Westcoast Hot Yoga

Ahh, the return of hot yoga. I practiced hot yoga for years and years before I ever tried any other style of yoga. I was a devout Bikram's yogi and spent a lot of time sweating it out at Bikram's Yoga Metrotown in Burnaby. Then I moved away from Burnaby and stopped going to classes (I still have about 20 to use up still!) and I couldn't get back into it. I went back for a class or two and just felt like serious crap (I'm not talking about the challenged feeling you get from the class; something wasn't right). Then I took my teacher training where I learned all the bad things about hot yoga (injury, liability, torture-like trainings, no class for beginners, etc), which swore me off of the practice all-together. Some months after my swearing I would never do hot yoga again, I realized that if I had a conscious mind and knew my body, I'd be alright to go to a class or two. So here I was at Westcoast Hot Yoga. Oh, something interesting to note: this yoga studio fought with Bikrams over a copyrighting lawsuit and won. Bikram's told them they weren't allowed to offer hot classes unless they opened a franchise under Bikram's. I'm glad that they were able to break free from the absurdity of copyrighting an ancient practice.

What: Westcoast Hot Yoga

Where: 1128 Mainland Stree, Vancouver BC (Yaletown)

When: May 11, 2010, 4:00pm-5:30pm

Class: Hot (Bikram's Series of 26 postures)

Teacher: Leo

Comments:

Space:

Located in the heart of Yaletown, this space was pretty easy to get to. The decor was quite nice, although the yoga studio's floor was not hard wood and the plastic sheath was bubbling in places. The females change rooms were quite small and the showers kind of sucked. I did like the lounge area in the back and the yoga studio was a decent size.

Atmosphere:

This space had a bit of an odd aesthetic, albeit still nice. It had more of a spa-like atmosphere, with a Victorian vibe - lots of frilly ornaments and European style fixtures. It didn't really speak to the eastern tradition of yoga at all. I didn't like the burnt orange colours used in the main studio either. It wasn't all that bad, just not as nice as say the YYoga studios. The staff were very friendly though!

Teacher/Class:

Leo was very friendly and personally greeted each participant before class. The class was of course done in a 40 degree celcius room and was the full 90 minute Bikram's flow. It was super challenging for me and I sweated buckets. I didn't remember it being so intense! It felt good to really go to my edge in the hot room, but I did notice that a lot of guys were struggling to find modifications. That's the thing that I really don't like about Bikram's dialogue - no really consideration for the beginners or less-flexible people in class. Leo did do a lot of hands on modifications, but didn't really ask permission, which I always appreciate in teachers. Some people simply don't like getting touched when they're super sweaty and half naked! I wished that the 90 minutes included a proper relaxation (savasana) because people tend to jump up as soon as they lay on their backs, which is never good after such an intense class.

Rating: 7/10 I would recommend this studio to intermediate to advanced practitioners. They did offer power and yin classes, as well as shorter 1 hr hot classes. The aesthetic didn't really appeal to me, but it was in a popular and accessible location.