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intenSati, Earthrise Yoga, & Great weekend.

intenSati

This weekend has been wonderful. My mom came up on Thursday night and we hung out a bit after I got off work (after I did an intenSati class down at the 19th and Broadway Equinox). IntenSati was rockin’, as usual. The instructor was Natalia and the class was packed. The energy was incredibly high. Some of the affirmations were:

  • Yes, I will raise my bar
  • I’m getting happier
  • I am worth it
  • Every single day I say: “I deserve to feel amazing, starting today”
  • I am disciplined and I am awesome
  • My heart is compassionate

Earthrise Yoga

The next morning  (Friday) I woke up early and headed out to another Earthrise Yoga class at the Columbus Circle Equinox. It was another amazing amazing class, and I’m so glad I went (I had wanted to go on Thursday morning, but I decided sleep was more important… which is why I ended up at intenSati on Thursday evening). The flow was very similar to the flow on Wednesday morning (possibly the same?) so I was able to relax a bit more (I like knowing what’s coming).

Decorating

Friday night my mom and I didn’t do much, but this morning we got up and went to Home Depot to pick up paint. YES! We painted the living room today a gorgeous brown.

It really ties the room together.

Food

We ate dinner at a lovely Japanese restaurant that Bobby and I went to once before called East (on 44th between 2nd and 3rd aves). I do have pictures (from both times, actually) but I’ll post them later.

More intenSati

Oh! And I went to intenSati with Lindsay this afternoon while my mom was “cutting in” (painting the corners/trim so that rolling is easier). I really like Lindsay’s classes. They’re generally a bit smaller than the other ones I go to, but I think that’s because she’s still a relatively new instructor. Today’s was at the 63rd and Lex Equinox. The affirmations were the same as last time.

What’s Next?

Mom and I are going to try to get to intenSati at 11am tomorrow morning. And later Bobby and I are going to hang out with Aunty Jo and Uncle Morris. We’re going to go get dinner with them (and maybe watch a football game?). And I should do some work.

What have you done this weekend?

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Thursday Treats

My dear friend Dori is holding a charity auction *today* at her blog:

Dori’s Shiny Charity Auction

She’s running the NYC half marathon in March and she’s raising money to benefit Think Pink Rocks (a breast cancer charity). I’m offering up a homemade baked good – Pumpkin Fruit Cake OR Hot Milk Sponge Cake (your choice!). Auntie Jo kindly offered to help me out so we’ll be baking those goodies on Sunday for the winners.

Cream of Wheat is offering free samples (thanks for the link, April!):

Free Cream of Wheat

IntenSati Events:

  • Free intenSati class on January 23rd (Saturday) at 2pm at Equinox (19th and Broadway) (no RSVP necessary)
  • intenSati Workshop: Let Your Voice Lead! (Saturday, January 30th, 3-5pm at Equinox on Park Avenue and 33rd St.). It’s with Lindsay Davis, and it’s a 2-hour class (invigorating workout and thought-provoking writing session to personalize the intenSati affirmations and attitudes). FREE and open to Equinox members and non-members! Newcomers welcome! No RSVP necessary. If you have any questions contact Lindsay directly at davis.lindsay@gmail.com.

I also changed my layout and updated my “About” and “FAQ” pages (just slightly), so let me know what you think.

Happy Thursday! My mom is coming to visit me tonight, I’m going to intenSati at 6:30 at 19th and Broadway (come see me!), and I have a fun weekend planned.

What are you doing this weekend?

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Review: Equinox Classes!

Here are all of the classes I have taken since I started my one month Equinox pass last Sunday. Equinox has been amazing so far. I’m curious to see if they’ll offer us a discount after the month; I have a specific number in mind (which is still way to high!) that I will pay to join… I’m hoping they hit that number.

