New Student Guide
Welcome to SunSpark Yoga!
Whether you are new to yoga or just new to us,
here is what you need to know.
First Visit:
Please arrive about 15
minutes early so you can
complete some simple
paperwork and we can get
you in our system, or you
can do this on our website
in advance. Arriving early
will also allow you time to
speak with your instructor about any injuries or concerns you may have.
Parking in Old Towne Orange is FREE. This includes street parking, a lot right across the street from us and a brand new parking structure one tiny little block away on Chapman and Lemon. You’re going to be moving your body so consider the walk a quick warm up. Old Towne does get busy at lunch time during the week, on Friday nights and on some weekday mornings. The lot a few doors down on our side of the street with spaces marked in yellow are NOT public spaces.
We understand that life happens and on a RARE occasion you might be late to class. Our general rule is that we’ll let you in up to 5 minutes late. However, if a class is full or nearly full we won’t be able to allow you in. Entering late is very disruptive to the flow of class and not fair for other students to have to rearrange their stuff to make room for somebody who wasn’t in the room at the beginning. You’ll also miss the opening warm-up which is unsafe for you. Please be on time or better yet, early.
Some yoga studios offer new customers “first class free." At SunSpark Yoga, we offer classes seven days a week taught by experienced yoga instructors, each with their own personality and style. We feel that one free class doesn’t tell you a whole lot about our place. This is why we offer new customers Three (3) classes for $33 (discounted from our regular drop-in rate of $22). If you’d rather buy a single class your first time in, that’s okay too. We don’t participate in Groupon or Living Social or any other discount schemes that artificially fill up our space with people looking for cheap yoga. We make it affordable to try and unlike some other studios, we pay our teachers regardless of whether you’re a new student or not. Everybody wins.
Always stop at the front desk to check in with us, even if you’ve registered for class online.
What to Wear:
Wear comfortable, stretchy clothing that is not too loose. It should allow a full range of movement including twisting and bending. If you’re coming from work or school you can change in our lobby changing area or in our restroom.
Yoga is practiced with bare feet for traction and safety. Shoes are not allowed in the asana room. This helps us keep the floor clean and in good condition. For some of our gentle or meditation classes with less movement, you may want to wear socks to keep your toesies warm, but it’s not necessary.
Deep breathing is an important part of yoga. Please avoid wearing strong perfume or cologne. Cigarette smoke is also a huge distraction; please don’t smoke before entering the studio. Respect the space and your fellow yogis by keeping your mat and body clean and odor-free.
What to Bring:
Bring your yoga mat, a towel
if you think you need one, a
water bottle and an open
mind. If you don’t yet have
your own yoga mat you can
use one of our studio mats
for free. We have possibly
the largest inventory of
free-to-use props in all of Orange County. However, if you determine that yoga is your thing we recommend that you purchase your own personal mat. We also have some props available for sale in our retail shop or we can do a personal order for you. Please inquire at the front desk for details.
Food and Drink:
Put some distance between a meal and yoga. We recommend at least an hour or more to avoid discomfort during class.
We offer free filtered water and hot tea. Please bring a reusable water bottle and/or a mug.
Etiquette:
Please turn off or silence phones. A vibrating phone can be just as much of a distraction as a ringing one. Leave it in a cubby or a bag unless your profession requires you to be on call. Any time you might need to take a phone call between classes please take it out to the sidewalk.
If the door to the asana room is closed this means there is a class in session. Please speak softly while in the lobby.
Leave jackets on our coat rack in the lobby and shoes in the cubby. We have hooks to hang purses and bags on the yoga mat storage furniture inside the studio.
Please wait until students from the previous class have exited the room before entering the asana room.
Remember, no shoes in the asana room please.
Leave the outside, outside. It’s totally fine to chit chat with your fellow students once you enter the room but please keep it light. Discussions of heavy current events or personal problems can make it more difficult for you and others to stay present once class has started.
Once inside the room, please be mindful: don’t step on other peoples’ yoga mats. It is best to stagger your yoga mat either a foot ahead or a foot behind the mat next to you. This will give you a better range of motion and you won’t have to worry about getting smacked by your neighbor or vice versa.
We try to limit class size to 25 students max. If you see that a class is filling up, please shift your mat so everyone has space.
The last few minutes of each yoga class is called Savasana. It is a time of rest, reflection and peace. Classes are 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours long. Please plan to be in the room for the duration. If you must leave early, inform the instructor before class starts and exit quietly before Savasana begins. In this instance, it’s okay to leave without returning props or studio mats.
Please return props neatly to their proper storage after wiping them down with our free disinfectant wipes. Again, we have FREE-to-use mats and props. Help us keep it that way. Ernie would be happy to provide free blanket folding and storage lessons.
If you borrowed a yoga mat, please wipe it down with one of our free mat wipes before you return it to storage.
For additional questions, email us at info@sunsparkyoga.com.
If you want to speak to us in person,
call us at (714) 786-5994 or
stop by the studio at
139 S Olive Street, Orange CA 92866
Namaste,
Ernie, Stacey & the SunSpark Yoga Family
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139 S Olive St.
Old Towne Orange, CA 92866