I love to visit different yoga studios when I am traveling. Variety is the spice of life, after all!
Last week, I decided to try a class at Yoga Tree, which has several locations around San Francisco and the Bay Area. One of these locations is conveniently located not far from our current Airbnb rental – making attending a class there a no-brainer! I popped in for a lunchtime power vinyasa class and had such a great time that I was plotting to return even while in savasana.
As I walked home from the studio, I began scrolling through my Instagram feed. I follow a bunch of different yoga and general wellness accounts (some of my favorites being these 5 traveling yogi accounts), including Jason Crandell. The first image in my feed was a post of his announcing he was going to be teaching three classes at Yoga Tree locations the following week. (I now know that Yoga Tree is his home network, but I didn’t realize that at the time.)
I’m a big fan of his – in fact, I had put a Yogaglo class of his on my calendar for the following day. When I attended the Yoga Journal Conference in New York a couple of years ago, I took a class of his entitled “Flow Yoga Survival Guide” that really changed the way I thought about vinyasas. (For example, it helped me stop beating myself up about the fact that I cannot gracefully move my foot from the downward-facing dog position to between my hands.) I also carry around an article of his on sequencing that I ripped out of Yoga Journal – it helps me create practices for myself while I’m on the road.
Anyway, seeing that he was going to be teaching at studio which I had just decided that I loved seemed like fate – I rushed home and registered for one of the classes.
It took me around an hour to reach the Yoga Tree location where the class was being held, but it was more than worth it. There is certainly something to be gained from practicing with someone who is recognized as being at the top of their field. I don’t really subscribe to the theory of “celebrity yoginis” – there are plenty of highly qualified, dedicated yoga instructors out there, and I don’t believe that their lack of fame should be interpreted as meaning they are inferior – but I have always admired Jason Crandell’s teaching style and ability, and I was thrilled to get to take a class with him.
I was less thrilled to accidentally cuff him in the leg while binding. Oops!
Have you stumbled on any great yoga classes while on the road? Have you tried out my 5 Tips for Finding Yoga Studios While Traveling?
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