PRODUCT REVIEW: Yoga @ Black to Yoga

In the age of COVID-19, all manner of service is being offered online, including yoga classes. Am I a yogi? Not really. Did I need a good stretchin’ out? Yes, really.

I’ve been a member of Black to Yoga for two years, at least, and I had yet to attend a single session, until last Friday. This is how it went:

Product(s): Yoga Class
Company Name: Black to Yoga
Contact Info.: https://www.blacktoyoga.com
Location: 2323 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612
Cost: $0 – $10 (Pay What You Can)
Date of Visit: May 15, 2020

Rating: 17/20= 85%
Basis:
Purchase Process – 3
I encountered BTY at Meetup.com; what appears to be the most current information is posted there. In trying to pay for my class, I had a little trouble because I visited the website, but didn’t see much info about how to access the classes, let alone pay for them. Luckily, throughout the week, BTY sends updates to its Meetup.com members. Had I not had been a Meetup.com member, I wouldn’t have been able to access the class and payment links.

Customer Service – 5

I haven’t connected with any of the BTY instructors, individually, so this is based on the interaction I did have.

Who showed-up to yoga class two minutes late?

I did.

Who missed some of the opening instructions because she was late?

I did.

Who caught the part of the introduction where the instructor, Zenovia (I think), let folks know that they would probably need some solid blocks later on the lesson (I used literature books) and that they could modify movement or stop, if they needed to?

I did.

Who was not going to hold up the class asking questions about information her tardiness caused her to miss?

I, again. (Yes, “I”, not “me”: gitcha pronouns together.)

I was late, and I missed a little bit of information, I’m sure, but Zenovia was still welcoming, and not in a saccharine way, either.

Product(s) – 4
I didn’t like the class, but that had nothing to do with the instructor. I didn’t understand that a particular type of yoga was being taught: Vinyasa flow. Apparently, I don’t like vinyasa flow. Maybe it’s the beginners yoga that I like. I’ll have to talk to someone to learn what that’s called (the name of the type of yoga I like).

This yoga required a lot of repetition and chatter from the instructor. I don’t like lots of repetition or chatter during ANY type of exercise. Seriously. When I jog, I prefer being alone because I don’t want people talking to me, so the constant (but necessary) guidance from the instructor rubbed me the wrong way.

I’m used to feeling relaxed and centered when I finish yoga. After this session, I felt a little better and stretched, but I was also nauseated, and I had broken a sweat–neither of which were necessarily bad things. The sweat started early in the session and was a clue that I was doing something I hadn’t expected. The nausea reminded me that I should stop stuffing my face with cheesy, chippy things — especially an hour before I do yoga.

I stopped a few times during the session, but I tell you what: all those twists and turns had a positive effect on my digestive system. Wink, wink.

Product Usability – 5
The yoga class was conducted via Zoom, so there are a million and one options for quickly and comfortably accessing the class and adapting the screen to one’s personal preferences.

If you’re not a Zoom user, don’t freak out; it’s easy peasy. You click the class link, click the download button, follow the next prompt, when then enter BTY’s super short password. Boom. You’re in.

You can mute your audio, make yourself invisible, enlarge your thumbnail, or let the instructor’s thumbnail remain the focus of your screen. You can even be nosey and see who else is in class, unless folks label themselves “Anonymous”, which you also have the option to do.

So, for now this type of yoga is not for me, but maybe it’ll come in handy another time. Until then, I’m gonna contact someone at Black to Yoga to see if someone can help me figure out the name of the type of yoga that feels good to me so that I can take the class with BTY.

That’s all for now. Bye.

P.S., Here’s the video version, complete with class snippets.