Yoga 213 – 30 Day Challenge

Yoga 213 is Australia’s first hip-hop Yoga studio. Throughout the month of May, they invited their members to take part in a Yoga Diet Challenge.

Traditionally, yogis would always combine their teachings with the learning of food and nutrition, so it made sense to put aside 30 days dedicated to healthy choices and regular time on the mat. I loved the timing of this! Winter is often the time of year where many can have the tendency to withdraw and become well… I guess more relaxed; when it comes their health and fitness. This was a perfect opportunity to get people cleansed and realigned before entering hibernation.

Yoga 213 wanted to encourage their members to explore their practice, explore their minds and enhance their will-power. Each member who participated in the challenge was given a guide to help them through the 30 days.

The guide informed readers of how to: eat mindfully, practice meditation and generally reconnect with oneself and nature. Those participating in the challenge were also asked to remove certain foods from their diet gradually over the four weeks.

Week One: Gluten; to give your digestion system a break.

Week Two: Sugar; to avoid using sugar as an energy ‘pick-me-up’.

Week Three: Animal Products; allowing more room in your diet for fresh fruit and veggies

Week Four: Caffeine; allowing your body to know what it’s like to not be caffeinated.

Along with this diet, members were encouraged to attend yoga every day or as much as they can for 30 days.

If you are after a yoga class that is lighthearted and runs to the beats of new and old school RnB, then Hip Hop yoga is for you. This class was about letting go, but not in a ‘deep’ traditional yogi-type way. For the entire class I didn’t find myself searching within my soul, instead I was bopping away to the likes of J-Lo and Jay-Z. Completely distracted by the music, I was still able to give my over-thinking mind a rest. This was an up-beat flow class, which ended with a surprise ab workout at the end. Just when I thought it was all over and thinking our instructor Amy was about to put us through a stretch, ‘Work’ by J-Lo was cranked and the next thing you know I’m on my back, legs up in the air and being instructed to touch my ears and touch my toes. After a minute or so, we were doing bicycle crunches on the mat. Something I would never have expected in a yoga class, but loved it!

Yoga 213 also offers a Chill class…and that’s exactly what it was. This class did dig a little deeper into the soul and we moved to more relaxed beats. Some moves were more challenging than others, mainly ones where I am required to balance on one foot, but it is definitely a class suitable for those who haven’t done much yoga in the past. For all you experienced yogis out there, there were definitely opportunities to venture into more difficult and extended poses.

If you are wanting to try out yoga for the first time or, if you have already fallen in love with yoga, then check out Yoga 213.

Facebook

0

Twitter

Email

Google

Pinterest

0