From Keg Stands to Head Stands: Yoga

From Keg Stands to Head Stands: Yoga

New York City abounds with yoga studios. Yoga mats and yoga pants seem to be in rotation of every New Yorkers’ daily ensembles. To be quite honest, it was only after I had moved to this city that I decided to try a class. It has been four years since that first class and I now have a firm grasp on the different varieties of yoga and what I enjoy the most. Obviously everyone is different, but there is a reason so many people take yoga religiously: It’s amazing.

for the people, to the people

My current obsession is a style referred to as power vinyasa flow. If you live in New York, Seattle, San Francisco, or are by ASU or Berkley College, I highly recommend Yoga to the People (yogatothepeople.com). With multiple locations here throughout New York, YTTP offers vinyasa classes at a donation-based rate and hot yoga for a nominal fee. The latest location offers specialized classes with different focuses such as meditation or inversions. Even practicing once a week has a considerable impact on my flexibility (not to mention additional bonus points in the bedroom *wink, wink). Certain poses I once could barely fathom getting into, I can now accomplish with the greatest of ease! What impresses me about vinyasa at YTTP is the constant movement. And let me tell you, it is a fantastic workout and you will work up a sweat. So tell your boyfriend (or girlfriend) to give it a try and they will never tease you about it again!

hungover warrior//finding a balance//detox to retox

Now to put it in party-girl-perspective, this class is already challenging on a normal occasion let alone with a hangover. That being said, my friend Loren somehow still manages to complete two classes back-to-back the day after a late night out drinking. She will ease into every pose as I shake and tremble uncontrollably. Without a doubt, if you are able to make it to class post-party without passing out, then you should be all the better. Loren’s detox-to-retox theory is that with all the profuse sweating she experiences, yoga has a detoxifying effect to explain why she’s ready to go again come evening. 

everything zen

Ultimately, YTTP is a convenient, inexpensive, and all around great studio for yogis at all levels. It’s a comfortable place to find your zen….or what have you. Full disclosure, I have found myself crying from time to time in the half pigeon pose. I’m not quite sure why that particular pose triggers waterworks, but I’m fairly certain the mood-setting tunes are a contributing factor. Either way, sometimes a girl needs to shed a couple tears. If you were feeling nervous about your date that evening, a 60 minute session later will make deciding on that perfect outfit all the less stressful.

in’sync

If you need to hit up some basics or want to define certain poses in a more intimate space, I recommend SYNCYOGA (syncstudio.net). Sync first opened in North Carolina (my home state whooooop whoop!!!) with its latest outpost now in Brooklyn. Don’t worry “I never leave Manhattan”-ers, it’s right off the L train - Bedford stop, one quick stop out of the city. They also offer SYNCCYCLE (More to come on this in my Spin Blog), cycling classes with reasonable prices and package deals available. I have to admit, I’m easily amused and wanted to giggle at some things in this class (like what things? Other than om?). Maybe because my friends were goofing off on either side of me “Om-ing”. It’s good to have the fundamentals down so when you are working into the you are maximizing the benefits and don’t risk injuring yourself. I enjoyed the inversions (e.g. headstands, forearm stands, etc.) the instructor had us work on towards the end of class. Talk about a serious head buzz.

some like it hot

Finally there is Bikram/hot yoga. Everyone has his or her own opinion about this type of practice. Personally I love it, but can only handle it in “small doses.” About two years ago an acquaintance introduced me to Bikram. She was engaged in a 30-day challenge at the time. Of course I had to try it. I signed up at Bikram Williamsburg (bikramwilliamsburg.com). Most hot yoga studios offer similar promotions. I had never experienced a class like this before. It is typically 90 minutes long with the temperature cranked up between 102-109 degrees. This is not for your faint of heart so I highly recommend the following:

• Buy your own yoga mat. Trust me on this. After you first see what happens to these mats you won’t want anyone else’s bodily fluids on your mat, but your own.
• Wear as little clothing as possible. Most people are next to naked and now is not the time to care if you are too. Believe me the less weighing you down, the better. And yes, you will be exposed to a lot of, ahem, male genitalia.
• Be sure to have had a meal about two hours prior. I would not recommend this on an empty stomach for many reasons.
• Drink a lot of water before, during and after. A LOT. And if you don’t already like coconut water, you might want to learn to like it.
• Do NOT do this hung over. Seriously. Trust a PartyGirl. Loren won’t even do this.
• Its ok to feel really awesome in class one day and than feel like crap the next. Get into child’s pose when necessary. No one is judging you.

The class is intensely difficult, but you will feel utterly amazing afterwards. That’s was the most flexible I have been in years and I felt fabulous. Many yogis are obsessed with hot yoga because you are totally sweating out everything. Everything. Note: After one of these you are transformed into “a cheap date” so I suggest you hydrate to avoid it being the last date.Regardless of where you are in your life, you will never regret adding a yoga practice into your routine. Yoga can help alleviate an array of physical issues, soreness or tension not to mention the mental and spiritual advantages. As aforementioned, there are studios all over the city offering multiple class times to accommodate your hectic schedule. Not to mention the most motivating aspect of all—have you ever noticed the body of an avid yogi? Hot bodies hands down with the added perk of and expanded lifespan. I’ve seen a 70-year old in better shape than most 20-somethings I know. Moral of the story: Yoga will have you living longer, better and looking a hell of a lot hotter.

