On a rainy Sunday morning, my Passport to Prana partner-in-crime (Tessa) and I headed to our first class at Urban Flow Yoga, located just South of Market. Urban Flow, offering donation-based classes, is a relatively new studio to the San Francisco yoga scene, but already has a strong following.
We arrived really early to secure our spots in the class, as we’d heard the class would most definitely be full. The front desk folks were lovely, and gave us a brief intro to where everything was, including the filtered water dispenser (a nice, much appreciated touch). We set our mats down in the middle of a huge, well-lit, modern space in a heated room, heavily scented with incense, with Indian music ringing through the air. I was nervous and excited at the same time. Why?
Two words: Rusty Wells.
I had joked to Tessa that we were taking a “designer yoga class” – as Rusty is a pretty famous yoga instructor with a legion of devotees worldwide. As the clock neared 9am, people began to trickle in. The front row people all looked like they’d stepped straight out of Yoga Journal. I recognized a few people in class as current yoga instructors. By the time class was ready to start, there were at least 100 people seated on their mats in rapt attention.
We began with kirtan (something usually skipped in most yoga classes I’ve taken so far), with Rusty chanting while banging out a rhythm on the tambourine, and 100+ voices singing back with some serious ferocity. We then moved into the flowing series of postures that would make up the rest of the class. Rusty had two assistants who helped with gentle adjustments, while he called out instruction. He also walked around the class, offering adjustments and suggestions - I was a little embarrassed when I fell out of a Vashistasana variation just as he stood in front of me, but he offered a smile and said, “But it was beautiful.”
The entire class, I couldn’t help but be overjoyed to be there. His teaching is peppered with humor and encouragement, and you feel very much at home (even if you’re a first timer). It was probably one of the more challenging and sweaty classes in my experience, but I felt so happy and light as I walked out to the car. I totally get why Rusty’s classes are always jam packed – he’s a wonderful “yogic messenger”. I can’t wait to go back!
Urban Flow Yoga
1543 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 355-9642
Here’s a little video on Urban Flow:
