Hot Yoga at The Yoga Lounge

 

 

Well lovelies, I wouldn’t be a good friend to my friend Nisha if I didn’t tell you about her new venture.  Nisha and her business partner Jane have just opened an amazing Hot Yoga and Pilates Studio in Manchester (UK).  I’ve never done hot yoga before, although I’ve done yoga (unknowingly for about 15 years or so I did yoga when I was dancing - yoga moves are used for ballet/dance warm up) and I started proper yoga classes about 10 years ago and I’ve been practising ever since.  So was actually quite excited when the girls finally the studio a couple of weeks ago and invited me to my first HOT yoga class.
 

Nisha is my oldest friend; we used to play together when we were children.  As you may guess from her name she is of Indian heritage (her father is Indian, her mother English) and has practised yoga since being a child.  She’s actually my inspiration.  She is THE hardest working, driven person I know and she is a brilliant role model.  She has trained all over the world and is continually striving to learn more in order to pass the benefits on to her clients.   She first opened a Pilates studio a number of years ago in our local town and has also been teaching yoga all over the North West (including training some of the country’s hottest football and rugby stars – including Everton) ever since.
 

So now you have the background, let me tell you a bit about my first hot yoga experience.  I rocked up at the studio on Deansgate, not really knowing what to expect.   After being asked to take my shoes off (no shoes are allowed past reception) I left my valuables in a little locker and proceeded to the changes rooms … did a quick change, walked along the corridor and into the ‘hot’ studio.  Now, I know it is a ‘hot’ yoga studio, but I don’t think I was quite prepared for quite how hot it was going to be … when I walked in, I promptly turned round and walked back out, deciding to wait outside until the class began (I wondered why there were so many people standing outside when I walked past ... Duh).
 

Our instructor was Suzie (and what a lovely person and great instructor!)  I had a really good chat with her after and asked tonnes of questions; she explained all about the benefits and how to get the best out of the classes.  Well, I can honestly say that I’ve never sweated so much in my entire life (which is a good thing!) and after about 10 minutes, I could really feel my muscles opening up.  I have to admit that it was really hard, but good hard.  The yoga moves weren’t too much and would have been easy to follow if you haven’t done yoga before, but equally as powerful for the more advanced … it was the hotness of the studio made a massive difference to my practise.
 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish the class and had to come out after about 50 minutes because I was just too hot, but apparently that’s quite normal for your first time – Suzie said that it can take a while for you to adjust to the heat and it’s quite alright to step outside if you feel you have to (although she did show me a great recovery position to try which opens up your lungs and helps you to breath more openly).  However, all things considered, I have to say that I LOVED IT and I’ve already been back and managed the full hour.  What was most surprising was that for the next couple of days after each class, my skin has been amazing.  Apparently that’s another bonus from the hotness of it all.  All that sweating gets rid of the toxins.
 

Before I went I was slightly worried about being in a room with so many sweaty people and the potential for germ transference, however, the heating system they have at the Yoga Studio is unique to the UK … it heats surfaces rather than the air and the carbon dioxide is sucked out and fresh air pumped in, massively reducing the chance of any contamination … brilliant and totally safe!

 
 

Hot and Sweaty at The Yoga Lounge, Manchester

 

All in all, it was a fantastic experience and one I can’t wait to try again.  If you haven’t tried yoga, especially hot yoga before, I strongly suggest that you give it a go.  It strengthens and elongates your muscles and makes you much more subtle … If premier footballers think it has fantastic benefits, who am I to argue!

 

 

In case you’re interested, here are the studio’s details:
 

http://theyogalounge.co.uk/
 

Until next time lovelies … be fabulous!
 

Lots of love
 

Jx

 

Evil Dead

 

This is another quick post ... I’d love to be telling you how exciting my weekend has been, but it’s not!  Yesterday, I had a lovely lunch/catch up with my cousin Phil (he’s like my big bro and I love catching up with him), I then went to the cinema to see Evil Dead.... hmmmmm.... and today, I’ve been to a rather boring seminar.  So not really the most exciting of weekends!

So let’s get right to it ... Evil Dead *** (3 Stars)

I must have seen the first one ... I must have, but I can’t recall it.  I didn’t really know what to expect from this version other than what I’d seen in the trailers and I’ve got to admit, this version wasn’t great.  It was unbelievably predictable.  It was very akin to Cabin in the Woods only that was done with a few more twists and a bit of panache.  This to me was totally clichéd and your basic slasher, blood and gore, teenage on the rampage type film.  No surprises, lots of blood and only one (minor) twist.

The story (as if you can’t guess) a group of kids end up at a disused cabin in order to aid one of them on a major cold turkey detox.  They smell something funny in the cabin, go into the cellar and find lots of dead animals hanging from the ceiling an ancient book encased in a plastic bag and covered with barbed wire.  The smart arse kid (there’s always one) decides to read the book and translate some of the words (big mistake ... massive!) and unleashes an ancient evil with devastating effects.

