If you read NOTHING else of this post, please note I will be attending a Rated R Spin Class tonight. I cannot wait to find what attributes contribute to Rated R status, but I am preparing for disappointment. I've imagined at least five ways the Rated R Spin Class could be amazingly weird, but I am pretty sure it's just explicit lyrics on the videos. I am SO HOPING that's not the case and I am SO EXCITED to Spin Rated R Style.
Wait. A. Minute. Did I just say I was excited to exercise? It must be this dang zen mood that a week of Yoga has imprinted on me. Seriously. Life isn't getting any easier, but I am feeling 17% more Zen about things. This week I tackled a Vinyasa Flow class, visited again with my favorite instructor for another Yin class, and tried out Yoga at home with the kiddo.
Vinyasa Flow
Many times, I walk into a studio and I think business. Are they building a sustainable studio? Do I think they have a good handle on finances? What could they change? Do they advertise well? Does location play into it? What is their value proposition?
People who LOVE something open a business without business being the primary goal, I get it. However, it has to be sustainable. Even if you are completely altruistic in wanting to spread health and joy without earning a single buck, you still have to keep your doors open. Most studios that I have been to this month been more than adequate at class/studio space sizing, tracking students, and having side sales. The location seems to be well thought out, and the class schedule well planned.
My Vinyasa Flow studio was the exact opposite. Tuesday night, ClassPass took me to a studio that seemed to give very little concern to anything related to the business. It was located in an old building along a busy road in an industrial area of Sacramento; odd placement, difficult entry, cruddy surroundings.
As I exited my car, I smelled a strong scent of the marijuana. Upon entry, I was surprised to see a woman sitting down talking about all the BBQ she ate during the weekend to a man, who epitomized yoga guy. BBQ? Wait... wait, doesn't Yoga = Vegetarian? From the sounds of the conversation, she actually is a vegetarian, and BBQ was much like hitting the bottle extremely hard.
Yoga buddy was bendy and dread locked, and they both barely stopped their chat to say hi. They were extremely nice and open when they came to attention, but took zero note of how I paid. There was no entry to the studio, it was just BAM! Studio. HUGE STUDIO. Studio three times the size of any yoga studio I went to this month. Pink crystal candles lined the windows all the way up to create visual blocks from the road. Those things had to be expensive!
They told me to sit up front, and only two additional Yogi's joined us. On a Tuesday night at 7 pm, in a giant yoga studio, there were three students. And maybe none of us had even paid, not good.
Either way, we started our practice, and she wasn't really sure what she wanted to do, only that she wanted to do a lot of twisting to get that nasty BBQ out from the weekend. She also wasn't too sure about the music, so she fiddled with her iPhone throughout the night, at one point putting on some 80's music... which was oddly the best part of the flow. We started and it seemed easy at first. You flow into several poses at a moderately fast pace, and repeat the sequence and add- much like an aerobics class. I felt ready for the first two poses. And yes, the first two poses are child's pose and cat/cow. I'm a marshmallow.
Once we get going, Holy Ayurveda.... this crap was hard. The pace and the breath challenged me. The pose and transitions worked me. I noticed the cardio burn on my lungs.This was hot yoga, but I sweat. At some point I took breaks. At other points, I felt good, then she fixed my posture, then I felt bad. At the end, we try the crow....which is this:
Shockingly (no, not shockingly) I couldn't do that, but surprisingly, I pulled off a pretty impressive assisted Crow. I was exhausted. I drove home in a tired gumby fog. I realized I was ecstatic and energized. In a few hours I fell asleep like nobody's business.
This is me after Yoga:
Yin Yoga
I like the Flow, but I appreciate studios that care about the business side. That's why I could not wait to go back to Yin Yoga on Wednesday and my favorite instructor thus far. Admittedly, I am a little fan girl over her, so when she remembered me, I probably looked a little too excited. I know. Weird. Ignore me.
