Yoga Salt

I'm writing this review about a retreat I attended in November with my girlfriends in Costa Rica. I have never actually been to the studio. After my experience, I don't plan on attending.

Below are a list of positives and negatives. To note I am an active yoga teacher in LA, and attend 3-4 retreats a year. My bar may be high, but I do believe that when paying a good chunk of money, you should get a real retreat experience.

Positives:
1. The classes were great. Really loved the teaching style of both teachers.
2. The food was great, and they did the best they could to accommodate my crazy dietary needs-- which are unique!
3. Lots of flexibility from the leaders JJ and Sesa. Nothing was concrete...

Places to definitely grow:
1. We were told 2 weeks before arrival (as opposed to at time of booking) that this retreat was expected to be 100% alcohol and meat free. Even though the hotel had a bar...we would need to leave the grounds completely to drink or eat meat. Let me say, I'm all for this.. but it should really be something you own as opposed to trapping your retreaters into well after they have booked. This was a surprise to me when I received the email.

2. There was no real schedule, no workshops and no deeper learning about yoga.. at all. None. We were offered a daily morning yoga classes at 8:30am, and a couple night classes. All else was "free time".

3. There was no real place to practice yoga. We were in a kitchen meets balcony where people walked with shoes etc.

4. There were no props. No blocks. No straps. No towels. Nada

5. There were ants.. on the "studio" floor biting us, in our beds biting us.. lots of ants.

6. It was the most expensive retreat I have ever booked. They made a huge amount off all of us.... and I'm Bummed this is where I spent a good chunk of my money this year. There are no continued education hours etc for this investment.

7. When my fellow retreater wrote to the owner with feedback (we are an open feedback community in yoga right!?) she was completely shut down and told that she was wrong... which is very unfortunate. When a loyal customer has honest ways to improve experience... a business owner should take it rather than belittle them for having a poor experience.

Overall, I would save your money here. Yoga Salt needs to form a proper retreat program and stand behind their experience. There are much better retreats out there for a much better price!

Yoga Salt is very simple, get the job done studio in Culver City. I tried it for the first time.
The parking was easy, plenty of street meters and non-meter parking, The building has about 20 parking spots but when I was there it was full.
The studio was very simple, wood floor, cubies in the back of the room, blocks in the front of the room. A stereo system in the back of the room.High ceiling with good natural lighting. The bathrooms were clean.

The front desk/reception area has mats and towers for purchase. The check in was easy, the front desk was helpful and friendly.
The teacher was great, a lot of hands-on adjustments. The flow was well designed, the class pace worked.
The only thing I'm not sure about this place was -the room was heated 80 degrees, not hot yoga but not completed heated either. What's the purpose of 80 degrees?
The studio doesn's sell water/beverages, I look around the area, no walking distance places sell water too. Sometimes liquid is needed in a workout situation.
It's a neighborhood studio, it's okay.

Good quality studio. Clean and welcoming when you arrive. Front desk was friendly. I took Yvonne's 9am Sunday class and got a great workout. Love her flow style and was pretty challenged by it (sweated a lot!).

It was my first time going so I didn't bring a mat. Mat rental for first time visitors are free but afterwards they're $2. Will be back!

This is coming from someone who never has attended a Yoga class. I've honed my skills on the Wii Fit. My warrior pose got top marks on the game, so why not give this a try.

I've wanted to incorporate Yoga into my workouts. I'm an avid Beachbody workout fan, and there are some poses built into it... but an hour of Yoga... sign me up. I need to see where I stand with the masses.

I was told the 7:30pm class on Thursdays was where I should start.

The location is easy to find. Nice space, ample parking. I make it right at 7:30. Now, to set this up, I did a 45 minute workout before heading over... already drenched once in sweat, I'm not sure I was of sound mind.

I guess I didn't realize you go barefoot, I wore my crossfit shoes, so next time, flip flops... my tip of the day.

What can I say about it... I survived. A very full class led by Sesa who did a great job. It didn't take me long to start sweating like I was doing hot yoga.

I'm in good shape, but not Yoga shape. I've decided to go a month and make this part of my workouts.

It's amazing the stretch you get, how engaged your core and really your whole body is. Advance "yogites" (not sure if that is a word) were doing modified poses that were amazing.

All in all it was welcoming... you are very focused... alone in your space but in a room full of people. While strenuous it was also very relaxing as you could feel the day of stress leave your body.

I really hope to see an increase in flexibility over the next 30 days... my hamstrings may be the tightest on record. This was more evident during the class. I'm starting my walk here, and look forward to the journey.

