First Impression: Breath & Body Yoga

My first official studio trial is with Breath & Body Yoga in north-central Austin. They have two deals available, $20 for the first week unlimited or $60 for the first month unlimited. I did the month because I think I'll get more out of it with my current busy schedule!

The first thing I did when I decided to start with BBY (their own abbreviation) was to look at the class schedule. I have to admit I was a little disappointed because there is only one class per day during the week that I would be able to go to (6:30-8pm) and most of my other yogi friends would be in the same boat. The others are during work hours and I am not able to get out for that amount of time to attend. The weekends are better with 3 viable class options per day. I am a big fan of the morning classes, it wakes you up/stretches/all kinds of good stuff, but there is only one on Wednesday mornings when we have MyEdu corporate yoga at night so that's out for me.

Anyway...moving on from that was my first impression of the studio. It was small, but intimate, which I like. The facility is very clean and everything is neat and put together. They don't have a locker room which is a bit of a bummer because the one bathroom gets backed up when everyone must change into their yoga clothes. I did experience this problem :( There are cubbies and because the entrance is in the back of the center it seems safe to leave things there, in addition you can see out into the foyer while you are in class. The actual room where you practice was nice...it was open with a lot of windows and a high ceiling - this was great because it made the room and the amount of people attending seem less crowded and stifling.

A few more notes before I talk about the class...if you are a new trial member you can use mats and towels for free, but if you become a member you need to rent or bring your own. I figure if you buy a membership to a yoga studio you should have those things anyway. They have water for purchase but also a water cooler for you to fill up your bottles.

The class was AWESOME. I have to say it was one of my favorite yoga classes to date. The instructor was Georgette and I was told she was great but of course always want to form my own opinion. The hour and a half class flew by and was hard yet do-able. I loved the speed of her power flow, it was fast and rigorous, which really gets you sweating! The last half hour or so was dedicated to more floor work with strength integrated for the arms and core. She didn't do any adjustments which would've been my only critique. The class was made up of a variety of people, a little older crowd than I'm used to at Black Swan, but they had blocks and straps to help them so everyone could develop their practice.

Overall it was a good experience and I look forward to attending the classes of all instructors over the next month and will definitely keep you updated! I won't rate the studio until the very end so stay tuned...