Innerpeace Natural Healthcare | Joliet, IL

LOCATION: This was pretty easy to find... but I tell you what, it's been a rough weekend of searching in Joliet, for me and my Tom Tom. I wish yoga studios could put signs out on the street that say "LOOK HERE! LOOK HERE! YOGA! TURN!"—possibly in neon—blinking—and fireworks. Parking was free, and they did a great job explaining that you go to the back of the parking lot to find the location (once you know which building you're driving behind).

COST: Drop-in fee was $15 (credit cards accepted)

STUDIO: This location is set up for natural health care (chiropractors, acupuncturists, herbalists... very cool). And they only offer yoga on Thursday nights, so it's a little bit like walking into a doctor's office instead of a yoga studio. But they are very friendly at the front desk, and made me feel very comfortable to ask questions. The room (pictured above) is sweet, which maybe sounds insulting, but they're taking a healthcare setting and turning it into a yoga studio. I think they did a great job.

CLASS DESCRIPTION: We will practice Tantric Hatha/Vinyasa style of Yoga.

INSTRUCTOR: Bridgit has been practicing both Yoga and Pilates since 2004 with pilates teacher training under David Englund of Ultimate Fitness in Evanston, IL, and yoga teacher training under Daren Fiesen of Moksha Yoga Center in Chicago, IL. She loves serving others and is passionate about work-life balance and cultivating healthy lifestyle choices in herself and her students [be sure to read her full bio on the link, she has a lovely childhood story with her mother in Zimbabwe].

CONTACT: Innerpeace Natural Healthcare

So, my first choice for yoga on my Joliet excursion was to check out Bikram Yoga Plainfield. The first night I got into town too late and missed the class... so the next morning I woke up nice and early to catch me some hot yoga. Well, we had a TON of rain all night and it was still going, so my adventure lead me to ten... 10!!!... road blocks of streets flooded over. I couldn't get to that building for nothing. So, I decided the world was telling me I should not attempt hot yoga this week, and really, I wasn't going to complain because hot yoga kicks my butt. I was a little disappointed because I wanted to compare the authentic Bikram class to the previous hot yoga class I tried in Indy. But! I'm not here to review Bikram Yoga, am I? No... no the world wanted me to take a class on Thursday night at Innerpeace. And I'm SO glad I listened.

There were four students in the room, each of us with different skills... I think two of the students were regulars and us other two were new. Brigit was very nice, we all talked about our yoga experience, including Brigit. She actually travels quite a bit from one location to the next all week long teaching 21 classes... some pilates, but mostly yoga. That's a lot of classes, and A LOT of driving. The other newbie in the room said Brigit came highly recommended... I was happy to hear that, since I didn't do any research of this place before I walked in.

Brigit was a breath of fresh air. We opened the class with one om, warmed up a little, and did a few modified sun A's and one full sun A (surya namaskar A):

When we went to focus on our standing poses, Brigit took us to the wall for warrior two (Virabhadrasana II) and extended side angle (Utthita Parsvakonasana). This was great! We used a block that we had to hold with our bent knee against the wall, then try to roll our opposite hip back to also touch the wall, and then shoulder blades going down and touching the wall. Both these poses I've been doing for a couple years now, but I will never look down on a chance to really break down a pose and learn it all over again. And I really did learn it all over again. 

We worked on our shoulders next for a little bit, took it to the mat to cool down with further stretches, and then on to sivasana. Brigit came around and adjusted all of us, ending it with a sweep of her hands... as if she was drawing out and releasing all the tension in our bodies. When we found ourselves back to our sitting position we did a technique where we would hum on our exhale, sounding like a hive of bees inside our head (Bharamari). I did this once before when I was on my retreat with Harmony Yoga, and it's fun... because everyone has different breath patterns, it quickly sounds like the bees are swarming. It is suppose to have 

a calming effect on the entire nervous system, especially it stimulates the parasympathetic nervouse system, which induces muscular relaxation and is very effective in stress management. So this pranayama is very effective for relaxation of body and mind. 

We ended class with one more om, and a personal namaste for each of us with Brigit. I really can't say enough great things about Brigit. If you're in the Chicago-land area, I would look up one of the many classes she teaches and check it out, you won't regret it!

