I recently discovered a yoga studio not too far from the house. Since the gym at work didn't go to well, I decided to give this a try. They offer a hatha yoga class on Saturday mornings. A co-worker of mine attended with me, which was really nice. It helped not feel like such a stranger.
The particular yoga that is practiced on Saturday is Hatha, a form created around the 15th century in India by Yogi Swatmarama. It was originally used as a method for purification of the body and strengthening the mind before meditation. However in modern days, yoga has been shown to improve flexibility, strength, and balance, while reducing stress, anxiety, hypertension and sleep disturbances.
It's hard work. The positions can be difficult, and at times it feels like your muscles just want to give up. Overall, it's a great work out for the entire body.
On Wednesdays they offer a relaxation yoga class. It works out really well that this in the middle of the week, and allows a person to take some time away from the day-to-day grind and just relax. As compared to the hatha yoga, the Wednesday class focuses more on breathing and stretching. There were definitely some stretches that made me reconsider how flexible I consider myself.
I'm not sure if I'll keep up with the relaxation yoga consistently. It's definitely good for a stressful week, but I'm looking for something more intense in my work outs. They have a hatha yoga class on Thursday nights and a core condition on Wednesday (before the relaxation class). I may consider doings one of those instead.
Otherwise it's an incredible experience. It's relaxing and in this case – provides 90 minutes of pure focus on you and your body. It is worth checking out.
Yay!
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