Fitness Friday: Yoga with Adriene #YogaRevolution

It is 2017 and I truly want to lose weight and keep fit.  Even though you can't see it, it doesn't mean fat is not there and I have felt a bit overweight for years.  With Fitness Friday I hope to keep exploring and traveling on my health and wellness journey as I find it is not getting easier the older I get.  

My "sister" from London was telling me about her daily routine and it included daily YouTube yoga practice.  I would have never though about doing yoga at home but with the cold weather it is a great idea to still be able to practice in the comfort and warmth of your own home.    

So I got my mat out and saw that Yoga with Adriene had a 30 Day Revolution Challenge in January.  It's a 31 day journey of daily yoga practice.  Even though January had already started, I loved the idea of a challenge and figured it is better to start late than never.  

So the yoga revolution began.  I loved her #YogaRevolution Day 1 practice so much that I did Day 1 & 2 in the same day.  One in the morning and one in the evening.  WOW!  Yoga is back in my life!  I felt calm and at peace after each yoga session.  I've already shouted on Twitter, told my friends, and am practicing everyday.  The best part about YouTube Yoga with Adriene is that it is free and easily accessible.  

Let's see if this can become a daily habit of yoga practice everyday.  After all itis the #yogarevolution.  It is great for yogis of all levels.  The sessions are around 30 minutes each so it is easy to squeeze in the yoga practice but in reality one I felt how it made me feel, I wanted to keep doing more.  Instead of watching TV, I calm my mind with the #yogarevolution and Yoga with Adriene.  Ease into Day 1.  

April Challenge - YYoga 30 Day April Challenge #atozchallenge

Hello Vancity Girlfriends,

This is the year of health and fitness and I have fallen in love with YYoga again because of their holiday special.  Last year I bought a 10 class pass for $110 and the downfall is that YYoga is a little bit of a commute.  But I have tried to make it worthwhile.  I procrastinated until its expiry date of March 31st but through that time discovered Warm Yin Yoga, YRide, and Pilates Fusion.  

What is the April Challenge?  

In April YYoga is having a 30 Day Challenge where you can pay $135 for a one month pass and try to go to YYoga everyday for the entire month of April.  When you go to a class you get entered for prizes and this is a wonderful way to stay fit, motivated, and mindful.  I wish I lived across the street from a YYoga studio.  

If I did I would do it!  I'm sure it would be transformative.  One day....

YYoga Website:  http://www.yyoga.ca/


Or find a way to do your own Active April Challenge and find time for fitness, and health into your life.  It might be going to the gym or yoga studio, walking or running with a friend, stretching at home or meditating everyday.  It's good to mix it up to motivate yourself a bit more.  I know I would get bored of doing the same thing everyday.  

It's just a way to bring a bit of fitness into your life for 30 days and after that who knows, it just might end up becoming a healthy habit.

I'm joining the Blogging from A to Z for the first time this year in 2016.  

YYoga Free Fitness or Yoga Class in February

February is here which means so is YYoga's #SpreadLove campaign which spreads love by giving everyone a free fitness or yoga class at any of their 13 locations between February 2nd - 16th.  My girlfriend introduced me to YYoga a few years ago and even though I don't go on a regular basis, I love getting a chance to go in February.  Even though I already have a 10 ticket pass that I bought during the Christmas promotion, the #SpreadLove campaign has sparked me to actually use my pass and get a free class too with my friends.    

If you've never been to YYoga this is the perfect opportunity to try!  I'm returning to my favorite yoga instructor's class during this time (Rebekka Walker).  Perhaps I'll spread my heart to try other yoga instructors.  

YYoga Burrard (Downtown Vancouver) is the location that I go to because it is easily accessible by skytrain.  The tea room with David's tea is a great place to relax before or after your class, or spend a bit of time in the dry sauna.  I'm looking forward to my escape from the everyday at YYoga.  Namaste.

Find out more here: http://info.yyoga.ca/spreadlove/

Subscription Box Sunday: Fabletics

If you workout, do yoga, or run, and want new active wear then Kate Hudson's Fabletics is for you!  My girlfriend shared this subscription box with me because there are perks for referring friends ($10 off your next outfit) and the first outfit is half price at 50% off so that's $25 for a set of workout clothes.

