Yogi Love

I saw these recently via this blog and had to share. Who would you hug after yoga?

Better yet, who would you bring along with you to get all the benefits of class? :)

Bikram Yoga Minneapolis on Black Friday

It was snowy out on Black Friday, so the heat felt great!

I'm way overdue to post about my adventure to Bikram Yoga Minneapolis during Thanksgiving weekend, but I'm excited to share about my visit to the studio. Also keep an eye out for several Minneapolis-themed giveaways today.

Instead of getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of Black Friday shopping, my cousin, a friend, and I toughed it out in the Torture Chamber. We were workin' off all that food from our family feast.

Photo by Joelle.

Last Friday I brought my cousin Joelle and her friend Matt to Bikram Yoga Minneapolis for an intense first class. Even I was surprised by how humid it was in there!

Joelle and Matt are Bikram badasses.

Minneapolis' studio is a beautiful space with artsy details, cool lounge chairs, and colorful decor. The hot room was a little cozy but we fit quite a few yogis among the two rows. 

Here's the studio space.

My only wish was for a new carpet. That Minnesota humidity can make things a little stinky! But that breeze at the end of class? Heavenly.

Loved the decor.

Our teacher Lori led with energy and spirit as she delivered a crystal-clear dialogue. My favorite was the way she pronounced "squeeeeeze" during Eagle as though she was wringing out a towel with her words. It definitely motivated me to wrap my legs tighter and sit deeper into second set!

I was super proud of Joelle and Matt for getting through class and performing some impressive postures. They are natural Bikram yogis, that's for sure! Both said they felt a little lightheaded at times and thought they might pass out, but they made it :) Whew!

No guns allowed... except those sexy biceps you bring to class!

After our showers and a refreshing Zico Lima Citron, we chatted it up with locals at the studio, Lori, and the studio owner, Martha. I realized that these ladies run a tight ship at Bikram Yoga Minneapolis and truly have a deep passion for the yoga, for teaching it the right way, and for sharing it with others.

When I handed her one of my business cards, Lori immediately mentioned her love for the phrase "at home in the hot room" on the card. 

The cards that help me yogavangelize!

"That's one of the best parts about this yoga," she said. "Anywhere you practice Bikram, you bring a little bit of your home with you."

I couldn't agree more, and I felt right at home at the Minneapolis studio. Hope to be back soon to take class again and teach one day! Namaste, Minnesota yogis.

Our lovely teacher, Lori. 

Here are a few words from Joelle's reflections on her first Bikram class. Great job, cuz!

As I stand, the sweat is everywhere: pouring off my arms, running down my legs, dripping down my face and nose, and turning my stomach into a shinny, glossy pool. The towel underneath my feet is soaked. 

I’m almost out of water. My head starts to slightly spin as I go into the next pose and hold it for what seems like five minutes. Pretty sure if was only about 30 seconds, though. 

A gush of cold hair whooshes down from the ceiling and hits my face. I breathe it in, close my eyes and exhale a very long, happy exhale. Time for a shower. It’s not until after my shower that I realize how incredibly loose, free-minded, and amazing I feel.

After class, a clear mind hit, a sensation of refreshing wonderfulness, no back pain, muscles all stretched out. It felt amazing. Bikram yoga. Mmmm!

Some of the awesome details in the studio: a note about how to lock the knee, and a stunning print of a pregnant yogi.

Thanks again, Martha and Lori and the Bikram Yoga Minneapolis team, and to Joelle and Matt for rockin' their first class. 

Check out the upcoming posts from some Minneapolis Etsy sellers to win local goods!

Hardcore Supplements for the Extreme Yogi

Photo by my talented husband from our trip to San Fran last spring.

Are you one of those crazy Bikram yogis who practices five or more times a week? Do you run before class? Do you regularly do doubles?

Are you currently participating in a 30- or 60-day challenge?

I've got some hardcore supplements you should try. They will make you feel strong, hydrated, and pumped, like this:

Yup, that's me, workin' out for my sister who needed photos as part of her personal training certification.

Plus, they taste great, can be added to a variety of smoothie or drink mix recipes, and allow you to fuel your body for optimum performance.

The first is a line made by Hammer Nutrition, which I've mentioned before on Alive in the Fire. I placed an order with Hammer to try their endurolyte pills (electrolyte replenishers) and they sent me a whole package of goodies, including gel, whey mix, chocolate Recoverite drink mix, and some awesome information on all their products and the athletes who use them.

