He Sweats: Let me preface my thoughts on class with I am not a yoga person. I’ve tried and tried again. I think if I yoga’ed it up more than once every month there’s a chance I could improve on my form but for now with my schedule that probably won’t happen. But when I do decide to take a yoga class, I Am You is always the first class I look to if I can fit it in the schedule. I’m in love with the studio. I’m in love with Lauren’s choice of music and I’m absolutely in love with her story given the finance back ground and her move to a better happier life. To say I’m jealous would be quite the understatement. Maybe one day I will follow her path! If you do yoga on a regular basis and have not tried I Am You, whether a male or female, you are quite possibly missing out on of the fitness treasures of NYC. I’m never the only male either in class, there is always one or two others. The beginning of her classes are awesome. She makes sure to relax the mind with some calm thoughts and focus. “Awareness” being the key focal point in this particularly class. Awareness is essential for almost everything we do in life. Without awareness everything is a half-hearted attempt at success. After the calm beginning to class, it’s a smooth ever so flowing yoga class while some sick tunes are blasted from what I think is only the coolest DJ stand my eyes have ever come across. Funny story about Lauren’s studio/apt. I almost rented it once years ago except there was no closet space. That and living in Little Italy would most certainly have added a pound or two to the waist-line. I’m a sucker for anything Italian. I will let SHE cover the yoga moves in particular as I’d be wasting your time trying to describe them being I rarely ever go and SHE does. But I always love the fact Lauren works the room fixing form. I am almost certain she is aware by a person’s form their expertise in yoga so I always appreciate the extra attention vs. others. My favorite part of yoga has been and will always be the end (SHE, what’s this called again?) It calms me like none other. I would take a whole class of the last five minutes if I could. All in all, this is as great a yoga class as I take anywhere and Lauren is an exceptional talent. One of the best. HE will always make sure to get I AM You in once a month even if he has to stalk Lauren to all her exotic retreats. Spain anyone?! 

She Sweats: As I mentioned in our last post about AS ONE, June was a rough month for me work-wise.  Even though HE and I are finally starting to get back into the fitness swing of things, HE had an inkling or two that my mind was still a little stressed out from the past month. His suggestion for I.Am.You couldn’t have come at a better time! HE didn’t give me ANY background information, HE just sent me the link and told me to RSVP.  RSVP? I RSVP instead of sign up through a MindBodyOnline account? Ok. I clicked RSVP and was prompted to send an email to Lauren saying I wanted to attend. A little while later, I received an email back saying I was in! I arrived to the address on Mulberry Street, the day of the class and find myself standing behind a few people dressed in yoga gear waiting for an elevator to take us up to the studio…wait, no….her apartment! I walked in and there were yoga mats set up in Lauren’s loft apartment. The apartment was amazing and the second I met Lauren I instantly knew this was going to be like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I was SO intrigued about this whole situation and HE could see it on my face.  HE told me to just wait to hear her story because it’s going to amaze me. Which it did. She used to work in finance and when the economy crashed she got certified as a yoga instructor and began having friends over every Saturday morning at 11am to practice teaching on them.  Eventually, friends would bring friends, who would bring more friends, and Lauren realized she had strangers in her apartment every week who wanted to take her class. She ended up leaving the finance world to teach yoga full time. The class started out as the most relaxing yoga class I’ve ever taken. We sat there and concentrated on our breathing as she talked to us about Awareness. She really knew how to clear our minds and I actually had goosebumps the entire first 10 minutes of the class because I was so relaxed and enjoying it so much. Eventually, she turned on her playlist and started instructing us. I really don’t know too much about yoga. I’ve been going to SLT yoga for a year and have gone to a handful of yoga classes at Equinox so I’m no pro to say the least. I really enjoy it as a way to stretch, clear my head and relax. I was familiar with most of the poses she had us do but I did notice the class was much faster paced than any other yoga class I’ve been too. I loved it though because it was a really hard workout and everyone in the class was dripping with sweat. Lauren was great with correcting form. Her playlist was straight up unbelievable. One of my favorite things about SLT is the music so I was happy when someone I met in the elevator before class told me I was going to love it for if anything else, her playlist. She was right. The end of the class was just as amazing and relaxing as the beginning. Similar to HE, savasana is my favorite part of any yoga class as well…I will join you, HE, if you ever happen to find that savasana only yoga class.  When we left the class, we realized it had been an hour and a half long but it went by so fast I could have sworn it was only 50 minutes. I texted every single one of my yoga loving friends after we left, raving about how they need to go to I.Am.You. I can’t wait to go back again! It was exactly what I needed that Saturday morning and Lauren is just so inspirational I intend to make it a regular part of my workout routine.

http://www.iamyoustudio.com/