Barre Belle

I'm sure many of you have noticed that I am in LOVE with my new barre classes! Growing up, I did ballet for about 10 years, before foregoing it for music (and another type of dance-clogging). I knew I would never achieve the ideal dancer's body of tall stature and long, muscular legs. I had the leg "muscle" (jiggle jiggle), but that was about it. Even though I enjoyed it, it was time to move on because like many activities we participate in as kids, there's a point you get to when you either have to go all in or back out. Well, I've realized that as an adult, you can kind of get back into some of your childhood activities, without having to make any sort of commitment other than to yourself. It's actually pretty nice, you know, to be able to do something because you enjoy it and not have to worry about how "good" you are at it! What a concept!

I'd been seeing on some friends Facebooks about these classes called "barre," which got me intrigued. I didn't actively start looking for a place to try it, since I was still looking for a yoga studio, which was a higher priority. Then I got our free monthly paper, The Health Journal and as I perused it, found an article about barre classes. Since the journal covers all of Hampton Roads, most of it was about classes in VA Beach or other cities, but then there was a quote from an instructor of a studio in Williamsburg. So I googled up Studio South and discovered it was a yoga studio that taught a couple barre classes-the perfect combination! After reading through their whole website, I sent them an e-mail via the "contact us" page and landed myself a free class. So I figured, might as well try a barre class, because then if it didn't live up to my expectations, at least it was free.

Well, I went to the first class and was immediately hooked! My body somehow remembered after 10 years, how to do the ballet poses and postures accurately, yet it was a more fast-paced workout than I anticipated. I felt great that I had no problem keeping up with everything and doing most things in releve, and I left feeling wonderful! Best part? No pain the next day. I went back again for class this week and still love it. The combination of traditional ballet postures, combined with pilates-style exercises, and a little bit of yoga stretching, truly is ideal. It fulfills me on all levels of fitness, plus it's just really fun. It allows me to have a class that falls somewhere between the zen-like slower pace of yoga (my preferred way to practice) and the intensity of running, but without the responsibility of figuring out what new moves to try at the gym. I FREAKIN' LOVE IT.

And to make things even better, I've tried a couple yoga classes at Studio South, and enjoyed them, including a hot yoga class. The instructors are as nice as can be and the environment is calming. They have a super-fancy air filtration system that makes hot yoga bearable and not stuffy, and they provide everything else you need. They're also into essential oils, which I've not experienced before, but I have to say--my cool towel that was doused in lavender oil after hot yoga was amazing, as was having the instructor come and hold his hands over my face with more lavender oil in restorative yoga. Definitely a whole new aspect to my practice! Needless to say, I'm in love with this studio and am so excited to have a warm, welcoming place to do barre and practice yoga! As they say at Studio South, Namaste y'all!