SoulPlay Weekly Warrior: Nikita

Nikita

1. Why do you practice yoga and what impact does it have on your life?

In general, yoga is how I manage stress. Right now, it's my switch between work and home. I can walk into the studio still thinking about a programming problem, but then walk out thinking about things like how I should call my mom, or which Bon Appetit recipe to try that night. Something happens in that hour when I turn my thoughts off for a change and surrender to a yoga sequence.

2. What's your favorite pose and why?

Baby pose, 100%. It's grounding, cathartic and simple - but feels different every day. Thinking about why is one way to cap my day.

3. What's your favorite thing about practicing at SoulPlay?

I'm late to a yoga class about fifty percent of the time. I work around the corner from the studio, and every evening ends with me looking at the clock, wanting to throw my computer out the window and go home. But then I convince myself to go to the studio at the last minute, leading to me sprinting for a 6:00pm class at 5:59pm. The staff doesn't just let me into the class (an uncommon policy, I've learned), they'll sneak me in with a smile and still ask about my day. It's the best welcome in an ungraceful situation, and it gives me one less excuse to skip a class (thank you, thank you).

4. What is your most memorable yoga experience?  

The first time I went to Lizzy's Body Burn class, I realized five minutes in that I was in over my head. I remember hate-crunching my way through the class, flames/sweat in my eyes, the carrot of one day being one-fifth as strong as Lizzy just out of reach. I managed to stand at the end and gave myself a prayer hands pat on the back for not rebelling in child's pose for the entire class.

I walked maybe ten steps out of the studio before being consumed by a visceral hunger - the kind that made driving seem like a dangerous activity - so I stumbled my way to the nearest food source. With a burger and a juice, I treated myself for a puzzling reason. I hadn't done a good job. I hadn't even kept up with the other students in the class. But at the same time I thought, who cares? It was probably the first honest time I stopped focusing on my "results" in a class. And it was best dang burger I've ever had.

(P.S. I love Lizzy's class and I've gone back many times!! It's a truly humbling experience)

5. If you could be a jelly bean flavor, which one & why?

Baking soda flavor. I recently messed up a batch of biscuits with too much baking soda and gave it to my co-workers for April Fools. By far the best prank flavor.