As I walked toward the mat, I didn't know what I had gotten myself into.
Tovah Rich convinced me that to really understand her form of yoga, I had to experience it first-hand.
Rich is the instructor and owner of Sports Yoga Stretch, a new yoga studio on East Tanque Verde Road near Catalina Highway.
As a guy who had never done yoga, I always thought most men would never do it.
At first, most of the stereotypes I had about yoga were confirmed as we did the "child's pose" - basically kneeling and leaning forward with your arms extended in front of you. This form concentrates mostly on breathing.
After the child's pose, the forms got progressively harder. I could feel the muscles in my body struggle as I worked to imitate Rich as she easily switched back and forth between poses. After about three minutes I felt burning in my shoulders and arms as I tried to keep my body from hitting the mat.
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"My style of yoga is completely unique," Rich said. "I incorporate yoga, Pilates and Budokon into a very intense 45-minute workout."
My sampler workout ended after 10 minutes, although it felt like an hour. As I attempted to catch my breath, I felt the strength in my arms and shoulders leave my body.
It was then that I had to come to terms with the fact that I had lost all my energy after 10 minutes of yoga.
Rich moved here from Boston eight months ago and started Sports Yoga Stretch on June 6. She has always been into fitness and has been doing yoga for the past 20 years.
Rich moved here to be closer to her family, who live on the northeast side, and to start her own studio. She said she wasn't able to start her own studio in Boston because property there was too expensive.
Sports Yoga Stretch is unique in that the workouts are never the same. Other forms of yoga use a set number of poses the class does in the same order every session.
"There is no set routine with this style - it's up to me what kind of forms we will do," Rich said.
In Sports Yoga, Rich surveys the class to gauge students' ability and conducts the class from there. Although classes are more intense and fast-paced than in some other yoga classes, they are only 45 minutes compared to the usual 90.
Sports Yoga Stretch is open seven days a week and offers classes on a walk-in basis.
"Each session is only $10 and you can rent a mat for $2," said Marcia Rich, manager of Sports Yoga and Tovah Rich's mother.
While in Boston, Rich had a prominent client list that included professional baseball and basketball players, marathon runners, musicians and politicians. Rich worked as an instructor in several studios around the city.
"That was great because you saw people of all shapes and sizes," Rich said. "You got these guys coming in that are 7 feet tall, these guys that are tight with injury - everybody is dealing with something."
Rich said her classes helped her athlete and musician clients because during the 45 minutes that they trained with her, they could focus all of their attention on the poses and not on the distractions in their lives.
"It's all about your state of mind - it's not about what you can do, it's about how you do what you do," Rich said. "Whether you are an athlete, or whether you are at a desk all day, it will benefit you."
Kevin Nadakal is a University of Arizona student who's apprenticing at the Star. Contact him at 807-7776 or at starapprentice@azstarnet.com
