Although the Passport to Prana is done until October, it doesn't mean I've stopped trying out new studios... for cheap. I friend gave me a pass for one free class at the brand new YYoga studio in the South Granville area of Vancouver (at Broadway and Granville). Here are my impressions...
What: YYoga South Granville
Where: 201-1627 W Broadway, Vancouver BC
When: Aug 18, 2010 10:00am-11:30am
Class: Flow
Teacher: Chris
Drop-In price per class: $15-20
Types of classes offered: flow, hatha, power, anusara, core, pilates, yin
Space:
YYoga never disappoints when it comes to the beauty of their studios. All of the studios have lovely spaces that make you feel like you're at the spa. There was a large yoga studio complete with bamboo floors and nice lighting. The shower/changing area was also very nice, but felt a little cramped compared to other YYoga locations. There were only 2 toilet stalls in the women's, which had a bit of a lineup after class. Also, the toilet stall doors didn't have any locks, which was both embarrassing and annoying (yes, I opened the door on someone). Other than that, the space was really nice. I also appreciated the complimentary lockers and infrared sauna.
Atmosphere:
See above. Super spa-like. Super swanky.
Teacher/Class:
I went to a Flow class, which can be a bit of a toss-up because sometimes you get vinyasa, sometimes it's all power, sometimes it has a hatha (slower) flavour. Chris' class was very distinctly Ashtanga. I say Ashtanga instead of power because he did some quite advanced asanas and jump-through. I think only 2 or 3 people in the whole class could even attempt some of the poses (deep folds with binds, crane, etc). His teaching style was very focused on alignment and bone placement (like, where the femur should be). Sometimes I feel this kind of detailed instruction to be a bit too technical and loses the essence of the pose. Nonetheless, he definitely had a lot to offer in terms of the mental side of yoga and told us some cool little anecdotes to get some bits of philosophy across. Kudos to him for that. A couple things that I didn't like were 1) the fact that he didn't give a great deal of modifications (even though there were definitely beginners in the class) and 2) he didn't mirror his poses (which is one of my pet peeves). His pace was also quite fast, which left me feeling like I was always behind and a bit rushed.
Rating: 9/10. A great looking studio right in the heart of South Granville. Minus a point for not having locks on the toilet stalls and making me embarrass some poor woman while she did her business.