That’s it in a nutshell.  If you really like teenage slasher type movies (think Hostel etc), which I really don’t like and usually avoid at all costs, you’ll love this.  There’s nothing clever about it, there’s no real psychological edge to it, it’s just out and out gore ... and not that well done either.  Hey ho ... here’s the trailer, although it's not gory, if you get scared easily you may wish to give this a miss :-)

   

Right lovelies, that’s me for another day.  Speak soon, until then, be fabulous!

 

Lots of love

Jx

Oblivion

 
I almost forgot to do this review!  I saw Oblivion at the weekend.  That’s Tom Cruise’s new film and to be honest, as I’m not a huge fan of the pint sized, alien loving scientologist, I really wasn’t that fussed about it.  Obviously I’d seen him plugging it all over the place, but to be honest, I wasn’t really that impressed with all that jazz ... when there’s that much fuss over a film, it tends to make me think it’s going to be rubbish (because they usually are when they’re so hyped).  However, I’m happy to announce that it was marvellous.  It was a joy to behold and I loved it!

Tom plays a drone repair man – one of the last remaining human’s on Earth.  During a battle with aliens, our moon was exploded sending Earth into chaos.  The majority of humans have been shipped off the planet and Tom is left to make sure that the extraction of Earth’s resources goes without a hitch.  However, when a spaceship crash lands a chain of events is triggered which forces Tom to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

There were so many twists and turns that I absolutely didn’t see coming - it was quite spellbinding!  Give it a go ... you won’t be disappointed.  Here’s the trailer...
 

 

Well that was just a quickie lovelies ... more soon, until then, be fabulous.

Lots of love

Jx

Dark Skies and Bloody Steak!

 

 

Well I had a lovely lunch with my dad yesterday and actually had my 4^th ever steak - I’m a converted red meat eater – I’ve never eaten steak before, but as I’ve just found out that the reason for my recent lethargy was due to burgeoning anaemia, I’ve broken the habit of a lifetime and found that I absolutely love it ... the bloodier the better, “Just walk the cow past the kitchen” type bloody!  Weird.  If you’d have said I’d be craving virtually raw steak 2 months ago, I’d have said you were certified bonkers!  Funny how your body really does crave the stuff you need ... not sure where wine comes in to that equation, but hey ho.

After lunch, I decided to have a little trip to the cinema and the only film I haven’t seen which I actually fancied was, Dark Skies and I loved it!

Dark Skies **** (4 Stars)

I’ve got to be honest, the reviews weren’t brilliant for this film but I’ve never been one for listening to others’ film reviews – they’re usually written by people so far removed from me and the type of person that I am, that their view point is of no use to me.  Also the Director, Scott Stewart, has directed some of my favourite films including Priest and Legion, so it couldn’t be all that bad!

The story ... a husband and wife witness an escalating serious of disturbing events involving their family.  When it becomes clear that they are being targeted by an unimaginably terrifying and deadly force, the couple take matters into their own hands.

I’ve got to be honest, although it wasn’t the best film I’ve ever seen (the father character was a bit whimpy and annoying), it did keep you hooked all the way through and at one point, I literally jumped out of my skin, as did half the people in the cinema judging from the sounds everyone made!  Brilliant!  That doesn’t happen very often.   They cleverly lulled you into a false sense of security then BOOM!  Go and see it ... you’ll enjoy it.  Here’s the trailer:

 

Right lovelies, have a wonderful week and be fabulous.

Lots of love

Jx

The Worst Film Ever - The Host

 

Well this is a really quick post, but I thought it would be a bit of a public service offering. 

 

I went to see The Host yesterday and it would be extremely remiss of me if I didn’t do a post to warn you:

DO NOT SEE THIS FILM!

It was without a doubt the worst film that I’ve EVER seen (and that’s a lot of films).  It was glib, boring and cringe worthy beyond anything I’ve ever seen in my life.

I’m not going to bore you with the story, suffice to say that it was about aliens taking over the bodies of humans ... one human gets infected by an alien but doesn’t die, we then have to listen to the most appallingly cringe worthy running commentary from the human about what the alien is doing throughout the film.  It was THE most tedious film and so cheesy I had to hold down the vomit.  Yes, it was that bad.  I thought the book was bad (I abandoned it after the first chapter) but nothing could prepare you for this load of rubbish.

This is the first time ever, but NO STARS for this one.  I’m not even going to add the trailer in case you think it looks quite good and decide to waste your money on it!  There are so many better other films out right now, Trance and Side Effects to name but two that completely blow this one out of the water (no that it would be hard).

Right, now I’ve had my little rant and hopefully saved some of you from wasting your hard earned dosh, I’m off to eat Easter Egg!  Enjoy you week lovelies and be fabulous!

Lots of love

Jx