Some preparation before you travel will make your yoga experience delightful.
I had arrived in Boston earlier that day. I was attending a conference in town for the next week and as I normally do I had located a yoga studio within walking distance of the hotel where I could practice yoga everyday while I was in Boston.
Even though I had done my research I was still in for a big surprise when I got to the studio.
When you are planning on visiting a new yoga studio there is lots of research that you can do in advance to prepare you for your visit and reduce the surprises that you may run into. The more research you do the less surprises you will have and a less stressful visit.
This preparation can be broken down into two big chunks. The first chunk you do before you leave home and the second chunk you do after you arrive in the city.
Research to do before you go
There are several things you can do before you leave home to prepare you for your visit.
Find their website
Do an online search for yoga studios in the area that you are traveling to. You need to answer many questions with this search.
Where is the studio located?
Are you going to be able to get to the studio from your hotel. In my case I was looking for a yoga studio within walking distance of downtown Boston. I found several studios in the downtown area.
What styles of yoga do they offer?
Is there a style of yoga that will be suitable for you. I found one studio that offered Ashtanga yoga, which is the style of yoga that I practice. There was yoga studio that was closer that was offering Baron Baptise Yoga. If things did not work out with the first studio I could always try this one.
What is their schedule?
Now that I had found a couple of studios that were within walking distance and they had the kind of yoga that I was interested in it was time to check out the class schedule. Once again you can check this out online.
I was looking for classes before the conference day started and for classes in the evening. I could do either of these time slots. My preference was for Ashtanga mysore classes before the conference day started. After looking at their schedule I found out that they offered early morning mysore classes everyday of the week at 6:00 am. This was excellent for me. I would be able to do my yoga practice and still get back to my hotel to have breakfast and get to the first session of the conference each day.
Life is looking good. Now that I knew there were classes that I could take at this studio there was even more research to do.
How much are the classes?
Can I buy a block of classes or will I be buying classes one at a time.
How can I pay for classes? Do they take credit cards, debit cards, cheques or cash. This is an important one. I needed to know if I should bring cash with me or if my plastic will be enough. When visiting other studios I have found that a lot of them only take cash.
This place was a cash only studio. I would have to make sure I had enough cash on me to buy a block of classes. They sold there classes in blocks of 7 only. That meant that I would be not using all of them up before I left to go home. It was still cheaper to buy the block of classes than pay for the class each time I went.
There was still one more thing left to do before I left home.
Make contact
I sent an email to the studio using the contact information on their website. I wanted to confirm several things.
- I wanted to make sure that I would be able to take the early morning Ashtanga mysore classes. Some studios want you to register in advance for the classes. Other studios want to make sure you are attending the correct level class for your abilities. Getting in the wrong level of class can be disappointment for you and disruption for the other people in the class with you.
- I wanted to confirm the information on the website. Websites are not always up to date. I confirmed that the classes were still being offered and that the online schedule was up to date. I also validated the cost and method of payment.
I got an email back. They welcomed me to the studio and assured me that the classes that I was interested in were available and that I would be paying by cash.
All of my advanced research is done. I would have to wait until I got to Boston to do the next stage of my research.
Research to do when you get there
I arrived in Boston on Sunday afternoon. I had arranged the flight times to give me enough time to check into the conference and to complete my research on the yoga studio I would be attending while I was in town.
How to get to the studio
I knew form my earlier online research where the studio was located. Now it was time to actually find it. I got out the map of the city and found the hotel and the studio on it and plotted a route that should get me to the studio. It is time for a walk.
There are two things to find out on this walk. How long is it going to take me to get to the studio and actually finding the studio. It is one thing to have a map. It is quite another thing to actually walk the route for the first time. I only got lost twice on the way to the studio.
I returned to my hotel room and prepared for my first visit later that night.
The first visit
I followed the route that I had explored earlier in the day and arrived at the studio early. I wanted to find out the layout of the studio.
