Namas Day Yoga Festival Review

Happy Monday!  I know, there has been a bit of a drought at Run With No Regrets the past couple of weeks, but I’m slowly working my way back to normality.  I have so much to recap, so I’ll use Best Foot Monday to tell you about the awesome time I had at  Namas Day.

[bctt tweet=”Reviewing my experience at the Namas Day Yoga Festival! #yoga” username=””]

Namas Day Yoga Festival

You know that yoga studio I love, Focus Barre and Yoga? To my surprise, I won  a giveaway for two tickets to Namas Day on their Facebook Page!  Namas Day is a yoga festival in Philly that is relatively new.  I never knew it existed, but thought this would be a great opportunity to continue my practice in yoga!  I was able to invite my friend Torrina to join me, and she’s really into fitness too!

The event ran from 9 am to about 6 pm and my pass allowed me to take up to 3 sessions.  Unfortunately, since I had a brunch to attend that afternoon, I could only do one class in the morning and one in the mid-afternoon.  As I mentioned, I’ve been really busy lately, and had spent the night before finishing up preparations for the brunch.  I knew it was going to be tough to full advantage of this opportunity, but I made sure I got up early enough for a light breakfast and hop on my bike to the WHYY building for the main event!

I had a very smooth bike ride and made it to the WHYY building at about 8:30.  I had no idea what to expect, but I was really excited as I saw people starting to file inside! The registration line was well managed and they were selling Namas Day T-shirts for $25 in various designs.  They used TV screens to display the schedule for the day and there were tons of vendors, including yoga studios.  I wish I had more time to go to each one, pick up a free snack, and just see what’s going on.

Make Me An Instrument:  A Jivamukti Yoga Chakra Balancing Practice

Torrina suggested signing up for this chakra balancing session, which took place in the Lincoln Financial Digital Education Studio.  Even though they provided us with a map of the rooms for each class, I kept wandering from room to room until finally asking for directions, haha.  The space was huge!  There was a stage with a live musician, and they could easily fit 75-100 yogis in there.  What an experience!

Everyone seemed super friendly and helpful, which really is refreshing.  We were asked to write our name on our mat and a note of any injuries that we may have.  I appreciated that personal touch in such a large space…I was worried that I would be a bit lost in the class.  Torrina got to the class a little bit later since she was driving, and I was so nervous that I wouldn’t be able to save her a spot!  Fortunately it all worked out.

The class was really cool!  The instructor bowed to each of us individually before we began, which I really appreciated.    I’m still VERY uncomfortable with mantras and speaking in Sanskrit and I struggled to get the verses right…so hopefully I didn’t cause any disrespect!  There were moments in the practice that we would pause to think of people that we cared about, people that we wanted to forgive.  It was really interesting!

I’m realizing that I’ve really grown in my practice in just a few weeks’ time.  I don’t find myself intimidated by other people around me, just interested in where their flexibility takes them.  I was really surprised at my ability to do a backbend and hold it for awhile….but I now know that I’m a definitely not ready to do a headstand!  They tried to help me out unsuccessfully,  but it definitely is within reach one day, which is so cool!

Unfortunately, the class came to an end and I had to jet!  Brunch was from 12 to 3, and then I was going to go back to Namas Day the 3:30 Liquid Flow Yoga class…but I was too elated with the conclusion of the brunch to go back.  I just wanted to RELAX after spending weeks of my time booking the space, planning the program, creating presentations, inviting people and selling tickets, creating, publicizing and awarding the scholarships, etc!!  Thankfully, everything worked out very nicely and everyone had a great time.  But it definitely took a huge chunk of my life for awhile!

Namas Day turned to be a fantastic time.  I really enjoyed the class that I took, and Torrina had a great time too.  She was able to take 2 classes and had positive things to say.  I really love exploring this yoga world!  I bought a monthly membership to Focus Barre and Yoga so I’m really going to stick with it.  They are going to have another Namas Day in the Fall and I really hope I can make it!

Workouts for the Week:

Monday 5/5:   Bret and I tried to do hill repeats on Lemon Hill, it turned into a bit of an adventure on some trails and back roads.

Tuesday 5/6:  Boot Camp Class.  We did core, lots of lower body work and used those darn exercise balls again.  Then I ran 1.45 miles at 8:54 pace.  Then I ran my butt off at our kickball game.  We won 8-0, and I made 2 of those…so exciting!

Wednesday 5/7:  I was working out in the field, so I missed the company’s National Walk at Work Day.  But I did run 3 miles on the treadmill, mostly at a 10:42 pace.  Then I followed with some hip stretches and strengthening.  I’m noticing my knees are suffering more with runs so I need to get back to my exercises!

Thursday 5/8:  My right shin really hurts after that treadmill run…I think I walked too briskly on the treadmill for my warmup (woops).

Friday 5/9:  Another rest day, lots of ice and compression.

Saturday 5/10:  Namas Day!   I also rode my bike a total of 4 miles.  Everything felt good!

Sunday 5/11:  So sore today, probably from those backbends!  Had my first Barre class in ages and it was HARD!  Barre really works the entire body.  Lots of isometric movements and work with the upper body, lower body and core.  It definitely revealed my strengths and weaknesses!  Bret and I also did some biking in the city on this beautiful day!

How were your workouts this week?  Have you tried anything new lately?  Share in the comments!