Sunday night yogaaaah #gympressions

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Yoga for a Cause

I love practicing yoga on Sundays to prepare myself for the coming week.  I also love sweating for a good cause.  This past Sunday, I combined the two by attending an event at Pure Yoga hosted by Well & Good NYC to raise money for Bent on Learning.  Bent on Learning provides yoga instruction to students at NYC public schools and youth centers. 

To kick off the afternoon, a Bent on Learning instructor shared some of her experiences with us, and read us a few quotes from her students about what practicing yoga has done for them.  

Next, Kay Kay Clivio led us through an amazing yoga class.  Kay Kay talked me into a much better wheel than I've been able to achieve lately, and the stretching felt great after a day of heavy lifting. 

To make the class extra special, Hope Gillerman of H. Gillerman Organics taught us how to incorporate essential oils into our yoga practice.  At the beginning of class, we did our pranayama breathing holding a tissue dabbed with a eucalyptus blend in front of our noses.  The scent really helped me focus on my breath.  At the end of class, we used a different oil to relax our muscles.

I'm rapidly becoming a major Pure Yoga fan.  The studios are gorgeous and the instructors are so consistently good.  I also love that they provide mats for everyone.  Somehow they pull off being sanitary without being sterile.  (The only thing I can't quite understand is why they don't have keypad lockers.  Who carries locks these days?)

Yum!For me, the best part of the event came after class.  I knew that Cooler Cleanse would be providing juice.  I didn't know that one of our options would be fresh coconut.  Coconut water is my hydration method of choice these days, and it was such a treat to drink it straight from the coconut.  It was delicious!

I left Well & Good's event relaxed, invigorated and ready to start my week.

-Gym Belle-

Hot Power Yoga on a Cold Winter's Day

This week, I stepped in countless deeper-than-I-realized melted snow/ice puddles.  I got sprayed by cars racing through them.  I slipped on brown snow banks.  Gloves, hats, scarves and boots can only do so much.  I showed up to the office wet, and arrived home shivering.  By the time I went to Hot Power Yoga yesterday afternoon, I was sick of the snow and cold from the inside out.

The class was part of a special event hosted by Self Magazine at Pure Yoga.  I signed up earlier this month because Pure Yoga instructors tend to be pretty awesome, and I hadn't yet visited the west side location.  I'm so glad that I went.  The class was fabulous, and I can't tell you how good it felt to be warm and sweaty. 

As an added bonus, attendees received a copy of this month's Self Magazine, Aveeno shampoo and a three-day pass to Pure Yoga.  And, Jess from Fit Chick in the City had randomly signed up for the very same class that I had.  Hot yoga is even toastier with a friend.

Stay warm out there!

-Gym Belle-