--- title: What is Yoga Sculpt? A class guide from Itacaré · Espaço Leve Alma description: Yoga Sculpt is a yoga class with flow, music and light hand weights. What happens in the hour, where it comes from, and what to bring to the deck. url: https://espacolevealma.com.br/blog/what-is-yoga-sculpt/ language: en alternate_pt-BR: https://espacolevealma.com.br/pt/blog/o-que-e-yoga-sculpt/ --- [Home](https://espacolevealma.com.br/) › [Blog](https://espacolevealma.com.br/blog/) Blog # What is Yoga Sculpt? A class guide from Itacaré Yoga Sculpt is a yoga class where you move through the poses on the breath, with music on and a light weight in each hand for parts of the hour. CorePower Yoga started it in the United States in 2004. In Itacaré, it runs on the Espaço Leve Alma deck on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 to 10:30. Last checked 12 October 2026 · [Leia em português](https://espacolevealma.com.br/pt/blog/o-que-e-yoga-sculpt/) ## The short version It's yoga with the heat turned up. The poses are the ones you'd find in any vinyasa class: sun salutations, warriors, plank, downward dog. The difference is that for some stretches of the hour you hold a small weight in each hand. The breath still sets the pace, the music stays on, and you will sweat. It isn't a gym class with a stretch tacked on at the end. It's a yoga class from start to finish, and the weights are one more prop, like a block or a strap. ## What happens in the hour Class on the deck is 60 minutes. The format, as CorePower has taught it for years, usually runs in this order: 1. **Breath and warm-up.** A few breaths to land on the mat, then sun salutations to wake everything up. 2. **Flow.** A sequence of poses you repeat a few times, a little quicker each round. 3. **Weights.** The weights come in for short blocks, always from a yoga pose. Arms, legs, core, one at a time. 4. **Slowing down.** The pace drops, the weights go back to the corner of your mat, and the poses get longer. 5. **Final rest.** Lying down, eyes closed, a few minutes of doing nothing. On the deck, the sea is usually louder than the music by this point. All the way through, the teacher calls the options out loud: where to go easy, where to go further. You pick yours. ## Where Yoga Sculpt comes from CorePower Yoga opened its first studio in Denver, Colorado, in 2002 and now has more than 220 locations across the United States. In a 2022 Yoga Journal piece, CEO Niki Leondakis said the company launched Yoga Sculpt in 2004 because students asked for it: they wanted vinyasa and weights in the same class. It stuck. CorePower runs a separate 50-hour training just for the Yoga Sculpt method, apart from its 200- and 300-hour power vinyasa trainings. The class's closest relative is Power Yoga, which spread across the US in the 1990s. That story is in [Power Vinyasa vs Vinyasa vs Power Yoga](https://espacolevealma.com.br/blog/power-vinyasa-vs-vinyasa-vs-power-yoga/). Mayra Lay, who founded Espaço Leve Alma, trained at CorePower Yoga in Nashville. That's the school the class came from, and today the deck runs the only public Yoga Sculpt class in Itacaré. ## What's different on the deck In the US, CorePower teaches Sculpt in a heated room. In Itacaré, the morning does that job: the deck is covered and open air, under the trees at Pousada Tikuna in Bairro Concha. CorePower's own advice is that the weights are always optional, and that on your first class you go at your own pace and rest when you need to. Same idea here: the options are called out loud, and stopping to breathe is part of the class. ## Who it suits - People who already do vinyasa and want a class with more sweat. - People who like music in their yoga. - Surfers: Yoga Sculpt fits the flat days, and [Power Vinyasa](https://espacolevealma.com.br/classes/) fits the mornings after a session. - People who have never done yoga. The class is taught with options, and if you tell the teacher before you start, they'll keep an eye on you. If that's your question, read [Can a beginner do Power Yoga?](https://espacolevealma.com.br/blog/can-a-beginner-do-power-yoga/). ## What to bring - Water. More than you think. - A towel. If you sweat a lot, bring two. - Clothes you can move in. Mats, blocks and the hand weights are already on the deck. That's the whole list. ## How to book Yoga Sculpt runs Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 to 10:30. Classes take up to 10 people, so book ahead on the [class calendar](https://espacolevealma.com.br/book/). You pay by credit card online. To pay in cash or by Pix, message the studio on WhatsApp. If a class is full, join the waitlist on the same calendar. First time at the studio? The [first visit](https://espacolevealma.com.br/visit/) page covers how to find the deck and what to expect. ## Questions **Do I need experience with weights to do Yoga Sculpt?** No. The weights are light and only come in for short parts of the class. If it's your first time, tell the teacher before you start. **Can I do Yoga Sculpt and Power Vinyasa in the same week?** Yes. Power Vinyasa is Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:00 to 9:00, and Saturday, 8:00 to 9:30, and Yoga Sculpt is Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30 to 10:30. Passes work for any class in the week. **Is the class in English or Portuguese?** English, Portuguese or both, depending on the group. **What if it rains?** The deck is covered, so light rain doesn't stop class. In heavy rain, any change goes out on WhatsApp and Instagram before class. ## On the deck Power Vinyasa and Yoga Sculpt, six mornings a week, in Portuguese or English. [See the classes](https://espacolevealma.com.br/classes/) [Your first class](https://espacolevealma.com.br/visit/) [Book a class](https://espacolevealma.com.br/book/) ## Sources - [Yoga Journal, "I Work for Yoga Journal, and I Go to Yoga Sculpt Classes. Here's Why" (2022)](https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/types-of-yoga/yoga-sculpt) - [Wikipedia, CorePower Yoga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CorePower_Yoga) - [CorePower Yoga, "Yoga Sculpt: What Is It and Am I Ready?"](https://www.corepoweryoga.com/blog/yoga-practice/yoga-sculpt-what-is-it-and-am-i-ready) - [Bustle, a CorePower Yoga Sculpt class review (2022, updated 2024)](https://www.bustle.com/wellness/corepower-yoga-sculpt-review) [All articles](https://espacolevealma.com.br/blog/)