Normally, I'm the one dragging my friend, Sylvia, to boxing, barre3, or kettlebell training... (Sylvia, by the way, is the one responsible for me starting this blog, so she's the one to either blame or thank for all of this. I thank her. Thank you, Sylvia!)
Last night, it was her turn to drag me out to try Anti-Gravity Yoga. Apparently, she was having a bad day last week and ended up enrolling herself in three Anti-Gravity Yoga sessions while I was in Lisbon. Last night, was her session no. 2, and she showed up with three friends in tow, me included.
I didn't mind. I gained two kilos from Lisbon and I haven't worked out since forever. Neither have I gone back to Paleo. I've mostly been living on chocolate chip cookies.
Oh, and I tried a new restaurant the other night - Wildflour Cafe + Bakery. Not bad... We liked the salads, the ribs, the croque madame, and the desserts, particularly the peanut butter banana cream pie.
Former kettlebell and P90X buddy, John, asked me if I was going to Krav Maga earlier in the week, but I was still reeling from overall lack of sleep (- I can't tell insomnia from jet lag anymore), and the rains were discouraging.
So I was grateful to be dragged out for what was shaping up to be a girlie night out (- Sylvia's friend, Angelu, booked a restaurant, and Sylvia made appointments for foot massages after dinner).
I had first heard about Anti-Gravity Yoga from Monica Eleazar-Manzano, one of Beyond Yoga's instructors, whom I had met in Palawan while I was doing the raw food-yoga retreat at Bahay Kalipay. (Beyond Yoga is the only studio in the Philippines offering Anti-Gravity Yoga.)
It sounded to me like Cirque du Soleil's JUKARI Fit to Fly, which I've been dying to try but is not yet in the Philippines. I know FTX has its FLY Yoga, and Movement Dance Studio offers Aerial Silk. I could be wrong but they all sound to me like they're cut from the same cloth.
So Anti-Gravity Yoga seemed like a good enough place to get acquainted with this sort of thing. At P1000/session though, it's pretty steep, so we all got the first-timer package of P1500 for three sessions (to be used within a month).
We, newbies, were nervous, which was obvious by the chatter, the giggles, and the confusion with left and right, up and down, etc. It didn't help that, the night before, Rosan told me a horror story about someone falling off the hammock and knocking out her front teeth.
Plus, I've never been comfortable with falling. Which is why I sucked at learning how to ski, or to snowboard, or to surf. I'd always jump off or make myself fall before I could really fall. Stupid, right? I hated doing back rolls when I was diving. I preferred doing giant strides into the water. If that wasn't an option, I'd ask someone to shove me off the boat, but not before hyperventilating and consuming almost half my air on board. In Krav Maga, when we have to practice falling forwards or backwards, I always try to break the fall before I should. So tumbling, back-flips... No. Not for me.
So it took me a while to feel comfortable with Anti-Gravity Yoga, and to trust in the safety of the gear. One time, I wrapped by arms around the cloth so tight that I cut off their circulation.
During our first inversion, I hooked my feet around the fabric and was too freaked to loosen them to align my legs so that I ended up having one leg way up higher than the other and, no, you won't be seeing any pictures of those.
The other girls getting it right. Left to right: Bubbles, Angelu, and Sylvia.
Also, it wasn't always comfortable, especially when the hammock was at our hip bone and we had to balance our weight on it.
But I, eventually, relaxed, and it became fun. There were some exercises that were similar to TRX, but getting all wrapped up and twisted in the cloth was the best part of it. The one I liked in particular was hooking the cloth around the shoulders and hanging upside down like bats.
Downward dog, Anti-Yoga Gravity style.
"Looking good but not good looking!" ;-)
Angelu, Sylvia, and Max hanging out.
Sylvia and Max had to sit out parts of the class when they felt faint, and Angelu got a bit claustrophobic while lying cocooned in the hammock during Savasana.
Max, Angelu, me, Bubbles, and Sylvia. The instructor's the one in red at the back, whose name I forget...
But, all in all, we had a great time. Of course, we pooh-poohed it and said it wasn't much of a workout but, today, there's an ache in my lats. And my legs and my butt. I wouldn't do it as a regular workout, especially since I can't afford it, but a once-a-week thing wouldn't be so bad.
Of course, after the class, we ate like there was no tomorrow at Ryu Ramen & Curry (- loved the food, but the service needs improvement) and had amazing foot massages at Beijing Foot Spa (- P500 for 70 minutes which included a head, hand and shoulder massage!!!). Then - and this is why I really love living in the Philippines - we ordered frozen sangrias from this place in Blue Ridge, got the driver to pick it up, and girl-talked the whole night while scooping sangrias from a tub.
So, yeah, the yoga was really just an excuse to indulge. Can't wait to do it again next week!
Please see the rest of the pics here.
***
Anti-Gravity Yoga Checklist:
- Fitted top that won't roll up when you're hanging upside down
- A T-shirt over it to avoid chafing your armpits
- Tight shorts or leggings
- Small towel
- Filled-up water bottle
***
Beijing Foot Spa
- Greenhills: +63-2-695-3002, +63-932-883-8907
- Blue Ridge: +63-2-912-9744, +63-922-833-8903
- Pasig: +63-2-706-1678, +63-922-833-8902
- Quezon City: +63-2-921-2156, +63-922-833-8909
Linea Sangria: +63-917-850-7651
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.