Kerrisdale Yoga

So I guess you could call this week "Iyengar week" - 2 classes within 3 days. Today I checked out a cute and quaint studio - Kerrisdale Yoga on the west side of Vancouver.

What: Kerrisdale Yoga

Where: 6170 East Boulevard, Vancouver BC

When: June 26, 2010, 12:30pm-1:45pm

Class: Iyengar Yoga Level II

Teacher: Corrie

Drop-In price per class: $15

Types of classes offered: Beginner yoga, Hatha, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Anusara, Kundalini

Space:

Located right in the heart of the Kerrisdale neighborhood, this studio was easy to find and in a nice location. There was a small reception area at the front with a closet for belongings - no lockers or anything. The studio itself was surprisingly very small! This was surprising because the studio runs over 30 classes a week. I think that you could fit maybe 10 mats in there max. The space was very bright and sunny with yellow walls. It had some nice hard wood floors as well. The space was divided with a wall that separated the main studio from a storage area with lots of props. I'm not sure why they decided to put that wall in, because the floor continues into the storage space (not an extra room) and could probably be opened up to create a bigger studio. Well, what do I know? Maybe the wall had to be there for some reason. Anyhow, it was small and intimate, but quite nice. There was one small bathroom with no real changing area, which was a bit of a drawback.

Atmosphere:

There was a peaceful vibe throughout the space. The sunny walls made the place feel lively and light. One thing I noticed was that you could easily hear anyone talking out in the reception area if you were in the studio, and that was a bit distracting at times. My teacher even had to pop her head out during savasana to say "shhh!"

Teacher/Class:

I had only gone to one Iyengar class prior to this (and only a couple of days ago for that matter) but because I didn't want to wait another 2 hours, I went to the early class, which was a level 2 class. I figured I'd be alright seeing as I AM a yoga teacher for god's sake. We used a lot of props - no ropes or crazy things like at The Yoga Space, but blocks, straps, bolsters, etc. The teacher's name was Corrie and she was an older woman with a bit of a strict tone in her voice. At times, I felt a bit nervous because of how particular she was about elements of the pose, like having your hands in namaste behind the back while doing a forward bend. For me, my wrists really hate this, but she pressed my hands together and made me go there anyway. So in other words, this was a serious intermediate class - no beginner stuff here! This doesn't mean it was bad, just a certain style that was a bit more strict than others. Her voice was quiet and her dialogue was minimal - there was a lot of silence in the room that was at times a bit awkward. Nevertheless, she was definitely very experienced and knew a lot about the proper alignment of the poses. Like the other Iyengar class, it didn't flow like hatha or vinyasa, but instead was like an asana workshop. We worked on variations of a few key poses and did some partner work as well with the props. We did headstands too - and I must announce that I actually was able to do a full headstand on my own for the first time! It didn't feel so scary once I was in it.

Rating: 7/10. Good location, but the space was a bit too small. It was good for 5 people (as in the class I attended), but it would be cramped with more than 10. The price was right and there were lots of classes available at different times.