Hydration is a beautiful thing.

Hammer's got quite a variety of flavors available -- everything from your standard chocolate to espresso and apple cinnamon and Montana huckleberry. I believe they mainly target marathon runners and bikers, but their products are great for any endurance athletes. I probably wouldn't use their stuff everyday unless I was at Teacher Training or doing a challenge, but the endurolyte pills and any of the endurance products would make a double class (or triple, or whatever) a lot easier to survive.

Check out their site for more ideas on how to improve your endurance and athletic performance, the deals and programs they have going on right now, or place a quick order. Their customer service is great and you'll be set to go crazy in the heat!

I also highly recommend CeraSport which carries a line of rice-based electrolyte hydration drinks. Their powder mixes are probably my favorite, ranking up there with Ultima Replenisher and emergenC. The pomegranate acai flavor is fantastic! 

These flavors beat all the other ones I've tried so far.

Their shipment also included some detailed info on the science behind hydration. I decided to try the CeraSport with some frozen coconut water icecubes and a chunk of dark chocolate. What a tasty mid-afternoon treat! It felt tropical, too :)

Fancy and tasty. You can't go wrong there!

If you need more advice on where to shop for kick-ass supplements, I'm your girl. Hope all you Fall 2010 teacher trainees are enjoying your last few weeks of madness!


Enjoy your week and namaste.

Illinois Yoga Asana Championships @ Whole Foods Lincoln Park on Saturday

My friend Lindsay and I are going to be checking out the Illinois Yoga Championships this weekend. Hope to see you there! I'm excited to watch the talented yogis perform! They will be doing these poses:

• Standing Forehead to Knee
• Standing Bow
• Bow
• Rabbit
• Stretching
• Two other postures based on personal preference

Judges will be looking for posture alignment, grace, movement, stability, confidence, balance, general appearance and stage presence. Whew! It's going to be intense! And, um, awesome. For more info about the event, see here.

The event is sponsored by Bikram Yoga Andersonville.

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness: A New Post in the Letting Out the Domestic Series

Know what I love about this 60-day yoga challenge I'm completing?

It's inspiring me to change a whole lot more in my life than just my Bikram practice. My eating, cleaning, and general living habits are improving, too.

That's right: not only am I making inner changes to my muscles, skin, circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system and mental health, but I am also consciously choosing a healthier lifestyle. Bones to skin, inside out, beyond my own flexibility.

I've kicked soda, alcohol and super sweet foods.

I'm making more nutritious recipes for me and the Hubs, including lentil soup, foraged greens with garlic and chile, honey-vinegar braised chicken, and creme fraiche ice cream (so it's rich, but still better than Ben & Jerry's!). I also want to try my hand at cheaper and healthier alternatives for granola and trail bars. I'm a sucker for the Luna brand, but they can be pricey!

I'm limiting my caffeine (specifically coffee) intake and increasing the amount of water and hydration-rich foods I take in each day. I'm also trying to eat more superfoods that benefit women, like berries, grapefruit, salmon and low-fat yogurt.

I'm meditating more. (I'll be posting a review quite soon about Julie Rader's Mukti Meditations CD.)

I am doing my best to get more sleep, and rest my Monkey Mind when it should be relaxing instead of worrying.

And the other important change I've implemented? Healthy cleaning! That's right. It makes me look like this:

I smile because I am no longer inhaling toxic chemicals, nasty bleach, or ridiculously harmful materials while I wipe down the kitchen and bathroom countertops, or while I scrub the toilet, or when I mop the floors.

Fresh air. Natural products. Healthy, thankful lungs! It's a beautiful thing.

I'm also excited to try out some new home spa remedies, like an Epsom salt and baking soda bath (great for the skin), an invigorating coffee/salt body scrub, and a lavender foot and hand wash. So lovely!

Especially with the transition to cooler weather -- and the threat of the impending cold & flu season -- it's great to be thinking holistically about my health. I feel more conscious now than ever of the products and potions I allow myself to come in contact with and the way I keep my body and home pure.

It's like they say: you are what you eat. But you are also what you practice, what you inhale, what you believe, and what you put your time and money into -- whether it's your yoga practice or your tub cleaner!

Be conscious. Use green products. Respect your body.

Live in a way that's sustainable!

