So I guess Pigeon pose is now a beginning-of-yoga-class type of pose. I just think it’s pigeon out of place… i.e. POOP. No, Jk!
At Burning Man, there are not really any trashcans, but everyone is concerned with keeping the temporary desert home clean, so any time there is trash on the ground, it is referred to as “Matter Out of Place” i.e. “MOOP”. eeehhh??? eehh???
I know what kind of Yoga class I love, and it’s really specific. It’s not for relaxing!
When I’m at home in LA, my mom and I go to this place right by our house that I discovered from a *gasp* week free trial! Everything totally meshed. GREAT music that’s loud and unapologetic. Sometimes we sing during class! Anyway, its sweaty and raw and sometimes kind of emotional, but that’s what I need in my yoga classes.
After working at a yoga studio up here (so I could take free classes 😉 ) I realized that when I take yoga here, it’s for relaxation. I live in the land of stressed out computer folks, I mean, the other day I went to the hand clinic in the heart on silicon valley because I might be getting carpal tunnel. I mean, where ELSE are people on computers this much?? sheesh.
Anyway, my hunt for the perfect fit took me to a place I had tried out, and liked at home in LA. I tried it again up here, because my friend teaches there (although I didn’t take her class), and because my best friend goes to the one in LA and loves it. I was like, perfect! I can use my reasonably priced member ship ANYWHERE I GO!
Studio: Corepower Yoga
Dec 27, 2014, afternoon
Class Taken: C1.5: Gentle Yoga, lightly heated for beginners (I chose this because I’m not used to heated… then again, turning up the heat doesn’t automatically make things more challenging in this case)
Dec 29, 2014, afternoon
Class Taken: C2: Heated Power Yoga
First impressions:
Young and hip, fitness minded, definitely new crop of instructors who are just setting out on their teaching lives. reminds me of this elephant journal article that tells yoga teachers 200 RYT isn’t enough training, and they should all stop teaching right now. LOL! (seriously thought, it’s a life’s work!)
The C1 class was okay, the teacher was using a script, refer to above….!
The C2 class was okay, I was just like…So, it’s warm in here, but these poses are not very challenging, is the heat really supposed to make it harder? Because it’s not.
(Then my mom would tell me, you need to take a harder class then!)
Here’s the REAL DEAL:
My beef with yoga, other than my favorite studio, is that the teachers tell us to do the poses and use the same terms to describe the feelings in the poses. “open your chest to the sky” “reach, create length and space” how??? Like Pema Chodron says about telling people to relax. Uhm, I’m in a yoga class to learn how to relax, but it’s not because you’re telling me to. How about you tell me what my body needs to do in order to find relaxation. AYYYYYYY!!! It just feels like a farce.
And the music. Like, I love oldies, and I love music from all over the world, but I love the fusion of loud music and the deep breathing. It was just too gentle for me at the time!
Will I go back? Maybe if it’s free? It’s just so frustrating to be doing something in my free time that isn’t exactly what I want. But maybe the “yoga” lesson is that I need to make the best of the situation, or just not spend my free time/my work out “me” time somewhere that doesn’t speak to my soul…
