Sip and Stretch

Last week I had something fun to look forward to for my Friday evening...it was Sip and Stretch at Yoga Story.  Several friends were all planning to attend and it turned out to be a great Girl's Night Out.

The class started at 5:45 and it was my first class in the new studio.  I liked the space a lot better since there was more room and it didn't feel as cramped.  There were about 15 students in the class and there was one brave man in the class.  Cindee began the class by taking a poll on whether the group wanted a slow or fast flow for the class.  The majority voted for a slow flow since there were several newer to yoga.  I was undecided since either practice sounded fine to me...I was just excited to be starting the weekend with friends!

We got started with a slow flow to ground everyone in the practice and the flow that would be the main base for the class.  The slow pace quickly disappeared once all were comfortable with the flow and we moved into a challenging series with a new pose on each inhale/exhale.  It was one of the most challenging flows that I've ever done but it never felt overwhelming since the poses were all very simple it was just moving with the breath and maintaining the breath. 

Rhonda holding boat pose...and then we did boat pose crunches!

There was another series that involved ab work that was tough.  I think Cindee forgot that we were doing crunches at one point because she just kept talking.  It was very relieving to finish up the ab series which was a mixture of high boat to low boat and also eagle crunches.  From there we moved to yoga nidra or guided meditation. 

I always enjoy this part of the class and try to remember some of the wise nuggets that are shared.  This class was one of the first times that I felt really connected to the meditation.  As she guided our focus, I could feel my attention following her instruction.  After about 15 minutes of this, Cindee gently brought us out of shavasanna to finish up the class. 

She raised the lights and then it was time for wine and snacks of cheese/crackers and chocolate.  Everyone moved about and ended up in the center of the studio chatting over the snacks.  It was fun to get to meet some of the class participants that I didn't know and also to chat with my friends.  Our community is quite small and it was fun to see how my friends also knew each other. 

AJ and I were yoga twins!

From there we headed over to one of the restaurants on the square and had a great dinner.  We all went in our sweaty best and our attire wasn't quite up to the par of the rest of the restaurant!  We even had to ask them to turn down the air in the area of the dining room where we were since we were all still hot from the hot yoga studio.  Overall, it was a great way to start the weekend and I look forward to taking more Sip and Stretch classes!