Posts filed under 'Yoga Studio Reviews'
Floor temperature was not hot enough
Last night was a great turnout for the Hot Yoga of Mill Creek studio. I believe about 20 plus people showed up. There was plenty of room for everyone, and the space looked great.
I think it will take time to get our groove down. Checking in students, gathering all their information (setting up files for them), selling packages, talking about our schedule, selling water, yoga mats, and towels.
We only have mirrors on two walls right now. Ideally we need another mirror on the east wall. I also think the mirrors should have come down closer to the floor, but I think this is something we can get used to.
The heat was great. The one thing I noticed during practice is when we transitioned to the floor. It felt 20% cooler once we laid down on our mats. This will be adjusted by tomorrow night’s class.
Jen was our Bikram instructor and she was funny, lighthearted, and made the new students (which was a good handful) feel welcome to their first experience of hot yoga. I was in the front row with the owner, Rachel. We were getting our workout on and it was such a good one!
Tomorrow night is our second class and I have a feeling it will get better as we go on. If you are reading this and considering attending our class, please do!
We are about making students feel welcome, supporting your yoga journey and whatever weight loss goals you have, we want you to have fun and let go of the rest of your life when you spend 90 minutes with us.
We hope to see you very soon.
Namaste.
Add comment April 17, 2008
Review: Hot Yoga of Woodinville
I was able to catch the 7:30-9:00 Power Vinyasa class at Hot Yoga of Woodinville last night. I was looking forward to this class knowing that I will be teaching it soon once our Mill Creek Studio will be opening next month.
This studio is located right in the heart of downtown Woodinville. It is in a small strip mall area with plenty of parking. It took me 20 minutes to drive there from my house.
As I walked through the door, I noticed the lady at the counter was the same one as Hot Yoga of Kirkland, I learned that her name is Jen. She seemed in a bit of a hurry, and she didn’t recognize me from last Saturday’s practice. I really didn’t expect her to.
It was cool in the front area, and tidy. They had a shoe rack where people can place their shoes before walking throught the studio. They also had signs up that asked students to make sure their feet were clean. I found that most people took their shoes off before they walked back to the changing area. Like most studios, they had a men and women’s changing area. I like this one because they had a rack and clothes hooks to hang up clothing. Many studios don’t really have an area to place belongings, so students are left to stack their things wherever they could find space.
The cost for a drop in is $15, which is the rate I paid. I found out that the introductory special for first time students was $35 for unlimited first month. That is a great deal! I decided to pay the drop in rate first, because I didn’t know if I would like it. I wanted to make the decision after I took the class.
I found my spot in the practice room before I took off my clothes. There weren’t many people in there yet but it was still pretty early. After I stripped my sweats off, I fell in line for the bathroom. Seems like most students try to do this before class. It was a long line and only one bathroom for both men and women. At least it was in the same building.
Once I got into the practice room, it had already filled. I knew this would be another super hot practice. Once we started moving, I knew the heat created would make a great workout.
Most of the students were women, but there were a couple men as well. The room was full but we weren’t packed in like sardines. I was comfortable with how full itwas. It’s fun practicing with a big community, so long as we’re not flicking our sweat onto each other!
I laid in savasana to come into my breath. I could hear faint talking in the room and there was some music playing in the background as well. I liked it, it was soothing yoga music.
I opened up my eyes when I thought it was time for our class to start. Jo, the instructor, walked in just a couple minutes later. She had a nice, soothing voice and welcomed everyone to the class. There were some teenagers who walked into the studio when she was speaking to us. She stepped out briefly, greeted them, then made room for them in our class. They were first timers, and they looked eager to try to the class.
Jo first asked us to watch her as she explained chatturanga, or push up. Then she wanted to show us what our vinyasa would look like. This is the flow where we are in standing pose, then come down to do our pushup, upward dog, then downward dog. Since this is the flow we do throughout our entire practice, I thought it was good to go over our form. I would do the same in my class if I was instructing.
We started out in savasana as she explained ujayii breathing. This is the type of breathing we do during our practice. It is a faint audible breath that stems from the back of the throat and sounds like a quiet snore. We practiced this while she prepared us for our practice. I liked this part of the class. It is meditative and intentional, and sets us up for how we are going to do in the next 90 minutes.
The next portion was our flow. She took us through this slowly at first, then she added on as we completed each vinyasa. Since her teaching style is pretty similar to mine, I thought she was great! She gave great instruction, and took the time to adjust students who needed additional help.
The standing series was challenging. With a packed room, the heat was intense. My sweat was getting into my eyes and I only pulled my hair back with a headband. I didn’t tie it back into a ponytail like I usually do, so my eyes stung a bit. ‘I really should have washed my mascara off’, is what I was thinking. Note to self, ‘no make up whatsoever’. Plus my hair was an afro. Another note to self, ‘Not pretty. Tie your whip back!’.
The balancing series was my favorite, like it usually is. With a carpeted floor, it is somewhat difficult because it’s as if it is almost too ‘cushy’, but I did the best I could, and I did very well.
