And thats for sessions lasting from 9/8-10/20 once a week.

Now here's the dumb part. I'm a member of a gym. They have yoga classes. But I am SO intimidated to go to those because seriously there are NO fat chicks in that class. NONE (at least at the time that I'm available to go) Just watching them all walk in all tiny and whatever just makes me nervous. I feel that this other community ed class will probably be more diverse in it's clientel? maybe?

I don't know. $69 is kind of alot especially when I pay $60 monthly for the gym.

I would maybe try to bite the bullet and go to the one at the gym if you know the instructor is good. You could even try to talk to her before class and let her know you are a little intimidated. I was very intimidated to do the class at my gym too, but once I did it a few times I was so much more comfortable. BTW, I always got there a bit early, so I could get a spot in the back!

Currently I have my gym membership frozen (I coach hockey and cannot really go until season is over), but I have been doing some yoga at home with DVD. I really like Alan Finger's Yoga Zone dvds. Maybe that's another option.

Having said all that, 69 is not bad- except that you already have the membership to pay. I am currently in a Pilates class that meets every Monday night for 10 weeks - for $100.00. Now that's fairly steep, but I'm justifying it because my gym membership is frozen, so I don't have to pay it. And it's a great class!

Good luck!

Thanks... I should just bite the bullet.. argh I have DVD at home, but I don't know if I'm doing it right or not which is why I want to take a class...

I can understand your feelings. For the longest time, I was intimidated to workout at my gym, so I spent my time in the women's gym part of it. It's downstairs and has no windows and is very small without much air (they use fans). Anyway, one day, I just went upstairs and you know what? Nothing happened. Yes, I felt like I wanted to crawl under a rock, but then, I asked myself: who am I hurting? What is the big deal? I think that if you can get yourself to go once, you'll realize that nobody cares about anyone except themselves...especially people who do yoga!

go to the class at your gym early and chat with the instructor. I'm sure she would welcome a newbie and you might inspire some others who have been wanting to try it too.

dkneec - please understand that thin does not necessarily mean flexible. I was the big girl in pilates and yoga class at the gym. Yes, I was very intimidated to be in a room full of mirrors with skinny people. However, I took great delight when some of the girls could not bend and do the moves like I could. Out of the corner of my eye I could see them struggling and looking at me and wondering why the fat chick can do things they can't. So there.

$69 is on the high end but I would inquire as to the size of the class. If they are only taking say 8 people max, the higher fee would cover the instructor's fee and you'd get more individualized attention.

The Giam videos are a good series - I like the ones with Susan Deeson. However you are correct, a human teacher will show you modified poses that might make it easier starting out.

I agree with the other poster about speaking to the teacher ahead of class. Give the gym one 1 try and if you don't like it, try the other. Namiste.

I love yoga but my local gym doesn't offer classes that fit with my schedule. There is a wonderful hour long yoga workout on the Oxygen channel every weekday morning at 6am called Inhale. What I do is record a few episodes and then I have them available whenever it fits my time frame which is usually 5am and I can just fast forward through the commercials.

I can understand wanting to take a class to make sure you are doing the poses correctly though. Hope you find something that works for you and don't be intimidated, just enjoy the feeling you get from a good workout.

I went to a yoga class at my church for awhile. It was $5 per class, so $40 per month. So, that's not too out of line with the $69 classes.

I agree though, once you get in there, you're not paying attention to everyone else, so who cares if you're the biggest one in there.
Go and be proud of who you are
I'm more into saving money than worrying about what other people think about me.
Best wishes

I agree.

i'm a fat chick in yoga class... some of those thin chicks may have been fat chicks at one time.

I know one woman who's a yoga freak. she's lost 120 pounds...

GO.

Go to the gym class and at least give it a try before you pay more money for elsewhere.

I used to do yoga class 3x a week and I loved, loved, loved it. However, we moved away and I've yet to find something I like as much nearby.

Yep, I was the heaviest in this class but it didn't matter, everyone was very friendly and inviting. The instructor was great and very encouraging.

So give it a try so at least you'll know if you like that particular class and instructor.

At least go once with each instructor. Some are better than others or they may teach a different way. The one instructor teaches more gently and the other one teaches almost a power yoga class which is more difficult

DK - what did you decide? let us know!

I did yoga when I was 213 and I do it now 85 pounds lighter. I am no better at it now than I was before. I really like the deliberate pace and the calm atmosphere, good for any size person, and in my classes at least I know I can't tell what others are doing because I'm focusing on myself (I have poor balance and very inflexible and many poses I have to adapt, anyway). The teachers have all been great in helping me and it's clear to me the rest of the classmates are all thinking about what they are doing during the class, and have no attention to spare for me (except when I fell over once and smacked the floor a bit, and then it was all about whether I had hurt myself). I find yoga students to be a very accepting group. I say try the classes at your gym and save the money. Only make a change if you do not feel the yoga is working for you, not who's in the class. Looks can be very deceiving as to who is going to be "good" at yoga, and anyway, I have found that the prevailing attitude in all classes I've taken is that we all do what our bodies are able to do. Yoga is very inner directed that way.

Yes, hit your gym first. See if you like it. If not, then join the other one.