Passport Stamp #5: Corepower Yoga Berkeley, 4:45 Yoga Sculpt, Ruby. Some of you may be familiar with Corepower, it's a big franchise nationwide, although less so in the Bay area. The class I attended was, as it turns out, one of the most intense they offer. You remember in Spinal Tap how the amps went up to 11? Yeah, like that. Ruby was very pleasant but definitely intense and demanding. Imagine Yoga with about 50% less spirituality, 50% more intensity and a dash of weightlifting (you do many of the moves l. The room was obviously a mixed-use studio; there were spin bikes pushed against the far wall. Although I consider myself to be in fair-to-good shape, the class was beyond my ability level and I had to basically just sit down to avoid passing out at a few spots. Which is not to say it was a bad class - actually I look forward to going back. But it's definitely a "gym vibe" and it was a very challenging class. The studio itself was professional, clean and obviously well-run, and they offer a free first week for new students!