Even with all of the advance research there were questions that could only be answered by actually visiting the studio.
Where were the changing rooms? Did they have changing rooms? Where were the practice rooms? Did they have more than one? Which way do you put your mats in the room? How do I register for the classes? How do I sign in to the classes? Who do I pay?
I introduced myself to the teacher and he was able to answer all of my questions for me. I was all set. The first class was excellent and I felt comfortable in the studio.
I was looking forward to my week of practicing yoga with them. I did not realize that despite all of my research that there was one very big surprise in store for me the next day when I came to class.
Unique feature
Every yoga studio has something unique about them. My home yoga studio offers free chocolates after class. This yoga studio had changing rooms but it only has a single changing room for everybody.
Boy did I get a surprise when I walked in to change my clothes for the morning mysore class. There were women everywhere. They assured me that I could stay and change while they were changing. I quickly retreated and left them to change in peace.
When the women were done I went in and changed. While I was changing another woman walked in and started changing her clothes for class. She said not to mind her.
Every yoga studio has its own culture. You need to be flexible in more than a physical way.
Summary
Despite the surprise about the changing rooms, my advanced research and on site research paid off and I found a yoga studio that fit my needs and I was comfortable attending classes there.
Next Steps
The next time you are traveling take the time to find a yoga studio where you can practice yoga.
How to use the no surprises protocol when you travel to a new studio
I had arrived in Boston earlier that day. I was attending a conference in town for the next week and as I normally do I had located a yoga studio within walking distance of the hotel where I could practice yoga everyday while I was in Boston.
Even though I had done my research I was still in for a big surprise when I got to the studio.
When you are planning on visiting a new yoga studio there is lots of research that you can do in advance to prepare you for your visit and reduce the surprises that you may run into. The more research you do the less surprises you will have and a less stressful visit.
This preparation can be broken down into two big chunks. The first chunk you do before you leave home and the second chunk you do after you arrive in the city.
Research to do before you go
There are several things you can do before you leave home to prepare you for your visit.
Find their website
Do an online search for yoga studios in the area that you are traveling to. You need to answer many questions with this search.
Where is the studio located?
Are you going to be able to get to the studio from your hotel. In my case I was looking for a yoga studio within walking distance of downtown Boston. I found several studios in the downtown area.
What styles of yoga do they offer?
Is there a style of yoga that will be suitable for you. I found one studio that offered Ashtanga yoga, which is the style of yoga that I practice. There was yoga studio that was closer that was offering Baron Baptise Yoga. If things did not work out with the first studio I could always try this one.
What is their schedule?
Now that I had found a couple of studios that were within walking distance and they had the kind of yoga that I was interested in it was time to check out the class schedule. Once again you can check this out online.
I was looking for classes before the conference day started and for classes in the evening. I could do either of these time slots. My preference was for Ashtanga mysore classes before the conference day started. After looking at their schedule I found out that they offered early morning mysore classes everyday of the week at 6:00 am. This was excellent for me. I would be able to do my yoga practice and still get back to my hotel to have breakfast and get to the first session of the conference each day.
Life is looking good. Now that I knew there were classes that I could take at this studio there was even more research to do.
How much are the classes?
Can I buy a block of classes or will I be buying classes one at a time.
How can I pay for classes? Do they take credit cards, debit cards, cheques or cash. This is an important one. I needed to know if I should bring cash with me or if my plastic will be enough. When visiting other studios I have found that a lot of them only take cash.
This place was a cash only studio. I would have to make sure I had enough cash on me to buy a block of classes. They sold there classes in blocks of 7 only. That meant that I would be not using all of them up before I left to go home. It was still cheaper to buy the block of classes than pay for the class each time I went.
There was still one more thing left to do before I left home.
Make contact
I sent an email to the studio using the contact information on their website. I wanted to confirm several things.
