[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”false” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]The first class I took at JianSu Hot Yoga in Xinbei, I swear, almost killed me. I spent the better part of 90 minutes—when I wasn’t attempting to contort my body into exotically named positions—either chugging water or sprawled on my towel gasping lung-fulls of heat-heavy air. This was not magical, life-affirming, nor any of the other happy adjectives commonly associated with yoga. This was an entirely different beast. This was work.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”] 初次体验见素/暖瑜伽的时候,不夸张,真的差点要了我半条命。整个90分钟的瑜伽,完全无法让自己身体完成各种姿势,不是在大口喝水就是在大口呼吸热气。这种体验跟我们所了解的瑜伽体验完全不一样。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text][Modula id=’8′][/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]There are countless flavors of yoga offered throughout Changzhou at numerous gyms, yoga studios, and even the occasional private apartment. From flowing vinyasa to the long holds of yin, from prop-supported Iyengar to high-flying aerial, it would probably be possible to practice a completely different style of yoga every day of the week without leaving the city limits. A few things make JianSu Hot Yoga unique even in this populated scene. With a highly experienced American teacher on staff, JianSu Hot Yoga is able to offer classes in not just Chinese but also in English, and it does so daily. It also happens to be the only yoga studio in town, dedicated to Bikram yoga, the original strain of hot yoga developed in the 1970s by its controversial founder and namesake, and much beloved by Hollywood celebrities. [/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”] 你可以在健身房、瑜伽教室、甚至是私人住宅体验到各种不一样的瑜伽课程。从呼吸到屏息,从prop-supported Iyengar到 high-flying aerial,每天你可以在这城市获得不一样的瑜伽体验。但是在见素 暖瑜伽,有几点独到之处是你可能在别的地方无法体验的。他们团队中有自美国的经验丰富的瑜伽老师,因此他们可以提供双语瑜伽课程。而且是也常州唯一提供比克拉姆瑜伽课程的瑜伽教室。比克拉姆起源于上世纪79年代,也是被好莱坞名流们热捧的瑜伽。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]Bikram is a highly regimented style of yoga comprising of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises practiced in a specific order in a humid room heated to 40 degrees Celsius over 90 minutes. The atmosphere of a Bikram hot room has been engineered to help you stretch further quicker and also ensures you will sweat buckets. Devotees can list a dizzying number of benefits offered by practicing these particular postures in an extremely heated environment.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]比克拉姆瑜伽是在温度高达40摄氏度湿热的环境下,揉和了26个体式以及2种特殊呼吸训练于一体的瑜伽形式。在比克拉姆热瑜伽室里,能更快更容易地帮助你舒展身体的同时,感受挥汗如雨的畅快。热衷于热瑜伽的铁粉们会告诉再这样高温环境下练习瑜伽的益处。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ class=”cs-ta-center” style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-center”][Modula id=’9′][/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]When my first class was over and I dragged my soaked body out of the practice room, cool air rushed up to me in puppy-like exuberance. Suddenly, the previous 90 minutes of heat and pain made sense. In a traditional yoga class, it’s not uncommon to hear a yoga teacher motivating students to undertake a long painful hold by the promise of a rest at the end. The yoga classes at JianSu Yoga are a more dramatic version of this. You suffer through it because everything afterward is so very much sweeter: the water, the fruit, the shower, the air. I positively floated out of that first class, giddy and at peace with the world.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”] 当我拖着满身汗水的身躯从刚结束的第一堂课的教室走出来,一股凉风迎面吹来的那一刻,才真正感受到刚才90分钟的热量和痛楚都是值得的。一般瑜伽老师不会以结束后的休憩来鼓励你保持长而艰难的体式,但是见素的老师们会这样,因为当你经历了所有这些之后,你会发现你喝的水,吃的水果,淋浴甚至空气都美好了非常多。第一堂课后,我应该是踩着云朵飘出教室的。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]Fast forward a couple weeks. I was lounging on the reception sofa, celebrating my not giving up early on a demonic backbend innocently dubbed “camel pose” by some long dead Indian yogi over a bite of orange when my gorgeous, svelte neighbor (both in life and on the sofa) interrupted my internal gloating, “Do you want to do a yoga challenge? You have to go every day for 30 days.”
