OUT AND ABOUT
Business Briefs by Sarah Payne
Visit Yoga Heights for Unique Classes
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ith a variety of styles including vinyasa, yin, power, kids, aerial and prenatal yoga, Yoga Heights has something for everyone. Owner and founder Jess Pierno moved to DC for graduate school and was working in a government office when she discovered yoga as a student. She took a teacher training course to learn about the “full picture” of the practice of yoga and fell in love with the teaching aspect. Pierno opened her first location nearly eight years ago and said she loves her work and the change of pace it offers. “The instant gratification that comes from teaching yoga is amazing,” Pierno said. “You teach and immediately those people who were in front of you for that Yoga Heights owner Jess Pierno has brought aerial yoga to Shaw. class have a little bit betPhoto: Sandi Gohn, ter day, feel a little bit less courtesy Yoga Heights. stressed and feel a little bit healthier. It’s very different from working in a government office where our teaching team is diverse and represents all the things move very slowly and it just really kind of people of DC. That’s been a real focus for us.” spoke to me on a lot of different levels. So I decided Their newest location in Shaw also offers aerial to dive in.” yoga classes, where participants can learn moves, Diversity not only in the styles of yoga offered, deepen stretches and try something new in a silk but also in their instructors was key for the studios, hammock suspended from the ceiling. According Perino said. to Pierno, Yoga Heights is the only studio in the “We’ve really worked to hire a fantastic team District to offer aerial yoga. who have training in the different areas,” Pierno “It’s a really nice complement to other forms noted. “We’ve also really worked to make sure that of exercise or other forms of yoga, because you’re
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utilizing your muscles in a different way,” Pierno observed. “Plus, it’s just really fun to swing, and play and flip upside down and do tricks.” Pierno wants the community to know that their studios are open and safe for practice. The studios have taken several precautions, including requiring proof of a full COVID-19 vaccine series, including a booster shot, for all students and teachers in the studio. Additionally, the studios offer both mask-optional and mask-required classes and several outdoor class options. Drop-in classes are $24 and the studio offers several monthly packages with reduced rates. They also offer a workstudy program that provides unlimited monthly classes to students who dedicate three or more hours each week to staffing the desk or cleaning the studio. Yoga Heights has three locations throughout the District, including Yoga Heights Georgia Ave. (3506 Georgia Ave. NW ), Yoga Heights Takoma (255 Carroll St. NW ) and their newest location, Yoga Heights Shaw (905 U St. NW ). The studios are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, with instructors offering approximately 70 classes each week. You can learn more about Yoga Heights and view their schedule of classes at yogaheightsdc.com.
