My first class of Wanderlust was lead by the wonderful Amy Ippoliti. The Tahoe air was still Vinyasa-scarf chilly when we started class at 8 a.m., but by 8:30 the heat was building both on and off the mat, and by 10 I realized a) I did not pack enough sunscreen and b) I need to up my water intake.

Amy lead us through a light-hearted Anusara class that had us laughing with her instruction to "pretend you're laying an egg" and that slowly and steadily opened different sections of our body towards Sun Dial, the peak pose. She did it so skillfully that before I knew it, my right foot was in my left hand over my head and I was doing it for the first time ever! #yogabreakthrough

Amy and a row of Sun Dial demos

then things got deep

In the afternoon I took Deep Hip Openers with Stephanie Snyder. The first thing she did was explain that our hips are like junk drawers -- where people store experiences they're not sure what to do with. We worked our hips in all directions, starting with gentle hip circles (where we channeled our inner pole dancer) to Double Pigeon and Hanumanasna (aka the splits). I left this class feeling new space in my hip joints and also completely zen.

the people i met today

Natasha works in the design department at lululemon. She's been doing yoga (mostly Vinyasa Flow) for about 3 years and recently became a certified teacher.

mat neighbours

One thing that I think doesn't happen often enough is getting to know your mat neighbour. After all -- these people are right next to you during the intense and vulnerable moments that inevitably happen in a yoga class, and sometimes they even support you during poses like handstand. You might as well introduce yourself, right?

The lovely woman beside me in the first class is named Michael, and it turns out she's an ambassador at our Carmel Showroom and her daughter also works for lululemon. Michael teaches Vinyasa Flow and is currently taking Anusara teacher training.

Nestor is originally from Costa Rica, but now lives in Folsom. He's an electrical engineer at Intel, has been doing yoga for two years, and came to Wanderlust to share with like-minded people and get back into yoga.

in a line-up together

This is Mike. He was next to me in the line up for the 1 pm class. The only thing I know about him is that he runs an online yoga publication called Flow Yoga Magazine and he's from California.

vancouverites

Amanda's from Vancouver! She works at a local company called Mara Gottler Designs, is in her last semester at SFU, and is a new Power Vinyasa yoga teacher.

I also ran into our ambassador Carolyn Ann, who gave me some pre-Wanderlust tips.

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wanderlust quick facts*

Ratio of women to men = 7:3
Current % population with feathers in hair = 18
Projected feather density % by Sunday night = 62
Number of people with tails = at least 2

*totally unscientific

Tomorrow's yoga menu includes Seane Corn, John Friend, and a meditation class. See you in the morning!

♥ Alana

Exercise breakthrough moment: I can run in just a sports bra.

I never run in just a sports bra. On a rare occasion, I will whip off my tank top mid-run, but only if I’m really hot and sweaty. It doesn’t matter if I’m in peak condition or playing around with a few extra pounds. It may sound silly, but it’s been a life long hang-up.

Yesterday was hot and humid. My plan was to run outside on my favorite trail along the railroad tracks. I had brand new, beautiful running shoes to road-test as motivation to run. At the last minute I decided to go sans shirt right out of the gate. I had a moment of elation and liberation – a sneaking out after curfew when you’re 16 kind of feeling. Onlookers didn’t stop and gasp, no snickers from my neighbors. I was optimistic.

It was one of the worst runs I can remember. I was dehydrated from my morning coffee, immediately over-heated and I kept tripping over my new shoes. Oddly enough, my sports bra attire was the least of my running issues. So while my first time out of the gate wasn’t a success, I wasn’t overly preoccupied by what passing cars, surfers crossing the railroad tracks or other runners on the path were thinking.

Today, after a tough spin class, I left feeling motivated and determined. I had some juice left so I decided to try another sports bra run, this time with my trusty trail shoes. I put on my ipod and went for it. It was one of the best runs I’ve had in a long time! My sports bra/shorts combo kept me comfortably cool, I felt energetic and I worked up a great sweat. I was so inspired that I immediately sat down and cranked out this blog post.

My lesson: my workout is for me. No one cares, no one is judging so do what feels best!

What was your exercise breakthrough moment?