Finding Yoga - can you tell me how you do it?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hello all,

I am currently writing a short article, and I would like to ask you all a few questions to compare experiences:
The article will be about finding places to practice yoga, or more specifically about how to find exactly what you’re looking for when there is so much yoga out there.

So here are the questions:

  • When looking for yoga classes, do you use the internet at all?
  • If so, any website in particular, or just a general web search in your area?
  • Does a studio or teacher’s website generally give you enough information to go by? If not, what have you experienced to be missing?
  • Do you have examples of places that you discovered through a web search? Were they good or bad experiences?
  • Do you generally ask a friend for a recommendation if you’re looking to try something new or different?
  • What happens if you travel? Do you look for a studio in the places where you are staying? And how do you find the kind of place and the kind of yoga that you like if you can’t go by recommendations?

These are just a few general questions. Any comments on your personal experiences of looking on the web for studios or teachers would be greatly appreciated.

Personally, I have spent a lot of time looking for new studios and teachers to try out, either at home or abroad. My overall feeling is that it’s often down to luck, and that many class descriptions aren’t precise enough to tell me what kind of experience I can expect.

Thanks!

Alex

#2

The internet is nice to use to find what is proximal to you. It can also be helpful (or confusing) to use the review of others. But we are unique and what appeals to you may not appeal to me.

General search relative to location.

Websites come in as many varieties as flowers. Some have a lovely fragrance. Most do not tell you much. However one can get a feel about the studio from the design elements of the site and the care that went in to creating it. What is usually missing is a mission statement and a clear layout relative to current training and continued education of the faculty.

I don’t have examples of web discoveries in this realm.

I ask only trusted friends. I do not solicit opinion from anyone with a heartbeat.

If I travel I practice on my own unless I know there is an alignment-based studio nearby. I may also ask others as they travel and meet many teachers along the way.

Generally my advise is feeling advice. Find three close studios, call them all and ask them four pertinent questions. Feel their energy, their light, their smile, their wisdom in reply. Pick a studio from that lot. Go there and take at least 6 classes with at least three different teachers. After each class sit quietly by yourself and feel the residue of the teachings. Use that for a final decision. Taste several, choose one.

#3

Hi Gordon,

thanks for taking the time to reply, and to share your experience with me. It’s definitely really useful to hear how somebody else finds their way around all the yoga that is out there.

Namaste
Alex

#4

I think I was fortunate enough to live in Austin during my yoga awakening; during that time some of my friends were involved in this co-op style yoga studio called Black Swan and having friends encourage me to go to free events and knowing that they were not judgemental one way or the other really helped me. I think I had a lot of fear about not being able to stretch as well as others, or even knowing what to wear or how to act!