"Power Yoga" is NOT an oxymoron!

think what you will, but 'power yoga' totally kicked my @ss.

after finishing 5-day hockey bootcamp, combined with the weekend before and after camp of hockey games, i had had 9 consecutive days of hockey/skating and decided to take it easy yesterday by visiting my fancy smancy gym to take a power flow yoga class.. (i hurt my right knee in the sunday hockey game i subbed in for, but nothing broken, just bruised muscles)

my gym is in the 'hippest' part of town; women and men of all ages seem to "dress up" to go to the gym - matching fitted latest styles of sports tops, accessories, fancy shoes, matching towels and i-could-care-less-but-come-hither looks are abound in my gym. granted the whole Sanata Row area is more for people walking around to be seen than to actually hang out... i like my gym though, it's clean and more importantly i like BEING there, it's peaceful and i feel like it's my very own small sanctuary (despite that i have my gym clothes carried around in a very UNFASHIONABLE shopping bag from a store that these fancy ladies probably have never heard of; all i care about is that i had an extra set of semi-clean workout clothes therefore saving me an extra car ride home where potentially i can make excuses once i'm comfortable on my sofa to not go to the gym as per original plan...)

i was the first one besides the Miriam the instructor to be in the room. she seems nice and talks about her aerobics background. it was hot running to get to the gym on time, but lots of yoga instructors like a slightly heated room where your body is warmer and therefore you can stretch a bit more than your usual capacity. before 10 minutes into the 1.5 hour class was up, 1 woman quickly grabbed her stuff and walked out. halfway through the class, 2 other asian girls who came in together quietly rolled their mats and hung their head as they left the class. i've done a few yoga classes to know that yoga isn't "easy" as one might think, but boy we did hold some power poses (stand on 1 leg, the other knee up pulled towards chest. now grab your feet that is up with both hands, and extend that leg straight out 90 degree to ground while maintaining the other leg still stable on the ground...)

we had knee lifts and planks which are basically super duper slow push ups (feel every muscle!!!)
and now my back and arms are aching to tell me "power" yoga does exist, and boy it kicked my @ss.