yoga with weights

i went to my family's summer house in Michigan at the end of August for an end-of-summer vacation. I rallied the whole gang (husband DC, Mom + Dad) to a yoga with weights class at Union/Yoga in Lake Leelanau. It's a great studio, has been there for many years, and the director Sandra taught the class. I thought a yoga with weights class would be a power yoga session, accelerating strength building and toning. However, this class focused on building bone density, through slow and meditative movements, and was relaxing. I loved it, as did my whole yoga posse. It really opened my eyes to even another approach and interpretation of yoga.

hot hot hot yoga

i've always liked to explore different styles of yoga. when I was first getting hooked on yoga, my main teachers were a fantastic Iyengar teacher and also a great Vinyasa Flow teacher. I loved the alignment focus and detailed attention to poses that I got from my Iyengar teacher, and i totally appreciated the humor and the creativity of my Vinyasa Flow teacher.

My own teaching is a mishmosh of Vinyasa Flow, with a little Power Yoga woven in, with a bit of Iyengar posture focusing and prop use. I always strive for a full body and mind experience, with a balance of workout and relaxation.

My personal yoga practice, in the past few years, has leaned toward Ashtanga and now, hot yoga. I did a few months at a Bikram studio in town, but although I love the sweaty detox feeling of Bikram, the fixed sequence gets a little dull, and for me, I feel the sequence is too skewed toward compression. If I'm feeling warm and loose, I'd rather do more opening poses. In January I visited a Hot Yoga Studio when I was visiting relatives in Ft. Lauderdale. I did a "warm yoga" class that was a lovely blend of Vinyasa flow, lots of Sun Salutations, with a couple of "Bikram's poses" woven within. That's more appealing to me. These days, the heat is key.