When I started taking yoga classes over ten years ago, I had no idea how much it would change my life. Back then yoga was just beginning to trend in the health and fitness world as a way to relieve stress and joint pain, improve flexibility, and the overall mind/ body connection.
For probably the first year or so of my practice, I had good and bad days. There were many easy classes I could barely get through simply because I wasn’t flexible. But, no matter what, that Shavasana kept me coming back for more. I looked forward to the final 5-10 minutes of each class with optimism, knowing how rejuvenated I would feel afterward despite how hard the class might’ve been for me.
Slowly, gradually, I began to love yoga and everything about it. I began to feel centered. I became more flexible. I felt more in tune with myself. I loved the community. And, it was one exercise that I would continue throughout my pregnancy and beyond.
I practiced yoga regularly for about 5 years before my first child at a local Fitness First. I usually attended the regular vinyasa classes but they offered so many classes, I eventually tried others. There was hatha yoga, slow flow, yin yoga, candlelight yoga, even pilates classes.
Before my first child came along I had already tried ten or so types of yoga classes and had been practicing for several years. While I was pregnant, I practiced modified slow flow yoga all the way up until I gave birth. Yoga and swimming were my saving graces that summer during my pregnancy.
After giving birth, I felt like superwoman and was ready to really stretch myself (pun intended), I purchased a membership at Dancing Mind Yoga in northern Virginia because I was intrigued by all that the studio offered - CrossFit, hot yoga, and spinning classes - all in one place. It seemed like such a unique experience having such intense forms of exercise all under one roof and I was amazed at everything that came with it.
I also fell in love with taking true yoga classes through a studio rather than a gym. Prior to that year, I had always taken classes at sweaty gyms with all the loud weights clanking around during practice. The studio experience was completely different. It was clean, organized, quiet, and had a sense of community to it made me feel spoiled but also grateful for what I had found.
At Dancing Mind, the classes were solely hot power yoga classes - more specifically, they were from the Baptiste program. I had no idea what I was getting into when I stepped into my first class at Dancing Mind, but I never looked back. The asanas were like drills that everyone knew by heart and jumped through without thinking twice as sweat rolled down people’s bodies. I was soaked by the end of class and could not believe how rejuvenated I felt once the lavender-scented towel was placed on my forehead.
Later I learned these particular hot yoga classes were done in rooms heated to the mid-90s. I was told that Baptiste power yoga was “an intuitive practice, one that does not enforce any set of absolute rules.” You are basically instructed towards each pose which follows the “natural laws of the body, dictating balance and counterbalance, control and surrender.” In addition, Baptiste yoga incorporates creativity and play with poses like crow, wheel, headstands, and more. For the first time in 30 years, I found myself doing handstands and backbends like never before! It was both exhilarating and empowering.
I was completely distraught the following year when we moved an hour away and had to find a new “yoga home”. After all, yoga had become a type of therapy. It was healing both physically and mentally for me. I was at the point where I decided it was something I needed regularly in my life.
Thankfully, there were a few options near our near home. Nothing like the studio I had been going to, but I found a new sense of adventure in trying out some of these new studios and the classes that were offered outside of the city we used to live in.
I found a local studio that offered a little bit of everything - hot yoga, vinyasa, barre classes, and restorative yoga just to name a few. I again found new joy with the different aspects of each class I attended. After ten years of practicing yoga and hundreds of classes, here are my top three favorite practices of all time:
1) Baptiste Yoga. Baptiste yoga is an all-encompassing yoga form that pushes you to the fullest. Instructors are sometimes like drill sergeants (which I actually like) because they leave it up to you to simply move. I would venture to say most classes are rigid so you can be flexible. You’re led directly from one pose to the next, without rest, and pushed to continue going forward no matter what. The Baptiste practice incorporates playful balancing and counterbalancing poses and I’m always left feeling stronger, more balanced, and in tune with myself than before. Right now, Five Peaks Yoga in Leesburg is my go-to for a good Baptiste practice.
2) Restorative Yoga. After pushing myself to the ultimate limits with regular Baptiste yoga practice, and simultaneously trying restorative yoga, it seemed like I had come full circle. Restorative yoga is the complete opposite of a Baptiste Yoga practice. The purpose of restorative yoga is to completely heal and relax a body that has been tested to its fullest. Poses are held for longer than in conventional classes, sometimes for twenty minutes, so a session may consist of only four to six poses. The long holding of poses is often assisted with props such as folded blankets and bolsters to ensure the body is fully supported and the muscles can relax. Easy Day Yoga, with studios in both Ashburn and Leesburg has some great restorative yoga classes for those looking to really unwind.
3) Kundalini Yoga. It took me about ten or so years before I had the opportunity to try Kundalini yoga. I love this practice because it’s entirely different than Baptiste or restorative yoga in the sense that it focuses more on healing your spirit than your joints. Kundalini yoga focuses on meditation and being in tune with the breath more than anything else, leaving you more connected with your body and understanding what may be going on with it. The practice Is usually spent focusing on different regions or “chakras” of the body and checking in with them separately. Something about it leaves me in a blissful state both during and after practice, almost like I treated my body to something special. I love Yogatime Studio in Purcellville. for good kundalini class.
With all this said, there are literally hundreds of types of yoga formats out there to try. If you’re new to yoga, the best advice I can give someone is to jump right into the one that’s calling your name. You don’t have to stick with one practice. Try different classes you like, or simply find one you’re comfortable with and stick to it. Perhaps the best thing about yoga is that in every single class, instructors will always thank you for showing up and trying - for giving yourself an hour to take care of your own mental and physical health. That is truly the essence of it all.
