In the past week I've been to yoga for the first time, and not only that but I've been twice since. Tara has been doing a 40 day yoga challenge and eventually I stopped talking about my intentions of going and actually went. Tara is a member at Semperviva, which has 4 yoga studios on the West Side, and last Sunday I went with her to a Hatha class with Ingrid. I enjoyed it and kept up better than expected. Ingrid gave good instruction and guidance and gave alternatives to extend so you could take it a bit further if you wanted.
After the first positive experience I then signed up to a membership and went with Tara to Vinyasa Power Flow on Thursday...aaaaaaaaaargh! This was a completely different experience and the slave driver instructor Saskia pushed us so hard, it was really tough! I can't do The Plank (which is like a lowered push up position) as my arms are far too weak, so to try and combine that repeatedly and quickly with the Downward Facing Dog and Upward Facing Dog was a challenge, to put it mildly. I declined the invitation to do a headstand, and as for the standing on one leg holding your foot out - forget it! But the rest was a really good workout and the best thing about yoga is that at the end you get to lie on the floor, cover yourself in a blanket and have a nap while the lights are low...bliss :-)
Anyway, the third class was on Friday evening and by mis-reading the schedule I accidentally ended up going to a Yin class instead of a Hatha one. Anyway, good to try something different, and yin was all done lying on your back or sitting up, no hopping around on one leg, hurray! Having said that, yin is a lot of stretching and twisting, and you hold the poses until your muscles burn - the next day I could feel my stomach muscles more and for longer than I could feel any after effects of the other two classes. I'm not sure which will be my next class, I'd like to do Hatha again and after hearing about Tara's experience at a Kundalini class the other day I'm in no rush to try that one! I already feel better and yoga's good for your breathing, mind and body (just my finances have been harmed, although luckily there was a handy 20% off promotion on when I bought my membership to help soften the blow). The healthy eating is also going well, I haven't had any caffeine for two weeks now, have had bread only once, almost no dairy, reduced my sugar intake, and have tried to not have too much alcohol.
The other big event this week (apart from Easter and it being a lovely long 4 day weekend!) was the Ting Tings gig last night at the Commodore Ballroom. The gig was ann
ounced shortly after I arrived in Van in January and I got the tickets as soon as they went on sale - it sold out long before the show. The Commodore Ballroom, for those of you who don't know it, is a nightclub-style venue with tables round the famous springy dancefloor and a mezzanine level upstairs. I went with Mark and we positioned ourselves in the middle of the dancefloor - right in the thick of the party! And what a party it was - the Ting Tings were awesome and the place really rocked and jumped, my legs ache so much today from all the dancing and jumping it was that good! It was high octane from start to finish and the crowd were all up for it so the atmosphere was fantastic, a memorable totally fun show by the Manchester duo! I need another great gig to be announced now so that there's another to look forward to...Right, that's all for now. Sorry for the lack of photos this time, but you can't take photos during yoga class and I was too busy bouncing around on the dancefloor to take photos at the Ting Tings' gig!
Happy Easter everyone, hope you're all well and keep in touch,
Love Adele xxxx
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