Happy Saturday to my Blog Followers! First off I just want to say that I cannot believe I've already been back in Miami for over a year! Time flies when there's no snow and fabulous weather all year round! I just finished Music Flow Yoga at Exhale Spa at the Epic this morning. By the way, a new Charlies Angles TV Show just wrapped up filming at the Epic the other night. And for those of you that have read all my blogs, you know I love the Epic Hotel for the restaurant Zuma as well. Well it's not just a great dog friendly Kimpton Hotel-celebrity- spotting- good-people-watching- amazing-food-and-scene-at-Zuma place, there's also Exhale Spa. Some of you may have been before whether in NYC or Boston or Palm Beach, etc... But Exhale Spas are always consistent and fabulous with great yoga and core fusion classes.
While I do belong to Sports Club LA, and it's great for its variety of class offerings at times I can actually make with my work schedule, sometimes you just need a yoga class at a yoga studio to really get the whole vibe! After this week at work, I needed 2 Music Flow Yoga classes at Exhale. Luckily after doing a core fusion open class with Lauren Wednesday morning (I had one class left from a package I bought when I had first moved here before I joined Sports Club LA), I got an email "We Want You Back" from Exhale offering one free week of classes, so I figured mind as well take advantage. Jodi's Music Flow Yoga is amazing! The music which is very eclectic but all flows together works with you while you move, the room is slightly warm but a perfect temperature for opening up, and she pushes you on a journey to challenge yourself. I highly recommend to try her class. Another good yoga studio is Miami Yogashala on 23rd on the beach and on Coral Way near Brickell. The Coral Way location is in a little bit of a seedy spot in an old 3 floor building with a minuscule hot waiting room, but then the studio itself is big. Usually the instructors keep the room pretty warm. It's certainly not as glamorous as Exhale but it's very "yogy" and has difficult classes! There was one class I used to go to there at 7:30 PM, and I don't know how to say this without sounding like a terrible person, but when you have a trainer or a yoga instructor or a spin instructor, or what have you, you want someone in great shape, who you look at during that class and think WOW! There was a certain instructor there who you would think the opposite and that she maybe needed to lose 40-50 pounds, no exaggeration. Now without going to hell, I'm going to say based on my own opinion that yoga teachers like others should be in better shape. Now this lady was a great instructor but my yoga was also more advanced then hers. So moral of the story, your yoga teacher should be more advanced then you and she/he should be in admirable shape. Now lastly, Sports Club LA, does have a few great workout yoga classes, like the 730PM on Tues and Thurs with Steven. This class is always jam packed and it's challenging! Steven is in great shape and a true yogee. My only complaints are it's not warm enough in there, but a recent talk with my Pilates Trainer, she told me they are working on this. Also you are at a gym so you don't have that true true "yoga feeling", or maybe I'm just not as good as blocking the gym out or letting my eyes wander while I'm in downward dog through the glass behind me to the gym floor? With that said, the class is about as good as you will get at a gym, and I'm saying that as a compliment. It is challenging in every way and there are some very advanced yogees in the class which is good for me since I tend to be competitive!
Now lets move onto Pilates. I used to think I didn't like pilates; I only really knew matt pilates and I would think of "the 100," and how it for some reason works my neck, but now I'm doing Pilates with Darcy- private sessions in the special Pilates room with the reformer and some other cool machines you can only use with an instructor, and let me tell you this is nothing like matt pilates! You will work muscles you didn't even know. Darcy told me I'm her most flexible client :) I love that it works on my posture, my core strength, and building long lean muscles. You leave there feeling like you got an amazing workout and you know you will be soar the next day.
My favorite line from Darcy is "squeeze your butt.. if you don't know one else will" which may be said while on the reformer with my arms in straps and ball squeezed between my legs while doing an upper body move like a cross on Mens Rings yet in circles while engaging my core, keeping my shoulders down, trying to keep my head relaxed, squeezing the ball in table top and making sure my knees stay over my hips and my legs parallel. There are some moves in there that bring me back to my gymnastics day, such as this machine where you are almost doing a press handstand with springs below your legs and it's all about balance and strength and control. There's also this thing I love to do at the end where you put your feet in these furry loopy things and hang upside down and it is such an amazing release.
To finish this post off, I've been seeing a few things lately about Anti Gravity Yoga where the class uses things that look like curtains hanging from a ceiling, something out of cirque de soleil, and when you are in an upside down pose for example you are in the air, nothing on the ground. It looks quite exhilerating and amazing.
I saw someone on facebook doing a class, and I read about it in Ocean Drive.... and there is a gym in Key Biscayne that has it. I emailed them to see if you can go for a class or if you have to be a member, but no response. How rude! The stuborrn side of me thinks "screw them" and then the curious side of me thinks "I should just call them or stop in because I really want to dangle upside down in cool poses as though I'm flying."
downard dogging out,
Lauren
PS- Congratulations to my good friend, Stephan Morris, for making his dream come true tonight! He is now co-owners of Vice. It is next to Set on Lincoln Rd, where O used to be. Giovanni and I got a sneak peak last night and it was truly amazing inside-- the furniture, the decor, the walls, the lighting, the mirrors, etc... were all over the top! Edward Maya and Vika Juliana are performing their tonight for their grand opening! Cannot wait to hear Stereo Love performing Live! Stay tuned for Vice showing up in a blog soon! Also, here's the true desription of this new spot:
"Vice Lounge Miami is slated to open soon in the two-story 7,800-square-foot Lincoln Road locale where O Asian Grill and before that, Rumi, stood. The concept; a full service café by day and a hot South Beach lounge by night, is the brainchild of Alex Ringleb and Stephan Morris.
The turn-of-the-century design permeates the atmosphere with chic decadence, from the free standing bar at the entrance and the nightclub’s silver, dee.p red and jet black décor, suitable to live performances by hip-hop violinists and risqué Marie Antoinette-inspired dancers on the stage, to two VIP areas, two full service bars and a private room.
The lounge offers a full-service small plates menu by Executive Chef, Michael Blum — self-reputed for finding the “cure for boring food" — with items such as a Cotton Candied Apple Wood Bacon Tower, Trio of Truffle Fries, Maine Lobster Mac & "Four" Cheese, Corned Beef Ruben Spring Rolls and CakeShooters®."
Vice Lounge Miami, located at 330 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, is open Thursday through Saturday from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. with private bookings available Sunday through Wednesday – a full extended and customized menu is also available upon request. For more information or bottle service reservations, please call 305 981 6552"
