The Pierce Yoga Program

I LOVE Pierce Yoga! I started going there when I was 9 weeks pregnant for their prenatal yoga classes, and I continued throughout my pregnancy. After my baby girl was born we returned for two sessions of postpartum yoga with Ayla, and it was wonderful as well. I cannot recommend Pierce highly enough! If you’re pregnant and looking for an amazing place to connect with other expecting mothers, learn about your pregnancy, and get a really great workout this is the place. Those final weeks of my pregnancy were tough, and I don’t know how I would have made it without Pierce!

Pat’s Yoga with Free Weights class is both relaxing AND moderately challenging. True, Pierce is not like other yoga studios. Classes are small, and you sign up for an 8-​week series rather than dropping in randomly. But the benefit is that the instructor gets to know you and tailors each session to suit individual needs in the class. I’ve tried other studios that seemed more typical (mats, drop-​ins, classes of 30+) and Pierce suits me better. Only gripe: Wish there were early-​morning classes.

I took the prenatal yoga classes here and just delivered my baby two weeks ago. I would never have been able to get through a long unmedicated labor without the training I received during the classes. The instructors are wonderful and express a genuine interest in their students. At the end of each workout we enjoyed a cup of hot tea and snacks as we listened to a birth story. I looked forward to the classes immensely each week.
I’m now getting ready to sign up for the postpartum classes and can’t wait to get back to the studio.

This is probably an OK place but just not my cup of tea. One thing I didn’t like is that you have to sign up for an entire 8– or 9-​week session (they don’t like drop-​ins). I don’t like having to commit to the same day and time every week for 8 or 9 weeks. I know a lot of studios used to have this format but I find it to be very restrictive. I know they let you do a make-​up class if you have to miss one and all that, but I still see myself as somehow getting screwed on that deal (I have been known to — gasp! — miss yoga class for an entire week). When I tried to drop in to see what a class was like before committing for an entire session, the instructor acted like she almost wouldn’t let me do that even though there was space that day and even though I had called ahead to ask if it was OK. I didn’t feel very welcomed. I also didn’t like that you perform your poses on long shaggy carpet (they discourage mats). The carpet bothers me because it’s slippery and makes some floor poses hard to hold and it doesn’t seem quite as clean as hard floors. Once the class got going (after I was finally allowed in), I thought the instructor was pretty good although the class did not really challenge me, even though she had warned me that I might not be able to keep up since I hadn’t been there for the other classes in the session (even though I explained to her that I’d been doing yoga three times a week for the past 3 years).
I know that a program like this would really suit some people but it is really not for me. It has been around forever now so I think it obviously would be a good fit for someone other than me. I have heard good things about their prenatal yoga. Parking kinda sucks (they don’t really have much).