Anita Purves Nature Center | Urbana, IL

I'm baby-stepping back into my reviews with a local class. It's been a rough go at getting my yoga mojo back, but writing a review again feels good. So hopefully that will help motivate me! 

LOCATION: The Anita Purves Nature Center is in a woodsy part of Urbana, IL. Even after living here since '96, I still somehow manage to never get there the same way twice (and I took a bee keeping class there back when I wasn't vegan, for Pete's sake!). I think what throws me off is you see the Urbana Park District Pool and not the nature center set further back, but pull into the parking lot... it's back there (and not even that far back there, so maybe I'm just being an idiot, lol)! Parking is free.   

STUDIO: It's winter-time here in good ole C-U (Champaign-Urbana, IL), and I'm pointing that out because that means it's dark at 5:30pm. But when that sun starts sharing more time with us, what a view they'll have, as the front of the room is all windows looking over the forest preserve. The space itself is very basic, as this isn't a yoga studio. But what do you really need? There are mats, straps, and blocks to use (I would grab my personal eye pillow and blanket to roll up, next time, but that's me) and an incredible instructor to guide you through your evening.     

CLASS DESCRIPTION:  Rising Spirit Yoga is suited to all levels and is designed to deepen one's personal practice. Emphasis i on the importance of alignment, the breath, and the mind/body connection. Hatha aims to bring into balance opposing forces of energy, and Vinyasa flows that energy throughout the body, incorporating breath and synchronized movement. Each class is tailored to meet the needs of the student with modifications and variations offered to accommodate each practitioner. The first class is free, but it sounds like the flex passes are quite reasonable. That being said, they do have a registration deadline on the site, but I think they can work with you if you're getting in late. 

INSTRUCTOR: Jodi Adams has been practicing yoga since 1991, and believes in the restorative benefits of yoga. No matter one’s age or flexibility, she offers a practice to awaken strength, balance and a mind/body connection.

CONTACT: Anita Purves Nature Center

I was rushing all over my house this morning trying to get to Jodi's 10am gentle class today at Living Yoga Center. As I ease my way back into yoga, Jodi has been there with nonjudgmental, open arms to nurture me, but when I went to feed the cats before I ran out the door, I glanced at the clock... it was 9:50am. I had to admit I just couldn't make it across town in time. And, as many of you know, when you're trying to get back into the groove of things and finally find the energy to get you there... it's incredibly disappointing to still not make it. Defeated, I sat down to look at my email, and there was a message from Jodi saying, "I hope to see you tomorrow, either at LYC or APNC." Oh yeah! Jodi is teaching a yoga class at the nature center... I have another chance! 

As I mentioned before, what a fun location! If you go a little early you can check out some of what the center offers—I mostly force myself to look at the ginormous snake as a way to confront my fear of snakes. It never seems to do much good. Oh well, off I went to set up my mat and watched everyone trickle into the room. I'd say most of the class was new to yoga or have been off their mat for a while. So this is an excellent class for beginner's to not feel intimidated at all. Jodi started us with my favorite centering pose—we had the blocks at the lowest level, I believe. So it wasn't as deep of an opener (like image below) to start us off.

from Half Moon

 

 

 

She walked us through some breathing and centering—getting the day's cobwebs out of the way so we could focus on our practice. We did some seated stretching to wake up the neck, back, trunk, and legs. Once standing, we did a few shoulder openers using our strap. You hold the strap out in front of you—straight across, hands further than shoulder width apart. You slowly raise your hands up and over your head, keeping the strap straight the whole time (and widening your hand placement if your shoulders need more space to rotate). The first time we did this is a slow motion, but the second time we lowered our arms behind us in 1" increments to hold the stretch a little bit longer. Felt good.

Next was a few sun salutations... I had to remind myself not only had it been a long time since I've practiced, but I was also really sick last week, so take it easy already! Oh how we compete with our ego <shakes fist at ego>. Then we did a couple of balance poses—the first, Jodi said she saw Seane Corn do, and since it's not an actual yoga pose I'm having a hard time finding an image. I'll piece this together though. Basically it's a forward fold—then you grab your big toe and lift your leg to be perpendicular to your body. Or... it's this pose below only you're bent over (with the free hand touching the ground or a block). 

from Yoga Pose Weekly

 

 

I did not get my leg out that far, but in the process of trying to get there, we activated all these muscles in our core, butt, and hips. Pretty great. We also went into parsvottanasna (pyramid pose) to open up the hamstrings, although that usually gets my calves for me, since they're tighter than my hammies. 

