Keep calm and om your way to 2015

It’s that time of the year again. The New Year brings to the fore resolutions that incorporate fitness regimes into our daily lives. While some may jump right back to the machines in the gym, others prefer less intense workouts that involve mainly a mat. A yoga mat, that is. But what yoga class should you sign up for? Which yoga practice is right for you? What is the difference between hatha and vinyasa? A number of yoga studios around Manila offers various classes. Here are the common types of yoga that can help you “om” your way to 2015.

If you’re a beginner, then gentle flow classes are for you. These can include hatha, restorative, or yin yoga. These classes help you do simple relaxation, breath control, and the basic poses in order to energize and calm the body and mind.

For the more intermediate yogi or those who have a consistent practice, then you are ready for the rhythmic vinyasa class or the more formidable poses (inversions! head stands!) in ashtanga yoga. Alternatively, you can push it to the next level and sign up for power yoga: a challenging practice that lets you do long-holding and advanced poses. The focus is on building strength and flexibility.

Other variations of yoga classes are bikram or hot yoga, which are held in heated rooms (about 36 degrees C) to allow you to sweat out toxins. Indeed, this is your ultimate fat-burning practice.

I had the chance to attend Yoga Plus Ph's hot class. It was my first formal yoga class, and I was pumped! The studio on campus (DLSU) was so zen and I'm in love with it. The air was scented with peppermint, the wood floors were cool to the feet (no shoes allowed inside), and...the mats that are rented out to mat-less wanna-be yogis like me for P40 were Manduka. Mandu-frickin'-duka! The mats of high acclaim! The mats that are a dream, that are so zen, that make sitting still and meditating seem easy! I looked forward, as I always do, to savasana.

The class was indeed held in a heated room. Even the floors were heated. But it wasn't sticky hot, which was good, considering you would sweat buckets. And I mean that almost literally. Forget your glasses; I wore mine and beads of sweat clouded the lenses. You don't really need to "see" because the teacher would give you verbal cues anyway: push your hands down, lift your hips up, heels down, no pressure on your neck, downward dog.

I loved it. I loved every minute of the hour long class. I loved the shower. I even loved giving up my rented Manduka mat, because it's in the "giving" and all that, after all.

A consistent yoga practice benefits you in many ways. The names of the poses will easily roll out of your tongue (chaturanga, anyone?), and don’t be surprised if soon you tell your friends you want to open your chakras. But more than that, you will easily see the physical changes – better posture, more flexibility, a stronger core. Ultimately, yoga has very calming effects that will boost you forward into 2015.

#yoga #yogaplusph #fitness #manila