— I wanted to make sure that I would be able to take the early morning Ashtanga mysore classes. Some studios want you to register in advance for the classes. Other studios want to make sure you are attending the correct level class for your abilities. Getting in the wrong level of class can be disappointment for you and disruption for the other people in the class with you.
— I wanted to confirm the information on the website. Websites are not always up to date. I confirmed that the classes were still being offered and that the online schedule was up to date. I also validated the cost and method of payment.
I got an email back. They welcomed me to the studio and assured me that the classes that I was interested in were available and that I would be paying by cash.
All of my advanced research is done. I would have to wait until I got to Boston to do the next stage of my research.
Research to do when you get there
I arrived in Boston on Sunday afternoon. I had arranged the flight times to give me enough time to check into the conference and to complete my research on the yoga studio I would be attending while I was in town.
How to get to the studio
I knew form my earlier online research where the studio was located. Now it was time to actually find it. I got out the map of the city and found the hotel and the studio on it and plotted a route that should get me to the studio. It is time for a walk.
There are two things to find out on this walk. How long is it going to take me to get to the studio and actually finding the studio. It is one thing to have a map. It is quite another thing to actually walk the route for the first time. I only got lost twice on the way to the studio.
I returned to my hotel room and prepared for my first visit later that night.
The first visit
I followed the route that I had explored earlier in the day and arrived at the studio early. I wanted to find out the layout of the studio.
Even with all of the advance research there were questions that could only be answered by actually visiting the studio.
Where were the changing rooms? Did they have changing rooms? Where were the practice rooms? Did they have more than one? Which way do you put your mats in the room? How do I register for the classes? How do I sign in to the classes? Who do I pay?
I introduced myself to the teacher and he was able to answer all of my questions for me. I was all set. The first class was excellent and I felt comfortable in the studio.
I was looking forward to my week of practicing yoga with them. I did not realize that despite all of my research that there was one very big surprise in store for me the next day when I came to class.
Unique feature
Every yoga studio has something unique about them. My home yoga studio offers free chocolates after class. This yoga studio had changing rooms but it only has a single changing room for everybody.
Boy did I get a surprise when I walked in to change my clothes for the morning mysore class. There were women everywhere. They assured me that I could stay and change while they were changing. I quickly retreated and left them to change in peace.
When the women were done I went in and changed. While I was changing another woman walked in and started changing her clothes for class. She said not to mind her.
Every yoga studio has its own culture. You need to be flexible in more than a physical way.
Summary
Despite the surprise about the changing rooms, my advanced research and on site research paid off and I found a yoga studio that fit my needs and I was comfortable attending classes there.
Next Steps
The next time you are traveling take the time to find a yoga studio where you can practice yoga.How to use the no surprises protocol when you travel to a new studio
I had arrived in Boston earlier that day. I was attending a conference in town for the next week and as I normally do I had located a yoga studio within walking distance of the hotel where I could practice yoga everyday while I was in Boston.
Even though I had done my research I was still in for a big surprise when I got to the studio.
When you are planning on visiting a new yoga studio there is lots of research that you can do in advance to prepare you for your visit and reduce the surprises that you may run into. The more research you do the less surprises you will have and a less stressful visit.
This preparation can be broken down into two big chunks. The first chunk you do before you leave home and the second chunk you do after you arrive in the city.
Research to do before you go
There are several things you can do before you leave home to prepare you for your visit.
Find their website
Do an online search for yoga studios in the area that you are traveling to. You need to answer many questions with this search.
Where is the studio located?
Are you going to be able to get to the studio from your hotel. In my case I was looking for a yoga studio within walking distance of downtown Boston. I found several studios in the downtown area.
What styles of yoga do they offer?
Is there a style of yoga that will be suitable for you. I found one studio that offered Ashtanga yoga, which is the style of yoga that I practice. There was yoga studio that was closer that was offering Baron Baptise Yoga. If things did not work out with the first studio I could always try this one.
What is their schedule?