Once we got on our mats and did our floor work, I was happy. I was sweating massively and I drank all my water before the class ended.
When it was time to take final savasana, I was elated. It was a great class. Jo was a great instructor and the class was so well balanced. At one point, she encouraged everyone to try “bird of paradise” pose, and everyone tried it at least once. She was very enthusiastic and praised us for getting out of our comfort zone.
I laid in savasana for about 5 minutes before I got up. Most students had already left the room at this point. I took my time to change into my dry sweats.
Once I got up front, Jo told me I did a great job tonight. I explained to her that I am an instructor as well and that I thought she taught an awesome class. I decided to sign up for the one month unlimited so she took an additional $20 from me and that was it!
I really enjoyed my practice at the Hot Yoga of Woodinville studio. It is a clean, well kempt studio offering classes everyday and evening.
Definitely a strong recommendation. Water was available to purchase for $2 and mat rentals were $2 as well. Non skid mats were selling for about $60-65 and regular mats were $20 on up.
If you live around the Woodinville area and are curious to try this studio, do so. You won’t be disappointed.
Namaste.
Add comment March 19, 2008
Review: Hot Yoga of Laurelhurst
HOT Yoga of Laurelhurst is located in the heart of the Laurelhurst neighborhood in Seattle. If you are a local Seattleite, you will know where it is.
I took the 9:30 morning class, making sure to be well hydrated before I arrived. I came appropriately dressed in my wicking fabric shorts and sportsbra, along with my own yoga mat and towel. I arrived 15 mintues early, just like the website suggested and I checked with the lady who was sitting at the reception desk. I signed in, was asked if this was my first bikram experience. I said, ”No, but this is my first time here.” She explained that if the practice became too difficult for me, that I can lay down at any time and rest when I needed to. She also reminded me that I could not take a sip of water until after the 3rd pose.
She offered me an introductory special of coming to the studio unlimited times for one week, for only $15. I thought, what a deal! So I gave her my $15, signed my waiver form and stripped down to my shorts and bra.
Not all Hot Yoga studios are alike. Some have hardwoods, some have carpet. The traditional bikram practice calls for carpet.
As I walked into the carpeted ’silent room’, 2 ladies were in meditation (savasana or corpse pose) on their mats on top of their towels. It is pretty standard that each student have their towel and bottled water. The warmth was not overpowering in the room. The mirrors on each wall were spotless and streak free. The silence was peaceful, all I could hear was the gentle vibration coming from the heaters above. I layed down on my yoga mat and towel, trying to clear my head as I took savasana. I took a good whiff of the room and decided they have a good way of keeping any sweaty aroma from filling the room. In fact, it smelled of mild baby powder.
I could hear students coming into the room as I kept my eyes closed, trying to relax each muscle in my body. One student “snapped” her mat open and it started me, most times I find students don’t snap theirs in order to let other students in meditation to continue their relaxation.
I don’t know how many students were in the room, but the instructor walked in and said “good morning”, and I sat up. It was the lady who checked me in at the front desk. She had taken off her comfy thick sweater and had her hair pulled back with a wide headband and wore black yoga pants and a tank top. A few ladies had yoga pants on and I don’t know how they do it. The heat was really cranking now and one of the gals aimed the heater away from us, towards the ceiling. I’m not even working yet and I am noticeably warm. I would hate to feel my pants sticking to my legs.
There were about 10 students in the class, all shapes and sizes, at different stages in their practice. The instructor was quite serious. She didn’t want us to fidget at all, no ‘extra movements’ is what she said. Many times throughout the practice she told us to “Be still, be still, and hold. Don’t move.” She pushed us to our best ability to prolong our hold for each pose. I guess I kind of like the militant approach. She gave clear, concise instruction from alignment to hand and foot placement, and to where we should feel our weight the most. She also set us up for our next pose. She didn’t smile once, and she didn’t say “Good” very often either. But we worked hard and we each finished in our own pools of sweat. We all got what we wanted, 90 minutes of full body conditioning. It was invigorating.
As we all took our time in savasana, the instructor told us that she would see us on our way out. I was the second to the last person to leave the studio. In the front room, people put clothes on top of what they were wearing. I personally don’t see how people do that. I was soaked. I knew that if I rung out my clothes, there would be a small pool of sweat that dripped onto the floor.
I made sure to bring a change of bra and panties with me. There were curtains hung up on one side of the front room, one side said ‘yogini’ and the other read, ‘yogi’. I changed on my side, thankful to get out of my soaked workout gear. I realized how hungry I was.
As I was gathering my things, the instructor reminded me I could come to the studio as many times as I would like until Wednesday of next week. I may try the Power Yoga class on Sunday, we’ll see.
The Hot Yoga of Laurelhurst studio was a decent experience. It was clean, offered students the option to rent a mat if they did not bring their own, as well as puchase bottled water (for $1) if they did not bring their own.
Aside from the instructor not smiling at me or anyone else, I definitely would recommend the studio for anyone looking for a traditional bikram studio, no fluff, no extra stuff, just what you want, and exactly what you pay for.
Add comment March 14, 2008
