So, remember when I spoke about my 2017 goals and how I was keeping them private? Well, there’s one I’m now happy to share because the wheels are in motion: Become a yogini! All thanks to the beginner’s course at Casa Yoga Milano.
Now, there’s a bit of a backstory. Yoga was always something I wanted to practice. I’m not trying to sound like a martyr, but it was pretty impossible for me to ever do so in New York. Managing to get in a run was difficult enough..how was I supposed to fit yoga into an unbalanced work-life balance? So alas, it eventually became a pipe dream.
Living in Milan, my work-life balance has improved immensely and running has once again become part of my routine. However, on the physical front, I’m not very strong. Yes, I’ve belonged to gyms in the past but I’m not into those cardio machines or weight lifting. I prefer to hit the pavement for exercise.
Yoga has always intrigued me and thanks to a tarot card reading earlier this year, I finally did something about it and enrolled in Casa Yoga Milano’s excellent eight-week beginner course to get started learning the yoga ropes. The first day of the course, our instructor Silvia asked us to tell her why in one word we’re doing the class and I said serenità, Italian for serenity. But there area few reasons I wanted to practice yoga:
- Balance: Both literal (those single-leg standing poses are tough!) and internal/mental/emotional.
- Posture: I work to improve this every day to at the very least appear graceful.
- Strength: I just want to be physically strong! I have zero upper body strength and just want to be able to lift my own body weight.
- Flexibility: I’m not super flexible, and I want to be agile and limber and, kind of like with strength, I want to be able to do anything I can with my body that’s within my personal realm of capability. To help supplement, I downloaded the Asana Rebel app and am planning to do their 17-minute flexibility workout a few times a week at home.
- Additionally, I started meditating this year (I have amethyst mala beads to prove it!), and I know yoga and meditation go hand-in-hand. (The Calm app has changed my life and I’m so thankful to my friend Bryce who recommended it to me.)
I knew I was going to enjoy yoga, but I had no idea I’d love it so much! Don’t get me wrong…it’s tough. Like really tough and I struggle (especially with bringing my foot forward between my hands when I’m in Downard Facing Dog!), but I’m so happy to be on this new path, a perfect supplement to running. Slowly but surely, I can feel my body changing. I’m actually kind of obsessed and if I could go to yoga class every day, I would! (Who knows, mayhaps one day I shall?) But in the meantime, I’m aiming for two times a week: one weeknight and, if I’m in Milan on the weekend, Saturday morning.
Kind of like running a marathon, yoga all about the baby steps. You don’t wake up one day and say “I wanna run a marathon” just as you don’t wake up one day and say “I’m going to do the wheel pose”. I start small, but always push myself. At the moment, I’ve been doing Vinyasa and Hatha Flow classes, but I can’t wait to experiment with the other genres. At times I want to kick myself for not having started to practice yoga ten years ago (think of how strong and flexible I’d be!) but I can’t change that. And as an old Chinese proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree was yesterday. The second best time is now.” So there ya go!
I can’t wait to go to New York simply because of Lulu Lemon, and I’m coveting the towel, headband, vinyasa scarf and vinaysa wrap (as well as this neck warmer for running!). Their yoga socks are amazing, too, and I won’t even get started on the yoga attire but I will say that kinda want it all! Of course, I will be keeping up my practice while I’m there.
If you’re in Milan and interested in learning yoga, I strongly recommend the beginner course at Casa Yoga. It was just 150 euro for eight classes, each 1 hour and 15 minutes long; you can rent a mat for 1 euro per class, or purchase one like I did. (I go big or go home, or as the Italians would say, “Se hai fatto Trenta, fai trentuno.“) The next session kicks off 17 January, and you can read about it and enroll here. Alternatively, if you’re not a beginner and looking for a great place to practice yoga in Milan, Casa Yoga offers a trial packet for 20 euro, which includes two classes, mat rental for the two classes and annual membership. It really doesn’t get much better than that.
Casa Yoga Milano P.le Principessa Clotilde 4 Website
Note: You have to reserve a spot online; you can’t just show up. 🙂