Well, this would be "Happy Baby/ Dead Bug" pose being demonstrated by the one and only Loren Yandoc. After, ahem, a couple beers and a dare:

Share some of your experiences and favorite yoga spots—I’m always in the market for recommendations! 

Marathon Training with Mr. John Jameson!

 Say what????????????

When a couple of my coworkers—aka crazy bartenders—told me they wanted to run the 2011 Marathon, I laughed in their faces. I have always considered myself a "runner" but never exceeded six miles. I decided to go along and nod my head in agreement as we shot back Jameson with a regular client who was pouring his past experiences of running the 26.2 miles on the bar. A couple weeks later we started with the Coogan's 5k on March 7th, 2011, a 3.1 mile run that was semi-easy for all of us. We started registering for more races, none being more than 5k's or 10ks, on NYRR.com (New York Road Runners). Even though we had started running as a group once every couple weeks, I still didn't believe we would actually run the New York City Marathon. In June, I found out that our notorious bar regular had gotten in contact with multiple charities who wanted us to run for their cause. Once I started receiving emails from my charity, The Queens Center for Progress, it became real to me. I was REALLY going to run the Marathon....and I was terrified. It was now June and I really needed to get my ass in gear. I had been on vacations and out brunching running jogs here and there, but nothing worthy of marathon training. I had five months to condition my body to run a marathon. SHIT!

I think we have established the fact that I am not Sally Mae, with a nine to five job, and a prefect lifestyle for marathon training, but I will say if I can do this, you most definitely can. One of the best apps I downloaded on my phone is called MapMyRun. It lets you record your runs and a very  nice lady tells you every time you hit a mile (which you can set to half mile, mile, etc) and what your pacing is. You can actually look at the map and see where you have run. You also can see other peoples runs, share your runs with friends, and pre-set up a route. Anther great tool is Nike Marathon Training. You can download a calender to your phone that takes you through a training regimen week by week. It helps you slowly add mileage to your runs.

Why didn't anyone tell me these things????

• Buy a brand new pair of good running shoes when you start your training. These will be the shoes you run the marathon in. DO NOT change them a week before. Yes, the shoes will be beat up and look terrible, but your feet will be used to the shoe. New shoes will cause serious blisters. There are a lot of great running shoes, but my favorite are Asics. http://www.asicsamerica.com

• Speaking of feet, try to avoid pedicures. This one was hard for me, but if you must go get your piggies painted, do not let them scrub or "shave" skin off your feet. Those calluses prevent more blisters and must stay where they are. You just need to except that your feet are not going to look super cute. Also, keeping your nails short will help prevent black toes.

• Black Toes. Ew gross, but it happens to all of us runners. I lost my big toe nail after running the marathon. Sorry to share the gruesome details, but you can try to prevent this from happening by buying the right size shoe. Since black toes are caused by the bumping of the toe forward, more blood is pushed under the nail with every step. When you are buying shoes, make sure to buy them a half size or full size larger then you normally wear. Your feet will swell when you run and having room in your shoes will help prevent your toes from being shoved into your shoe. Even with the proper shoes, you may still see some of your toe nails turning black, it is normal, and the nail might fall off and grow back. Try and look on the bright side. My group of friends and I eventually looked at it like a bragging right: The more black toes you had, the more of a bad ass you were.

• Once you start getting up to the "long" runs, you realize how boring pounding the pavement can get. Music is great and distracting, but running ten plus miles still takes a while. I started listening to books on tape. I would download a great book from itunes and listen while I ran. I honestly enjoyed this and listening to a story sometimes was the push I needed to go the extra mile. 

• Staying hydrated during your runs is so important. You must take in electrolytes DURING the runs. When you run, you lose electrolytes through your sweat. Your muscles need that nourishment to control your muscle contractions. I was a huge nerd a bought a hip pack that has two bottle holders (one large bottle and one small bottle), and a small zipper pouch. The larger bottle was for water and the smaller bottle was for electrolyte water. I bought Nuun Electrolyte Mix Tablets. They dissolve in water and taste like watered down Gatorade. In the zipper I kept Extreme Sport Beans. These tasted like yummy jelly beans. During the marathon, there are water stations at every mile that supply you with Gatorade and H2O. Sometimes they hand out Jell Packs (jelly substance filled with electrolytes and vitamins) but this can upset your stomach if you have not trained with them. 

• Don't get upset if you have a bad running day. This is normal. Just try to push through. If you need to walk some, do not beat yourself up. Its hard, but you will be surprised how fast your body starts to condition. I remember my fist "long" run of nine miles. I was so proud I cried!

• You are going to be hungry. Really hungry. 

The physical endurance it takes to run a marathon is only half the battle so get your mental self ready!! It is OK to start at the very beginning. Start slow! Your body is an adjustable machine and it gets in shape faster than you would think! I ran the New York City Marathon in 4 hours and 58 minuets. I was met afterwords with a Guinness, a shot of Jameson, and some wonderful and supporting friends. It was one of the most challenging and amazing experiences of my life. I felt indestructible and fearless for weeks after!

If us crazy lushes can do it, so can you!