Skateboarding Crossed With Yoga? This Brooklyn Studio is Rolling With It

The golden-haired skater girls and swerving longboarders filtering through our feed courtesy of Vogue.com’s Skate Week have put us in the mood to shred, but the thought of gliding along New York City’s crooked sidewalks at the ripe old age of [redacted] is a daunting one. Fortunately, there’s a cult Brooklyn studio that takes an easy, almost spiritual approach, rooted in yoga and all but designed for wary adults.

Called SkateYogi, it’s the pet project of Kevin Banahan, who, three years ago, taught his first adult session at Urban Asanas’s Crown Heights yoga studio. It was there that Banahan had developed his own practice and was first inspired to blend both disciplines. “At their hearts, they have a lot in common—this idea of moving meditation,” Banahan says. “The same flow state you get from asanas, you get from skateboarding, where you feel fully present.” Now, in a Park Slope space shared with Skate Brooklyn’s gear shop, crowds of late-20-to-40-somethings gather to find that shared focus.

Classes include tai chi– and yoga-inspired stretches, stance and board basics, and a section dedicated to different techniques, from kick turns to carving to dropping onto the ramp. “The tricks are a challenge to help you get used to being on the board,” Banahan says. Then there are the physical benefits—the core-focused balance work and cardio—and movement patterns that carry over from yoga, as well. “For example, when you push off the board with one leg, you’re in Warrior One, and when you get on the board for stability, you shift to Warrior Two,” he says. “Yogis get that right away, the pivoting and shifting of alignment.” When put that way, the often extreme sport starts to sound a bit more peaceful—accessible, even. Why not go for a spin?

Meet Ko Hyojoo, the South Korean Longboarding Sensation:

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