The Family Tree | Des Moines, IA

So I've said this in other reviews, but I want to take a moment to apply it to your general yoga studio knowledge. Most yoga studios don't have street signage. So, if you're driving to a studio for the first time, always include an extra 15 minutes to scope out the area (even with GPS), because you will most likely drive past the place three times before you know it's there. This extra time is definitely worth it, because I've always found it silly to stress myself out over going to a yoga class. I know we all do it from time to time, but in my head... I want to relax from the stress I already have, not use my class to overcome the stress of looking for the studio. Ok, on to the review!

LOCATION: In the art museum area of Des Moines, this location is pretty great. Amazing little neighborhoods of different architecture, great local shops, and if I had more time I'm guessing I'd discover fantastic local restaurants too. There is a free parking lot behind the house I didn't know about, so I ended up parking for free on the street a half a block away, no biggie. 

COST: I didn't see a credit card machine, so I'm guessing cash and check. I paid $15 for my drop-in fee. 

STUDIO: 1930s house converted into a yoga/massage studio. You should walk in the back door, off of the parking lot, to sign in and grab a glass of water in the kitchen. You can walk in the front door (like I did), but it will land you right in the middle of the class and feeling somewhat awkward (also, like I did). The first floor has a kitchen, bathroom (I think), living room, and dining room. The living room and dining room is where you set up for class, each section holding no more than 4-5 students, I'm guessing. Which is great, because it guarantees you some one on one time with the instructor. Upstairs houses three bedrooms each set up for massage rooms. The house is a clean, simple, warm (there's a fireplace in the living room I bet they use in the winter months), and welcoming set up. 

CLASS DESCRIPTION: Beginner's Yoga: The perfect place to begin. Discover yoga breath and simple poses to lengthen and strengthen your body while relaxing your mind. For students new to yoga, recovering from illness/injury, or those looking to brush up on the basics.
They offer a lot of family-orientated classes—prenatal, baby & me, and family yoga. I should have grabbed one of my nephews to test this out, but thought of it too late. Anyway, I wanted to share this aspect of the studio with you, since they focus on it more than some. 

INSTRUCTOR: Sarah completed a 200-hour level Hatha yoga certification through Tree House Yoga in Iowa City with James Miller. It was during her training at Tree House Yoga that she developed an interest and passion for Yoga Therapy and working one one one with individuals who are interested in developing a home practice that is designed with their particular needs and goals in mind. She is also currently enrolled at Body Wisdom School of Massage Therapy in Urbandale and looks forward to expanding her career in wellness. 

CONTACT: The Family Tree

What a wonderful way to learn yoga from the very, very beginning. I spoke with Sarah after class, and she said this series is based on teacher training, only instead of spending a whole week on the topic you only spend an hour on the topic... which is stripped down to the very basics to not overwhelm the newcomer.

The first half hour was spent talking about the origins of modern yoga (last week they talked about the origins of yoga in general, and Sarah reviewed it briefly). Topics like Shiva, Krishnamacharya, BKS Iyengar, Indra Devi (the first woman of yoga), and much more were brought up with only a couple sentences, but enough to get you more comfortable with understanding the full picture of yoga.

The second half hour was spent going over two poses. One was to review the pose from last week (downward facing dog modified against a wall), and the second was to introduce trikonasana (triangle pose) also against the wall. I like working with the wall, because it is an easy reminder of your alignment just by having your head, shoulders, back, and feet touching the wall... you know you're going into a pose correctly. And it's tricks like this that you can take home with you to work on more. Sarah talked about the importance of not curving over or collapsing into your pose so you can touch your toes, but to extend out through you head and arm to create a straight line from foot to finger tips. She worked with each student to modify for their past injuries or adjust appropriately for their body. And that was it. No savasana, no meditation, no vinyasas. It was really about starting off slowly and getting to know the poses and the background of yoga before even moving on to the next level. If you live in the Des Moines area, I can't encourage you more, if you're wanting to learn about yoga but honestly are nervous about starting. This class is made for you, and really is well-rounded way to discover yourself and yoga.

After class I had the pleasure of talking with Sarah for another half hour. She really has a genuine excitement over people learning about themselves and their health and wellness. She worked with me on a few issues I've been having, suggesting things I can do to practice through them. We chatted about what inspired this class (her teacher training, as mentioned above), and I apologized for walking into the middle of the class room during the third session. Thank you for sharing your energy and knowledge with me Sarah, namaste!

