I started working from home just a few weeks ago and this meant a lot of changes to my lifestyle. I no longer had delicious (but often unhealthy) catered meals for lunch (and often leftovers for dinner) which means I now have to cook my own lunch. Although perhaps not as exciting, I was looking forward to this. I am so much healthier at home than when catered food is in front of me. I made plans to make and eat egg salad, tuna salad, and salmon cakes. My snacks are healthy too: carrots with peanut butter, protein bars, and smoothies. Workout plans had to change too: I no longer had a gym right in my workspace. Instead, I have to think of other options. I belong to a YMCA, but it’s not quite walking distance. Thus, I wanted to try a few places walking distance to my now-home office. I saw that the Hollywood CorePower Yoga offered a free week. Perfect!
Fun story: the first CorePower class I went to was a hot yoga class. I thought, there must be some mistake–it didn’t say that on the schedule! Boy, was I in for a surprise. I don’t like saunas, I don’t like being in overly hot areas, it’s miserable to me. Thus, I have never wanted to go to a hot yoga class…ever. To me, yoga is more of a spiritual exercise than a physical one. However, I ended up in this hot yoga class and I wasn’t going to turn back now. Thankfully, I brought water. I entered the room and was hit in the face with sweltering heat and could hear the heaters turn on, pouring more torture into the room (why?!). By the end of the class, I had taken my shirt off and I was pouring sweat. It was definitely one of the sweatiest I had ever been. As the teacher asked us to sit lower into chair pose, I mentally threw insults at him in a very non-yogic way. However, my mentality shifted from workout class to survival class. If I treated it like I needed to survive through torturous heat, I could actually do it. I even found more focus through that and could drop deeper into poses. Who knew. Whew, I made it through my hot yoga class–and hopefully the last!
My reaction to accidentally going to hot yoga
Joke’s on me. I went to another C2 class and walked into the wall of sweltering heat once more the next day (why, God, why!?). How was this possible? Accidentally taking hot yoga again? After another hour of survival, I asked the staff if all their classes were heated and they said, yes most, including the C2 I kept ending up at. Hah. Let’s dive into the specifics.
The Good
– The studio is literally three blocks from our apartment, so that is amazing for me.
– The studio is neat, clean, and filled with merchandise that I want (but too expensive).
– The staff is great: the people at the desk welcome you and make you feel at home. The teachers all have their own style, but they like to focus on each person to bring the best experience possible. I would think they wouldn’t want to touch a bunch of sweaty people, but they don’t seem to mind. They are great at making adjustments and helping you see how you can improve your practice. This was a great part and I noticed improvement each time I went.
– It’s a really incredible workout. If you do anything but the C1 or CoreRestore, you will get your butt kicked. I always left feeling strong, empowered, and lighter.
The Bad
– It’s hot yoga and it’s miserable: not your yin yoga, let me get spiritual and in balance yoga (which is what I prefer).
– The classes were formulaic. As I continued my week of classes (all C2, C1, & Hot Power Fusion), I noticed a pattern through the classes. Sure, teachers and studios have a general structure to their classes, but this seemed to go beyond it. I really enjoy it when teachers put their own touch on things and truly lead the class, instead of feeling like they need to check off boxes. It felt like there would be no surprise and they would touch on the same things. This was the biggest downfall for me.
The Ugly
– Did I mention it was hot yoga? The ugly was me walking out of there every day. Woof.
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Would I recommend CorePower Yoga Hollywood to someone? If they like hot yoga, sure. If they’re going for more of a workout than a spiritual practice, definitely. I usually paired each day with a Runyon trail run with Noke and felt like I had absolutely done above and beyond workouts each day. I probably won’t subscribe, unless there’s a great deal I can’t refuse. I don’t enjoy hot yoga, but by the end, I was tolerating it and feeling strong for it. I do think I need to have yoga in my life: in general, I’m inflexible and bad at it. I’m just not sure this is the right place for me due to their formulaic classes and miserable hot temperatures. I would say absolutely give this free week a try and decide for yourself. It’s always great to try something new. Try CorePower yoga to stay hungry and fit!
