I initially tried Santidas because of their 5-class pack for 50 euros for new students, and I went…read moreto the studio on and off for about a year and a half. My first class was their all-levels "open" class with Sash. My first impression was rather negative. Another new student and I were the first to arrive, and we said we registered online. He looked baffled by this and seemed kind of angry about our presence, but he looked it up and confirmed that we did register online. Despite the complete emptiness of the studio when we arrived, he did not take the time to introduce himself or give us a tour of the studio or tell us where to find mats, blocks, straps, the bathroom, etc. I felt utterly unwelcome.
I have done yoga for a while, and I found the class rather difficult to follow because of his voice that sounded like yelling. It was very difficult to understand his cues. There was at least one person in the class who was new to yoga, and she had a hard time following as well. At the end, the next class started coming in, and he let them come right in and set up as we were winding down, which was extremely loud and distracting. I knew after one class that I didn't want to come back to another one of his classes.
The next day, I came back to try a beginner's aerial yoga class for the first time with the studio's owner. She was wonderful. I didn't really have any previous desire to learn aerial yoga and thought it would be gimmicky, but the class was at a convenient time for me, so I gave it a try. The instructor explained the history of aerial yoga, how it works, and safety measures. She keeps the classes small, so everyone got a good amount of individual attention. The class is much more interactive than a traditional yoga class, and she was very helpful in answering questions. It was fun and a great workout. I left feeling the opposite of the first class, like I absolutely had to come back.
I eventually tried classes with a lot of different instructors, and I liked all of them except for Sash. I found him to be really rude to me and certain other students, often calling us out condescendingly in class when we couldn't do certain poses rather than helping us through them. I always left his classes feeling bad about myself and once even considered giving up yoga altogether because of his attitude. Granted, I was a little rusty, but he scolded me several times during this particular class saying in front of everyone that I shouldn't have gone to a Yoga II class. I have done advanced classes at many other studios in the past, and the philosophy is usually that you do what you can and work towards the rest, but his attitude in this particular class left me feeling humiliated and wanting to give up my practice after 15 years of loving yoga.
It was easy enough to avoid Sash's classes until they changed up the schedule. About six months ago, they made it so that his classes were the only ones that matched up with my work schedule, so I ultimately stopped going to the studio. It's a shame, because the other instructors are so great and positive, and the studio is very conveniently located at Arts-Loi.