even bring the kids, both before they are born (in pre-natal classes) and after, with their series of classes designed for children and families.

The beauty of developing a yoga practice, no matter what your age, is that it is instrumental in staving off a multitude of health problems, including arthritis, sciatica, weight gain, while it tones and detoxifies the body and harmonizes the mind. It helps to create an emotional balance, uniting mind, body, and spirit, while reducing stress – a sure way to reduce the signs of aging, without resorting to Botox, Restylane, or plastic surgery.

YogaWorks studio, El Segundo.
The allure of YogaWorks is that they let you progress at your own pace, yet offer support through personal advisors, as well as the ability to (with a full membership) take classes at any of the various locations across California and beyond. They’ll even outfit you, with their private-label line of yoga clothes; and the only thing you need get started is your own yoga mat and a willingness to find your inner strength and beauty. YogaWorks offers unlimited memberships for one month that cost around $125, and $1500 for a full year, not much to pay to create a truly beautiful practice that will last a lifetime.