Seva Community Class
Leela Yoga Lifestyle
Baton Rouge
Every Friday
In a lot of ways, going to a new yoga class is like seeing an improv show. You don’t know what the vibes are going to be, and you get what you put into it. That’s especially the case at Leela Yoga Lifestyle’s Seva Community Class, a pay what you want/free yoga class with a rotating roster of instructors every Friday.
Once inside, it’s immediately clear that Leela’s is a warm building, or at least it was that Friday night compared to the outside. A combo of incense and essential oils wafted through the air, and patio string lights zigzagged across the wood interior. The yoga class itself was intense. It wasn’t that the individual moves were difficult or out of the ordinary. The instructor, Jennifer led us in sun salutations and fairly standard sets of poses which one could find in most beginner-friendly Youtube tutorials, but there’s something about being there in person that forces one to try harder and push through discomfort.
The attendees were also an interesting mix of aspiring yoga instructors and people who don’t do yoga enough to have a regular class they attend. The front row seemed to be full of the former group. I was in the latter. Perhaps also contributed to the intensity of the class, the people I saw in front of me were modeling the moves as if teaching a class of their own. Some instructors teach by doing the yoga with you the whole time, but Jennifer walked around, offering to push/assist us a little in the various poses.
Halfway through, I was sweating. Not like a normal yoga class amount of sweating — it was a full body drench. Something was leaving my body. Was it “what doesn’t serve”? Was this my third eye opening? For the duration of the class, I was convinced I was finally experiencing the woowoo side of yoga that Youtube tutorials never afforded me. Sitting in waterfall pose (on my back, feet elevated above me) I felt clarity about some things. The instructor told us that it was a pose useful for decision making.
I was told after the class that they just started hot yoga in the room next door, so the effects of the infrared lights were wafting into our studio space. So what I was experiencing was essentially hot yoga lite. But maybe these things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
As we wrapped up the class, the instructor had us lie flat on our backs with our arms stretched out beside us (Shavasana, my favorite yoga pose), and she came around to put cool essential oil towels on our foreheads.
This week, one of the girls in the front row is teaching a dance yoga class with a more upbeat vibe. As of Saturday, the class was already full. Writing this Monday morning, I still feel sore, but not unpleasantly so. I would definitely do it again.
