Mass yoga!

My Bikram Yoga studio partnered with Living Social this past weekend and offered 20 yoga classes for $20 – a 91% discount! Over 3,600 people took advantage of this amazing offer, which means that my studio is now one of Toronto’s hottest spots – both literally and metaphorically!

Yesterday, for the first time ever, I took a class that was filled beyond capacity. My studio normally fits 40 comfortably, but there were 56 people in the class and 28 were brand new to the yoga. Mats were on top of each other and it was impossible to lift my arms over my head sideways in any of the postures without hitting my neighbours.

As I began practicing, I realized this was a very different class. I was still doing Bikram Yoga, but the energy in the room was unlike anything I had experienced before. The teacher positioned me front and centre so that the newbies could follow my lead. I felt strong and energetic. I was able to execute some of the harder postures that I normally struggle with effortlessly.

This made me think about what it’ll be like to practice in a room with over 300 teacher trainees in San Diego in a couple weeks. The experience will be even more heightened, because I will be practicing alongside people who are as passionate about the yoga as I am. I’m sure the energy and excitement will be extraordinary – at least for the first few classes (before sleep deprivation and dehydration set in).

The brimming classes at my yoga studio are likely to continue for a while, so there’ll be more opportunities for me to get use to practicing with lots and lots of people very, very close to me. Hopefully the studio’s popularity lasts until after I return from Teacher Training – I can only imagine what it’d be like to teach a class that full!