Beginners Yoga

Where: From Within Wellness Centre
Location: #126, 6104-172 St.
Price: $5/class if you pre-register or $10 for drop in
Website: http://www.fromwithin.ca/yoga.htm

The first time Carly suggested I go to yoga I turned her down flat. For those of you who don't know me...I am not bendy. Never have been. Once my massage therapist told me that I was the least flexible person he had ever met and he understood why I was having problems with my back. I wanted to tell him that I knew why I was having problems too. It might have something to do with the giant Ford F350 that rammed into my friend's tiny Geo Metro while we were in it, but I held my tongue. Then one day Carly achieved the seemingly unachievable, she convinced me to try yoga! The clincher for me was that I had just moved here and Carly was the only person I knew, but a big factor in my decision was that she found us a class for beginners!

I was a little nervous for my first class not knowing what to expect. We arrived a little late so we hurried into the studio and set up our mats just in time. We started in a seated position with some basic relaxation and breathing, and then moved onto the hard stuff, which to my disbelief wasn't as hard as I expected! I was doing yoga! And the part the that I was most worried about, that people would know I can't touch my toes, didn't even phase me because no one was looking. Everyone, including myself, was so busy breathing correctly and working through the pose that no one had time to see what other people were doing.

Over the weeks that followed I definitely felt my flexibility improve with each class, my back bothered me less frequently, maybe my massage therapist was onto something, and I just felt better overall!

The cons - From Within Wellness is WAY on the west side.
The pros - $5 per class is virtually unheard of for yoga!
Overall review - If you are thinking of taking up yoga and have never done it before I highly recommend making the trip out. I know that if I had gone to a regular class and had a bad experience I wouldn't have gone back, but I definitely found this class manageable and challenging at the same time. The instructor was hard enough on us that I felt there was further for me to go and easy enough on us that I didn't feel like I would never be able to do it.

From Within Wellness also offers other yoga classes as well as belly dancing classes, massage, and even yoga training. Also From Within has recently undergone a renovation, so please go check out their new facility and report back to us with your thoughts.