Genesis Tree of Life

I loved going to this yoga studio. I loved Yogi Rene gentle yoga class on Sunday morning but the weather started getting bad and I live all the way in Farrockaway Queens. It’s a 30 minute drive to the studio and 10 minutes to warm up my car plus 10 plus minutes to find parking so I would have to leave my house at 8:45am for get to a 10am class. I just couldn’t do it anymore but as soon as it gets warmer Im coming back :-) Please try this yoga studio the employees are beautiful and welcoming. The studio is clean. I had no complaints but my personal ones of living too far away.

I have been coming to Tree of Life for over 7 years now, it is a spiritual gem of Forest hills. Rene David Alkalai is the main yoga teacher here and his and his wife are the heart of this place. I love David’s gentle class, but there are all levels of yoga classes being offered at the center. I especially like the monthly Kirtan, that happens every second Saturday of the month, where David shares his wisdom with the group, we meditate and after we share vegan food, potluck!

When I I first went to genesis yoga I had a very bad pain on my rightside, doctor did so much test didn’t know what was wrong with me, I went to geneis yoga and I was surprise that after 2 – 3 session that pain went away and I was feeling so good in my body. I would recommend geneis tree of life, I look for to go every Tuesday morning it sued me and help me relax. i went this morning I feel great. My instructor spend extra time on the yoga sission and listen to my question I might have, thanks geneis tree of life yoga

Since my initial review I have cooled considerably on the owners (in fact, David often made me feel uncomfortable). Apparently there was some dispute between David and Shoshana that resulted in her class being canceled. This then turned into David trying to come up with a new dance class to fill the slot. He called me to tell me that he was bringing in a Bollywood dance teacher and I explained that I specifically was attending Shoshana’s class for advanced belly dance technique, so Bollywood doesn’t interest me. He tried to convince me that it’s still exercise and it should be good — um, no, I don’t dance for exercise, I dance for creative release on an advanced level. He didn’t seem to really care. I’m fairly certain he has the dance classes just to fill studio time and get some extra cash, so picking something appropriate for the repeat customers is not high on the priority list.
It looks like he now has a belly dance teacher… but for a beginner’s class. Guess I won’t be using the remaining 3 classes in my class pack!

All of the classes that I have taken here have been great – each instructor is very different and offer varying styles of yoga – all of which emphasize health and never to go to a pose that hurts. They offer a myriad of classes, all which look like a lot of fun. The students there are also really lovely – from what I’ve seen they’re there for yoga – to learn and practice. I want to go every day – which leads to my only issue with GTOL – they require you to sign up for classes/​workshops online, and if a certain amount of people don’t sign up the class is cancelled. If you look on their schedule online, sometimes all you see is a big red ‘Cancelled’ blob, and it’s pretty discouraging. This past week, there have been a few days where there is only one yoga class offered for the entire day. I’m not sure if they need to bring in some more instructors, some more students, or what, but as much as I love this studio and its teachers, I may have to go somewhere else that I can rely on to hold classes. It’s kind of a Catch-​22 thing – I want to give them my money and support, but the cancelling of classes is not allowing me to.

I’d found out about this yoga studio a long time ago by word of mouth over on Austin Street. Not through advertising. But more recently, I came upon the Meetup meditation group that is run by Genesis Tree of Life. I fell in love with that group. They have had the potlucks I was looking for and a great attitude around enjoying life, food and kirtan. They are now pioneering a Laughter Yoga program in the area.
Later, I tried out the style of yoga that their studio offers. This is a mild, but ever-​changing hatha practice. This yoga is derived from the old school – highly contemplative and mellow, and yet physically challenging. It features small, intimate studio spaces and lots of personal attention. Edita can be teaching in a mixed level format, wherein absolute beginners could practice with experienced intermediate level practitioners. Brigitte is alignment-​oriented and you will wind up finding your edge in the most fundamental of poses!
There is no room here for the before-​class intimidating, competitive, show-​offy vibe like I see elsewhere … There are no rococo dharma talks … and there are no teachers paying attention to just the future yoga rock stars …
The expiration date on the class pack may not work all the time with how often I could get to this studio, but they are home-​practitioner-​friendly.
This is yoga just like yoga class used to be … classes unlike other yoga studios in the area with their trendy-​wannabe yogis. Unlike many like me who are over 45 years of age, I HAD been in a yoga class 20 years ago – and I DO know the difference …