yoga class 2018

This week I practiced Ashtanga yoga and it kicked my butt. An instructor came into our class and took us partway through the first series of Ashtanga yoga to help us get a feel for that form of practice. I enjoyed it. The practice was very physically demanding and the position our instructor has mastered was down right impressive. I can’t even imagine being able to contort myself into the shapes she could get into. With that being said, not only were the poses different from many yoga classes but the way she ran it and the things she emphasized and said were a little different too. She was big on doing the positions and doing them correctly. She didn’t want anyone to do them kind of how she said; she wanted them to do it exactly how she said. She also focused heavily on stretching for five whole breaths every time you did a pose. You breathe in for five seconds, exhale for five seconds, and repeat that five times. She also talked a lot about strengthening. This class wasn’t just abo...

This week I tried a class at my gym Lifetime fitness called “Root”. It’s a beginner class that’s super laid back and helps new yogis really learn the typical movements they’ll be doing. This class was way easier than the Bikram I did last week. I wasn’t sore after but I did feel much more knowledgeable about the positions I knew already as well as a few new ones.             This class showed me how to do cat cow poses, high lunges, and gate poses properly. I learned to like them so much because they open my hips and back which are constantly tight. I’ve since been doing these poses to start my day and to warm up my body before weight training. There wasn’t too much coaching on breathing or meditating because this class was more about getting reps in and practicing the poses. This was good for me since I’m new to this and it will help me get better and feel more prepared for other classes.

This week we did Bikram yoga in class. This practice was a very physical and left me more exhausted than previous classes have. This style was all about the body and not so much spirituality. All the directions made by the instructor had to do with positioning and the feeling of the stretch. For example while in the T stretch he told us to push our arms out forward and then kick our leg beck and imagine someone’s pulling it with a rope. That’s how intense he wanted the stretch to feel. There were really no instructions for breathing in this class, no closing the eyes and relaxing, he wanted all your focus on your physical movements. It was great. Being someone who enjoys bodybuilding I really enjoyed the focus this form of yoga puts on the mind muscle connection. It helps you control and feel your body better than any other class I've taken. 

Week 2: This week I tried a morning "wake up" class. The point of it was to energize and prepare your body and mind to take on the day. I felt this class was easier than the last one I did because, for one it was shorter, and two it really focused on slow big breathing and long flowing stretches, which she called sun salutations. This class to me seemed to involve a lot of meditation. She encouraged us to keep our eyes closed if we could and really just breathe and stretch.  My take away from this class was that it was really enjoyable. I plan on doing a routine similar to this on my own every morning. I truly felt energized after. I usually do a mix of static stretching and foam rolling in the morning because it helps my mobility for weight lifting, but this loosened me up and stretched me way better than that. I still plan to use a foam roaller and stretch from time to time, but i think my morning routine is going to switch to a primarilly yoga based one.