If you're interested in reading more, I'd suggest these sites which are new to my Google Reader:

The Daily Green

Care 2

Care 2's Econesting Blog

Seventh Generation

Tree Hugger

Inhabitat

Healthy Living Blog

Also, you're reading Seth Godin's blog by now, right? If not, get on it!

Photo via SustainableEcho's Flickr Photostream. A bit grammatically incorrect, but I love the sentiment!

Congrats to Ultima Winners

Sad but true update, friends: Ultima is only able to ship to domestic addresses (within the U.S.)! So sorry I didn't announce/ know this earlier. So an updated list of winners:

Cassi

Miss Fit Bliss

Catherine of Back to the Mat

Lz of 101 Days of Solid Concrete Lamp Posts!

Christian of Scrap of Paper

Catherine, LZ and Christian, please email me with your mailing addresses. I sure hope you're all stateside ha!

A Happy Yogi, Keren and Lala: big apologies. I really wish I could send you some samples :( I encourage you to use the coupon code online and make an order, though. And/ or whenever you are in the Chicagoland area, let's meet up for a homemade smoothie with added hydration!

Please email your mailing address to me at koontz.rachel@gmail.com and I'll get your sample pack sent along!

Apologies that I couldn't share some sugar-free hydration goodness with ALL of you, but I do encourage you to check out their site. They do free shipping on orders over $30. And as Annie Law posted in my comments section, there's also a limited time coupon that'll give you $7 off your order AND free shipping. Just go to their online store and use the coupon code "yogayoga" for the deal. Thanks Annie, and Ultima, for contributing to this great contest!

Please keep an eye out for upcoming giveaways, and follow the Twitter feed for play-by-play updates on Alive in the Fire as well. Tweet at me and let me know what you're up to, too...or what awesome Ultima concoctions you're mixin' up!

Dreaming Bikram

Photo via Bikram Yoga Bronx.

"You sweat out your elbows, your shins, your fingertips. You create your own puddle, your place in the hot room. The 'torture chamber,' they like to call it. But by the end of class, that puddle is home. Your own little haven: a space for letting go, focusing forward, and always, always locking the knee."

My friend sits down, wide-eyed. "It's really 105 degrees in the room?"

I nod, smiling.

"It's better than anything," I admit. "It's a 90-minute open-eyed meditation. You forget where you are and lose track of the real world. You learn to forget your ego in that room. It's like Bikram says: 'You have nothing to lose. You had nothing to begin with.'

As she listens, my friend's facial expression hasn't changed, her eyes and furrowed brows still reflecting their cynicism and doubt. She half-opens her mouth, pauses. "But wouldn't it be more enjoyable to take an evening Hatha class--"

I start to shake my head no.

"-- Or a Vinyasa Flow, something a little less..."

"--Intense?" I cut in, still shaking my head. "Ridiculous?" I'm starting to smile again, remembering the way it was in the beginning.

"See, there's something else Bikram says about the yoga," I add. "It can be pure hell, or heaven itself. The thing is, it's up to you to decide." And with that, unconvinced as my friend is, I'm satisfied to continue my raving description of the 26 asanas my body has begun to crave, the indescribable energy of a room crowded with dedicated yogis, that feeling of pure release in the final savasana...just imagining the perfect stillness of the room as I first enter it, settling into the humidity, inviting the sweat, easing into the stretch, I feel more at peace.

The feeling expands into flashes of the other moments only Bikram brings: pranayama building fire in the belly, overcoming the fear of the first back-bend of the class, losing the self by focusing on the dialogue, fighting the fuzziness and flickering stars of dizziness and nausea, watching the body open like a flower petal blooming in the mirror, discovering new love for a demanding posture, the rush of cool air from the air-conditioned lobby as I leave the studio...

***

This list is only a glimpse at the beginning of what the yoga has brought me. The more I think about it, the more I realize Bikram is so much more than the physical experience or the calories burned: it is a life-practice. An opportunity to breathe fully. A chance to find out what you're made of. A way to grow stronger, push through fear, and let go of the rest.

It's true: not only am I continuously falling in love with the practice, I've started dreaming Bikram. And it's when yoga invades your sleep, bringing you images of deepening postures, feisty studio owners, fountains flowing with coconut water -- then you know it's time to start blogging about it!

So with pride, excitement and big dreams for the future (including, yes, taking on teacher training someday), I'd like to welcome you to the blog and introduce myself: Rachel, fellow yogi, nice to meet you, come on in, let the sweat beads roll!

Photo via MyBikram.