Yoga

Pramod and I have tried a few yoga classes while in San Francisco: “When in Rome...” I have already mentioned the first class which was in the cathedral. It was beautiful and it was great yoga, but maybe not our style. It was a little slow—no sweating—but the setting was great and adding in the chanting during class, plus there was some great energy in there. After that we decided that while it may be expensive, it was worth it to try some classes.

Next we tried Kundalini Yoga. I think we still need to try another one because this class was weird. More than an ab workout (which is what Kundalini yoga is supposed to be), we felt our shoulders, back and thighs. We bowed like a million times. Pramod felt like it was a punishment—he must have some bad karma to be in this class. It was hard and it made us feel weird.

Our next two classes were much better—both were taken at the Yoga Tree. Class 1: there were around 120 people in the class. It was in the evening so that lots of people could come after work. It made me understand why there is so much demand for stylish yoga clothes in this country. This class was a total social event, right up to when the teacher started. Then the music was so loud that it was often hard to even hear her. It was gym yoga, very sweaty, and a place for people to meet and show off their great yoga bodies. Regardless, it was a great class! We were really able to stretch and get deep into our poses. We loved it and decided to go back to the same studio for another class.

Class 2: Les Levanthol is now our San Francisco yoga guru. We loved his class the most. There were much less people and the atmosphere wasn't aerobics but spiritual as well as physical. Pramod and I both had challenges in this class – my number one was that after 3 days of practicing after a long lull, my thighs couldn't handle much more warriors or lunges, etc. It was great. I think Pramod has now seen the joys as well as the challenges that can come from a non-Ashtanga class. We both loved it.