You wouldn't be able to see the place if you weren't actively looking for it. Its a tiny little…read morestudio right next to Goodwill in the crotch of the plaza. The hardwood practice floor isn't but three feet from the entrance.
The studio is modestly underdecorated.
When I first got there, Aileen, the instructor was stretching out. Looking around the room, you see all of the Iyengar yoga props: yoga mats, a stack of Mexican blankets, a box of straps, wood and foam blocks.
The class schedule online said the class would be from 930a-11. I tried calling several times, but could never get a live person or a recording that gave adequate information. So I said eff it and just showed up.
I got there ten minutes early, signed in, and got acquainted with Aileen, who was very friendly and informative. Besides the instructor, I was the only one in there for a good ten minutes. Then people started trickling in. We didn't get started til 10. I guess the schedule online was wrong because we finished at 1130. One guy left early because he thought the class was supposed to end at 11, too.
Including myself, there were eight students. The studio was just the perfect size for us + instructor.
When you first walk in, you can see the instructors' certifications posted on the wall.
To begin, we started with three OMs and an invocation. She said the invocation. We repeated it. She never explained it. I could have been calling the devil for all I know.
Most of the students were middle aged. A few had skeletal problems and could not execute the postures. But Aileen came around and corrected or modified the postures. She's very hands on. But sometimes her hands weren't so ... soothing? She kind of molds you into position. She was very strict with form, although she didn't force anyone to do anything they didn't feel comfortable with. For that reason, the class was very good for all levels.
I've never done a head stand before. I've done a tripod headstand, but not the head cradled in your hands kind. It was like the third posture we did. I've never done an inversion so quick in a session before. We did two inversions throughout the practice. The headstand, then shoulder stand later. She's not really big on counterstretching, either. After shoulder stand, there was no fish. We just laid there for a second.
Not that the class was bad, Iyengar is just not for me. I prefer more fluid practices like Jivamukti or Vinyasa. Iyengar was very lectured. The instructor tells you what to do, then you do it. Like a lab class in college. Even Aileen's voice was similar to that of a college professor's. The asanas (postures/ poses) are held for an upwards of a minute, unlike Vinyasa, where you're almost constantly in motion. But the Iyengar postures weren't like super hard postures to hold. Stuff like staff or down dog.
Sometimes I liked using the props to correct or compensate, but sometimes it seems really awkward. You constantly have to be moving around your blankets, folding and unfolding, adjusting your straps. It gets to be too detached from the asanas. At one point, we even changed the orientation of our mats.
Aileen called all of the asanas by their Sanskrit names. Which is not educational for me, unless the Sanskrit is footnoted by the English translation (as instructors often do in Bikram).
Mostly everything we did was lower body and back. Not much upper body at all.
We finished with savasana (corse pose), a namaste (a salutation) and a bow of the head, and she just goes "Any questions?" and that was it.
After people packed up, she talked a little to me, I gave her my money, and she gave me the exit information.
I think its weird that the first two posts (the only other posts to date) are from inactive users ...
* off the strip, non-casino
