going to a strip joint

Body Mind & Spirit
Yoga Pilates & Poledancing
19710 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 108
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
(818) 702-0390
website: www.yopipo.com

Clients that come to Body Mind & Spirit
Yoga, Pilates & Poledancing
are serious about working with commitment
to see and feel change.
Whether you are looking for relief from injuries, to lose weight,
gain flexibility or to learn how to relax your spirit
we are here to support you.
The studio offers Yoga, Pilates, Poledancing classes
and spiritual nutrition in a variety of healing arts.

it's bad enough when you get caught viewing a non-work related website at the office. it's even worse when the website window's title bar announces Stripping Poledancing. it's downright embarrassing, especially when you're new and no one really knows you that well. god, they must think i do some pretty kinky stuff in my spare time!

it was while i was trying to jot down the address of my latest valley yoga studio discovery that the office computer tech just happened to stop by to install more software on my PC. i quickly clicked on the close button when i sensed him standing behind me, but the damage was probably done. needless to say, he spent a lot of time in my cubicle trying to troubleshoot a problem that surfaced during the install. i have a feeling that if i ever call the help desk for any subsequent PC issues, i should have no problem getting him to run to my rescue :)

and no, i wasn't trying to take a yoga class at a strip joint. but the studio does teach poledancing, of all things, in addition to yoga and pilates. despite the fact that it goes by the name body mind & spirit, its website address, www.yopipo.com, is a subtle mnemonic for the types of classes taught at the studio.

so when the tech finally left my desk, i revisited the website to get the information i needed. a 6pm ayuryoga class with ashley osler... in a shopping center at the corner of ventura and corbin... but do they really teach stripping?... hmmmm...

i later found myself walking into a place that had pilates reformer machines on one side and stripper poles on the other. the poles were right in the middle of what appeared to be the yoga studio floor. i could only imagine how they would come into play during our yoga class.

as it turned out, they didn't. we placed our mats on the hardwood floor, away from the poles. before class started, ashley told me that she usually gears her classes towards the abilities of the students. and after observing the elderly woman beside me struggling to get from downward dog to a runner's lunge, i knew that it was going to be 90 minutes of slow transitions and simple poses. at least poledancing would have been more of a workout!

it was a very gentle class. a bit too gentle for my taste. if i still had the luxury of being able to take a morning yoga class, i'd probably go back and take an anusara class with either judy narvid or tim waters, both certified anusara teachers. as it is though, with my only evening option being a gentle class, i really don't have much reason to go back.

unless, of course, i decide to try out the six-week ecstatic pole dance class series. me, spinning on a stripper pole? maybe i should stick to yoga for now...