Swinnyinthecity: Sweaty Sunday Funday

Hey There!

I hope everyone had a nice day. I started my Sunday off with a little car trouble, which is always a stinky surprise when you're on your way out to an appointment! I went to unlock the door and noticed that the button on the key wasn't communicating with the car. I had a feeling that the battery was dead, but I still manually opened the door and attempted to start the car. No dice. Luckily roadside assistance came quick ,and I was back in business. On the positive side, at least I noticed my unresponsive SUV this morning instead of early tomorrow when there will be snow on the ground, and I will be heading to an early work meeting.

hehe.

Once my car was up and running, I made my way to the yoga class I had attempted to attend earlier this morning. Luckily there were two class options led by the teacher that I wanted to take, so I squeezed my way into the later class. I went to hot revolution yoga in Garwood, NJ to take class with an amazing yoga teacher and family friend. I thought I had taken hot yoga before, but I think it was just yoga in a warm room that I called hot yoga.

Let me tell you, I looked like I took a bath after class. The class and the teacher, Toni, were both amazing. Now that I know what an actual hot yoga class is, next time I will remember to bring a towel to put over my mat as I looked like I was on a slip and slide for the majority of the class. I will also be sure to grab a towel with which to mop off. Thank you to my generous yogi neighbor who took pitty and passed me her extra towel in the middle of class. You live, you learn, right?

I have to say, it was a nice treat attending a live yoga class. As many of you know, I use yogaglo almost exclusively for my practice, so I don't regularly receive alignment corrections from a teacher, or interaction from the neighbor on the next mat. I have to admit, I do enjoy practicing alone. I don't have to worry about knocking someone over if (or when!) I fall out of a pose, and my alignment is usually pretty intuitive as I have limited ability to see my own body as it moves through each pose. With that said, it's nice to have a teacher walk you through a class that is completely different than what you are used to. There's also a sense of community in a yoga class that creates a different type of energy and presence during the practice. I mean, some of this peaceful vibe I feel could be attributed to the fact that I'm not gazing at the dust bunnies under my couch when I chaturrunga. Just sayin'....

Alive in the Fire_Robert Sturman Photo 4

Aside from a great sweat, I took away some pearls from this morning's class. My fave yoga teachers tend to combine mindful movement along with encouraging the student to notice, but not judge, the "crap" or self limiting beliefs that comes up in his or her mind.Today's class fulfilled all of my expectations and more. I can say that it was surely the first class where I have had to move through a standing sequence with my eyes closed while holding on to both neighbors hands. Very interesting and cool concept to illustrate just how much we can accomplish when we unite, trust each other, and help one another.

That's all I got for tonight, kids. It was one of those relaxing weekends where you catch up on life and you don't feel like you need another weekend to recover from your weekend. You know the weekends I'm talking about. :) Good stuff. Enjoy some more pics from the past couple days :)

Besties smoochin'