Yoga Class 2018

This week I was home visiting my parents so I went to a local studio near them in Burlington, NJ called Bhakti Yoga. This was a hot yoga class. This was very different from what I was used to at Tilton Fitness. The instructor here was shirtless and everyone was dressed very skimpy clothes. In fact, the instructor actually told me to take my shirt off too. During the class, the teacher had us do intense Bikram style positions and breathing. He actually was not doing the poses with us but just telling us which poses to do. I relied on the person in front of me so I could watch her and figure out what we were supposed to be doing. I was successful at getting into the first 10 positions (Pranayama through dandayma). For some reason, I had extreme difficulty balancing in the 11th (Tadasana) position. Once I left the class I felt like the rest of my day was shot and was super worn out. It was nice to mix up the styles of yoga though!

This week I honestly got sick while attending the fitness yoga class taught by Carlos and I had to leave the class towards the end. It seems like for some reason this week was a lot more intense and I literally got sick from it. It probably wasn't the best idea for me to eat less than an hour before practice. Carlos had us do a lot of poses that involed by head being down such as rag doll, sirasana, and  Sarvangasana. I'm not toally turned away from yoga because of this experience but it defiantly made me reevaluate when I eat dinner. On a side note, Carlos came outside and made sure I was okay. Kind of embarrassing but it is what it is. 

This week I was unable to attend one of Carlos's or Sandy's more Intense Fitness yoga class and went to a "Gentle Yoga" class taught by Diane. Although I should have expected it, I was shocked to see that I was the only student in this class who didn't have gray or silver hair. Although I felt out of place, I smiled and still participated in the class. This class consisted of only stretching and meditating and more strenuous poses and exercises such as chaturanga,  Kapotasana, and   Sirsasana were not done which is understandable. This class I felt would have been a great class to go to and unwind after working out and going for a run. It was very relaxing but I felt as if I wasn't being worked hard enough. In the future, I'll try to refrain from attending the Gentle Yoga class and try to stick with the Fitness Yoga.

This week was a tough week for me. I barley found time to attend practice but was able to squeeze it in. Tuesday I was with Carlos. Throughout the class we went into chaturanga and focused a lot on those positions. What was different this week then in his previous class I attended was that we spent a long time in my opinion at the end of the class meditating.I'd say roughly the last 15 minutes of the class was meditating. Also what I noticed this week was that there was no "white noise/music" playing in the background and listening to all of the people in the gym working out and dropping weights constantly on the other side of the wall was kind of distracting. Maybe next week I,' choose to attend Sandy's morning class at 9:00am to prevent as much of noise distractions.

This week I went back to Sandy's class. It seems to me that she gears her instruction and positions based on the general ability of the class. Today there was a lot of younger individuals than in previous weeks there so it seemed like this week was more intense. I know we learned in class that while practicing you're not supposed to be sweating because it means that you're struggling too hard but I was honestly drenched in sweat by the end of class. On a good note, I was able to get into crow pose successfully without any help. I am also practicing and working to get into a head stand (Sirsasana). It appears I am getting a little better each week and Sandy as well as the other students are very nice and helpful.