Sick without the shape

I am in my hot pink flannel “superstar” pajamas breathing in steam from a pot because I once again have a cold. Now, I can’t subject fellow yogis to my cold but I thought a sun salutation would make me feel better…and I nailed it! I did a plank push-up without using my knees. This is amazing. I even made my husband verify that my body was straight and I wasn’t falling to fast. Not in Sickshape yet..but doing a push-up while I am sick means I am halfway there. Right?

The spinning yogi.

My first experiment was YAS, a yoga and spinning studio in Silverlake and Venice. I found the studio because when I googled “exercise, Hollywood” the website came up and the first class is FREE! I tried the Yoga for Athletes class because the idea of spinning makes me want to ride a bike off a cliff. Now, before this class if you asked me if I liked Yoga, I would promptly shout, “Hell, no!” I hate sitting or standing still. This class was only 60 minutes and we moved around quite a bit. I had this incredible happy feeling that came over me by the end. I bought a 10 class package at a 10% “first-timer” discount. I went back to the studio looking for that same feeling but never achieved it. I still loved the yoga classes but I think I was trying too hard to have the same transcendent experience. One day I went and I was the only student! I got a very inexpensive private lesson. I told the teacher, James, that I had a hard time going from plank into the push-up. By hard time I mean I physically could not do it. (These are not normal push-ups, they want you to keep your arms by your sides and use your triceps instead of your pecs.) How could a girl who danced from ages 3-21 and still does on and off be such a weakling? I don’t know. If a pushup required leg muscles instead, I would be a push-up pro. James helped me get the proper form for the push up and I at least have a glimmer of hope that one day I will be able to do the girl version. After a couple of yoga classes, I decided to try the dreaded spinning class. They have a YAS class which is ½ hour spinning, ½ hour Yoga. I got through the spinning but couldn’t wait until yoga. My teacher was awesome and everyone else seemed into it but I just don’t like spinning. I would rather run. Not that I like running. Those bike seats are hard. Apparently if you use your abs to lift up while spinning you won’t feel that hard seat so much. We’ll see. I definitely have to try it again because I don’t want to rule it out after one ½ hour class. Plus, all the teachers are in SICK SHAPE! It’s the combo of spinning and yoga that gets them there. I will go back to YAS after my class package is used up. The studio is beautiful and the teachers have good energy.

To find out more about YAS and get a coupon for a free class go to:
www.go2yas.com