Sunday, 1/10: intenSati kickoff (60+ mins of intenSati; with Patricia)

Monday, 1/11: intenSati (60 mins; with Erika) and hip hop to the 1/2 (45 mins; with Erika)

Tuesday, 1/12: slow flow yoga (60 mins) and pilates/bartenieff fusion (45 minutes but I was late)

Friday, 1/15: warrior flow yoga (60 mins) and zumba (60 mins)

Saturday, 1/16: intenSati (60 mins; with Lindsay)

Sunday, 1/17: vinyasa yoga (60 mins) and intenSati (60 mins; with Erika)

Monday, 1/18: intenSati (60 mins; with Lindsay)

My favorite intenSati class so far was definitely the kickoff class with Patricia Moreno leading. She is such an amazingly beautiful, strong woman. Erika is also pretty kickass and Lindsay is so upbeat. I actually remember the affirmations from Lindsay’s class this morning (cuz I took it Saturday too). You say all these phrases while do vigorous cardio and feeling strong:

I celebrate my strength
I believe in myself
I have what it takes
I want it I want it I really really want it
I am committed YES to doing my part
I am ready to get moving
I am willing to get moving
I am able to get moving
I am moving right now
What do you intend for 2010?
Happiness and Joy… say it again!

As for the other classes:

I really liked Tuesday night’s slow flow yoga. The instructor was Maja Sidebaeck. It was exactly the kind of class I would teach.

Friday’s yoga was pretty good too – I actually can’t remember the class that well, but I know that I walked away feeling good. The instructor was Adrian Molina.

Sunday’s class… not that great, to be honest. The instructor hardly adjusted anyone at all and he offered no guidance – he just counted out the breaths for every single pose and walked around with his eyes closed. It was kind of strange. I think it was a sub or something because the picture online of the guy doesn’t look like the guy in class (or maybe I just couldn’t see because I wasn’t wearing contacts). I won’t say his name just in case it’s the wrong guy 😉

Friday night’s Zumba was great – Zumba does not feel like exercise to me. It’s just too fun.

But (yes, I’m girly), I think my main reason for wanting to join Equinox is their locker rooms (did I say this already?). Okay – the showers have Kiehl’s shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. They have Kiehl’s body lotion. The towels are usually warm. They have blow dryers, razors, and shaving cream for you to use – free of charge. They have deodorant, hair spray, cotton balls, q-tips, and mouth wash – free. And probably more that I’m forgetting.

My skin feels like a baby’s. My hands are usually dry in the winter and I can’t seem to stop rubbing them together now because they feel so good (thanks to Kiehl’s lotion). I’ve showered in my apartment maybe 3 times in the last week (I’m a frequent showerer). Ahhh, I want to join!

To think that a week and a half ago I didn’t think I had time to join a gym (truth: I don’t – but it’s important to me).

Here’s a good question… what do you do to pamper yourself? What do you *want* to do to pamper yourself (even if you can’t afford it)?

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Review: intenSati (cardio class & warrior challenge) AND yoga AND pilates (Equinox gym)

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was applying for the Warrior Challenge – well, I got in! I get a free 1-month pass to Equinox gyms in Manhattan and I have to dedicate myself to taking 3 intenSati classes each week. What’s intenSati, you ask? I’ll explain.

IntenSati is a super high-energy cardio workout that has elements of kickboxing, aerobics, dance, yoga, martial arts, and strength training. It is ridiculously intense. It’s a 60 minute workout and I bet you burn upwards of 500 calories in one session. It’s not just a high-energy workout though: while you work out you yell positive affirmations that will hopefully spill over into other areas of your life.

It was created by Patricia Moreno, a very strong and inspiring NYC fitness guru. She just wrote a book!

Okay, the positive affirmations thing sounded a little weird to me. I walked into the orientation on Sunday and I was kind of apprehensive. Is this religious? Is it weird and cult-y? It was NOT. Not at all. We started the workout and we were yelling things like, “I am ready to be stronger,” “I am ready to go further,” “No more excuses!”, “I am not afraid!”. I have never been one to believe in that “power of positive thinking” stuff, but I think I might be changing my mind. It’s kind of working 🙂

Anyway, I went to the orientation class on Sunday, and it was a little over an hour. Before class started I met up with Missy so I felt much more at ease knowing I had a blogger friend with me. Patricia Moreno was actually leading us! The class starts out with some dynamic stretching (deep squats, etc…) and you learn 2 poses. 1) Ready (essentially mountain pose); and 2) Warrior (essentially a wide squat with arms outstretched).

mountain warrior

That part took maybe 5-10 minutes. Then we started doing amazingly crazy cardio stuff and yelling for about 45 minutes. Sweat was pouring down my body (I don’t sweat). Then we did yoga-like strength-dancing for about 10-15 minutes, and we ended with more stretching (5-10 minutes). This class was a little bit longer than usual because it was the orientation class.