Now that I had found a couple of studios that were within walking distance and they had the kind of yoga that I was interested in it was time to check out the class schedule. Once again you can check this out online.
I was looking for classes before the conference day started and for classes in the evening. I could do either of these time slots. My preference was for Ashtanga mysore classes before the conference day started. After looking at their schedule I found out that they offered early morning mysore classes everyday of the week at 6:00 am. This was excellent for me. I would be able to do my yoga practice and still get back to my hotel to have breakfast and get to the first session of the conference each day.
Life is looking good. Now that I knew there were classes that I could take at this studio there was even more research to do.
How much are the classes?
Can I buy a block of classes or will I be buying classes one at a time.
How can I pay for classes? Do they take credit cards, debit cards, cheques or cash. This is an important one. I needed to know if I should bring cash with me or if my plastic will be enough. When visiting other studios I have found that a lot of them only take cash.
This place was a cash only studio. I would have to make sure I had enough cash on me to buy a block of classes. They sold there classes in blocks of 7 only. That meant that I would be not using all of them up before I left to go home. It was still cheaper to buy the block of classes than pay for the class each time I went.
There was still one more thing left to do before I left home.
Make contact
I sent an email to the studio using the contact information on their website. I wanted to confirm several things.
— I wanted to make sure that I would be able to take the early morning Ashtanga mysore classes. Some studios want you to register in advance for the classes. Other studios want to make sure you are attending the correct level class for your abilities. Getting in the wrong level of class can be disappointment for you and disruption for the other people in the class with you.
— I wanted to confirm the information on the website. Websites are not always up to date. I confirmed that the classes were still being offered and that the online schedule was up to date. I also validated the cost and method of payment.
I got an email back. They welcomed me to the studio and assured me that the classes that I was interested in were available and that I would be paying by cash.
All of my advanced research is done. I would have to wait until I got to Boston to do the next stage of my research.
Research to do when you get there
I arrived in Boston on Sunday afternoon. I had arranged the flight times to give me enough time to check into the conference and to complete my research on the yoga studio I would be attending while I was in town.
How to get to the studio
I knew form my earlier online research where the studio was located. Now it was time to actually find it. I got out the map of the city and found the hotel and the studio on it and plotted a route that should get me to the studio. It is time for a walk.
There are two things to find out on this walk. How long is it going to take me to get to the studio and actually finding the studio. It is one thing to have a map. It is quite another thing to actually walk the route for the first time. I only got lost twice on the way to the studio.
I returned to my hotel room and prepared for my first visit later that night.
The first visit
I followed the route that I had explored earlier in the day and arrived at the studio early. I wanted to find out the layout of the studio.
Even with all of the advance research there were questions that could only be answered by actually visiting the studio.
Where were the changing rooms? Did they have changing rooms? Where were the practice rooms? Did they have more than one? Which way do you put your mats in the room? How do I register for the classes? How do I sign in to the classes? Who do I pay?
I introduced myself to the teacher and he was able to answer all of my questions for me. I was all set. The first class was excellent and I felt comfortable in the studio.
I was looking forward to my week of practicing yoga with them. I did not realize that despite all of my research that there was one very big surprise in store for me the next day when I came to class.
Unique feature
Every yoga studio has something unique about them. My home yoga studio offers free chocolates after class. This yoga studio had changing rooms but it only has a single changing room for everybody.
Boy did I get a surprise when I walked in to change my clothes for the morning mysore class. There were women everywhere. They assured me that I could stay and change while they were changing. I quickly retreated and left them to change in peace.
When the women were done I went in and changed. While I was changing another woman walked in and started changing her clothes for class. She said not to mind her.
Every yoga studio has its own culture. You need to be flexible in more than a physical way.
Summary
Despite the surprise about the changing rooms, my advanced research and on site research paid off and I found a yoga studio that fit my needs and I was comfortable attending classes there.
Next Steps
The next time you are traveling take the time to find a yoga studio where you can practice yoga.
