Have You Ever Used a Yoga Wall? Amrita Yoga Just Added One

This demo video shows how a yoga wall works.

On the list of things I have never tried is this: yoga on a wall. Fishtown’s Amrita Yoga & Wellness, which just installed an Iyengar Yoga Wall as part of its expansion in March, now offers classes that allow up to six yogis at a time to practice poses while suspended from the wall. Sounds crazy (maybe even a tad gimmicky, right?), but Amrita owner Heather Rice says students are loving it. “It’s hard to get access to the wall unless you’re going to an Iyengar studio,” she says, adding that hers is mainly Vinyasa focused. “People are excited be able to try it out.”

The wall uses gravity to support and deepen yoga poses. So it can help you master an inversion, if you can’t put weight on their head; improve balance; and deepen a stretch. While it’s obviously incorporated into the studio’s Iyengar classes, in which students rotate time on the wall, it also makes an appearance in the Core classes. There, students pair the wall with resistance bands for moves like scissor kicks to intensify ab work.

Another new addition to the studio is its state-of-the-art far-infrared heating system for hot yoga classes. Unlike other systems that heat you from the outside-in, Amrita’s emits infrared light waves that heat students from the inside-out. Fancy! The technology is the same as what’s used in infrared saunas, which some (small) studies suggest may have health benefits, including treating high blood pressure, arthritis and more.

Heather says students who haven’t liked other hot-yoga classes find these more tolerable. “The heat doesn’t take your breath away,” she says. “It’s a comforting warmth but not a smoldering heat.” You can also control your own heat, to a point, by positioning yourself under one of the ceiling-mounted panels for more heat or away from them for less. Amrita’s hot yoga classes range from an hour to an hour and a half in length, depending on the time of day. The full schedule is here.