I laughed. “That sounds like a terrible idea. I would die.” Up until that point, I’d been averaging one class a week and was just on the verge of convincing myself to perhaps trying to complete two or three classes that week to see what would happen.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]我们快镜头到几周后,我摊在接待区的沙发上,我还在为自己自豪,刚才把也不知道哪个印度YOGI发明的CAMEL POSE给做下来了,正当我还在沾沾自喜的时候,同样坐在沙发上我美丽苗条的邻居把我拽回现实。
“你想参加瑜伽挑战吗?为期30天,每天都必须报道”
”这注意听起来太可怕,我应该会当掉吧“我笑道。
那时候,我刚能达到一周一次的频率,在努力一周2到3次的频率。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ class=”cs-ta-center” style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-center”][Modula id=’10’][/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]What my neighbor was proposing, though, was something a little more intense. The idea of the yoga challenge is simple. You just need to get your behind to the yoga studio and through a class every single day for thirty days. No exceptions, no excuses, just show up. All that extra yoga, of course, comes with all kinds of possible benefits, strength, flexibility, weight loss… On paper, it’s a no-lose proposition with the only caveat being that you must actually go to class and do yoga for 90 minutes every single day for those thirty days. It doesn’t even have to be beautiful yoga, nor even your best yoga. Just stick it out in the room and do something. Simple, right?
If I have one weakness, it’s that I am an incorrigible enabler, and so when my neighbor said, “I think I want to do it, but I need someone to do it with me,” my fate was sealed. You want to ride a giant inflatable duck through Changzhou’s canals? I’ll show up with a pump and a paddle. If you want to spend 10% of your waking hours for a month bending into weird positions in a room designed to resemble India in the summer, I’m your yoga buddy.
I began to calculate out how many meetings I would have to push around and meals I would have to skip to make this challenge a reality, “Okay, when do we start?”
“We started today,” She smiled.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”] 我邻居的建议的挑战听起来有点压力。瑜伽挑战的概念其实很简单,你只要在30天内,风雨无阻的去瑜伽教室报道。这些所有的付出,当然也能给你带来很多收益,比如增强体力,身体柔韧性加强,减重等。看起来是个没啥损失的建议,唯一要达标的是这30天每天必须到,然后完成90分钟的瑜伽课程,不一定要是很完美的瑜伽,也不一定是发挥最好的状态下的瑜伽,只要坚持到瑜伽教室报道,然后坚持到最后,听起来很轻松对吧?
我有个致命的缺点就是耳根软,当我邻居说”我觉得我想参加,但是我需要一个同伴。“我沦陷了,你这时候让我坐着橡皮鸭游常州的运河,我会立马带上充气泵和浆出现在你面前。如果你要让我牺牲掉10%的时间在一个近似印度夏日的房间里完成一些奇怪的体式,没问题,我就是你的瑜伽小棉袄。
接下来,我就开始琢磨我需要调整多少聚会以及牺牲多少顿餐来完成这个挑战。
”没问题,我们什么时候开始?“
”今天就开始。” 邻居笑道。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ class=”cs-ta-center” style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-center”][Modula id=’11’][/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]A bead of sweat pulsates at the arch of my right eyebrow, threatening to drift down into my eye at a moment’s notice. I can’t brush it away as my limbs—bent and entangled in front of me in a twisting balance quixotically referred to as “the eagle”—are currently preoccupied. I don’t think any real eagle has ever dealt with this dilemma. I ponder the salty bead just long enough to feel my body tilt dangerously to the side. That is a mistake. My attention shoots back to the front of the room where teacher David is listing body parts and the varied directions they ought to point to maintain equilibrium. My left foot whines at me as it struggles to link the rest of my body to the floor without toppling.
