Armella Gottschalk
December 14, 2018 12:09
I bought a one month unlimited membership Groupon about a year ago. I visited the noon class on 8/23/17. It was a small class of apparent studio regulars. At that time, I was unfamiliar with the flow of the class as I had never been to the studio. The flow was fast-paced, and others noticed as it took me (the new student) a while to acclimate. At the end of the class, I was approached by the owner or instructor (she has blonde hair and I believe was the one who checked me in), along with another student. This team recommended I go to an "easier" class instead of their noon class, as it was clear that it was too advanced for me.
At that point, I had been practicing yoga semi-regularly for five years. I wasn't able to identify all poses by their English and yogic names at that point, and perhaps that is why or where the instructor thought I was inexperienced. With that, I found it condescending to be recommended to visit another class because of my perceived challenges, especially by a teacher-student duo.
As with any studio, their flows and rhythms are different along with their nuances. It should be expected that a new student not flow seamlessly during their beginning visits as it takes new students a moment to get on the same page as the rest of the class. In addition, a yoga practice is about the individual and not the class. If there are moves that are too advanced or if a yogi is tired and not wanting to fully participate, that's okay because that's THEIR journey. The studio should be more understanding of this rather than trying to separate the perceived "experienced" from the "inexperienced".
I felt very embarrassed and belittled when I left, so needless to say, that was my first and last visit to the studio. Additionally, it was a subsequent waste of $30, or the Groupon cost. Specifically because of this experience, I don't buy Groupons to exercise classes anymore. Thankfully I have since found a wonderful and welcoming studio, YogaSport on Lemmon and Douglas.
I am writing this review now because I just realized I'm subscribed to to the We Yogis mailing list and just got an email ad for "husbands who need last minute presents," which triggered my memory of my experience and compelled me to write the review. I wish Groupon would refund based on bad experiences because I basically paid $30 for one class, which was a waste. Good job on you, We Yogis, for profiting from my bad experience.