It’s a Tuesday afternoon and you’ve just finished a long day at school. You’re ready to relax your mind and move around after seven hours of sitting at a desk. What better way to distract yourself from endless amounts of schoolwork than yoga? 

The talk of the town is Toned Yoga in Lake Bluff, but you’ve also heard of the good ol’ Forever Om Yoga in Lake Forest. While both are great options to break a sweat, there are prominent differences between the two studios.   

Forever Om Yoga

If you’re more interested in traditional hot yoga, Forever Om just might be the place for you. They offer Hot Power Vinyasa, Quick Fix, Flow, and Restore. Although these classes have different names, they usually follow the same format. 

The movements are slower but require enough balance to hold each position. On top of balance, you also need to know vocabulary. The instructors use a variety of unique names for each pose. It can be hard to keep up at first, but once you learn these names, you’ll feel like a pro. 

Forever Om provides a peaceful sanctuary for practicing hot yoga but takes a more simple and traditional approach. Although there are many pros to this, there are a few features that could bother some people. The studio doesn’t have a mirror to help lead yogis through the class, which can be especially frustrating to newcomers. 

Additionally, the rooms are typically close to 100 degrees. Some people can be sensitive to this heat, making it difficult to complete the class without feeling faint. However, you can stop at any time or step out of the studio to cool off in that case.   

Toned Yoga

Since its opening in July 2023, Toned Yoga has done an amazing job of making its customers feel part of a community. It’s not just a quick 45-minute class; you can meet new people, and each instructor encourages you to push past your comfort zone. 

Toned Yoga offers HIIT, Flow, Restore and sound bath, Strength, Move, and their specialty, Tone. These classes are all very different from one another as they have different instructors and follow different formats.  

Most Toned classes tend to be more weight and cardio-based. They provide a variety of light weights to add to your class, making it feel like a workout. The room is heated, but not nearly as hot as Forever Om. Just the perfect amount of heat to get a good sweat.

Maddie Zonino and her husband Rob are the founders of Toned Yoga. Together they have built the best team of instructors: motivating, interactive, and most importantly, sociable.  

Toned Yoga has more of a trendy and modern take on the yoga experience. With a bright and airy studio complete with a plant wall, a big mirror, and a bright neon sign welcoming everyone in, Toned Yoga has a very aesthetic atmosphere, which makes you want to come back every day. 

They have created a variety of comfy apparel. Including sweatshirts, sweatpants, baseball hats, beanies, sports bras, shirts, and sweat towels; it’s hard not to want to represent this studio.

All in all, we prefer Toned Yoga, but recommend that you give both studios a try.