I'm opening a gym in mid-October. Now it's my gym to run, but I'm not the owner. I hooked up with three partners from New York that wanted to add a 10,000sq ft gym to their bajillion dollar complex, so of course I was interested. Long story short, I'm working with local business to form partnerships.
One business, Urban Element, offers spin and yoga classes. I met with both owners and we immediately hit it off. We're working on revenue sharing ideas and how we can make this work for both parties. It's one less thing I need to coach in that space and they're great at what they do- not to mention they're space is a block away.
Yessie and I decided to do one of their classes. She's already pretty solid at yoga- legitimately 1000x better than me. So Saturday morning bright and early we headed to class. By the way...it's hot yoga. So on the way to class I was sweating at the thought of hot yoga.
We showed up a few minutes late, as we're both guilty of. Class is started. We scoot in between a couple people who graciously moved. Sharon, one of the owners, is up front teaching and calmly helps us get situated. Boom. Straight into downward facing dog. I got this.
And then boom, into a push up and a little back stretch. Easy. A few minutes into it I finally look up and realize I'm not doing anything that looks remotely like what everyone else is doing. Ok cool- adjust. Catch up. Some type of side plank with a hip opener. Felt my glutes working. Awesome.
And then a...I don't know what it was...but I couldn't do it. I tried. I tried the whole time they were doing it and I couldn't even get into the pose.
So went the rest of the class. Some things I could do- some squats. Some squats on your toes. Find your center. Breathe deep. Relax. Then my toes started cramping. Then my abs. And I checked out. Child's pose for the rest of class while I'm dripping sweat.
Take aways:
This was a great fucking work out. I'll definitely do it again.
My legs, feet, abs, and triceps were burning. It was hard to relax when I was shaking like a leaf trying to hold each pose. Which equates to powerlifting- you need to be calm but angry under heavy weights. Like you're teetering on the brink of losing control with your temper at any moment. I think yoga is just another form of finding your happy place while you put your body under duress.
I haven't had a new physical challenge like that in forever. It really struck a chord for me- reminding me why I love lifting- and why I'll continue to challenge myself along the way.
