Gina Jackson Personal Fitness

Just finished a long day and a glorious one.  Thanks to two fabulous classes of Pilates students (both new and old) an amazing yoga teacher, Anayra Calederon, the warmest temperatures January could offer, a luxurious hot bath and the soulful music of Eva Cassidy.

The renewed pursuit of Yoga as a healing, stretching and relaxing practice will be a new experience, for me in 2010.  I took my second class today, at Surya Yoga and haven’t stopped gushing about the studio and the two fabulous instructors I had the pleasure of working with (Kelly and Anayra.)  I signed up immediately for a 10-session pack and enjoyed Kelly and Anayra on Thurs and Sat, respectively.  My plan is to use the 10-pack, re-new regularly as another mind/body part of my regmine going forward. Surya Yoga, YES!

The studio is of a Bikram orientation, opened in 2002 and must have recently changed its class roster/focus to add other schools of Yoga, e.g., Jivamukti, Vinyasa, Hatha Flow, etc.  The warm heat is ever present and actually delightful.  Obviously the sweating, stretching, flexing and healing occurs because of the heat, and the after-effect benefit is a huge fat burn.

Relaxation from heat therapy “can be beneficial to those with arthritis and stiff muscles and injuries to the deep tissue of the skin. Heat may be an effective self-care treatment for conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.  Heat therapy is most commonly used for rehabilitation purposes. The therapeutic effects of heat include increasing the extensibility of collagen tissues; decreasing joint stiffness; reducing pain; relieving muscle spasms; reducing inflammation, edema, and aids in the post acute phase of healing; and increasing blood flow. The increased blood flow to the affected area provides proteins, nutrients, and oxygen for better healing.” [1]

The room is heated to more than 100 degrees and as a result, your muscles and body warms like putty and just expand, lengthen and emerged soothed.

The magic of it all was most apparant when I left the studio and literally found myself floating – slowly – back to my car.  The lift and flow stayed till I got home and meandered through chores to find Eva and good glass of red wine and a hot bath.

Of course, then the brain kicked in and here I am, back at the computer blissfully blogging about it!

[1] Heat Therapy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_therapy