Heart Full

A couple days ago I wrote about the Shala calling its classes good but “not that challenging”. That may have been a pre-mature assessment given I hadn’t had Kelly Morris’ class. Apparently her classes were so good, she could summon the winds of changed opinions with one namaste. True story.

Forces conspired against me to make it to her class, between last minute changes at work and subway delays I knew I was going to just make it. My heart sank as I saw the line to get in was creeping down the stairs and I was the last one on it. A few more trickled in after, but that was of little comfort as seemingly everyone in line behind me had a friend who was already signed (or in line ahead of me). They silently slinked up the line ahead of me (though we all knew they just arrived), and whispered to their friend, who made room for them. Others circumvented us in more indirect methods, they got their already signed in friends to “put down” a mat for them, or sometimes the friends themselves offered to find them a spot and they accepted. I wondered what had happened to their basic manners, a line is there for a reason and you can choose to disrespect those reasons, but don’t pretend like it’s OK just because your friend says so.

By the time I did manage to get into class it was all I could think about. Yogis who noisily leave during svasana, who leave their cell phones on during svasana, who drip sweat onto your mat (when they could just re-angle themselves) because they just need the to get into Astavrakasana at that moment. The noise in my mind escalated to a deafening crescendo. And then she spoke. She commanded silence, and without resistance we gave it.
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I have subconsciously been avoiding the Shala even though no one has anything but good things to say about it. Everyone from yelpers to some of my most personally influential yoga teachers, like Mia Baer. But I shied away from it after hearing some classes were “ashtanga inspired”, and seeing the various ashtanga offerings they had on their site.  I have to be in a specific mood to do ashtanga. The bindings, and the increasing difficulty of the sequence often becomes an exercise in frustration for me. I have to mentally prepare to be disappointed in my practice. But at last, I couldn’t resist — I convinced my friend Yadana to try out the studio, and somehow in the mix of it we both signed up for the unlimited monthly plan (for first time students), a Manhattan rock-bottom price of $100.

So far their classes have been remarkably good. The teachers take special care to guide us through proper alignment, and build heat by (often) having us hold poses for 5 breaths or more. This was a welcomed change for me, having just come from Laughing Lotus where the sequences are inventive, but often held for a brief half second. I whole heartedly appreciated the slower flow and hearing my breath instead of music. And they do good physical assists, a rarity now in many yoga classes, but such a powerful learning experience. Truthfully no matter how well a teacher describes a pose, the connection you make during physical assists is unparalleled. Shala teachers also seem to have a higher level of experience, so far each one has spotted a mis-alignment in my practice that has helped get past the stagnation that’s been weighing me.
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