Yoga Vida
Yoga has made it to NYC in a big way and to Union Sq. (coincidently named) in an epic way. There are at least 10 studios in a 5 block radius of Union Sq. and in this hot bed of yoga, we have a new debutante studio, Yoga Vida. I learned about it from my friend Yadana, who had spied their $10 special for new students. One week of unlimited yoga for $10 isn’t something i can say no to. So we found ourselves there on a cool Thursday night, looking forward to their 7pm Advanced class.
The studio is just the way it looks like on the website, an easy kind of plush comfort. Equipment so new, you could be the first one using it. Private dressing rooms, and roomy hallways, and well organized props, it’s in a class all its own. I haven’t seen anything this luxe since the opening days of Ishta.Our class was in the smaller of the two studios — which was still a nice size since the main studio was a verifiable ballroom. Our instructor (zoe?) greeted everyone with a smile and exuded a bright kind of quality. She provided clear instructions in an unfaltering voice, even while she was providing deep assists. She watched us with care, and made sure to assist each of the students, a welcomed change from the many studios (also found in union sq) where while instructions are good, connections are missing. While she knew how to assist us, I couldn’t help but feel she was lacking in some confidence with the execution, or maybe I’ve become too use to Kristin’s assist which are actually like mini-deep-tissue massages. Zoe did provide however, some eucalyptus based massaging lotion — and my muscles just about sang for joy at first touch.
It was a good class. I felt it mixed just the amount of detoxification, with enough moderately paced sun salutations to get the blood flowing — remarkable given the class was only an hour. All that said, it felt more like an open level class then an “advanced” class. Not that I was eager to contort myself into an advanced position, especially since I hadn’t practiced in weeks! But I would have appreciated a little more insight into an advanced pose. I understand this is difficult, each class is made up of different students with different abilities and an instructor has to cater to what they have that day. But during training learned that even the most advanced pose is actually made up of basic-and-attainable units, which if you practice enough, will flow into its own kind of melody. Until one day you blossom into the glittering lotus…. or in my case not, but it’s still worth the journey and teachers shouldn’t be afraid to let their students take it.
