Put A Little Ohm In It

If you didn't get enough R&R during the Hurricane Irene "NYC Shutdown" weekend and find that you could use a little more ohm in your life, you should get blissfully excited as September is National Yoga Month. Frankly, I think every month should be yoga month as I always find that I can relax and unwind from urban stresses with a little downward dog.

photo credit: www.myyogaloft.com

The biggest perk of National Yoga Month is, well, free yoga, but more specifically, a free week of yoga at close to 30 Manhattan studios and hundreds more across the globe. By visiting this website, you can search for your studio of choice (including the likes of Yogaworks, Pure Yoga, The Sports Club LA and Reebok Sports Club/NY) and claim your free week pass. Keep in mind this is for new students only so if you've already checked out Yogaworks, you won't be able to go back there.

Yoga in Bryant Park, sponsored by Lululemon, also continues through the month on Tuesdays at 10 am and Thursdays at 6 pm. These free classes are open level and mats are provided. The athletics-wear brand is also sponsoring free celebrity-endorsed Physique 57 classes every Friday at 12:15, free with RSVP. Designed to tone and create lean bodies, this class isn't yoga, but it sure looks like a good workout to me.

While I'm talking about yoga, I must also throw a little plug in here for my favorite yoga class in the city. Recently featured on Good Morning America, Anti-Gravity yoga is a class that has changed my life by challenging me to push my limits (hello?! you're upside down and doing flips!) and helped me to find more (literal and figurative) balance. It's taught at a few locations throughout the city now, but my favorite is Om Factory in midtown. You can see photos and videos of classes on their website, but basically the class involves traditional yoga poses mixed with aerial arts all using the aid of man-made silk hammocks hanging from the ceiling. If you're like me and can't do or hate the feeling of traditional yoga inversion poses, you will love this class.

Why are you still sitting at your computer? Slip into your favorite pair of yoga pants, grab your mat and goooooooooooohm!