Bikram at Funky Door, Haight Ashbury: Babar and Bill Clinton Do Yoga, And I Nearly Die

So my yoga studio, Mission Yoga, will be running their annual 30 day challenge in March, and I'm looking forward to signing up.  I did this last year, and it was rough, but fun: you do yoga every day for 30 days, and if you miss a class you can take two in a single day.  They have a big piece of posterboard up and for every class you take, you get a shiny little sticker to put up next to your name.  At the end of the month, you get a bunch of raffle tickets and can win a prize (my prize last year was lame…a “custom bra fitting,” except that the woman who donated the prize only does fittings for "larger" women  “Do you have a friend who could use it?” she said.  Boo.)  It creates this nice sense of community, even more so than usual - we're all gonna get through this together!

But knowing that I certainly wouldn’t want to be experimenting with new bikram studios during that time, I decided to try out Funky Door in Haight Ashbury ASAP.  Also, a yoga teacher buddy had told me that if I was considering teacher training, I should try a few classes at Funky Door, since they’re closer to what I’d be doing at training (read: harder and hotter).  So I hopped on the 71L after work and off I went!

Power Yoga at The Pad Studio: Yoga Goddesses and Free Parking

So it seemed only fair to give the Marina another shot, this time at Pad Studios on Union Street.  My free-class-at-Lululemon friend suggested we take advantage of Pad’s 3 classes for $20 new student deal (whereas a drop-in is $17), and I wanted to try this Power Yoga thing, so off I went on a sunny Sunday morning.  I decided to drive because I was running late (and I’m lazy), and knew things would go well when, as I waited at a stoplight a block from my destination, a giant van pulled out of their parking space.  This meant that a) I now had practically door-to-door parking, and b) I was going to have plenty of van-space to park my little Yaris (me parking is always reminiscent of these videos - I kid you not that a passerby actually stopped to watch me as I went over the curb to my right, inched forward and back about eight times, bumped the car bumper in front, went BACK over the curb…this with at least eight or nine feet of parking space to move around in.  Hey, this “driving” thing is new to me, okay?)

Free Flow Yoga at Lululemon: Judgey McJudgerson Rears Her Ugly Head

Ah, the Marina.  Much like Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, just saying the neighborhood's name conjures up images of tools in striped collared shirts skeezing on drunk girls in designer knee high boots.  Crowds of them.  Unlike Rittenhouse Square, however, the Marina is situated way up in the north of the city and is very easy to avoid, which is why I’ve lived in San Francisco over a year but have been to the Marina exactly twice. 

But a friend who works there sent me an email about a free flow yoga class taking place at a Lululemon store, and suggested we try it.  Keeping an open mind, I hopped on the 45 bus and cautiously made my way north.

Mission Yoga Take Two: Where are the Cowboy Hats? (Guest Post)

Today's post is a contrasting opinion from a Bikram newbie, Ms. Stephanie, Guest Poster and Birthday Princess (pictured above).

So, I lost a bet.  That was how I found my way into a sweaty, humid, sauna smelling, 105 degree Bikram yoga studio.  Danielle has been preaching to me and fellow naysayers for over a year about the wonderful world of Bikram, her new flexibility, how she almost locked her knees yesterday, her discovery of a whole new spiritual awakening. The cynic in me rolled my eyes, but I was happy for her.

My yoga history included just a few weird yoga stretches with straps and some ill formed downward facing dogs at my local Y yoga classes. But one fateful day I promised Danielle that if she succeeded at being my Cyrano de Bergerac, and her carefully worded ghostwritten email got me a date with a certain young man, then I WOULD go to a Bikram class with her.  Ultimately, she worked her magic and I had a bet to own up to. We finally synched up our busy schedules to fit a Jessica class in because Danielle said she’s perfect for the first time Bikram yoga going person such as myself (as well as Danielle’s favorite teacher).