Yoga is Golden and Good for You

Meet Placid Bone, MD, owner and Tina Paul, co-ordinator, of the Golden Om Yoga Studio on Lafayette Avenue between Throop and Marcus Garvey.

Placid Bone

Placid began with a vision of a yoga studio in Bed-Stuy where people could walk to class and then go back home, just like everyone else—no need to take a bus or subway to a different neighborhood. Golden Om is the embodiment of her vision. The studio first opened in August 2007. It started small, initially one evening class per week. Now there are classes Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. The type of yoga taught is beginner to intermediate level vinyasa flow, which focuses on bringing posture and breath together.

Placid Bone is originally from Guyana and grew up in the United States. She first studied yoga through Yoga Hari of the Shivananda line, a family associate. She has been practicing yoga on her own since age 13. She now practices emergency medicine in Brooklyn. “Western medicine is good for acute care,” she notes. She hopes that easy access to a yoga studio in the neighborhood will encourage residents to look after their health before they end up in the ER.

Tina Paul in Golden Om studio

Tina Paul’s family is from India. She first took yoga in college and was hooked. She tried out many types of yoga – Bikram, Raja, Shivananda. As she got deeper into her own practice, she decided to become a yoga teacher and studied with John Tamayo in Manhattan. She graduated in May 2007 and began teaching in apartments and gave classes on Saturdays to friends. She and Placid found each other via Craig’s List and she started teaching at Golden Om. Her dream and desire is to teach in the community full-time.

Placid hopes eventually to have classes 6-7 days a week, including more morning classes and workshops, as well as classes for children. She and her teachers have a strong desire to give back to the community. As a doctor, Placid is aware that this community suffers from a lot of chronic health problems that can be alleviated with yoga. Meditation helps her in a stressful job and she wants to start a meditation class as well.

The studio is located on the top floor on Placid’s brownstone. Initially she and her partner rented it to Katrina survivors, who stayed for a year. Then she decided she would use it to house her dreamed-of yoga studio. The cleanly renovated space has golden ochre walls and receives a ton of light from windows and skylights. It’s a serene, relaxing place to take a class. And you can walk there!

• $10 per class, first class free
• Yoga mats provided
• Babysitting available (24 hour notice required)
• 778 Lafayette Avenue, 718-604-9291
• goldenomyoga.com

Entrance to Golden Om on Lafayette Avenue