Saturday, December 15, 2012

not a huge deal...

I think I need to find a way to spit this out one time and try not to again. Not because I can’t or wont, but because I’m very not an “I” person and the whole “I” is very ironic considering what I’m about to get into… not to mention I’ve written “I” 9 times already!
 
This is not a religious post nor is it something that will push me towards getting preachy and pounding my chest about. It’s a post to define how and why I plan to take a step back and redirect my energy and focus. Nothing will change with Blue Chip. Training and yoga will continue and probably get better, but my approach may change, I guess I actually don’t know.
 
For a long, long time I’ve slowly gravitated towards eastern cultures and their philosophies. Like a magnet, I feel it’s pulled me into the atmosphere. In some ways very obvious (yoga) and in some ways, very subtle (how I’ve interpreted song lyrics comes to mind).
 
I remember when I was a kid, my grandmother had a golden Buddha statue on her dresser. She called it Uncle Charlie and said it gave her good luck. I was 15 or 16 when she passed, so she probably told me that when I was 10-12, so I never had the opportunity to ask her anything “real,” about it and I often wonder if she was into the philosophies as well. I do remember her often consoling me when I was upset and was the first person to tell me to “smile when it hurts.” Maybe I picked up some things from her and didn’t realize it. I wish I knew where the Buddha statue disappeared to…
 
To keep this short, I’m going to dedicating myself to Buddhism. It’s always felt like “home,” and I’m very comfortable in everything it teaches and guides.
 
I know my hang ups will be in the business world and with “competition,” that’s really my only concern, but its also where my Russell Simmons and Deepak Chopra books have been very helpful and I know as long as I continue to find ways to give and serve, I will be ok. To be honest, I really don’t feel competition and I don’t mean that in a cocky way. I mean that as in “we’re all here to deliver as much good as possible and there are a million people out there, so there’s no reason to compete.” I hope that makes sense.
 
Honestly, even just writing these very brief paragraphs… I feel lighter. I feel like I was keeping a secret and kind of odd. Aaaaahhhhhh… big smile and looking fwd to sharing my experiences.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Power Plus


I have to admit, I've kind of had a difficult time describing the new class... and thats not really a good thing.

The main reason is because I dont want to say "This class is better than the yoga options," because its not. But its also not a better/worse thing, its just different.

Actually, its been a long time since I've written in general about yoga and there is now a lot of new people around that may not have read the older blogs where I wrote about yoga every other day... actually, I'm pretty sure my mom was the only person reading then.

I feel yoga is the perfect "training." Top to bottom, for every reason you can google. I really cant fully explain how much yoga (Cleveland Yoga in particular) has done for me and that was truly to drive behind finding an avenue to bring it the building its in now. Even the location has great meaning for me, as much as its a pain in the ass at times, but trust me, thats being worked on as well (not changing locations but improving the sign situation, lighting and so forth). So believe that yoga isnt here so that I can say Blue Chip has another "service," to offer, its here because I think its amazing and as many people need to experience it as possible.

So then when I spoke with Sara and she decided to take a break to prepare for her baby, I felt this was a good time to shake up the schedule a bit and add an "x" factor class. Something that didnt completely scare off "yogi's," but something different enough to make you say "yes, I want that too." From the beginning of my yoga journey, I've tinkered with combination movements that I felt could cross over from yoga to the weight room and back again and to be honest, we're two classes in and we havent touched one yet. And as much as I think yoga is perfect, I also feel that there is no final answer to training. I think those who only hit weights, need to run and do yoga. I think runners need to lift and do yoga. I think yogi's need to lift and run. So for me, we have to do it all and continue to grow and evolve.

I'll never forget how my hips killed me at my first class and that really opened my eyes to what I was missing. Tonight, we went through quite a few push ups and squats, and even though some people may not have been overly thrilled with it, they may also know "Yeah, I need this too." So this class is that answer. Its the crossover class that takes yoga to the weights and weights to yoga. Its not a bootcamp by any means. We will still warm up w a nice yoga flow and get some heat going (yes, the room is still heated. I'll explain below) and then at some point, we will transition into a training style. I'm very confident in the results this will produce and how this will help you take your yoga practice even further. I posted tonight "looking forward to how we're feeling after a few weeks of this training," and I really, really am. I think you will literally see changes in your arms, legs, abs, shoulders... anything.

Why is still heated? Why not? :) I LOVE training outside in the summer, and I mean 90+ degree heat, so these will still be cranking hard. The goal of these classes is to push it pretty hard and challenge yourself in a little bit of a different way. A little more of a "training," mindset. Again, we'll still get into some flows, we'll still be touching some balancing poses, core and occasional inversions and of course Savasana (everyones favorite part:) but we'll also be squatting, lunging, pressing, pulling, twisting, etc.

Class is every Monday from 6-6:50, same pricing as the other classes and its included with all other packages.

K, I hope this clears it up a little. And please feel free to get a hold of me any time with any questions regarding this class or any other or to talk about your own training or anything else. Truly, my phone and e-mail is always on and I'll do my best to reply asap with whatever you need.

Take care and see you soon,

J

This Is Blue Chip