I sat in the back this time and met another girl named Jessica. Before I met her, she laid her mat down beside me, visibly annoyed that the woman in front of her did not follow the uniformity of the adjacent mats and took some of her space. She actually pushed that woman's props up with her foot while staring at her. I was annoyed for Jessica as well and liked her moxy. It made me like Jessica instantly. I like people who aren't afraid to be salty in Yoga. Salty is good. I'll sit next to Jessica again.
The only other notable thing about that night was that my favorite instructor pushed my shoulders down when I thought I was relaxing, and she whispered "let it go." I didn't realize how much stress I had in my shoulders ALL THE TIME, even when laying down, so I felt sad and relieved all at once. I thanked her afterward, and she simply said "sometimes we don't know what we carry." It's at this point that I realize that's she is Yoda, and I need to become Luke and I need to sit in a swamp with her for a spell.
I shouldn't tell her the analogy, should I? No. I won't.
The Big Fat Yoga Elephant
The elephant in every mom's room is that when we take time for ourselves, we believe our children suffer from our absence. Although I know that's a self centered fallacy AND kids love it when you're happy, I have been more away from my kid than I am used to with all these classes and out of town. Truth be told, I am suffering from my absence from her. Needless to say, I was excited when she wanted to learn Yoga too. Last night, we spent an hour learning poses together and completing a short practice on You Tube. She really enjoyed it and we laughed when Zeke, or male dog, tried to out Yoga us. He loves the mats.
My daughter is funny though. While I can be sure I am not doing anything right, she's equally certain she's doing it perfectly, even the first time. I wonder when we as a society make sure our girls don't have that confidence anymore?
Social commentary aside, this is something we both can do together. She's committed to school, and decided against any athletics so she can study.... no seriously.... NO I AM FREAKING SERIOUS..... but that means she's not getting a good balance. This might help her and might be fun for us to have some classes and time together. Or it may give her something to blog about later when therapy has failed? Did you laugh about that last line, or just feel weird? It could go both ways.
Tomorrow morning, I am doing something called Hot Belly Yoga. Yeah, I don't know. We'll see. Vinyasa people urged me to skip Bikram... and sorry Bikram practioners, it does sound a little too controlled for me, so Hot Belly it is.
Wait. A. Minute. Did I just say I was excited to exercise? It must be this dang zen mood that a week of Yoga has imprinted on me. Seriously. Life isn't getting any easier, but I am feeling 17% more Zen about things. This week I tackled a Vinyasa Flow class, visited again with my favorite instructor for another Yin class, and tried out Yoga at home with the kiddo.
Vinyasa Flow
Many times, I walk into a studio and I think business. Are they building a sustainable studio? Do I think they have a good handle on finances? What could they change? Do they advertise well? Does location play into it? What is their value proposition?
People who LOVE something open a business without business being the primary goal, I get it. However, it has to be sustainable. Even if you are completely altruistic in wanting to spread health and joy without earning a single buck, you still have to keep your doors open. Most studios that I have been to this month been more than adequate at class/studio space sizing, tracking students, and having side sales. The location seems to be well thought out, and the class schedule well planned.
My Vinyasa Flow studio was the exact opposite. Tuesday night, ClassPass took me to a studio that seemed to give very little concern to anything related to the business. It was located in an old building along a busy road in an industrial area of Sacramento; odd placement, difficult entry, cruddy surroundings.
As I exited my car, I smelled a strong scent of the marijuana. Upon entry, I was surprised to see a woman sitting down talking about all the BBQ she ate during the weekend to a man, who epitomized yoga guy. BBQ? Wait... wait, doesn't Yoga = Vegetarian? From the sounds of the conversation, she actually is a vegetarian, and BBQ was much like hitting the bottle extremely hard.
Yoga buddy was bendy and dread locked, and they both barely stopped their chat to say hi. They were extremely nice and open when they came to attention, but took zero note of how I paid. There was no entry to the studio, it was just BAM! Studio. HUGE STUDIO. Studio three times the size of any yoga studio I went to this month. Pink crystal candles lined the windows all the way up to create visual blocks from the road. Those things had to be expensive!
