Is it just me or has the weather this week in the city been absolutely atrocious?!  When the weather gets gross out…shlepping to the gym gets that much harder (and tedious).  So to shake off the rainy blahs let me inroduce to you (drumroll please!)…PRANA power yoga.  Located right in Union square (17th and broadway to be exact), this haven of warmth is a welcome respite from the elliptical/treadmill routine.

A couple months ago, my friend L talked me into going to a nighttime class with her.  As someone who used to make fun of yoga (like sitting in a class and stretching is a real workout..pshh!) I was pretty skeptical going into class.  I was hoping that the studio wouldn’t be full of incense-burning hippies who smelled like granola.  After buying a class and renting a mat and towel, I walked into a toasty warm rectangular room that was dimly lit with different colored sconces on the walls.  The class was full of young, fit, “normal” people and the instructor was actually kind of cool…in a zen-yoga way of course.  After a little guided meditation, we began what I can only say was a yoga class to put any notions I had of yoga being “soft” to the wayside!  After a very sweaty hour and a half, I emerged — calm, refreshed, and rejuvenated.  The next day I was definitely feeling the burn…I felt like I had used muscles I had never though existed before (hello triceps!)  One of the best things about the class was that I didn’t feel like I was being pushed too hard or pressured into doing maneuvers I wasn’t ready for.  I’ve continued going and find yoga a great cross-training exercise to supplement running and gyming.  Though I doubt I’ll be doing any of this soon:

It was a great experience and you should check it out!  Though to be warned…you might get hooked too!

Namaste.