Yesterday (Monday) I was going to wake up for the early morning class, but I was exhausted. I decided to do a class after work at the Equinox by my apartment (63rd and Lex). This intenSati class was 60 minutes and it was led by Erika Shannon. She led us through the same dynamic stretching, and then we started the cardio craziness. This cardio only lasted about 30 minutes, then we did about 15-20 minutes of strength, and a few minutes of stretching at the end. It was still an amazing workout even though it was slightly shorter than Sunday’s class. After the craziness Erika made us hold “warrior” for about 2 minutes! After the intensity (intenSati?) of the craziness this was really hard – I was sweating so much, but it felt amazing.

Missy and I were a little bit crazy and we decided to stay for Erika’s Hip Hop class (just 45 minutes). It was 30 minutes of dancing and then 15 minutes of strength. I was pretty tired from intenSati, but managed to keep up my energy for the duration of the class. I definitely prefer intenSati because I look like a dork when I try to do hip hop.

Missy has 2 really good reviews on her blog, too:

Today I went to Equinox again to take 2 more classes: Pilates/Bartenieff Fusion with Laura Ward and then Slow Flow Yoga with Maja Sidebaeck. I was about 10 minutes late to pilates and felt bad, but I thought the class was great. Yoga was really nice as well – it was very flowy and exactly how I would lead a class. Definitely going back.

I also LOVE the Equinox showers. I think I’ll just shower there from now on. They have great shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion… and they have razors, q-tips, deodorant, hair products, mouth wash, and probably a bajillion other things I didn’t see. I have this horrible feeling that I’m going to sign up with Equinox after the challenge is over.

I am now going to go do some work and crash into bed. Later, peeps! Go drink some water!

What’s your favorite killer workout?

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Miami: Pilot House (Key Largo) and Japanese Buffet (YUM)

I just realized that I never posted about our trip to Miami. I was only there for about 4 days, so I wanted to spend as much time as I could being social and getting away from the computer.

On Christmas Eve (Thursday the 24th of December) we drove down to Key Largo to do some sightseeing. Mid-afternoon we stopped at a restaurant called Pilot House for lunch. Key Largo is nice – it has a very relaxed feel and I could definitely see myself enjoying life down in the keys. It’s a great place for relaxing.

I ordered a salad (honey mustard dressing on the side) as well as large peel & eat shrimp (1/2 pound just for me!).

salad honey mustard large florida shrimp

I adore shrimp. These had old bay seasoning sprinkled on them and I ate them with lots of cocktail sauce. Oh, cocktail sauce – everything is better with horseradish and ketchup.

dec 30 2009 005

We sat out on the deck next to the water and imagined what it would be like to live on a boat – pretty awesome, I think.

dec 30 2009 006

I could get used to this weather! I can’t wait to go back…

That night we went out to a great Japanese buffet in Miami called Kyojin Japanese Seafood Buffet. Oh. My. Gosh. Sushi buffet?? Unlimited amazing Japanese food?? Unlimited salads??

japanese buffet kyojin

I am dangerous at buffets. I get a lot but I do go for tons of veggies and expensive or complicated dishes that I wouldn’t make at home.

The plate above was #1 of 3… and then I got the fruit for dessert. I really do have a lot of fun at buffets. Not only can I eat as many veggies as I want, but I don’t ever feel guilty about not finishing something that I don’t like! Some things that I remember having were…

  • eel sushi (unagi)
  • roe shot (the red/green/yellow stripe thing – eggs on rice in a cup)
  • green beans
  • seafood salad (octopus, squid, veggies, etc…)
  • noodley dish (lo mein-ish)
  • various seaweed salads
  • seared tuna
  • mussels! shrimps!
  • mushroom thing
  • pineapple! melons!

I want to go back.

I’m feeling a little better (I mentioned I was sick in my last post), but still haven’t worked out since Tuesday. I guess I can count the 1-2 miles I walk each day as my workout though – living in New York definitely has its (walking) perks.

My new thing is drinking lots of water – go get a glass! It’ll keep you hydrated and healthy in the cold winter months (and if you’re somewhere warm, drink up anyway! I’m jealous of you).

Off to hang out with Bobby (well, watch him play video games). Tomorrow I think we’re going to NJ for a party and on Sunday I have a kickoff for an exciting challenge that I haven’t mentioned yet. I got accepted into the Sati Life Warrior Challenge, and I’ll give details soon.

What are you doing this weekend?