Oh! Yes! You should also know, it's pretty common for classes categorized as Beginners' Classes that they have a 8-9 week schedule in place. I'm guessing anyone would let you do a drop-in (as Sarah kindly did with me), but you really should get the full benefit of these classes and start when the schedule starts. If I had done more research I probably would have discovered I was crashing a series, but then you wouldn't get to learn all the weird things to avoid when taking your first class. Seriously, this blog has liberated me from fearing awkwardness, thank you for encouraging me to check out studios and fumble through with a sense of humor I eagerly look forward to sharing with you! I'm definitely enjoying my journey with you! 

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Shakti Yoga Shop | Des Moines, IA

LOCATION: With my Tom Tom, this was a breeze. It's located in Shops at Roosevelt near Drake University on Rollins Ave (which is different than the address given on google maps). In looking for parking I found a free parking lot behind the studio, but I also found the last spot. Seems to be busy Saturday mornings, between yoga and the wonderful smell of the bakery a couple stores down... you can understand why. There is also free street parking equally packed. Two entrances to the studio, I chose the one off the parking lot, which was a good choice because the front entrance lands you right in the front of the class... which would have been awkward since I was running late (again) and the room was packed.
COST: Drop-in fee was $15

STUDIO: Beautiful! Walls were light yellow mostly, with an accent wall of moss green and some exposed brick. Ceilings were black with ceiling fans and HUGE paper lanterns hanging over the practice space. There were windows running along the front of the room, high enough to keep things private, but low enough to let a breeze circulate. The practice space was "sunken" with two areas up a couple steps. One being the back entrance where you check in, grab a mat (which I believe you rent), kick off your shoes & hang up your coat. The second section was where you pay for classes and/or buy merch. There was a bathroom and another little office area for the instructors. Great use of space.
CLASS DESCRIPTION: Levels 1 & 2—Move beyond the fundamentals in this moderately paced class and be introduced to more challenging poses.

INSTRUCTOR: Paula is an Anusara-Inspired Instructor and co-owner of Shakti Yoga Shop. She has been studying and practicing yoga since the late 1990’s. Paula teaches classes that are explorative, playful, and thought provoking. She takes pleasure in empowering students to connect to their inner strength, beauty, and divine nature. She loves learning from everyone around her, in particular her students. Paula is on the path toward Anusara certification.
CONTACT: Shakti Yoga Shop

You know, people in Des Moines are REALLY nice. Between Yoga in the Park last year and this class, people always say hello and introduce themselves. I really have to remember this when someone new walks into any of the classes I go to, it's just a wonderful way to start a practice. Paula, the instructor, was equally great. I walked in hurried, as usual, and realized the class was packed... with a look of "uh oh" on my face Paula quickly made a spot for me in the middle, back row to calm my worries. I'm always amazed with how easily you can squish a bunch of yogis together in a studio space and still have plenty of room for your practice. Paula handed me a sheet of paper saying, "We'll chant this after our three om's—you can just listen along if you like." Listen along? Oh no, sign me up!

Om Namah Shivaya Gurave

I offer my heart to the power of Grace

Saccidananda Murtaye

That lives in us as goodness

Nispraprancaaya Shantaya

That is never absent and radiates peace

Niralambya Tejase

And lights the way to transformation

It's official... I'm more of a traditional yoga girl instead of doing yoga only for sport, so to speak. I feel like I'm learning yoga the way it was intended to be learned when all parts of the practice are brought into the studio. And I know you can't do everything in an hour and half, but I appreciate any extras the instructor brings to class. I really do. Once we chanted, we got right to the point of things... stood up and started our sun salutations. There was no music playing, which was a new one for me. I don't know if it was an off day (there were speakers set up in the room), but I ended up not caring and just focusing on what Paula was trying to get us to do. And, I tell you what, she was trying to get us to do some crazy stuff. I think having such a mix in the class made it less intimidating though... there were all ages there, all body types, quite a few men—which was great to see, since that's rare, so far, in my practice. There were people who could hit every pose Paula threw out there... and there were people (like me) who attempted but it wasn't happening today, and there were people who just didn't bother at all. Love it!

