Catshanghai

Last night we were given free tickets to try out a class at Yoga Space in Gaoan Lu. It’s just been refurbished and has everything you would expect to find in an elegant cliche of a modern hippy lifestyle. It has calming new age music, Buddha statues, Hindu symbols, cushions and free cups of healthy green tea. I enjoyed being the only man in the class, because I it meant I had my own private changing room. Apparently, the women’s changing room was very crowded and the showers kept changing temperature.

The yoga practice room is full of mirrors and wooden floors. It’s clean and warm, but Jenny felt the air was quite bad and that too many people (20) were packed into the room. I thought there was enough room for everyone to carry out their exercises without colliding. The teacher was a Chinese woman so most of the instructions were given in Mandarin. It was easy enough to copy the teacher and the other students so I didn’t overwhelmed by Chinese instructions that I didn’t understand. She spoke slowly and went around the room correcting obvious mistakes. I used to go to yoga classes in the UK and felt that the postures would have been suitable for practitioners who are continuing beginners or elementary students. They offer different types of yoga across a timetable throughout the week. They offer hatha, ashtanga, iyenga yoga although I am not so familiar with the differences between each style.

I didn’t like listening to background music when I practice yoga in a formal class. It is distracting and is not very authentic. It makes the whole experience feel like there is no spiritual content, merely physical exercise with a new age label. My yoga teacher in the UK was an Indian man who tried to strike a balance between the physical and spiritual aspects of this practice. I didn’t go to the class to follow a religion, but I really prefer a quiet space.

The fees are expensive at over 100 RMB for an hour’s class. Many of the teachers are foreigners and similar fees are standard throughout Shanghai. It works out cheaper if you buy a membership card over several months or a year.

I have not been to formal yoga classes for nearly three years. It was nice to go back even though I try and perform the stretches on my own as part of my erratic practice of keeping fit at the gym. There are yoga lessons at my gym, although that environment is very hectic. At least Yoga Space has a very calm, relaxing atmosphere even if it seems a bit fake. I would like to check out some other yoga teachers in Shanghai before I sign up for a programme. I do miss yoga. It is a great remedy for Shanghai’s hectic lifestyle.