“And change,” David says.
Blood gushes back into muscles and joints as I unwind and reset. The sweat bead does indeed fall into my eye. I squint and blink while preparing to twine myself back up.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”] 一滴汗沿着我的右眉毛处游走,眼看就要滴进我的眼睛。这时我根本无法抹掉它因为我的手臂都无暇顾及,他们正艰难地凹在身体前力图保持一个平衡的类似于“鹰”的姿势。我觉得鹰都没有这样窘迫的体验。在我正在被汗滴困扰的时候,David老师正在讲解身体的每个部分可以延伸到很多方向,并保持身体的平衡。这时候我的左脚在为维持身体平衡不跌倒抗争着。
“现在换个姿势。”David老师说道。
停下来调整的时候血液都涌至身体每个肌肉和关节,那颗干扰我的汗滴滴了下来,我眨下眼,继续。[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text][Modula id=’12’][/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]Twenty consecutive days of this and I am still alive – a kilogram or two lighter, a little straighter, and very sore in places I didn’t know could get sore, but still alive and thriving. I’ve avoided two colds that took out everyone I knew, and rather than getting nothing done, as I had feared, I’ve actually become more efficient and productive with the time I have. My yoga buddy is sporting some very enviable abs and the kind of flexibility that I thought only resided in ads and yoga magazines. We both still complain of scheduling difficulties and groan when it’s suggested we could come twice a day if either of us brags about not sweating quite so much during a class, but we also agree that we want to continue going “maybe five days a week” when the challenge is over.
While nothing miraculous has occurred thus far during this challenge, I’ve been pleased with the results that have cropped up so far, and there is something comforting about practicing the exact same yoga I can find in Bangkok, Seattle, Zurich, or Buenos Aires.[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-justify”]20天连续的挑战,我还活着,体重少了1到2公斤,躯体直了些,以及一些我从来没预料到的身体部位会酸,但我坚持下来了。这期间我逃过了2次波及周遭的流感,而且整个人感觉比以前更有效率。我的瑜伽小伙伴,更是可以完全媲美那些我以为只存在于瑜伽杂志上的模特。当然我们还是有抱怨安排时间的艰难,然而我们开玩笑道如果我们每节课下来还是能流汗没有那么夸张的话,我们甚至可以考虑一天上2次课。但是我们有认真在考虑,等这次挑战结束后,我们要保持一周5次课的频率。
通过这次挑战,当然不可能有惊天动地的变化,但我真的很欣慰我享受到在曼谷、西雅图或者布宜诺斯艾利斯的同样课程所能享受的愉悦。
[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h3″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”true”]JIAN SU HOT YOGA[/x_custom_headline][cs_text]Room 601, 3-7 Fu Chen Hua Yuan, Tai Hu road and Hui Guo Road[/cs_text][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h3″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”true”]见素 暖瑜伽[/x_custom_headline][cs_text]太湖路惠国路交叉路口府琛花园3-7号601室[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_line style=”border-top-width: 1px;”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-center”]Article by Theresa Boersma
Translation by Hui Chen[/cs_text][x_share title=”Share this Post” share_title=”” facebook=”true” twitter=”false” google_plus=”false” linkedin=”true” pinterest=”false” reddit=”false” email=”true” email_subject=”Hey, thought you might enjoy this! Check it out when you have a chance:”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]

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Theresa is an American writer, artist, and tinkerer with a soft spot for interesting projects. For the past decade, she has collaborated with a variety of companies and organizations in television, online, and in print. Currently, she is active as one of the founding members of the Changzhou-based social happenings group, SUP.   家有两位萌宝的Theresa,是一名作家、艺术家、喜欢捣鼓有趣小发明的美国妈妈。过去十年,她活跃在电视、网络、杂志报纸领域。TK是常州外籍人士生活导航网站T-GUIDE的创始人,目前是常州外国人活动平台:微信公众号SUP的主创之一。