Frugal Family: Yoga for You and the Little Guru

When I was a little kid my mother would send my 5-year-old brother and me to our neighbors’ house to play with their children. We would often all end up in the basement where an intense woman training to be a yoga teacher would give us classes for free. I really enjoyed my time in these classes.

I could balance in the tree pose on one leg for longer than anyone else in the class. Also, my mind became less cluttered with thoughts that bothered an 8-year-old: like which show would I watch in the afternoon, G.I Joe or He-Man? 

My brother, on the other hand, could never take the classes seriously. He was so immature for a 5-year-old. Also, he could never balance for as long as I could and when he fell he would purposefully push me over. The teacher couldn’t take his lack of focus and canceled the classes, nipping my ascension to yoga guru status in the lotus bud. So, I turned my focus to being a guru in other things, like little league baseball (where I quickly found respect for Yogi Berra), and presently stay-at-home dad column writing.

Still, I never forgot those handful of classes we took. Now with my young son demonstrating his flexibility I have to wonder if he might one day be a yoga guru. So this week the search is on for nirvana — and the best yoga studio in the land (or neighborhood).

5. The YogaLocal Studio at Toren — ($10 per class) — Is this a dastardly plan by the developers of the Toren to sell more condos? Or is this the brilliant plan of a condo owner who hopes to pay her mortgage one reclining toe pose at a time (that’s supta padangusthasana for those readers who haven’t quite reached guru status yet).

4. Move With Grace — ($10 per class) — Because any studio that teaches Egyptian belly dance and yoga is okay by me. I wonder if they have considered teaching Egyptian belly dance yoga?

3. Lucky Lotus Yoga — ($17 per class w/discounts the more classes you take) — My wife enjoys taking classes here. It is located in a former funeral home. I’m not sure how this impacts one's karma, but at the very least you know the doors are wide enough to carry you out on a stretcher if your back locks up.

2. Bija Kids Yoga — ($25 per class per family) — This class is for the whole family and may be the closest your child comes to meditating without you tuning into Yogi Bear on the television.

1. Home — (free) — This is where I practice most of my yoga. The only one who gets to see my cow face pose before it is perfect is me.