When I "Ohm" - you "ohm" - we "ohm! A recent exploration of yoga

I'll be super honest for a moment and admit that for the longest time the absolute best part about yoga was watching my wife strut around in yoga pants!  I was never uber flexible, and the concept of "stretching" as the workout never really sit well with me when I felt that I could get more exercise going on a run or hitting the stationary bike.

But then a few things happened --- 1) I realized that I probably just wasn't doing the stretching right, and 2) LuluLemon and a host of other athletic wear providers convinced an entire portion of the population (seemingly aged between 18-30) that walking out of the house in "yoga clothes" isn't only normal, it is cool.  Lucky for me, a good friend was one of their very first employees in the DC region, so I always get the advance notice for "Friends and Family day."  Some of their clothes are pretty damn remarkable, not only for yoga, but for running errands, lifting weights, running around, or just sitting on the couch.

I guess an activity that has lasted for millennia and is practiced by countless practitioners religiously across the globe wouldn't end up being a fad in our area either.  And while my personal journey with yoga is still a very much love/hate relationship, I was really excited that there are so many different studios in our community.  

Regardless of your experience level, I am fairly certain that the local Kentlands yogis would welcome you into their fold.  Yoga Bliss Studios, Warrior One Yoga, and Opus Yoga are all centrally located and very probably packed full of practitioners who will swear in yoga's ability to rejuvenated the body, mind, and soul through its calming and deliberate movements.  And as I've slowly found, If the mental and spiritual benefits aren't what your after, fear not, if you can master the "crow" or the "handstand', you'll be getting as good of a workout as anything else out there!

The added benefit, of course, is the guidance through a well-training and informative instructor and the fact that stretching is incorporated into every movement. The poses themselves can be held with activation throughout selected muscles, or with only a few, making them as challenging or as easy as one prefers.

So try it out!  Inhale, exhale, and "ohm!"

Yoga Bliss Studios is located at: 404 Main St #200, Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Warrior One Yoga is located at: 321 Kent Square Rd. Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Opus Yoga is located at: 257 Market Street West Gaithersburg, MD, 20878

- Yianni