Monday, April 23, 2012

Other Yoga

I have a confession to make, I cheated on Bikram yesterday. In what may be the last Sunday of my 8 weeks left that I have the energy/desire to work out on my day off, I flowed with it and found myself at Hot 8 Yoga in Santa Monica http://www.hot8yoga.com/home.html 


I took a yoga sculpt class that incorporates light free weights into basic Vinyasa sun salutations and warm up moves. The class is taught in a 90 degree room to boot! It was intense, and I was was the most clothed person in the room. After all 90 degrees is like a holiday compared to 105 degrees in Bikram.
It was definitely a good work out and I totally sweat my face off. What's more interesting, is that concept is highly successful in California. Since I approached this from the business perspective to see what works  out here, I was impressed by how much the students love it and how well set up the facility is. Location, location, location! 


Not everyone is a purist like me. People get bored with the same 26 poses. Not everyone is looking to change their lives, some just want a bad ass work out and that is fine also. Hot 8 has 8 yoga based classes that cater to all of those needs, in a modern, minimalist, zen and most importantly, CLEAN, setting. They even have a yoga barre class similar to the Lotte Berk method we now see all over the map. Opted not to do that one as I wanted to be able to walk into my 8:30am class this morning (not crawl or limp in pain).


So what's the lesson here, variety sells. Location is everything. I am still approaching this from a Bikram only standpoint with an upgraded look and feel (i.e. Pure yoga nyc). But why not be able to get a fresh pressed juice outside of your class? Why not have a lounge to drink that juice with friends? Why not have a fresh smelling locker room with modern appointments and amazing showers? It's not that hard...who's in?


Lastly, if you're wondering why I wasn't at the beach on what should have been a great Cali beach day, check out the view of Santa Monica Pier...weather has been like this for days now. "Ain't no sunshine when she's gone...."
Santa Monica

1 comment:

  1. Wowza, that class sounds A-MAZING. I am definitely going to look for something like it in NYC... sounds like my ideal. Loving these posts... keep 'em coming! xoxo

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