Now Open: An Inclusive Yoga Studio Hidden Inside a Rose Park Home

Inhale through the nose, and exhale, releasing the tensions of the day. Release your frustration at the traffic that brought you here. As mean thoughts arise of the persistent red Camry that cut you off, simply observe them without judgement and let them go.

This is the power of meditation. For Loft Meditation Yoga owner Bec Hoffman, who has practised yoga for 20 years, pairing the two is “about getting us harmonised for the rest of our life off of the mat”. She encourages both beginners and enthusiasts to join her at Loft, an intimate studio housed in Rose Park.

Hidden on the corner of Hewitt Ave and Winchester Lane, marked only with a simple black sign, you’d almost miss it walking past. The studio is in a residential area, an extension of Hoffman’s home. While it’s now her yoga sanctuary, the space has past lives as an office and a playroom for her kids. A flick of dried paint across the carpet proves this and is all part of the charm of this lived-in studio comfortably fitting 12 to a class.

Loft offers a three-day meditation course involving an hour-long class each day and continued support to encourage participants to keep meditating. The yoga on offer are vinyasa and yin classes as well as hatha yoga, which turns up the heat for a more intense experience. Each class offers modifications and extensions to suit various skill levels.

“It’s not about how good you are at the poses … I’m not going to have you doing handstands. I can’t even do a handstand,” Hoffman tells Broadsheet. “Yoga poses were meant to calm the mind to get you ready to meditate. It’s all about mind at the end of the day but modern yoga has become about flexibility, tights and all these other things.”

Instead, she says to “come in your daggy clothes and just be kind to yourself”. “We're not trying to impress each other, [Loft] is a place about being together and coming back to yourself on the mat.”

The team of instructors each has a passion for the practice, informed by backgrounds in areas including Brazilian dance, acrobatics, and sprint kayaking.

“Everyone has their own style and I love that because people want diversity and will gravitate to the teacher they love,” Hoffman says.

Loft’s offerings are primarily guided by what the class wants, making sure that the experience is supported and calming – and sometimes includes incentivising snacks like bliss balls. In Loft’s future, Hoffman plans to offer community workshops with elements such as sound bowls and aromatherapy. All you need is your water bottle and a willingness to give it a go.

Loft Meditation Yoga
Hewitt Avenue & Winchester Lane, Rose Park

@loft _ meditation _ yoga
loftmeditationyoga.com