Fitness Friday: Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee With Box + Flow

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Box + Flow is located on Bond Street in NoHo, and offer up the most zen-like adrenaline kick you’ll ever get. And that might be just what’s needed in this crazy time.

As I arrive at the Box + Flow studio, the door states that “everything you need is inside.” Since I am here for a Box + Flow class (and hopefully a good sweat), this couldn’t be truer.

The studio has been around since late 2016 and has been a welcome addition to the evergrowing field of workout classes in NYC. What’s unique about this is the mix of boxing and yoga. You might not at first think of these two as going naturally together, but it actually does work surprisingly well.

“I have been boxing since age 20 and practicing yoga since 15. I needed some more fire to my yoga practice, and maybe in my life,” said Olivia Young, Founder of Box + Flow.

“Boxing gives me strength and confidence, and yoga forces me to really slow down and feel. Yoga lengthens while boxing contracts muscles. Together, they bring balance to my life — physically and mentally, I call it a balanced empowerment, ‘Swagger,'” she added.

It’s located on the second floor and comes fully equipped with mats laid out and boxing bags lined up along a long wall. It’s a dark space without any mirrors, which I’ve personally really grown to really like in workout classes. Nothing worse than being self-conscious about how I look when I’m giving it my all — this is NOT a beauty contest, and I’ve honestly never quite understood how some don’t need a shower after a workout. But I digress.

I find a mat in the room, right next to a wall with the statements, “flow thru the fight, fight thru the flow,” and get myself ready to do just this.

“Life is about transition. We go through ups and downs constantly, but it’s truly about how you handle these transitions — how you flow through the fight. Can you find ease in hard times? Can you find strength and challenge when things become ‘comfortable?'” Young explained about the statements.

Young is teaching the class I’m in, and she does it very, very well. If you’re looking for a workout that will have you busting your butt and pounding out your aggressions — yet centers you, this is it. The class consists of boxing and working you up for the first 35 minutes, and ends with a quick and juicy yoga routine for 17 minutes, that brings you right back down again.

The boxing part is great. Young does a wonderful job of uniting everyone in the class as a team. Throughout the boxing segment, and especially in the freestyle moments where you’re paired up two and two — one holds the bag while the other one goes nutzo, she encourages us both by cheering us on but also urging us to support our partners with shoutouts and encouragement.

“The best people have duality — strength and softness,” said Young about combining boxing and yoga.

“It is about channeling both sides of you. It isn’t about how you look — it is about how you feel. Strong AND soft. No mirrors. No judgment. Just real, authentic, you…giving 100 percent in the challenging (fight) to get 100 percent in the ‘sweetness after the struggle’ (flow),” she said and added, “And no breaks in class because there are no breaks in life.”

The no breaks in class are definitely felt, but the class is over before I know it. Ending it with yoga really does leave a sense of calm. There’s an almost serene feeling in the studio when we wrap up. All of us are tired, sure. We’ve given it our all, but we’re left with a feeling of calm and accomplishment.

And after having experienced it, I can safely say that’s exactly the feeling you’d want to leave a workout with.

If this sounds like a class for you, you can find out more about the classes, prices, and studio on its website.