But the big take away (for me) was this amazing movement that activated all the core, my back included. Usually when I do core work, I activate my stomach and not my back. Which is why my back hurts, because I'm not using it and therefore it's weak. This trick, for the first time, was one of those mind-body connections—when your brain goes, "Oooooooh, I get it." I love those moments! So you start in sphinx pose and peel your stomach through thighs slowly up off the mat—like you're going into a child's pose—but hold it before you go into child pose.

from Embrace Yoga

What got me to activate my back (and protect it) was Jodi's cue to round my back. Holy muscle shake, batman! She had us do this three times, so I'm curious to see how I'll feel tomorrow on that one... and I'm hoping my excitement over this carries in to actually doing this on a regular basis—finally that movement from up dog to down dog (or floating from downward dog into a forward fold) will make a little more sense! 

I have to admit—after being sick—it was great to be using my body again. Thank you, so much, Jodi—for a much needed Thursday accomplishment!
Namaste

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Yoga in the Park | Urbana, IL

Ever since I went to my first Yoga in the Park in Des Moines, IA I have wished Champaign-Urbana would do the same thing—and my wish came true! But, as summer goes, my weekends kept booking up, so when I found out my friend and instructor from Living Yoga Center was teaching this Saturday AND I was free—pure excitement!

LOCATION: Meadowbrook Park is probably one of my favorite places in Champaign-Urbana—it's a sculpture park in Urbana with paved paths, community gardens, and regular deer sightings. When you need some quiet time, but can't get too far away—the perfect little walk there will bring you back to you. 

STUDIO: Blue skies, rolling clouds, green grass, and a beautiful prairie behind the instructor. Can't argue that!   

CLASS DESCRIPTION: The Urbana Park District invites you, your friends and family to spend a relaxing and rewarding Saturday morning participating in a free weekly yoga session at Meadowbrook Park. Conducted on an open lawn overlooking beautiful Meadowbrook Prairie, this is an ideal environment to relieve stress, achieve a sense of calm, and enjoy a great workout! No prior yoga experience is necessary, all ages and abilities welcome! 

INSTRUCTOR: Jodi Adams, RYT, has been practicing yoga since 1991.  Jodi believes in the restorative benefits of yoga.  No matter one’s age or flexibility, she offers a practice to awaken strength, balance, and a mind/body connection.  Yoga has served Jodi well through adversity and times of stress, and she is ultimately inspired to empower others to tap into their own inner strength, to find their voice, their breath, and their true Self.
CONTACT: Yoga in the Park—Urbana Park District

What a beautiful way to start a weekend! Before I go into the practice, here is a little list of things to bring with you to any outside practice: your mat, a beach towel, bug spray, sunglasses, and water. 

OK! Jodi chose a gentle, cooling practice for our somewhat muggy morning.We stayed close to the mat for over half the practice (bug spray!), and just as we go into our first downward dog—rain! It was amazing. Although I questioned whether the rain would be dangerous on a mat (beach towel!), to go through the sun salutation with your face pointing toward the sky, rain pouring down. Incredible. 

Then, once the rain stopped, the locust starting chatting... One fella started chatting so loud, I felt like I was zapped into a scene from Trainspotting or a rave or something... seriously, techno music was inspired by locust. Hands down. Listen next time, you'll want to grab your nearest glow bracelet and baggy clothes to start dancing your ass off. 

So—as you can tell, I wasn't necessarily focused on just my yoga. But it was part of the beauty of the practice, to be honest. Peeking over at my friend's mat with two pools of water where her hands and feet would go—made me smile. The kids laughing hysterically at the park—made me smile. All while being led in a beautiful practice by my friend—made me smile. I am very grateful for this Saturday morning. 

After our sun salutations we went into a warrior sequence on both sides, followed by balancing into warrior 3. I love balancing poses during outside practices—with the uneven ground and occasionally a breeze—you really learn  about what to activate and be strong. You're a tree! After a little bit of heat, Jodi cooled us down again. We did some hip openers, a little core work, and of course savasana. A little bit of everything—it was great. 

