Studies across the board suggest that yogis have a lower body weight and body fat percentage than most, in addition to having healthy, balanced bodies. Although yoga itself doesn’t burn a lot of calories, it’s believed that people who practice yoga are more in-tune with their bodies, and therefore are more likely to honour their bodies and take care of themselves properly.

Years ago, I tried to do yoga and simply couldn’t. I was impatient, bored and restless. I didn’t like that I couldn’t feel a “burn” the way I did from boot camp or running. Fast forward a couple years and I’m doing a much better job at listening to my body. Interestingly, as I’ve been listening more to my body, I’ve also found myself wanting to practice yoga frequently and really enjoying it. It feels wonderful.

The problem with yoga, however, is that it’s ridiculously expensive. I do yoga with a video at home because, quite frankly, I can’t afford to go to a yoga studio and pay upwards of $10 or $15 per class several times a week. I like doing yoga in the comfort of my own home but at the same time I’d really like to do yoga with a professional, at least on occasion, because there’s every possibility that I don’t have proper form for some of the yoga positions. It would be nice to get any mistakes corrected.

Enter Passport to Prana! They offer a unique $20 yoga card which allows you to take one class at each of nine different studios in Winnipeg (and there are a number of other cities across Canada and the U.S. which are also involved in Passport to Prana). That’s about $2 per class! It’s a fantastic deal. I have recently been given a yoga card from Passport to Prana for review purposes, so I am looking forward to trying out yoga in studios. With wedding preparations, I haven’t yet been able to make use of my card, but I’m hoping to be able to use it a couple times a week for the next few weeks.

Relaxation

Speaking of weddings, we (The Bride, myself, the two other bridesmaids, the MOB and the MOG) went out for manicures and pedicures on Friday. We spent a solid couple of hours relaxing at the spa, drinking pink champagne (one of The Bride’s favourite colours) and nibbling on skewers of fruit and cheese.

At one point, the MOB mentioned that she always looks at hands and feet when she meets people (assuming said people are wearing sandals and that their feet can therefore be seen). She said that it tells her a lot about the person she’s meeting. I thought about this: what would someone think if they looked at my hands and feet?

My hands are generally covered in pen marks and paper cuts from writing and doing office work. My feet are consistently calloused from all the walking that I do. My hands and feet say that I’m a writer and a walker! I like that 🙂 (I have a feeling that the MOB wouldn’t think that pen marks, paper cuts and calluses are something to be proud of. But that’s okay. We very much like each other, even if we have rather different perspectives on life).

Right now, however, my hands and feet are getting a break from the usual beating they get and they look very pretty indeed:

(Disregarding the paper cut on my index finger, hehe)

It was a nice change, to go out for a mani and a pedi. It’s not something I’d ever do regularly, but it was very relaxing and a unique way to connect with the body. My feet really appreciated the care that they received!

I’ve also been doing meditation a couple times each week (more on that in future blog posts), and I find that it’s a delightful way to relax and reconnect and breathe – even if you only do it for five minutes.

What did you do to relax this week? Do you like yoga? What do your hands and feet say about you?