I hate my hair...

I am really not liking my new haircut. I believe it is nearly indistinguishable from my first, super-short haircut. For almost a week, I've been trying to figure out why it feels so different.

Here's what I have come up with:

1) It's more humid than Satan's trousers. That translates to mean shrinkage. Not the kind you fellas worry about this time of year, but the super curly, Shirley-Temple kind of shrinkage.

2) The BANGS. Sweet Heidi had a last-minute impulse at the LAST haircut to give me some wispy bangs. BAD IDEA. Now I look like a combination of our friends at the top.

So expect that I will straighten as much as I can in the coming weeks. And eat alot of protein to try to encourage growth. I may even buy some topical treatment to see if I can get it to grow faster.

I'd like to start this back up...

I feel out of love with yoga when it became my job. I still enjoy a gentle class (Yay Corina at Wake Up Yoga!), and I still do yoga everyday on my own.

Maybe I will start posting photos of me doing my favorite poses. Kind of like a beginner class via the internet, except I cannot be responsible for anyone's actions or even my own, so imagine some fancy disclaimer here... consult a doctor, a lawyer and maybe even a psychiatrist before even attempting to do anything you find on the internet... here or elsewhere.

There, now let's see what kind of yoga fun we can have.

The end of my yoga experiment...

I have been working for a yoga company for the last four months. It was an attempt to do two things:

1- Generate $1500 revenue to donate to a new foundation
2- Increase my knowledge of the yoga offerings in the city
3- Allow me enough extra income to submit my graduate school applications and maintain my current lifestyle.

Unfortunately, these were the results:

1- I didn't even approach $1500 in earnings, let alone savings.
2- I was seriously injured twice, racking up $500 in yoga-related doctors bills
3- I spent $600 on clothing that neither I nor my family needed
4- I put off my graduate school application another year.
5- I took 4 sick days for yoga-related injuries and 4 vacation days for trainings.

Lessons learned:

1- I love yoga.
2- I need to come up with some other way to make money.
3- I play well with others (and I love my new yoga friends.)

Dhyana Yoga - Tried a new teacher!

Yesterday morning I dragged myself out of bed and down the street to Dhyana Yoga (1737 Chestnut) to go to Jonathan's class.

It was worth the extra effort! His style was very familiar - being a combination of Iyengar and Anusara, his assists were phenomenal, and his transitions were fluid - almost lyrical!

He stopped by an event we had last night and I asked him about his music selection. He told me that he likes to push the envelope in his music selection, because he feels like western music can be just as inspiring during yoga as eastern music.

Rock on Jonathan!

So there was much music that I recognized. And I was psyched after the millionth time we did a vinyasa and ended up in Warrior II to hear Tribe Called Quest! That youthful energy of his combined with an ancient practice was a refreshing change of pace.

Tomorrow I'm going again, as Tuesday he has surgery and will be out for a couple weeks. Saturday I'm going to try his other studio (not his class) called "Practice Yoga" on 4th and Catherine... then I can stop by Fabric Row too.

Namaste and type to you then.

12th Street Gym - 12th between Walnut and Locust

I've been on a week long 12th Street Gym extravaganza! It's been great. It will end this Tuesday, so I'll write about it all then.

Busy Yoga Week... Wake Up Yoga, Dhyana Yoga, the 12th Street Gym and Svaroopa at the Print Center

You can read about about Wake Up Yoga below, but I wanted to say a bit about this week's classes at Dhyana Yoga and Svaroopa at the Print Center:

I went again to Sara's Vinyasa class and again loved it. The hour goes fast and while I felt it was fairly gentle, I did get a good workout. Dhyana has a great event coming up - go to their website to learn more. It's a donation event that will benefit an AIDS charity. There will be a vinyasa class, followed by a restorative class. Sounds amazing! The suggested donation is $50

I'm still loving Svaroopa at the Print Center. With such a busy week this week, I had trouble just relaxing into the poses and I kept wishing for more activity, but that's kind of the point... to slow your body and mind down. I'll keep going and keep trying!

There is also a great event on Saturday at the 12th Street Gym. It's called Tails on 12th and it will benefit a local animal shelter/rescue place. Those that attend will receive a free week at the 12th Street Gym. I will definitely be there! So expect that next week's blog will be mostly about the classes at the 12th Street Gym!

Wake Up Yoga - West Philly Location

Last night I finally made my way to the great Wake Up Yoga place on Baltimore Ave in West Philly. It was great!

Where: 4916 Baltimore Avenue. On Baltimore between 49th and 50th. The 34 Trolley goes right there. If you get there early, peek in first to see if the class before is still practicing, there is no waiting area. If it is, wander down the block to the cool African shops or go to the co-op - I love that neighborhood! (Although I was a tiny bit nervous walking alone after class.)

What to expect and Type of Yoga: They have lots of different types, but I went for Yin Yoga. The teacher and owner of the studios calls it "lazy girl, painful" yoga. That's an awesome description. Basically every pose is passive and done entirely on the floor. Poses like pigeon and supported bound angle poses, easy forward bends, etc. The trick (and the pain) come in the fact that each pose is held for 5 minutes or so. You really open into it, but it does get alot of sensation rolling around in your joints!

The Best Part: Corina. She's amazing. It's rare that I feel like questions are okay to just shout out in a class - but she is incredibly welcoming and warm - and questions really are okay to just pipe up and ask. She really explains things well and allows each person to be who they are. I can see why she's kind of a big deal in Philadelphia. I'm glad my introduction to her was through this class - it felt very intimate.

The Worst Part: Holding "plow" for an extended period of time. It's never my favorite pose. I have gotten better at it since I've lost weight, but it still compresses everything in a way that makes me feel all fat and squished. I did it though and felt quite proud of myself afterwards.