Bikram Yoga Love

Last week was a tough training week for me. My body just felt tired. I struggled on each of my runs and was starting to get a little discouraged. Luckily my long run on Sunday was a good run and renewed my dedication to my training. It's funny how one run can turn it around. Just goes to show you just gotta keep going. You will have some good days and some bad.

Ok, getting off topic.... My body was so sore last week so I decided I needed to do a yoga class. Earlier this year I had purchased a Groupon for a 30 day unlimited Bikram Yoga Class pass. I went many times and really enjoyed it. My favorite feeling was at the end of class when you are soaked with sweat. I feel like I worked hard and really cleansed my body of some toxins. Then to top it off my whole body feels so relaxed and stretched. Not to mention it feels great to improve on the different poses every week.

So when my body was telling me it was tight and needed some love I decided it needed Bikram Yoga. So I purchased a 5 class pass and decided to commit my Wednesday cross train day to Bikram Yoga. The 5 classes get me through to the Wednesday following my half. So it will be perfect.

I had my first class in a long time last Wednesday. It was fantastic. I was happy to find that even though I had not been for 2 month my body still knew the poses. I could tell I had regressed a little in my flexibility but not as much as I had thought.

I'm happy I have committed to add it to my training. It is great for the mind and body. I can't wait to  go again tomorrow.

"Yoga never fails to reward honest effort." ~ Bikram

Centergy... Sure Why Not

Today was a cross train day for me. My muscles are pretty sore so I decided a yoga class would be the ticket. The only class available at my gym that fit into my schedule was a class called Centergy. It's a class made by BodyTraining Systems (BTS). Personally I'm not a big fan of the series. They have group classes such as Group Kick (kickboxing), Group Power (like body pump with weights), Group Ride (cycle/spinning), etc. I prefer instructors that teach their own style. When I lived in NY our gym had moved to this system and it was just not the same in my opinion. With that said I wanted to give Centergy a try with an open mind.

The class was not that busy. There were about 10 people. (I'm used to the Zumba classes where there are 30+.) The teacher was nice and did an alright job of leading the class. I was thrown off by the music that was played during the class. I have never done a yoga class to songs from Taylor Swift. It was a little strange yet I continued to try to keep an open mind.

The class is a fusion between Yoga and Pilates (check out theYouTube video I found). It moved from one pose to another and repeated a couple times. The moves were pretty basic. It definitely got my heart pounding and my body nice and stretched out (which I needed badly). However, I found myself longing for a yoga class without pop music. I missed the quiet and peacefulness of a traditional class. I also longed for Bikram yoga (nothing like a good hot yoga cleansing sweat).

I'm glad I went but I'm not sure I would go again. It's just not my thing. I may try it one more time now that I know exactly what to expect. I really crave a traditional class. Time to check out the schedule and see what I can fit in.

The good news is I feel good. My body definitely needed to stretch. Tomorrow is another 4 miler and it's my birthday. It's going to be a good day I can feel it :)