Guru to Naomi Watts, Jennifer Aniston and Christy Turlington leads trend in spiritual workouts
Taryn Toomey, former fashion executive for Ralph Lauren and Dior, delivers popular new wellness workouts that target the body, mind and soul
It would be easy to brush off fitness guru Taryn Toomey’s The Class as another hippie trend, but you’d miss the magic. (She sprinkled crushed crystals underneath the studio floors, which she says is designed to draw out energy.)
You’d also miss stargazing at celeb devotees like Naomi Watts, Jennifer Aniston and supermodel Christy Turlington Burns.
Within minutes, the music swells, the mirrors in the 85-degree heated room begin to fog and sweaty ponytails come undone as participants perform five gruelling, uninterrupted minutes of squat jumps while Toomey unleashes occasional expletive-laced insights.
“We’re really using the physical body as a metaphor to deal with what’s out there,” said Toomey, a former fashion executive for Ralph Lauren and Dior, who opened a luxe studio in Tribeca in January.
The goal of her 75-minute class is to train the mind to create new ways to respond — rather than react in the moment — to challenging external triggers. Other spiritual workouts gaining popularity around the US include the intenSati Method, Qoya and Equinox’s Headstrong. Yoga and tai chi have drawn from these principles for years, but a new crop of workouts includes more cardio and strength-training moves as many fitness buffs seek more than a six-pack from their workouts.
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Toomey leaves a moment at the end of each song to stop the physical movement and encourage participants to reflect. “How are you feeling, not what are you thinking?” she asks the class.
Headstrong uses high-intensity interval training and changing stimuli to challenge the body and brain. The first three sections of the class focus on stretching, agility and intensity; the class ends with a 15-minute guided meditation.
Qoya founder Rochelle Schieck incorporates lots of free movement into her women-only workout that refers to “movement as medicine.” It’s the least physically challenging of the bunch and is good for beginners, but it has a powerful emotional takeaway.