Very Intense • 11.17.09
The first time I encountered David’s Multi-Intenso class it was at Kula Yoga. And as you may recall I’ve had some mixed experiences with Kula Yoga, so not surprisingly I had a mixed reaction to David’s multi-intenso. It was unlike any yoga class I had experienced. There was little warm up, and not much explanation in getting into the poses, and we got into some very serious poses, like handstands (instead of downdogs) during sun salutations, etc,.. And while I was intimidated just that he offered it, it was even more overwhelming to see that nearly everyone in the class took him up on his offer. So there I was the lone non-handstander in a room so crowded our mats were touching, and so hot I could see the steam rise off of my neighbor’s shoulders.
Eventually, I was so out-paced my spirit didn’t try to keep up anymore, I did the motions (I could) half-heartedly. Panting my way through it, I finally understood all those reviews I had read that Kula (one of the only studios) offered *truly* advanced classes. I had been to two prior and while they were also intense, I wasn’t writing home about them. So it with much interest when my friend Desmond (who had taken the class with me) noticed that the same teacher was teaching in Shala, but this class was labelled intermediate / advanced. We wondered how he would modify it to make it accessible to intermediates, and would it be the same format? As in sanskrit and description light, but body-warpingly challenging.
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