Similar to other subscription boxes, with Fabletics, you take the fit quiz so they know what you are looking for and what type of fitness you do.  You can choose for example if you want yoga capris or running shorts.  

The VIP is the subscription box where you sign up for a new outfit a month.  So regular price that is $49.95 for an outfit.  The outfit is shipped at the beginning of the month and you have until the 5th of the month if you wish to skip a month.  The skipping a month is a great feature as I'm not sure if I would need or want a whole workout outfit each month.  I guess it would depend on how frequently you workout and how rough you are on your clothes.  Or another way to see it is how good quality your workout clothes were in the beginning. 

I love the idea of Fabletics and often return to the website to browse.  I haven't yet bitten the bullet to actually subscribe to Fabletics, but I know two girlfriends who have and they love it!  If you want to give yourself some new active wear to go with your fitness New Years Resolutions that are around the corner, then you want to check it out.  

Fitness Friday - Oxygent Yoga Killarney

Hello Vancity Girlfriends,

When I first heard of Oxygen Hot Yoga, I cringed inside.  Let me tell you a bit about my first hot yoga experience at Bikram's Hot Yoga.  I decided to try it out to see what hot yoga was all about and it was definitely not a traditional zen yoga class.  The room was very hot and the instructor and rules were strict.  I was not a yoga guru so after the class, I was happy that I survived or I thought I had survived.  Instead I ended up getting a cold like flu symptoms and that didn't go away for an entire month.  Perhaps the heat brings out the toxins and it was releasing.  I'm not sure what happened, but after that experience, others would even remind me to not go to hot yoga.

Then years later a colleague started talking about Oxygen Yoga which was a new infrared hot yoga.  He talked and talked and talk because he was a yoga guru and loved Oxygen Yoga.  I still didn't think to go because the location was not close to my house.  

Time passes on and my girlfriend invites me to a free Oxygen Yoga Killarney class that was within walking distance of my house.  A free class?  I had nothing to lose so I went with her to a Hot Yoga Deep Stretch class with Carlene.  The studio was small but the instructor gave me a yoga mat to use and she started her class by letting us know where the exit doors were and invited everyone to take breaks and to escape if need be.  WOW!  That was a completely different experience.  I had done yoga before but doing hot yoga in an infrared studio at 38 to 40 degrees makes you sweat.  It was hard for me to hand the heat and stay in class so I rested a lot and took the child pose.  Since the class was small with only four students, it didn't really matter what I did.  This was in the beginning when Oxygen Yoga Killarney just opened.  

Now I have been going there for the past three months and it is easy to get attached.  After my free class, I bought the one week for $10 trial and it was easy to use that to try different classes and times and instructors.  Then I continued to buy the $49 introductory unlimited one month pass.  I discovered that going to hot yoga at 6am was a great way to wake up and the class size was always small (less than six students which it continues to be so).   Great news for students the monthly rate is just $65 a month for unlimited classes.  That makes me want to be a student again.  http://oxygentraining.ca/blog/info-for-new-students/

Also I have heard that Oxygen Yoga always has Black Friday sales which is around the corner on November 27th.  I'll keep you up to date on Fitness Friday!

Stress Relief: YYoga - Yoga and Pilates Studio

Dear Vancity Girlfriends,

This weekend after a crazy staff Christmas party, I felt a bit under the weather and took this as an opportunity to explore ways to reduce stress.  I work in the helping profession and it is important in my industry to constantly balance the work life balance and look at ways to reduce stress.  

During Black Friday, I had some retail therapy which is helpful for a short term boost of happiness but not long term.  At least not for me.  

So I turned to Yoga.  Last year I had tried YYoga at the Downtown yoga studio at 888 Burrard Street.  Since I went with a friend as her birthday guest, I did not activate my one month newbie yoga pass.  That was 11 months ago.  I decided to call them to see if I could activate my month of yoga or if it had already expired.  Lucky for me, it was set to expire on December 30th, 2014.  I still have the rest of December to try YYoga.

When that ends, it will be the perfect timing for me to buy their 10-card pass with their holiday special, that is if you buy one before December 31st, it costs $110 with an expiry date of March 31st, 2015. 

The Newbie to Yoga special is such a good deal!  

Enjoy 30 days of unlimited classes & infrared sauna use – including mat rentals, for $40.

YYoga Website:  http://www.yyoga.ca/