Baptiste Power Vinyasa (All Levels) - Portland Power Yoga

Ally and I with a post-class glow

Now THIS is a yoga class I can really get behind...

 

Starting with the nitty gritty... drop-in costs $10.  But ten bucks doesn't just get you a spot in their heated room, they also provide (for first time visitors) a mat, a towel, blocks, a packet of an electrolyte supplement for after your workout, and "yogi toes", which, hilariously, I thought was going to be some kind of strange footwear but silly me, it's actually a special non-slip towel for your mat.  The facility also offers showers, bathrooms, and very friendly, not-at-all-snobby staff.

 

I had the privilege of speaking with the instructor, Kristy, who is an absolute doll, before class.  When I told her I had taken Bikram before, she described PPY's brand of Vinyasa both vaguely and perfectly: it is similar to and yet NOTHING like Bikram.  Sure, both rooms are hot, but you can actually breathe and function at PPY.  You don't feel suffocated like you do in Bikram.  Both styles have static poses, and even a couple of the same ones (see: "Eagle"), but this particular yoga-style also overs a flow or movement between poses, which is repetitive like the chorus is in a song. Let me explain that a little: you do a couple static poses, or a verse, and then the flow, or the chorus.  The chorus is then followed by a different verse and then back to that same chorus.  Although at first a little confusing, the sequence is first introduced slowly then sped up and repeated throughout so by the end of class, you know what's coming.

 

The class was fun, the instructor was positive, interactive, down-to-earth... but what truly stands out was the way I felt as I was leaving class.  I was completely drenched in sweat but I did not grimy, beat up, dizzy, nauseous.  Instead, I felt stretched, energized, and just, well, happy.  Although my sample size is small, I have never left any yoga class feeling that great.  I cannot recommend this studio highly enough.  My first was definitely NOT my final visit.
 



From the Portland Power Yoga Facebook page

Paddleboard Yoga - Willard Beach Studio

My inital instinct when sitting down to write my first post was to write an introduction -- who I am, what I do, my experiences in the health/fitness field, my athletic abilities and accomplishments... but that feels a little too self-important for my liking.  So instead I have decided I'm just going to let different aspects of my athletic life seep through organically as I hit on miscellaneous subjects, attend various classes, and write reviews and recommendations.

Before I tell you all about my experience with a Paddleboard Yoga class I took through the Willard Beach Studio (located in South Portland, Maine), here's a little personal piece seeping through: I am no yogi.  Sure, I've bumped into yoga poses before when stretching, tried the program on the TV, even took a Bikram class... but I have never been committed to the practice of yoga in any form.  That being said, don't expect me to refer to the poses' Sanskrit names and don't expect an expert analysis on the class or its instructor.  Rather, expect what the class is like for a true "drop-in".

To paint the picutre: The class took place in Kettle Cove in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  The class consisted of myself, some friends of mine, and two poor strangers who had to endure a handful of rugby players (ah ha! another personal bit thrown atcha!) attempting to stretch on a dynamic surface.  The weather was mild; it was a cooler July evening, a small breeze and a bright blue sky.  Water, though my contact with it surprisingly little, was freezing by my standards.

When we arrived, we were greeted by Brenda, one of the studio's owners and our instructor for the evening.  We all fessed up to having little paddleboard and/or yoga experience and then we were handed reusable grocery bags and asked to add three medium rocks to it -- this was to be our anchor once we paddleboarded out into the cove.  We were also supposed to think of three things we were thankful as we picked out the rocks, buuutttt when you've never made your own anchor and you're walking on the beach with your friends, you mostly end up joking about whose rocks are bigger.  Moving on... the paddleboards, supplied by SoPo SUP, arrived and we carried those, our rocks, and our paddles down to the water.  If you've never seen a stand-up paddleboard, they are essentially giant, lightweight surfboards with long-handled, small-finned paddles.  They're fairly easy to stand on but sorta awkward to paddle if your only frame of reference for that sort of thing is a canoe/kayak.

Image from Willard Beach Studio website - my phone did NOT make the journey out to sea.

 After we precariously made our way out into the cove, we set up our boards -- kind of like you would in a regular yoga class, except not at all in neat rows.  From there, the class began like most yoga classes do, with breathing/finding intention and then moved onto poses.  The poses seemed to be paired or tripled up, held for a couple breaths each, and cycled through for two sets.  Brenda started with poses that didn't require a ton of balance, as most of us were brand-new to such a practice, and gradually added more kneeling or standing poses as we warmed up.  Also playing to her naive pupils' needs, Brenda gave almost all the English names of the poses (while occasionally referencing the Sanskirt names) and offered variations on poses to make them either easier or more challenging and encouraged us to do what we were capable of.  No one fell off the board, everyone got a good stretch, a little core work, and the oppotunity to do a little post-yoga paddleboarding.  Overall, I recommend the class to anyone, regardless of prior yoga experience.