3 Victoria Yoga Studio Reviews

Hello happy short four day week in November everyone.  My reviews for this week are up on "Gather" (where you can click to the studio websites and addresses).  www.gatheryoga.com

 Feel free to read my reviews here too :)

 Yoga Studio/ Class reviews

Studio 4:  Sunday mornings 11am Hatha Flow Class.

So, I have been exploring the idea of yoga outside of the traditional yoga studio setting this week, which has brought me to Studio 4 today on a colder Sunday morning  here in Victoria.  The yoga studio in the Studio 4 gym is not what you expect.  Even though the music is pumping and load and the energy is high in the gym of Studio 4, the Yoga studio is upstairs tucked in it’s own corner. You pull back the heave sound proof doors and enter into this beautiful exposed wood and brick hard wood floor studio space complete with floor to ceiling windows looking into the city on one side and mirrors for alignment on the other side.  It is bright and clean.  Today’s class held about eighteen of us with ease.

Our yoga guide for the 75-minute Hatha Flow Class today was Karley.  Her class opens with a meditation and an outline of the theme of the class. Today was twists. Karley’s tone of voice was smooth and soothing guiding us seamlessly through her set of dynamic and passive twist poses such as twisting triangle pose (parivrtta trikona), eagle pose (garudanna) and seated twist (bharadvaja).  The pace of the class was calm but active and by shavasana the energy in the room was that of a great rejuvenating Sunday morning experience.  It is not until you have rolled up your matt and the heavy door is pulled back open that you realize where you are again (met by the music and the world of an active gym).

Karley’s class on Sunday’s is one of many that Studio 4 hosts throughout their week. Located downtown off Government and Yates street, the schedule for yoga classes throughout the week are designed to be flexible not only to the avid yogi but also to the downtown business professional on their lunch breaks or after work to find their place of Zen. If you haven’t checked out Studio 4 for yoga yet, I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

 Fierce Studio:  Thursday evening 5:30-6:30pm Flow Yoga 

 

Fierce Studio is  “Home of Jiu Jitsu, Yoga, & Hit to Fit”. While the studio has a great vibrant staff, enthusiastic for fitness, it is more of a martial art area then a yoga space.  The studio is located at the corner of Fort and Cook Street in Victoria.  The room is a large space with floor to ceiling window that are fully exposed to the outside busy street. Since it is a room used for multiple things it is a little busy with lots of stuff in it and around the edges of the room.

While practicing you do have to get use to the fish bowl effect. Yes, yoga is meant to be a personal practice, but I have to say it is a little distracting with all the car lights flashing in and out of the space as they drive by. You will also catch glazes from people walking past.

The floors are very squishy and padded making holding yoga poses unstable. While these floors are ideal for breaking someone’s fall in a Jui Jitsu class they were not my favorite for practicing yoga on. Nevertheless, our yoga guide, Michelle, was very personable. Managing the hour time well we flowed through Sun salutations A and B in addition to a few other pose sets before shavasana.

Fierce offers at least one yoga class a day; either the flow style or an hour of yoga exploration class. If you an athlete looking for additional stretching I would encourage you try out Fierce. The studio also offers your first class for free, so you have nothing to loose!

Yoga Shala Ashtanga Yoga Studio Saturday Yin Restorative 4:30-5:30 class

 Yoga Shala Ashtanga Yoga Studio is a more traditional yoga studio. “Studio owner and frequent instructor Jennifer Pritchard is authorized by the KPJAYI of Mysore South”.  At the Shala their focus in teaching is on the primary series and traditional practice. Every day the shala hosts a number of classes.

Located in the heart of downtown just two blocks from the mall on Broad Street, the studio is a couple floors up from the street access. Yep, you are going to get your heart rate up before class begins by climbing those stairs. The building is a little older and has that older building Victoria damp smell.  The studio room is small. I would say it would be a struggle to fit more the 18 to 20 students in there at a time maximum but ten fit nicely making for a personal class dynamic.

If you are a punctual on time-focused yogi (like me) I am going to forewarn you that the Yoga Shala will test your patience on this. Instructors are never on time and always seem to be in a busy busily panicked rush when they arrive with one excuse or another for while there are late. Nevertheless, while this may be irritating in the start, if you take a few breaths and allow yourself to experience one of Jennifer’s yin classes you will be in awe. Jennifer combines her yin class with passive poses and the power of her own musical voice to guide you through these long holding poses.  Struggle is released throughout your body feeling the compassion in her voice as you melt into your pose even deeper.

I have been practicing yoga and yin a long time.  While I do have my favorite all time instructors all over this world I have to say there is something magical in Jennifer’s voice and lullaby songs that, when coupled with her yin series , make for a wonderful match.

Yoga Shalla is also often featured on Groupon in Victoria so if you want to try the studio out for a great deal I would suggest looking them up there as well.