Yoga Nine.

Class: Yoga Flow Plus

Date: October 20, 2010

Time & Location: Yoga Nine

So I decided to change it up a little bit and go to Yoga Nine. The only class I could fit into my schedule was the 7am Yoga Flow Plus class. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed waking up before the sun. The air outside is so cool and calm at 6am. I showed up to Yoga Nine at around 6:50am and was eager to see what was in store for me. I walked into an adorable free trade store, full of unique jewelry, clothing, oils, fragrances, and much more. Laurie Greene started the class soon after. I really liked the room that the class was held in. The lighting was perfect, dim but not dark. Relaxing ethnic music was playing in the background.

There were about eight people in the class, give or take one or two. Out of all the students, only two were males, which is a trend I've seen in most of the yoga experiences I've had so far. All the students were Caucasian, except for me of course. All the students were middle-aged except for one woman who looked like she was about 60. As I looked around the room, I saw mats, blocks, and other yoga objects. Laurie started the class out with standing postures, which included warrior poses and an array of balancing postures. I really wasn't expecting the class to be as challenging as I ended up finding it, even though I should have gotten a heads up from the flyer that said the course was for advanced beginners to intermediates.

Throughout the class we did various things, such as upward dogs, downward dogs, one legged downward dogs, warrior poses, planks, forward bends, extended triangle poses, lunges, side plank poses, bridges, and much more. Laurie also had us do headstands and I was really surprised at the amount of people in the class that could do it. I didn't even try for fear of making a fool of myself in front of all these yogis who were obviously more experienced than me. Yoga Flow Plus was by far the most challenging yoga class I've taken so far this semester, but I really enjoyed it. Every time I couldn't do a posture, I would go into child's pose and wait for Laurie to continue. During savasana, Laurie went around and applied some kind of scented oil to everyones' necks. With every breath I took, I got a whiff of the smell. It was an indescribable pleasant smell, like an herb or something to that extent. I spaced out during savasana, relaxing every part of my body. I realized that I'm starting to really benefit from yoga on more of a spiritual level, which is something that I never thought would happen when I started this course. I really am enjoying practicing yoga.

By the time I left Yoga Nine, I felt full of energy and ready for my day. I'm almost positive I'm going to Gentle Yoga tomorrow at 7am!