I haven't actually taken a class here yet but the service from the front desk girl is just terrible. I called her on Thursday when I woke up with a fever and asked to reschedule... when she figured out I was on ClassPass she was so rude. She told me my missed class fee is almost the same as their $30 for 30 days of yoga promotion and if I'm willing to pay a late fee, I should be willing to join the studio. I understand me being sick isn't her fault and ClassPass gets a bad rap from a lot of studios, but she was just terrible. She then told me (as she was TRYING to be nice- not natural for her) that she would sign me in for the class and have me avoid a late fee/her instructor would be paid if she 'signed me in'...

Well, I just got a late fee from ClassPass. She lied to me and was seriously the most rude and monotone front desk person I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. When I think of yoga, she embodies the exact opposite.

On one of my visits during the trial membership I went to a night class that was overfilled.

I didn't mind so much as I just came for my practice, until the ceiling started dripping on me during my practice.

That completely ruined my practice as it robbed me of my focus and I felt completely disgusted and helpless about it (no room to move somewhere else). The ceiling dripped on me for the entire 75 mins.

Afterwards I asked the receptionist about it and her answer was "It's a heated room so the water is just condensation from the pipes in the ceiling" and her recommendation was to "find a spot not under the pipes."

Pretty impossible to do that when you allow classes to be filled at over capacity. Also even though she insisted it wasn't the case, I'm pretty sure the water dripping on me was a mixture of a bunch of people's cumulative sweat and ceiling/pipe dust particles.

There are other hot yoga studios that don't have this problem.

I've been going to this studio for about 2 years now. I enjoy the style of yoga they teach. Nicole, JJ, and Liz are my favorite. Nicole is super sweet and super helpful, she challenges you to do different poses and encourages you to keep trying and every time you grow a bit more she cheers you on (it's cute). JJ also has a super sweet outgoing personality and he will make you sweat for sure (I always have to have my yoga towel for his classes). Liz has this nurturing mom vibe and when your muscles are feeling tight, she's the one to go to.

Aside from their personalities and their style of teaching I enjoy this community. They hold a yogi appreciation day, have different workshops, they always encourage new yogis to introduce themselves to the teachers. Teachers mentioned above always mention to let them know if you prefer not to be touched.

I used to buy 20 class package but I enjoy this studio so much I have had a monthly membership for the past year and having the membership has also encourage me to go more often which in return makes my classes about $10-12 instead of $20.

Clean studio and parking on street.
Wish they have shower since I always sweat like a pig.

LOVE TAMAL's classes! I follow him at also Green Yogi. His class is the best vinyasa/Power yoga class ever I've taken.
I am also power yoga teacher.
Tamal is very different from any other teachers, he is not fake and he is true yoga guru.
I want to take his training and I will for sure eventually.
Thanks Tamal.

I'm sad to write this review after a yoga class... I want to start by saying, I really really wanted to like this place and was excited to see a nearby studio that had such great yelp reviews. The front desk staff was friendly and kind - they honestly got me in the door to try this place out. Prior to class, everyone started lining up like we were waiting for concert tickets. I then started to feel a negative energy before class even started. Once we were allowed to place our mats down, it was a free for all...most un-relaxing thing to ever happen to me before a yoga class. As the people filed through the door, Tamal our teacher quickly crammed all of us into the studio mat to mat. To reiterate, My mat was touching the person next to me. It was very very full.

During the "all-level" class, I started to slowly feel as though I was taking a generic yoga DVD with sun salutations and planks. It was challenging at times and I was able to sweat, but did not really fill me up like most yoga practices do. This was a shame because I thought that attending the owner's class would be the way to go, but unfortunately not the case. The best part about Tamal was his singing ability, he had a lovely voice as he sang to us in shavasana. I was really considering that I try another class after a meditative 10 minute shavasana, but after speaking with Tamal after class he did not really give me the time of day. I really just wanted to know more about his studio and variety of class offerings, but he clearly had better things to do than talk to me!

Community and love is what brings me back to yoga each day. Unfortunately, I did not find that here. Hoping that this will help another fellow yogi looking for a relaxing, challenging, and alignment based class. Better luck next time...

First off, it's a great workout. Physically demanding flow, which is my jam. I love JJ's, Liz's, and Yvonne's classes. I took Tamal's class once and wasn't in love with it (I didn't find him to be real smiley or engaging), but all the other instructors seem great.

However, the space itself is kind of soulless. Like, maybe add a few plants or something in the space? The studio is literally a gray box with very little natural light.

Lastly, all of their classes are listed as "All Levels." Um, no? These are definitely more like Vinyasa 2-3 classes. I shudder to think of a total newbie coming to one of these classes.