Step 9: San Francisco day 4

San Francisco Day 4:

Before I left for Japan I was doing yoga pretty much everyday…sometimes twice a day. I had found so much healing through yoga and the cleansing practices that I learned along side my yoga. When I first arrived in Japan, having no clear idea of what I was getting myself into, I woke up on the first morning and promptly walked out of my house with the mission of familiarizing myself with the area. This meant to me: find the grocery store, find the gym, find a coffee shop, and so on. That first day I actually thought to myself that perhaps my house was outside of the actual town and that was why it seemed deserted with no shops of any kind. I was wrong. Shimukappu doesn’t have a grocery store (it has a convenience store with inconvenient hours), it doesn’t have a gym, it doesn’t have a coffee shop. Essentially, Shimukappu is a rest-stop.

I don’t know why I’m disciplined enough to go outside and run in snow storms but not disciplined enough to do yoga in my house. I guess running has always been a solitary thing for me. Sure I’ve had some training partners in the past but running is something I’m accustomed to doing alone. Yoga on the other hand I’ve always done in classes and I’ve always enjoyed the energy I gain from the people around me and inspiration I get from the teacher. Multiple times throughout my time in Japan I have tried to practice yoga. I have had my mat in the center of my house waiting for me to get on it but for some reason whenever I tried I would either end up in tears on the floor or laughing at my dog who likes to lie down right beneath my downward dog.

I had done five bikrams classes over summer vacation 2009 but that was pretty much all the yoga I had done in the last 17 months. That said, I was excited to get right back into Yoga during my time in America-- so that was where Heidi and I were headed on our bikes Sunday morning.

We arrived at Urban Flow Yoga and in our yoga clothes stood out like red dots on a grey canvas. The area wasn’t exactly yoga row and you could pick out each person who was headed into the studio quite clearly from the rest of the rather rundown street. Urban Flow Yoga is run by Rusty Wells, a man who has gained quite a following over his years as a yoga teacher. He opened Urban Flow to be a donation based yoga studio, a place where no one will be turned away for lack of funds. If they want to practice yoga, all are welcome.
http://urbanflowyoga.com/

The line to get in was out the door and we had arrived quite early. Once up the stairs we made our donations and headed in. The ‘it’s a small world’ treatment happened within moments of setting down my mat when I noticed a familiar face. I went over and gave Michael, a guy who I had practiced with regularly back in Aspen at King Yoga, a hug and hello. The studio was huge and I could tell from the energy around me that there must be something really special about to happen. I was nervous and excited.

When Rusty and his team of teachers (yes in a studio that size you would need a team!) entered the room everyone went silent. They went to the front of the room and the drums started, the chanting started, the swaying started. It was amazing. I didn’t know the words but I knew the feeling and it went through me with all of my wonderful memories from my yoga teacher training in Thailand.

Me as a dedicated yogi in 2007...Teacher Training in Thailand

It was a tough class and well taught. I knew why Rusty was so respected and why all of his students from other studios would follow him to this off the grid area of San Francisco and support him so that he could have a donation based place. We struggled, we laughed, we were assisted, and we were supported by him and his team. The class ended where it started; with music, drums, and swaying.

According to Heidi's knowledge of him, Rusty’s yoga theory is that modern yoga has to adapt to the modern practitioner. Teaching yoga in a city is much different than teaching it in a small town in India. People’s ability to relax, their ability to focus and forget is much more difficult in the city. He believes it is too much to ask city students to come into class from the streets of their crazy lives and sit in silence and breath. He designs his classes in a way I have never experienced. He opens the classes so the energy is as crazy as the lives we live with the music and drums and even going into the asanas tough right from the beginning. The practice slows the most in the middle of the class almost reaching shavasana and then begins to build speed again at the end. This way he isn’t sending his student out into the world half asleep. He believes this would be dangerous and so prepares them to reenter the crazy city with high energy.

I was sore before the class ended. I loved it.

We headed back on our bikes and ended up at Starbucks getting some breakfast and hot chocolate. The plan for the day was to meet up with Mom and Kathy a bit later for pedicures and a walk down Haight Street.

Mom behind Pipe Dreams -Haight/Ashbury

We got back to Heidi’s house and got a call from Mom. They were headed our way. After finding parking we all (including Kathy who had recently had knee surgery) walked towards the infamous intersection of Haight-Ashbury. As we came up the street and into the shop lined area there was, directly in front of us, a homeless man carrying a stuffed animal cat. My mom and I watched him for a while as he treated his cat so kindly with pet’s and whispers in the ear. He then went into a stairwell and sat down with a little comb to groom her. It was one of the more endearing things I’d ever seen.

Walking with his cat

We then continued on and found ourselves the desired manicure/pedicure shop and the Thai women got to work on the lot of us. Afterwards we window shopped and ended up in a very cool hat shop called Goorin Brothers. The Goorin Brothers is in its 4th generation of hat making with a motto of “Bold hat making since 1895.” The shop had a lounge feeling to it with couches and lovely displays; we all had some fun trying them on…but Heidi was the only one still with the hat on her head when we walked out.
http://www.goorin.com/hat-shops/san-francisco-haight-street

Relaxing in Goorin Brother's Hat Shop

Mom and Kathy came back to Heidi’s house and we found them a hotel near Fisherman’s wharf for $69 at the Bayside Inn. Not the fanciest place in town but a hop away from the wharf for $69 and clean is unbeatable!
http://baysideinnwharf.com/
They headed there and Heidi and I went on a walk of our own. We headed to the opposite end of Haight Street which isn’t quite as bustling but proved to have quite a few cool little shops. We ended up in a botique shop, along with a eccentric fashion photographer, trying on clothes. I ended up with a long purple dress and Heidi debating over a peacoat.
We made dinner at home and went to bed early saying our goodbyes. Tomorrow Heidi would go to work and I would join my Mom and Kathy.