It seems like forever ago that I lived in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood of Charlotte. Plaza Midwood is an eclectic little part of town where our house retained its original charm of the 1940’s, we could walk to multiple bars, and their weren’t chain restaurants (like here in Mooresville). It was a wonderful place to live.
Living there I found a little gem called Yoga One. It was a yoga studio just down the street from my house that I decided to try out one day and instantly fell in love. The heat and movements seemed to wring my body out and I always left dripping wet, feeling rejuvenated and calm (and usually shaking somewhat, too).
When we moved here, it wasn’t feasible for me to drive to Yoga One anymore, and since Mooresville is almost void of yoga studios, I tearfully ended my love affair with hot yoga. Once I had Hailey and childcare became necessary, I pretty much came to terms with the fact that it would be years before I could practice again.
And then, I found Charlotte Family Yoga. A reader actually told me about the studio and mentioned that they offer FREE child care! Amazing. So I emailed the studio and they invited me in to try it out. Excited didn’t do my feelings justice.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was Maryann’s brightness. She works the front desk and is full of energy and smiles. She even offered to hold Hailey while I got settled.
And the sassy lady beside Maryann? That was my instructor, Shanna, who also was bubbly and welcoming.
The studio felt fresh, clean and bright. There are windows all over, which lets in natural light, even in the childcare room.
I was pleased to see that the childcare room also felt sparkling clean, since so many can be dingy and smelly. They allow up to 8 kids in the room at once, with at least 2 adults supervising.
Feeling comfortable about leaving Hailey (just down the hall) was essential in allowing myself to really get soaked into the experience of power hour. I set up my mat so I could have a view out of one of the windows.
The room filled up (and it wasn’t all ladies, either, so men, don’t be scared to get your yoga on) then Shanna began to lead us into the practice.
Forgive me because I don’t know much about yoga terms and such, but a few minutes in, we did several sequences at a fairly quick pace and I felt the beads of sweat begin to pour out. I embraced the feeling of it dripping down my back and down my arms.
Throughout the hour I was challenged and in some poses I shook like a leaf. In other poses my ankles burned as they were forced to strengthen. And, if I’m being honest, I fell over more than once. They were all wonderful feelings that I had forgotten that I loved.
And at the end, the cool towel and savasana (laying flat on my back) confirmed it. Addicted again.
The power hour class worked out wonderfully for me because I max out at about an hour, plus childcare is offered for this class. However Charlotte Family Yoga offers a large variety of classes, including PRENATAL (if only I’d have known…), Ashtanga, Deep Stretch and many more. You can check out the options here.
The only downside is that they aren’t in Mooresville. They are located in the University area, and with traffic that day, it took my a solid 45 minutes to get to. If they opened a location closer (hint, hint! 
) I’d be there multiple times a week, but I’m hoping to be able to go once a week, maybe on Fridays when all classes are $8- woot!
For those yogis that live close by, you may be interested to know that they have a special Master Class taught by Mark White, a Top Baptiste Instructor, coming up on March 10th, so feel free to talk to them for more information. They also have a 40 day challenge coming up… why aren’t they in Mooresville again? Sniffle.
I just can’t explain how thrilled I am to have found a yoga studio with childcare. I’ve taken yoga at the YMCA, but yoga in a real studio with heat and cool towels is a completely different experience to me. Though I am challenged by my wogging, I believe I’m much better suited to be a yogi, and I’m going to keep my fingers (and yoga toes) crossed that Charlotte Family Yoga opens up a location in Mooresville because I might throw a party in honor of such an occurrence.
Have you tried hot yoga?
What did you think?
What qualities do you look for in a yoga studio?
) and then 2 days later you leave the hospital to raise that child on your own…. except every move you make is now on one side of an argument or the other. Example: “They” say if your baby sleeps more than 2 hours, you must wake her up to feed her. Personally, I never woke Hailey up to feed her and high-fived myself when she slept for 4 hour stretches. I felt comfortable with that because she was gaining weight, creating plenty of wet and dirty diaper and was very happy overall. However, I still fretted about whether my decision was the ‘right’ decision more than once, then realized that it was the right decision for me and my baby. And that’s all that mattered.
