Hi there!  I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I managed to find a great way to work off all the BBQ the hubs and I consumed on Saturday and I promised a recap.  Well, the morning started out with a fun bike ride.  We hoped in the car, headed over the George Washington Bridge and . . . ta da!  We were in Jersey at the Palisades.  I have to say, in under 30 minutes, it’s amazing how much more greenery and nature you can get with still a view of Manhattan.  The hubs and I frequent the Palisades in the summer for bike rides because it is known for its tough hills, the largest being at the end.  You literally feel like the hill will NEVER end!  This ride is for serious bikers and I have to say that we see more spandex-clad, logo sporting, color wearing cyclists on this stretch of ride than we do in most other places!

After the ride, I headed off to Pier 63 on the Hudson River for Wanderlust Festival Yoga in the City.  Now if you haven”t heard of Wanderlust, let me tell you, it’s one of the most popular yoga festivals in the country.  The festivals usually last a few days and include yoga, music, performances, hikes, meditation, dance and much more.  Of course, if you can’t make it to a festival, there are some really great one day events in cities throughout the U.S. including San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles and of course, NYC!

So after our bike ride, I headed down to a nice grassy spot on the Hudson River to lay down my yoga mat and practice some outdoor yoga!

I was expecting the class to be incredibly crowded, but in fact because there were three sessions, there was plenty of space and I definitely didn’t feel smothered by other yogis.

Before class started we heard some welcoming remarks from Kristin McGee, a popular yoga instructor and a contributor to Health Magazine, an event sponsor.  We also got to see some really cool acro-yoga demonstrations.  Check out the photos!

We then got down to business with the yoga!  The class was broken up into two 30 minute segments with a different instructor teaching each segment.  There were six instructors for the entire afternoon.  I had the privilege of taking class with Twee Merrigan and Kelly Morris.

Twee trained with Shiva Rae and infused Shiva’s “flowy” style into the class.  I loved the dance-like movements and the sense of doing yoga with the earth and the sky.  I also loved the traditional vinyasas she had us doing.

Kelly had us focus on ask someone sitting next to us what one problem they were dealing with today and think about that person during our practice.  If was kind of nice to talk to someone next to me and find out more about themselves.  Everyone at this festival was incredibly friendly.  I guess that’s what you get when you go to a yoga festival!

At the end we rested in a nice savasana and I got to check out this view:

Not bad for a completely free day of yoga! 🙂

After class I went and checked out all the sponsors.  Check me out on the cover of Health Magazine:

Readers, did you go to Wanderlust or are you planning to go?

What’s your favorite yoga festival/event?

Do ever practice outside?