First of all- Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to everyone! I am very fortunate to have so many people who care and support me. If not for you, life is just not the same- thank you!
2013 for me was a hard year. It was a test of my mental strength and dealing with many health issues but now I am growing stronger both emotionally and physically and I am ready to start 2014 getting my ass kicked and me kicking ass (at least I hope so!).
Last 2 blog articles - I talked about my trainer and how she played an important role in my transformation both physically and emotionally. Now, i want to dedicate this blog article to the studio, to the teachers, to the people at Arrichion Hot Yoga.
Three years ago, I was in a lot of pain when I went running. My legs: glutes, hams, shins, calves would hurt so bad. I would just endure it thinking if I keep running it would get better. Finally I did a search and found a massage therapist that deals with neuromuscular reprogramming. At this point, I was ready to try anything. I made an appt. to see Tim Hackett and after talking to me and did some muscle testing, he concluded that because of my knee surgery and other injuries, I was compensating muscle groups thereby causing a muscle imbalance. He said he will work with me on deep tissue work and trigger points massage and asked that I seek out a yoga studio preferrably in the heat. That is how I found Arrichion Hot Yoga - they had 45 mins, 60 mins classes which works better for me than 90 mins classes.
My first class there, I did the 10 for 10 not knowing what to expect. I was greeted by a very friendly instructor - and she helped me with placing my mat and explaining what to expect. The people in class were equally friendly. I remember my first class was Topaz - static poses. It was hard for me because I have attention and focus problems which I keep working on. Within 5 mins of class, I felt warm and limber and can go into the poses much easier than regular yoga classes. And above all, it felt pretty good.. My next class was Krystallos which is like yoga pilates - a core strength class. So I keep going to these 2 classes because the others intimated me and kept seeing my massage therapist and quickly became a member because I know it is helping. I went from running with pain for 1 mile to running 3 miles and then 7 miles.
In 2 months time, it was my half marathon. All I wanted to do is finish the race and hope not to stop too many times hurting and guess what? With the hot yoga and massage, I did not feel pain until mile 11 - this is a huge success for me. And also, my lower back did not hurt either.- that core strength truly helped
After my race, I continue with Hot Yoga as well as massage. I got more confident and started taking Bloodstone and Black Opal - very difficult classes that includes Abs and pushups. I met Quinn who is the owner of the studio along with her brother Ty. She is my idol. She encourages and I just love her with all my heart. Many poses til this day I cannot do but I will keep remembering what Quinn says "It's all a process" so maybe some day. Ty on the other hand is a man of a few words, but if he does say something, he really means it. He, too is very encouraging.
I also brave my soul to trying Warrior which is a 45 mins class. It was tough since I had no upper body strength and lower body was not much better. Slowly, I progressed to trying out Tiger's Eye which is half yoga and half circuit. Let me tell you , this class is like running a 5K. And most recent, I tried Sparta which is Olympic lifting. Oh sure, very intimated with this class but noone judges you, nothing but encouragement!
It is a one stop shop, no other studio has something like this. You can get strong and limber all in the same place!
I love Arrichion Hot Yoga because they have become my 2nd family - I am fortunate that they made their start in Raleigh, NC.
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