YOGA

Yoga has been such a great outlet for me. Even though my running regimen has fallen to an almost non-existent point up until about a week and a half ago, yoga has remained a constant every Thursday. I go with three friends from work: Julie, Nicole, and Ashley.  Every Thursday after work we change into our yoga attire, grab our mats and head over to Cambio Yoga Studio - a place I'm growing to love not just for their practice of yoga, but the community and stress-free environment.  Everyone there is so friendly and accepting. I'm always greeted with a smile and friendly demeanor.

At 5:30 we go into the heated studio (the Power Vinyasa class is a great workout in an incredibly humid 100 degree room - imagine doing active stretches and strength exercises in a sauna... yeah, it's like that) lay out our mats and begin to loosen up before class.

The next hour is an invigorating, challenging, empowering, strengthening and relaxing one in which I typically sweat about a gallon (not really but hey, I like to exaggerate).  People who know me well know that I don't sweat.  No really, I can do a 10 mile run and have a few beads of sweat across my forehead or the back of my neck but typically I just am not very efficient at cooling my body down (I know... too much information). But, in this class I produce amounts of sweat I never knew I was capable of. 
So, if you're one of those people who hears the word "yoga" and thinks "that's not a real workout..." I would LOVE for you to join me sometime for this class...

So after about 50 minutes of active poses engaging just about every muscle in my body at some point, we begin the cool-down phase in which you slowly release the tension and tightness in your body. I LOVE this part.  I feel like I'm 30 lbs lighter and so relaxed.  Any stress from my day leaves immediately and I'm relaxed, refocused and re-energized.

The best part about this place is it's concept - it's a donation yoga studio.  This means they rely solely on donations to stay in operation. They do offer a suggested range for people wondering how much is appropriate, but no one sees the amount you give and they are incredibly unassuming and non judgemental.  I love that.  This is so great for someone like me who is at a place in life where I just can't afford much of anything extra.  Of course I donate - the instructors are great and the studio is amazing. I give what I can for  now and I know that as I can, I will donate more but my limited income does not prohibit me from enjoying the restorative, relaxing, strengthening and healing benefits that yoga has to offer. 

So with that I say, "Thank you Cambio for making yoga a possibility for me."

This is one of my favorite poses...