The one, or two poses, or three poses really, that Paula had us do was going from Side Plank Pose (Vasisthasana) with your top leg bent/foot planted in front of you for support. Then you grab that support foot as if doing a forward Extended Hand to Big Toe pose (Utthita Hasta Padangustasana), only your leg is in front of you instead of to the side. Which then you swing that leg around to the front of the mat where you land in the splits (Hanumanasana). Say what? Yep... and people could do it. I... was not one of those people, but I was excited to see it in action! I could barely lift my support foot off the ground. I tried it though, which was fantastic. Why? Because my brain would have never thought of my body doing such a thing before, and now I'm training it to think it can and will.

Here's a video with a similar series (she doesn't need to use the support foot).

I realized, after re-reading my description, if you don't know yoga... hell, if you know

yoga even a little bit... what I said may have not been clear:

We ended in shivasana, where Paula didn't say a word. Still no music. Just me and my thoughts. Yikes! I know, right? But no one has ever done this before, so I was grateful for the opportunity to work on my own concentration instead of depending on someone else to distract me. I need more work, quite a bit actually, but it's a start. And I love finding my starting points.

Honestly, if I ever move to the Des Moines area, which is a possibility with my boyfriend's family being there... I could see this being my new "home studio," so I look forward to the checking out more classes/instructors on future visits. I promise to check out other studios in the area too, for all of us, but I was really happy with my visit at Shakti Yoga Shop.

Thank you Paula & classmates!

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Yoga in the Park | Des Moines, IA

LOCATION: The weekend I went there was quite a bit of rain and the river flooded. So they moved us to a school yard, which was less scenic but yoga outside was new to me, so still appealing. They did have excellent signage that led me to the right place (as I didn't know we were flooded out until I arrived that morning), and the school had free parking.
COST: Free!

STUDIO: Outside! (see location)

CLASS DESCRIPTION: The Des Moines Park and Recreation invites you to enjoy your Saturday morning by participating in a free weekly yoga session at Grays Lake. Maximize your stress relief by practicing yoga next to the water's edge while being led by local volunteer teachers—each week will be a different yoga experience!

INSTRUCTOR: Roxanne from Harmony Yoga was the instructor this morning. They rotate instructors each week.

CONTACT: City of Des Moines

Just Allow!

Roxanne kept sneaking this into the practice... just allow your breath to flow naturally, just allow yourself to sit in this pose, just allow yourself to reflect on your practice. It was a wonderful reminder for yoga and life in general. We went through a very similar order of things as I'm use to at home. This was the biggest class I've ever attended, probably 30-40 people I'd guess. That was really interesting too. I tried to get a picture of it, but at the beginning there weren't that many people, in the middle I'm not breaking my stride, and at the end everyone jetted out.

KULA
Partner yoga has been brought up a lot lately... at thai massages, in class, in magazines, etc. I'm not much of a group person. Maybe it's the only child in me that prefers the time alone... or maybe like everyone else, it's just uncomfortable. So this has never been really appealing to me. Well, at one point Roxanne said we had a great Kula [sanskrit for community or family] & asked people to form a line of 3-4 people or more. Sigh. We were asked to form our normal tree pose [vrksasana], but place our hands on the back of the people next to us. Once we all found our position we would press our hands into our other buddies back to help lift our hearts to the sky [which opens the chest and forms a stronger core for the position]. It was great. To my left was an elderly woman who was worried she'd knock us all down with her lack of balance, I assured her we'd help one another out... and in return, to share awkwardness, I pointed out it was probably worse to have to touch my gross, sweaty back. It was pretty gross. Then we lifted and held our pose. What a great experience, it really was nice to adjust my balance to not only the movement of myself but those on either side of me... and down the line. You could hear different groups giggling and impressed with their ability to do this... it was really rewarding.

MUDRA
At the end, after savasana, we brought ourselves up to our sitting position, normal for the yoga classes I've taken. But Roxanne went into a different mudra than normal. We placed our left hand on our heart and our right hand on the ground. It was a moment to recognize the energy we gain from the world around us, and that out of respect we should replenish the energy we removed. I love being reminded that I'm small, that I'm just a tiny cog in this ginormous universe. It makes my problems seem ridiculous and it makes my actions more meaningful. It's a nice place to be.

A fantastic morning, thank you Des Moines.

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