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The Yoga Boutique | Chicago, IL

LOCATION: The Yoga Boutique is just off the lake on Irving Park Rd near Montrose Harbor. Navigating to it was fine with my Tom Tom, but parking in the city is never fun. I eventually found street parking, which was free, but I'm still not sure if it was a permit only location... and I just lucked out? Who knows.
COST: Drop-in fee was $15

STUDIO: This space was even smaller than the last location I visited. You enter a city building and the Yoga Boutique is on the first floor (easy signage to get you to the right spot). As you enter there's an area with cubbies (that locked), shoes & a coat rack, which opens to a space for a desk to check in. There was a telephone booth size curtained area for changing near the desk (which I used after class) or a bathroom on the other side of the studio space... I opted for that since I drove straight there from Champaign and needed to use the bathroom before practice anyway. Very clean, inviting, and simple. The practice space was small, but there were only five of us including the instructor, so it worked out fine. I believe they offer mats for free, which is unexpected these days (and very nice), but I had my own mat so I didn't test this option. The space is kept warm (cozy, not sauna) and dark, two candles were "burning" (they were battery operated) by the instructor's mat with her tibetan bells (used after savasana).
CLASS DESCRIPTION: Vinyasa Yoga—Vinyasa means breath - synchronized movement. This class is a flowing class using classical yoga poses intricately sequenced. It is focused on building internal heat in order to purify all layers of the body.

INSTRUCTOR: Danielle Robinson is a vinyasa yoga, Pilates, and cardio dance teacher who just recently moved to Chicago from Italy. She started practicing yoga while pursuing her degree in Psychology back in 2002. Soon after graduation and her jobs in the real world both in the States and abroad, she felt inspired by fellow yogis and her own quest for physical and mental challenges to pursue teaching as a career. She studied under yogis in Florida, Italy, and New York City and now she hopes to parlay her training and teaching style into a fun and rewarding career teaching in the great city of Chicago. She's excited to be in the city, to meet new people, and to have the opportunity to teach at Yoga Boutique.
CONTACT:The Yoga Boutique

I was feeling a bit rushed, which always seems ridiculous when going to yoga, but there you have it. Danielle was very welcoming when I entered. I ended up being early enough to fill out the waiver form and change, what a relief. The space was small, as I said above, but there were only four students total, so we actually had quite a bit of room... And mirrors. I have to start with the mirrors, because I find them so distracting. It's really hard for me to focus when there is a mirror in front of me reminding me of what I unfortunately view as flaws. Recently, I wondered if reintroducing mirrors into my practice would be a good idea, since I can't really tell what I'm doing. But nope... not focused enough, not confident enough, not ready enough. It's ok, I just closed my eyes when I found myself looking at the mirror instead of the instructor or focusing on the pose.

Whew, glad that part is over so I can actually tell you about this wonderful class. The music was drastically different than my last review, but still current. It was refreshing... for example, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes' Home was on the playlist. Someone requested we work on core... you love and hate that person when they do that, don't you? I mean, who really wants to work on their core, but when it's done you are so grateful you did. The little bit of sore I'm feeling this morning is very rewarding. Danielle focused on breathing more than usual, which I always appreciate. I'm just starting to understand the benefits of breathing in practice, and it's my best way to focus... counting my inhale and exhales while making a little bit of noise... Ujjayi breathing. Think of it as the noise you make when you're trying to fog up a mirror... that constriction on the back of the throat while slowly breathing is suppose to be energizing and relaxing. The magical combo.

Danielle followed through the traditional flow, adding poses in that work the core. I was sweating my butt off. No one else was though, so I'm not sure exactly what was going on... but I'm not suppose to care, am I? Close eyes. Ignore mirrors. I also have to add that, with the small class, Danielle was able to walk around and adjust us a lot. It's like a private lesson, I imagine, and I love to be spoiled with this. Anyway, the practice pose she was warming us up for was crow pose or Bakasana (looks like Yoga Journal calls it crane pose). This pose has come to be one of my bigger challenges to date, and it all comes down to trusting myself (or in my case, lack there of). I can get into the position, I have the strength to hold it for a little bit, but when asked to remove my toes from the mat to balance; my brain takes over and I'm convinced I'm going to fall. Today, Danielle introduced starting on blocks. I really like this, because it puts you closer into the hovering position, and I knew what it was suppose to feel like. I didn't lift my toes long enough to find the balance to hold it, but there was no fear. Wow! I can't tell you how great it felt to just overcome that fear... with blocks. I will definitely practice it this way til I build more strength to hold it longer and then remove the blocks. I'm excited!

After a challenging & sweaty session, it was time for savasana. Music switched to tibetan monks chanting, which somehow worked wonderfully with the indy pop music playing for the past hour. Danielle walked around to place eye pillows on our eyes (I love eye pillows, I even bought them for all the ladies in my life for Christmas one year, they're so soothing) and adjusted our shoulders. I don't remember her talking much through savasana, just giving us the time to cool down and relax. Three chimes of the tibetan bells and we slowly moved back to sitting.

I found Danielle's class to be a wonderful mix of challenging physical work with comforting traditional poses, and the class being smaller allowed for me to feel like I bonded with these women I didn't even really talk to. After class Danielle was very interested in what I thought about the class, what brought me to the area and the studio, and what I did in Champaign. From start to finish, this was a great way to spend my Saturday afternoon before a rugby game (the reason we were in Chicago to begin with). Thank you Yoga Boutique and especially Danielle!

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