Sweat and Surrender

A few months ago I saw a flyer on Facebook that read "No Foolin Lululemon Comes to Northwest Arkansas."  I quickly checked it out and saw that a local yoga group was hosting a Lululemon Ambassador for a 2 hour yoga workshop followed by a Lululemon trunk show.  The yoga workshop was on April 1st and No Foolin it was tough and fun!

I signed up for it because I knew that I would need some good stretching after the Bentonville Half Marathon.  I didn't realize at the time that the workshop would be a hot yoga class.  Thankfully, I noticed the wording "Warm Vinyasa Flow" in an email the day before class because I definitely needed my yoga towel to keep from slipping on my mat during the class. 

Jennifer opening the class

The instructor was Jennifer Skaggs who is based out of Tulsa.  She has a very calm and gentle voice for a very powerful style of yoga.  She began the workshop with the guidance to "Greet each pose like its your first time in it." What a great reminder to be open to the experience because your body is different each and every day in how it responds to the environment around us.  For me, there were some poses that my hamstrings were screaming for so I adjusted, used a block, and did the best I could. 

Me and Jennifer

Another great reminder Jennifer gave us was to find that point between compassion and pushing toward the edge.  I thought this was a unique thought and something I had never really considered before.  To do this, she reminded us more than once to make our own decisions regardless of what those around us were doing.  We are all different and the full pose is the one you are in.  It's hard to not compare yourself to those around you but if you can focus inward then you'll find the decision that is right for you.  This meant taking some poses a little easier than others but it also meant pushing myself through a two hour workshop.  We spent a good amount of time on pigeon pose near the end and it was just what I needed to talk to my hips and try to loosen them up. 

The workshop group...after class so we're just a little sweaty.

Besides the words of wisdom, the workshop was set up as a 90 minute sweat flow series and then 30 minutes of surrender poses.  I was shaking and sweating with the first few poses and worried that I wouldn't make it through the whole class...but I did!  Jennifer uses a non-traditional playlist and I loved it.  I don't remember all of the songs but there was some Alanis Morrisette and John Mayer in there and maybe even a little Snoop Dogg.  My favorite song Hallelujah was the final shavasana song and was the perfect way to end the workshop.  Overall, it was a great experience and something I hope the repeat.