They told me to sit up front, and only two additional Yogi's joined us. On a Tuesday night at 7 pm, in a giant yoga studio, there were three students. And maybe none of us had even paid, not good.
Either way, we started our practice, and she wasn't really sure what she wanted to do, only that she wanted to do a lot of twisting to get that nasty BBQ out from the weekend. She also wasn't too sure about the music, so she fiddled with her iPhone throughout the night, at one point putting on some 80's music... which was oddly the best part of the flow. We started and it seemed easy at first. You flow into several poses at a moderately fast pace, and repeat the sequence and add- much like an aerobics class. I felt ready for the first two poses. And yes, the first two poses are child's pose and cat/cow. I'm a marshmallow.
Once we get going, Holy Ayurveda.... this crap was hard. The pace and the breath challenged me. The pose and transitions worked me. I noticed the cardio burn on my lungs.This was hot yoga, but I sweat. At some point I took breaks. At other points, I felt good, then she fixed my posture, then I felt bad. At the end, we try the crow....which is this:
Shockingly (no, not shockingly) I couldn't do that, but surprisingly, I pulled off a pretty impressive assisted Crow. I was exhausted. I drove home in a tired gumby fog. I realized I was ecstatic and energized. In a few hours I fell asleep like nobody's business.
This is me after Yoga:
Yin Yoga
I like the Flow, but I appreciate studios that care about the business side. That's why I could not wait to go back to Yin Yoga on Wednesday and my favorite instructor thus far. Admittedly, I am a little fan girl over her, so when she remembered me, I probably looked a little too excited. I know. Weird. Ignore me.
I sat in the back this time and met another girl named Jessica. Before I met her, she laid her mat down beside me, visibly annoyed that the woman in front of her did not follow the uniformity of the adjacent mats and took some of her space. She actually pushed that woman's props up with her foot while staring at her. I was annoyed for Jessica as well and liked her moxy. It made me like Jessica instantly. I like people who aren't afraid to be salty in Yoga. Salty is good. I'll sit next to Jessica again.
The only other notable thing about that night was that my favorite instructor pushed my shoulders down when I thought I was relaxing, and she whispered "let it go." I didn't realize how much stress I had in my shoulders ALL THE TIME, even when laying down, so I felt sad and relieved all at once. I thanked her afterward, and she simply said "sometimes we don't know what we carry." It's at this point that I realize that's she is Yoda, and I need to become Luke and I need to sit in a swamp with her for a spell.
I shouldn't tell her the analogy, should I? No. I won't.
The Big Fat Yoga Elephant
The elephant in every mom's room is that when we take time for ourselves, we believe our children suffer from our absence. Although I know that's a self centered fallacy AND kids love it when you're happy, I have been more away from my kid than I am used to with all these classes and out of town. Truth be told, I am suffering from my absence from her. Needless to say, I was excited when she wanted to learn Yoga too. Last night, we spent an hour learning poses together and completing a short practice on You Tube. She really enjoyed it and we laughed when Zeke, or male dog, tried to out Yoga us. He loves the mats.
My daughter is funny though. While I can be sure I am not doing anything right, she's equally certain she's doing it perfectly, even the first time. I wonder when we as a society make sure our girls don't have that confidence anymore?
Social commentary aside, this is something we both can do together. She's committed to school, and decided against any athletics so she can study.... no seriously.... NO I AM FREAKING SERIOUS..... but that means she's not getting a good balance. This might help her and might be fun for us to have some classes and time together. Or it may give her something to blog about later when therapy has failed? Did you laugh about that last line, or just feel weird? It could go both ways.
Tomorrow morning, I am doing something called Hot Belly Yoga. Yeah, I don't know. We'll see. Vinyasa people urged me to skip Bikram... and sorry Bikram practioners, it does sound a little too controlled for me, so Hot Belly it is.
Comments
Post a Comment