Jodi is also a photographer, her current project in the making is asking people to write down their intentions after class (if they like) and matching them with her photos.  So every class starts with her encouraging people to find their intentions. Leading them through how they may find their intention. With my back and knee being in so much pain and keeping me from all forms of exercise—this has been a wonderful reminder to be patient. Patient with myself, patient with my ego, patient with my healing—patient with all the parts of my life that aren't exactly where I thought they'd be. Thanks to this reminder I've been able to slow down and appreciate what is present instead of always looking to the future. Thank you, Jodi. Namaste. 

*heart* 

 

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Living Yoga Center | Urbana, IL

What an amazing yoga moment for me! My mom came to visit for my birthday weekend and asked if we could go to a yoga class. Could we?!?! Of course! You all know my home studio, Living Yoga Center, by now, but to see it through the eyes of someone who has never done yoga, ever, is great! I'm going to let mom do the rest of the review, if I have to pipe in (because we all know I can't keep my mouth shut) it will be in italics from this point on.   

LOCATION: I obviously know where I'm going, but I imagine the first time it's a bit confusing. There isn't a large street sign to get in, and it's on the 2nd level. The easiest way to enter the studio is actually to park on the upper level of the parking garage and enter the door to the building up there. It takes you into a stairwell that you can either go upstairs or downstairs, but the door right there takes you into the studio. If you do enter from street level you walk into a foyer area where you can take an elevator up one level that, with the staircase next to the elevator also, spits you out into Green Yoga Spa's side of level two (which is shared and open with Living Yoga Center). 

STUDIO: I like it, it was nice and open. The space was self-explanatory as far as where to put stuff, where to change, where to get props or put them back. The studio was clean (I liked the shiny floors) and decorated nicely (the curtain rods made from tree branches was fun). The space was noisier than I expected, lots of footsteps outside of the room and clunking around. But that is the wood floors, I'm guessing (Living Yoga had the gas company in checking for leaks, so they were making some noise outside of the room—not a normal occurrence).   

CLASS DESCRIPTION: Gentle This gentle class eases you into yoga at your own pace.  Poses are modified to meet the needs of the participants.  Compassion is our guiding principle as we focus on increasing one’s range of motion, flexibility, and strength, while developing inner peacefulness and acceptance of ourselves. 

INSTRUCTOR: Jodi Adams, RYT, has been practicing yoga since 1991.  Jodi believes in the restorative benefits of yoga.  No matter one’s age or flexibility, she offers a practice to awaken strength, balance, and a mind/body connection. Yoga has served Jodi well through adversity and times of stress, and she is ultimately inspired to empower others to tap into their own inner strength, to find their voice, their breath, and their true Self.

CONTACT: Living Yoga Center

My daughter brought me up to Champaign to celebrate her birthday. She is a girl of many passions, but yoga was one I knew very little about and she was loving it.  It became a part of life... So thought it would be fun to learn a little of this passion with her. Off we went to my first yoga experience. This was an easy comfortable place to enter, Anni knew her way around the studio and had me all set up on the floor with the mat, cushion (bolster), and few other things that could or would make it all easier for me (two blocks, a strap, two bolsters, and a couple sand bags—the props Jodi set us up with was fun—we did one pose, Upavistha Konasana, where we used the sand bags on our upper thighs and folded over two bolsters to relax. More along the lines of yin yoga, where you hold the pose longer to get into the connective tissue, specifically ligaments and tendons in the joints and spine). Everyone at the studio was super nice and welcoming.

The class was small (which I really liked for a first time) and Jodi started us with simple sitting and breathing (guided meditation) and went into alignment and stretching (a lot of soothing neck openers) and then up on the knees (cats & cows—Chakravakasana) and all the way up to butt in the air (not the real name. Lol, that should be the name! But it was downward facing dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana). I thought the class was great, it was fun to do the first with my daughter, it was relaxing and at the same time I felt the stretch in the muscles and really loved the deeper breathing and concentration. I was concentrating so much that I didn't even notice the people around me, although I did sneak in a couple peeks at the instructor to make sure I was going into a pose correctly.  

I loved the experience with my daughter and would not be afraid to join a beginners class in my home area. Thanks to everyone who welcomed and taught me, and to Anni for sharing her passion.

Thank you, Mom, for trying something out that was out of your comfort zone—which is sometimes the best part about yoga, learning more about yourself, both in humbling and encouraging ways. But most of all, thank you for taking that little adventure with me—it means the world to me and was an excellent birthday present. Love you mom! 

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