Slow Flow Yoga with Lauren Star

This post is part of my 2017 New Year’s Resolution to try every group fitness class offered at my gym, The Equinox in Chestnut Hill. See the full list of reviews here.

Progress: 48 Classes Down, 2 remaining (Heated Vinyasa Yoga and Cardio Kick)

I had such a lovely morning you guys.

To get to class on time, I had to ask Greg to get the kids ready and to school. And on a walk to school day, no less – which is fun but more time consuming since he then has to go back home and get in the car rather than just dropping them on his way to work.

I can’t tell you how good it felt to slide their packed lunches into their backpacks and then peace out of there while they were still in their pajamas eating breakfast. No reminding them of the time and suggesting that maaaaaybe they could eat at a rate of more than one bite per hour. No endless reminders to get their socks on.

Instead, I was in the car, drinking my coffee, listening to Freakonomics Radio and looking forward to yoga.

It was nice. Really, really nice.

And on another note, my Equinox app informed me this morning that Adam Caplan’s 4:30 p.m. weekend Vinyasa classes will now be Heated Vinyasa with a studio temperature between 85 and 90 degrees. So… essentially it’s a different class.  More yoga for me!

Class: Slow Flow Yoga with Lauren Star

Class length: 60 minutes

Description from the Equinox: Slow down and deepen your practice. A vinyasa practice that focuses on quality transitions between posture and awareness of breath and mind.

What Class Was Like

Class was wonderful. This class had a strong flexibility and regeneration focus. We had time to breathe in many of the poses for flexibility, and there were lots of gentle back-bends and spinal twists. We did several Sun Salutation A sequences, balance poses and some long breaths in headstand/shoulder-stand or modified leg lift.

It’s hard to accurately remember and record the sequences and poses of any yoga class, which is why perhaps the most helpful thing to do is to try different instructors and styles for yourself, knowing you’re learning and growing in the process.

So instead of trying to remember a list of poses for you, I’ll say that my general impression was that this was a relatively gentle, beginner-friendly class that will allow you time to relax into your stretches and align your pose before you move on.  My legs feel wonderful afterward, and my arms always felt ready to embrace the next Downward Facing Dog to High Plank, as opposed to some classes where I experience muscle fatigue from the number of Sun Salutations and time in Downward Dog and start looking at the clock halfway through wondering when the arm work will ever end.

Lauren wove some mindfulness reminders into class, encouraging us to bring our full attention and focus to our bodies and be fully present in what we were doing rather than thinking about current events, etc. Truly focus your mind on where your ankle is, how it’s moving, make a cognizant effort to engage the necessary muscles for the pose. Not only does this type of mindfulness give our brains a much-needed break from stressful thoughts, focusing fully on our practice will help us get the most out of each pose.

We ended with a generous (5-8 minutes perhaps?) Shavasana, which might feel long to someone unused to Shavasana but I really enjoyed. It was nice to let my body relax into the floor after it had worked during class, to focus on my breathing, and to let other thoughts go without clinging to any of them.

I wish this class were offered an hour later so I could attend without shirking school-readiness and drop-off duties. It was a wonderful start to the day and left me feeling a calm sense of readiness going into the weekend.

Who would love it: Anyone interested in yoga. Suitable for a beginner. Wonderful for anyone who really wants to stretch and restore. There’s still planking, Downward Dog, etc., but less time is spent in challenging poses and more time in gentle stretches compared to some classes. Lauren was a lovely instructor offering corrections, guidance, and somehow making the room feel like an oasis from the rest of this crazy world.