With all the hustle and bustle on the outside, you might not imagine you’d find a peaceful oasis in the small green bungalow next door from the 45th Street Clinic. Yet once inside, Sutra Yoga and Wellness Center is warm and relaxing. Even on the dreariest Seattle days, the plant-filled room with brightly colored walls and their signature painted tree helps to lift my spirits and renew my senses, while the warm air takes the damp chill out of my bones.
Sutra Yoga and Wellness Center is owned by Amber Tande and Colin Patterson, who, up until last year owned Rain City Yoga in the U. District. Colin’s chef background first led them to open Sutra Vegetarian Cuisine in the old Asteroid Café space last year; and when the bungalow next door became available, they closed Rain City, and transformed the Wallingford space into a one-room studio to hold a variety of yoga classes during the week.
All of the teachers at Sutra embody a strong spiritual side to their practice, and strive to incorporate their spiritual teachings within each class. For me, it’s like kicking the stress out to the curb and walking away after class feeling lighter and so much more in-tune with myself.
Unlike Bikram Yoga, which is a practice that involves a room heated up to 105 degrees, Sutra holds “Surya” heated strength based yoga throughout the week, where the temperature in the studio ranges from 90-95 degrees. The difference–for me at least–is that their Surya class is a lot more comfortable. It’s practiced at a moderate pace, with very little flow, so that you sweat, but it’s not that unbearably nasty, slick sweat. Meanwhile, the room still provides enough warmth to the body for deeper stretching.
“Colin and I really love a warm class, but the way hot (Bikram) yoga is taught is so aggressive and doesn’t speak to spirit very much,” Amber explains.
Sutra’s Surya class is great for strengthening core muscles as well as targeting the muscles in the upper and lower body. As a runner, I love taking the class the day before my weekly long run, because it enables me to really stretch my calves and hamstrings, and it opens up my hip flexors. The practice also focuses on breathing (oftentimes with audible “Ujjayi” breath sounds) which serves to quiet the mind and create more awareness of the body.
For those who like to practice yoga with more flow, Sutra offers Prana Vinyasa classes, during which the temperature inside of the studio is set between 80-85 degrees. The practice of “Prana” (which means life force, or breath) and “Vinyasa” (meaning flow, or movement), work together to produce more internal heat. So, despite the lower temperature in the room, you sweat a lot more from the faster sequencing. There are two levels of Prana Vinyasa classes offered at Sutra: Level 1-2 is great for those who are new to yoga, or have been practicing at a moderate pace. Level 2-3 is for those who are comfortable with yoga–and let me just say that despite my many years of dabbling with yoga, the Level 2-3 Prana Vinyasa class was super intense. I worked really hard the entire 90 minutes, but I felt great afterwards.
Sutra also holds weekly Yin and Meditation classes, on Sundays. The class is designed to quiet the mind, holding each pose for up to 10 minutes, followed by seated meditation. Throughout the year, they offer weekend retreats and specialized classes that feature elements like detoxification, meditation, and nutrition.
Sutra is located at 1621 N. 45th Street. Check out their schedule of classes and rates on their website. They now offer childcare during their Monday and Tuesday 12:15 classes (one is Surya and the other is Prana Vinyasa). Child care is drop-in for just $5.