Hangin' Around

Yoga is so not my bag. I don't have a "practice" and nothing stresses me out more than be told to relax. While I recognize that more yoga would do me good, I'm rarely willing to sacrifice another workout to squeeze it in.

Until today, the only yoga I've ever been psyched about is bikram. I like to sweat, and the heat definitely helps me stretch into the poses, but mostly I like the lack of preachy "let's appreciate" stuff talk. (No disrespect intended, yogis; it just makes me uncomfortable.)

Purists might not consider Crunch's Antigravity(R) Yoga Wings class a yoga class, but it rocks. The 90 minute Sunday morning class @ 59th street fills up quickly. There are only 17 spots and they only do sign-ups in person starting an hour before class. The downside to this archaic system is obvious - but getting there more than an hour before class gave me a chance to run beforehand.

I staked out a spot towards back of the room by the side mirrors. (I like mirrors when I work out generally and it was helpful to be able to see what I was doing.) After the instructor came around to adjust the height of our hammocks, which apparently can support up to 1,000 pounds, and handled the inevitable drama of turning away the wait-listed people, we got started.

The class started with sun salutations that incorporated the hammock into each movement. The hammock made the movements interesting and allowed me to get deeper stretches than I would have otherwise. Mid-way through that portion of the class, we got to the first flips. That's when I knew I was hooked. If you miss the days of swingsets and playing on the monkey bars, this class is totally for you. After flipping fowards and backwards around our hammocks, we did some more yoga-esque movements - and then we got to swing. Very fun. But while the regulars appreciated the flips and the swinging, they couldn't wait to get to the inversions. I get that now. Hanging upside is down pretty cool.

All in all, the class was a lot of fun and it was a pretty intense workout. I definitely used my upper body a lot to pull myself up into the positions. As for the yoga aspects . . . I'm not going to lie: I'm going back for the flips and to master the "vitruvian man" pose and any yogic benefits that come along with the class will be gravy. Is this the answer to my yoga class woes? Time will tell.

-Gym Belle-

Gym Bit: Non-members can take classes @ Crunch by purchasing $16 day passes.

Comments

[ashley]

I tried yoga and it definitely didn't go too well. I like it but it really is tough!