I haven’t been to a yoga class probably since last winter. My exercise routine has consisted of indoor or beach volleyball once a week and the occasional bike ride. This fall my regular volleyball team fell apart, so I have been spending more time on the couch. When I saw an ad for Semperviva’s Forty Day Yoga Challenge I knew it was what I needed – an ass-kicking back into shape.
According to the Semperviva site: “Yogic science confirms that it takes 40 days to fully develop a new life-promoting habit or to drop a current destructive habit. The Semperviva Challenge is a great way to strengthen the body, unburden the mind, and begin a daily commitment to yourself.”
My schedule is pretty hectic and I am a pretty spontaneous gal, so I really wasn’t sure how I would actually fit a yoga class in each day…I mean that is why I have never been good at sticking with yoga in the first place. Something always came up and my excuse to myself was that the class times weren’t convenient for me, which of course, is just lame.
I woke up the morning of the 40 Day Yoga Challenge launch a little hung-over and having slept in longer than I had planned. I arrived at Semperviva in yoga clothes (you never know some mornings), equipped with my mat. No water.
I pulled up a mat near the back of the room, knowing full well this session would be a challenge, in part, due to my long break away from yoga combined with a lack of self control the night before.
There must have been at least sixty people in the room. The mostly female crowd covered the full spectrum of body shapes, sizes and ages. It was nice to see. I have been to classes at other yoga centres where I felt like the sole purpose of the class was to one-up the next gal’s cutesy outfit or ensure maximum cleavage to catch the instructor’s eye…which, sadly seemed successful.
Thankfully, this class felt comfortable, if not for all the fabulous smiles beaming around the room. There was a buzz of excitement, anticipation and anxiousness.
The class was set-up as a quadruple taster of yin, hatha, power and kundalini styles of yoga as an introduction to those styles taught at Semperviva, with each 15-minute portion of the class taught by a different instructor. I had done hatha and power classes before, so I was pretty curious to experience the other two.
Yin was a nice slow warm-up, with each asana (pose) being held for several minutes in length – which by the way, might sound easy because it is slow, but can seriously make your limbs start to shake.
The Kundalini part of the class was like a ray of sunshine. More like a combination of yoga, dance and aerobics, it was fast-paced and supported by some really good beats to inspire the body to move. A few of the people in the class were obvious fans of Kundalini and didn’t hesitate to grin and encourage those around them to feel the movement and let go.
I have to admit, there was a point where my dehydrated body almost succumbed to this ass-kicking…to the point where I found myself mapping out an exit route (in between har’s and hari’s) to the washroom in the event that I needed to go die somewhere privately. But, I turned my brain off and danced with my rubbery arms and legs and got through it.
On the way out of the class, it was great to overhear people trading names and phone numbers as instant 40 Day Challenge support groups were formed. I am looking forward to making some friends along the way…and taking my first full Kundalini class this Friday!
Goals for this week, will be to devise a daily yoga schedule that I can manage and avoid the Dairy Queen on the way home.
A Vancouver Notebook 