Today I woke up with abs on fire (seriously, I leaned over to turn my phone alarm off when I woke up and moaned in pain/joy out loud). Thanks, Pure Barre! I love you. No, seriously… I just bought a super-discounted unlimited month for future use (time to be determined… probably some time in the spring) because I know 3 classes per month (per ClassPass rules) won’t be enough for me. I loved it!!
Anyway, on to yoga.
Summary:
Class: Yoga Flow
Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes
Intensity: 2/5
Fun: 3/5
Relaxation: 5/5
Today I went to a yoga studio called exhale, which is a little over a mile from my apartment. I was planning to walk there because it’s been pretty nice out recently, but within 20 minutes of me leaving my apartment the temperature dropped 5 degrees and it started raining… so I took the bus. The yoga class was an hour and 15 minutes long, and was the perfect mix of relaxation and physical activity for my sore body. It was a lot of flowing from pose to pose, which was exactly what I was hoping/expecting from the name and description of the class. There was more upper-body stretching and work in my opinion, which was great because yesterday’s barre class made mostly my lower body and abs sore. I worked up a sweat, but not to an unbearable extent, and I left the class feeling very relaxed but also feeling like I exercised well enough to meet my personal goal/threshold for fitness.
The studio was really great, too. Very clean, you walk in the door, up a flight of stairs (or in an elevator, but I mean, you’re going to a fitness class….), through the shop/reception area, and back to the pristine changing room/shower area/steam room/locker area. There is water available and there are fresh towels for students’ (clients’?) use. One detail that I particularly appreciated was that there was a basket of new/unused yoga mats outside the studio, and the instructors have students put their used mats in a separate pile from those clean mats. So I felt very comfortable doing my yoga knowing that the mats had been cleaned from the past students, particularly if they sweat as much as I do (which is an unladylike amount, I’ll leave it at that). My only tip is for those new to yoga: if you’re not familiar with the different terms and ways that yoga flows through poses, this class would’ve been difficult to follow, since the instructor was walking around giving individual advice to students through a lot of it, and just giving verbal instructions. But that’s nothing a few youtube videos can’t fix!
Overall, I had a great experience at exhale Chicago, and I’ll definitely be back for yoga classes, and maybe I’ll try some of their other classes, as well. The location will be a lot more convenient once I start working down in the Loop, too, because it’s pretty much right in between my office and my apartment. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it to some classes during busy season… ugh. But enough of the dread, I’m feeling happy and grateful for my positive yoga experience!
lissa100daystofit 