Traveling Yogis – Shanghai 2
From Ken and Elaine. Too bad we didn’t see Jen there…. Yoga+ is a beautiful studio in Shanghai, China. They advertise a regular Mysore practice six days a week, as well as other yoga classes. The studio is on several floors of a renovated 70-year old building in a nice part of town. It is beautifully decorated in more Japanese/Thai style than Chinese style, with wood and modern, clean lines, and sliding door panels. There are separate men’s and ladies’ locker rooms with showers, and when you register for a class, you are given a bottle of water, along with a key for your locker.
The Mysore room was two flights up, with Pergo-like floors which were heated. While it was lovely at the beginning of class, by the time we were in Shavasana, the floor was too warm. The room was small, twelve mats were laid out, six on a wall, with a towel on each, perfectly folded and laid like pillows. One wall was all mirrored, which was both nice and distressing: we found that some poses which we thought we did well didn’t look as good as they felt!
The class today (11/21/05) was only three people: Ken, myself, and one other Westerner. Perhaps it was the quality of the instructor that kept others away. The studio is a teaching studio, and our instructor was clearly a teacher in training. She arrived at least 30 minutes after the published start of class. While the adjustments that she did were perfectly acceptable, she was hesitant to make adjustments, even though there were only three of us. She was not comfortable in helping me (and the other woman) with drop backs, and suggested that we use the wall. (The wall opposite the mirror had a brick section, which was actually quite nice for backbends, as it provided a bit of a hand-hold.)
The drop-in price was about $19. While the water was nice, and towels were provided for showers, we felt that the quality of instruction did not warrant the price. Nevertheless, our bodies reaffirmed that we LOVE Ashtanga.