Om top of the world
A new yoga class takes place 100 stories high over NYC
Don’t look downward dog! Yogis can now get bendy 100 stories in the air as part of a new soaring series of classes offered at the Hudson Yards skyscraper, Edge.
The observation deck — which at 1,131 feet is known as the highest outdoor platform in the Western hemisphere — teamed with luxury fitness club Equinox to offer yogis the chance to salute the sun for $50 a class.
The rooftop series, which launched Sept. 18 and is NYC’s most elevated yoga offering, is open to the public — no Equinox membership required! It’s already sold out of several hourlong sessions so far, and has visitors flooding Instagram with eye-popping photos of 360-degree views of the city.
“It almost felt like we were flying above the city while doing the asanas,” said Verena Erhart. “While I am not a big yogi, it was a very rewarding class with a great instructor and, obviously, the view can’t be beat.”
But there was a limit for Erhart, 40, who said a triangular glass floor area on the deck — which displays a dizzying direct view of the space below — was a bit too stomach churning.
“Thankfully, I was quite far from the glass-floor section,” said the Crown Heights resident, who leads vegan food and beer tours. “I did think to myself that doing a bootcamp or any other high-impact class would feel quite weird [up here].”
Yoga instructor Rika Henry added that in her four years of teaching in the Big Apple, she’s never experienced anything quite like this.
“It’s exhilarating, especially [while] upside down,” she said. “With the city in full view, all I can think about is, ‘I love New York.’ ”
Steve Fortner — who also gave the vinyasa yoga class a try Wednesday — said watching the sun rise from such great heights was “really breathtaking.”
“I could see a fully round sunrise with a slickly orange-and-pink haze to the background of the building,” the Chelsea resident, 39, said. “Relaxing music was playing, and I was fully Zen.”
And it wasn’t just the views that reeled Fortner in. “I really missed group fitness,” he explained.
After COVID-19 hit, gyms and fitness centers were shut until this month, when they were allowed to reopen at 33 percent capacity with strict mask requirements.
Equinox and Edge — which opened in March, right before lockdown forced the deck to close a few weeks later — also implemented coronavirus regulations, requiring all yogis to sign a printed health declaration, be temperature-checked at the door and wear masks at all times, except while socially distanced on their mats.
Upcoming classes are posted every Friday at noon, and yogis can reserve a spot on a first-come, first-serve basis. There are just 35 slots for each class, allowing students to spread out safely.
Just be sure to namaste away from the ledge.