BUT HALLE BECKER IS NOT ONE OF THEM
I probably shouldn’t admit this, as the editor of a website about sports and fitness, but I don’t like yoga. I really don’t like it at all. I don’t like the music, how long the classes last, the seriousness of the teachers and the lack of personal space. But I do yoga like other people do workouts they don’t enjoy, because I know it’s good for me. I try to go with some disciplined regularity, once a week if I can bear it, because with all the running and spinning I do, I know how critical it is to balance out the intensity of those workouts with something stretchy. Whereas those workouts fly by as I dance my way through a SoulCycle class and endorphine out during a run, I find myself counting the minutes in yoga.
Now don’t get me wrong, I think yoga is an incredible workout, depending on the style. I think the toned yoga body, with its strong shoulders, high glutes and athletic quads, is one of the best you can have. I find myself awestruck as I look around the studio at regular people like me doing handstands and balancing on their arms with their legs tied in pretzel positions that I could never imagine getting into.
I joined Pure Yoga in NYC a few months ago assuming if I was paying monthly for classes I would force myself to go. That has kind of worked; I have a six class per month membership but only go about two to three times a month, so it has become very expensive, too.
So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon a Hot Power Yoga class taught by Halle Becker, aka “Halle Homegirl,” that I daresay I enjoy. I must confess she had an advantage going in: Halle is also an instructor at SoulCycle, of which I am a devotee, and a family favorite teacher. I was greeted with hugs and high fives upon arriving at my first class, and received shout outs for my down dogs. Who has ever heard of shout outs in yoga??
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