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I’ve been on a frugal kick lately. Partly due to starting to explore new career options, partly because I wanted to get healthier, (and delicious restaurants and I had been seeing waaaay too much of each other), and partly because it seems like a good time to take stock and re-balance, in all areas of my life.
One of the great things about deciding to be more mindful financially, is that you have to get more creative. And that can force you out of your comfort zone and into new things. Which is not just good for your wallet, but also good for your mind and spirit. And yes, it can also lead to you talking like you just spent three months at an ashram, “om”ing your way through each day.
But as it turns out, yoga is one of those activities you can enjoy for free in this fair city of ours. And no, I don’t mean by playing that DVD that you got free with a long-distant issue of Shape magazine and trying not to choke on fur balls as you downward dog on that rug you haven’t cleaned since you decided that actually seeing its original color might make a nice change. I mean a real, live yoga class, with great instructors, in fabulous locations. Free!!
First up, Lombardi Sports on Polk and Jackson does an awesome rooftop yoga class, every Sunday at 11:00am. Completely free of charge (they want you to wander downstairs afterward and drop dough on a snowboard – Don’t do it! Resist!), and with amazing views of the city on a clear day. This is a great way to greet the second half of the weekend, and a really enjoyable class.
Athleta, the fancy new women’s fitness store on Fillmore Street, also does a pretty good selection of free classes, ranging from Yoga and Pilates, to Kickboxing and a regular running club (too chicken to try that one, but maybe some day. I imagine it to be full of ruddy-cheeked, tight-limbed over-achievers in Spandex.) This is a great new marketing trick among the premium fitness brands, and San Francisco, home to some of the most disgustingly healthy people in the world, has caught on quick.
And my favorite, although not strictly in the “100% free” category, is Tuesday night yoga in Grace Cathedral. Yes, inside that beautiful building. On my first visit, I was quite overwhelmed by my surroundings, and once I’d experienced it, I couldn’t believe that all yoga didn’t take place in such an awe-inspiring, cool, spiritual environment. This class includes live music too, and is just a great way to re-set after a long day. And I don’t know about you, but Tuesdays are always pretty intense for me at work. The class is donation-based if you can afford it (so you should and I do because you can), enabling those who are really in need to get a free hour of peace and happiness, with the odd laugh thrown in. Yes, you can tell jokes at a yoga class! And this being San Francisco, of course the teacher (who is excellent), reads the meditation off his iPad. Would you expect anything less?
Photo credit: Labyrinth Yoga
After nearly two months of getting back into a regular yoga practice, am i more flexible? Yep. Can I hold a plank position until most other people collapse? Yep. And can I hold poses until my legs shake and quake? Yep.
But to me, the real prize has been this. Whatever mood I enter the yoga studio in, I always come out feeling better. 100% of the time. Yoga’s ultimate gift is that it can take your emotions and use them to shape your practice in a meaningful way.
Feeling a little tired and under the weather? Take it slow and steady, and your poses will reward you, by letting you sink into them, without needing to force anything. The yoga breath takes you there, and it feels loose, fluid and graceful.
Feeling exhausted and wrung out from a day at work? Sat in a chair, with a to do list that stretches to the ceiling and glued to your chair? Impatient and stressed? Take those feelings into your practice and you’ll find strength, again through your breath, that enables you to go deeper into each pose. You actively enjoy the feelings of discomfort as you stretch contracted, knotted muscles and connect with the stress, so you can let it go. Again, it’s all about leaning into the sharp corners.
The poses in yoga remain much the same. So much so, that people ask me if i get bored with doing the same ones, in a similar order, most days of the week. But there is endless variety and challenge in each one, they take a lifetime to master, and they can always be improved. Better yet, you can get a different read on each pose, every time you sink into it, using your mood and emotions to guide you.
To me, yoga’s ability to take what you’re feeling, and use it to better your practice, deepen your understanding and improve your experience, is priceless. And a hugely valuable life lesson.
So i’m now firmly entrenched in my yoga practice again. And after so many years, it feels great. Today I even suffered my way through a very hot, Sunday morning class, while it was 72 and sunny outside! Now that’s dedication! What’s more, I loved it, and practically bounced out of the studio afterward. I’m really hoping I’ve found my exercise path, and that I can stick to it.
And I’ve also written about the broader benefits that a regular yoga practice can bring. Increased mental clarity, more focus, and a greater sense of control over the things that well, you can’t control. It’s very different to the Lindy Hop adventures Rick and I went on last year, but I’ve experienced similar benefits. Dance and yoga – I always hoped I’d find my way back to both.
So, now that we’ve discussed these benefits, can we get to the good stuff? Because girls, really, when all’s said and done, yoga is all about the clothes…
I joke of course, but come on! Admit it, there’s definitely a culture of yoga style out there, and even just looking at some of it makes you feel healthier, more glowing and more zen. Or at least that’s what the advertisers will have you believe! And even though I consider myself a fairly savvy consumer, and am definitely into yoga for the holistic health benefits, I’m not immune to some gorgeous yogi style.
So I was thrilled to discover Athleta, a Gap offshoot, very similar to the ubiquitous LuLu Lemon in style and aesthetic, and a brand that seems able to balance the practical needs of various sporting activities with every girl’s need to look cute while doing them!
So far, i’ve only plumped for the black harem pants pictured below, hoping that they look a fraction as cute on me as in the picture, but there’s a whole long list of things I’m lusting after. Of course, that would be denying my yoga principles, but a girl can dream while she takes a few long breaths from the diaphragm. Right??
(Photo credit: Athleta.com)
I work pretty hard. At my desk by 7:30am, and then it’s full tilt until home time. I’m not complaining. I’ve always worked in a high-octane environment, and I get a lot from it. But lately, my body hasn’t been getting what it needs from it.
I’m the queen of good intentions when it comes to fitness and exercise, but also the queen of excuses. And “I’m too tired” after a long day, can rank pretty high for me!
But it didn’t always used to be this way. In my 20s, full of vim and vigor, with the same high-energy job that saw me working similar hours (and often longer!), i still managed to hit the gym when i could, and commit to two strenuous 2 hour long dance classes a week, PLUS at least one, if not more, gruelling yoga classes. The sweat and burn until you might pass out kind, rather than the be at one with your mental breath kind. Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course.
But recently? Not so much. I’ve even started to see the emergence of, horror, middle age spread! And I’m only 33. Couple that with just really wanting to get back to some of the things in life that really excite and inspire me, and the 30 day yoga challenge was born. At the California Yoga Company, they offer a 30 day unlimited yoga pass for just $30. It’s a great deal, and a great way to try it out (of course, that is a one-time only special price!), and so i signed up, They practice “hot yoga”, not quite Bikram levels, but enough to really make you sweat out that extra cookie or glass of wine. Just up my street.
So, i’m giving it a whirl. I’m not quite a beginner, having practiced a lot in my 20s, but it’s definitely going to take some time to ease back into it and learn to bend like a pretzel again! My aim is to go as often as i can during these first 30 days – not easy with my schedule – but i’ll try! I’m looking forward to the benefits of (hopefully), detoxification, increased strength and suppleness, better muscle tone and stamina and maybe even a clearer mind! Of course, if i can drop a pound or two as well, i won’t be complaining…
I really hope this is just step one in a new, lighter and brighter phase of my life. I’ve been through quite a lot of upheaval and stress in the last few years, so time to laugh, relax and look after myself. More posts to come on that, but meantime, wish me luck on my challenge!
Photo credit: http://www.101healthsolution.com
