Sweet Heat Hot Yoga — Attraction in Monterey

On Christmas Day, I was very excited to take class, as my 1st class here was terrific!

Sadly, the owner made many personal remarks towards and about me during class that were based on false assumptions about my physique and skill.

I wish she had taken a moment to get to know me privately / before / after class.

I was moving into deeper poses and holding them longer, to which she seemed to take offense. I was not disrupting the class in any way, being very intensely focused on my practice and pushing myself to the limit, as I always do. (I've taken over 1,000 classes in 10 years and have loved them all!)

But I felt her comments were not coming from a good/healthy place and even offensive towards me, my hobbies, and my former yoga instructors. She showed me that I was unwelcome in her class. ♡ Other than that, it is a beautiful studio and the first instructor I had was supportive and phenominal. I loved every moment! ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡ In case you're curious about the owner's remarks:

She told me if I want to, I should take "advanced classes, retreats, and master classes," which was confusing because she said I was also doing "everything wrong." I said I would love to and although I can't afford it, asked if she would help with recommendations, to which she said "look online." Another time, "no, no, no, ballet is all beautiful but we don't do that here, we do yoga" (not sure what that had to do with me...?), then rhetorically "no, we don't do that here, who taught you that?" ....A studio owner who prepared me for competition, actually.... but of course she didn't actually want to know that. Being confused and wanting this to stop, I said I would appreciate fewer corrections, to which she replied: "ok. Copy that. And I would appreciate if you did the postures correctly. I'm not here busting my back every day.....etc." Being a spiritual practice, the technique in the postures should always be executed to the best of the yogi's own abilities. Students should not suffer from the instructor's lack of knowledge about the individual and his/her goals. So at that point I felt it was best to follow my intuition and leave the class.

I mean, there's a huge difference between walking up to a student saying "your spine is cricked" then complimenting someone else on her technique and withholding any positive reinforcement. As an instructor myself, I would have said "twist the upper spine to the left above the knee," which is understandable and more goal-oriented, then followed up later on with a positive comment. But Leslie only seemed to focus only on the negative. ;( ♡ Very sad experience, as I would have loved...

We are from the east coast and wanted to try a yoga class. (I’ve been practicing many styles for over 20 yrs) I stopped into sweet heat and the woman was so lovely. She gave me the details and we decided to come the following afternoon. We called ahead to confirm details and arrived 15 minutes ahead to be greeted by a woman who interrogated us and said this was not the place for us. She asked where and what yoga I have done and that this would be too hot and not appropriate for us. Upon paying she threw the credit card at me and was anything but nice. In a yoga studio- this has never happened to me. The class was silent and we were just fine for the 90 minutes. We followed along without any issues. Perhaps you just want locals attending your studio? You should be consistent with your message with all staff. I love all yoga styles but this was a disappointment prior to a even class starting. Wishing you...

The instructor was about a seven out of 10 because she spoke to rapidly sometimes to understand what she was saying.

I did like the vibe because everybody was very friendly and the community with the studio seem very strong as everybody knew each other.

The flooring was a new and awesome soft squishy mat like material so you probably don’t even need a mat and could just get by with a towel.

The room is a little tight in about half the room you can only have two mats deep so I would arrive early if you’re really particular about your space.

Parking was sufficient in the street.

A big downside was that there are no showers and there are individual places or little rooms to change before...