East Village Vinyasa Yoga Studio, $33 Week: Three Jewels

Three Jewels, at 5 E. 3rd St. just off the Bowery in the East Village, teaches vinyasa, ashtanga and alignment classes inside a nonprofit Buddhist center. A 60-minute drop-in costs $30 and a 75-minute class costs $35, but newcomers should start with the unlimited first week for $33. One rule shapes every visit here: the studio does not permit late entry, so arriving even two minutes after the start means waiting for the next slot.

Three Jewels began in 1996 as a simple bookstore, started by the main students of Geshe Michael Roach, described on the history page as the first American Geshe. It still runs as a 501c3 nonprofit, and the anniversary page announces that the studio turns 30 in 2026, marked by a world tour with lead teachers Hector Marcel, Rachel Webb and Sachi Pettit. Very few New York yoga rooms can claim three decades on one mission.

The name comes straight from Buddhism, where the Three Jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, and the FAQ is candid about it: this is an Enlightenment Studio, and the staff really believe in that stuff. Expect a short dharma thought at the start of class, an altar in the room and a schedule that mixes asana with meditation and philosophy evenings. A 2018 EV Grieve post noted there was coffee out front, a small sign of the community-center feel.

The vinyasa menu is unusually specific. Love Yoga is a challenging flow focused on heart openers and backbends. Purify is also challenging, built on long holds. Smile is a fun flow with inversions, Goals works through core, and Bliss is the lightest of the set. Three Jewels Yoga, the house class, follows a set sequence drawn from the Ashtanga primary series, which suits people who like knowing exactly what comes next.

Most classes run 60 minutes, while the Saturday and Sunday 11:30 am Chakra class runs 75. The room is not marketed as heated, so the challenge comes from long holds and backbends rather than temperature. Beginners should pick Bliss or Smile for a first visit, then work up to Purify. The studio itself suggests that complete beginners book a private session before a group class, and that advice is worth taking before a Love Yoga backbend hour.

The schedule is built for people who want the dharma talk and the sweat in one place, and the 1:00 pm weekend meditation sits right between flows so regulars can stay for both. Sachi Pettit, Rachel Webb and Lauren Slavin teach many of the core vinyasa slots. Daniel LaBarbera, Abi Mitchell, Nil Tiberi, Gabriel Merizalde, Kaylin Gibson and Supriya Jain also teach on the current schedule.

Reviews posted in 2026 show the appeal. In March a student named Sally wrote that it is very rare to find a place that brings together meditation, yoga, philosophy and community. In June a reviewer named Kayla singled out the chakra yoga as the reason to keep coming. On October 20, 2026, a student named Erica wrote that a class was so much more than expected. The unwritten rule in the room is quiet: there is a no-phone and no-photography policy during class.

The pricing page lists the $33 unlimited week and a second intro deal of three unlimited in-studio weeks for $75. After that, a five-class pack costs $140 and lasts 30 days, a ten-class pack costs $250 and lasts 60 days, and a twenty-class pack costs $440 and lasts six months. The in-studio unlimited membership is $185 a month with two guest passes, and the annual unlimited membership is $1,850.

The honest catch is the expiry: ten classes in 60 days means practicing more than once a week, so anyone who comes weekly should buy the twenty-pack instead. A 60-minute meditation drop-in costs $25. For travel weeks, the JewelVision streaming membership is $29 a month and a single livestream drop-in is $17, a cheap way to keep a streak alive without paying full studio prices.

Arrive five to ten minutes before class, since the doors effectively close at the start time. Cancel at least two hours ahead for classes and 24 hours ahead for workshops. Classes are nonrefundable, and a no-show costs $10. There are no showers, but there are two bathrooms, and there is no mat storage, so bring your own mat or use one of the studio's Jade mats and props.

For the week of October 19, 2026, Tuesday through Friday classes run at 7:15 am, 9:00 am, 11:30 am, 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm, with a 7:30 pm class on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Monday has only evening classes at 4:30 pm, 6:00 pm and 7:30 pm. Saturday and Sunday start at 10:00 am, followed by the 11:30 am Chakra class, a 1:00 pm meditation and two late-afternoon sessions.

The 6:00 pm weekday class is the commuter favorite, so book it as soon as the schedule opens. If it fills, the 7:30 pm slot or the 7:15 am class the next morning are the realistic alternatives. Wednesday at 7:30 pm is Yin rather than vinyasa, and Thursday at 7:30 pm is meditation and dharma, so skip those evenings if a sweaty flow is the goal.

Walk one block north to the Merchant's House Museum at 29 East 4th Street, between Bowery and Lafayette, a preserved 19th-century family home that makes a calm post-class detour. Then head back south to the Liz Christy Community Garden at the northeast corner of Bowery and Houston, the garden often called the first community garden in New York, for a quiet bench before the subway.

The F train at Second Avenue and Houston is about two blocks away. The 6 at Bleecker Street and the B, D, F and M at Broadway-Lafayette are short walks west. The studio publishes its schedule on the website and takes bookings online, so reserve before leaving home. Bring water and a layer for after class, because the room cools quickly once a backbend-heavy hour ends.