yoga day

Over 1000 people showed up for yoga on the steps of the Philly art museum today. It was great. I could do maybe half. Certainly no downward dogs. Plus lots of money was raised for Living with Breast Cancer. My friend Karen's charity. (Karen died in 2008.)

The class was about an hour and a half.

So my challenge for June will be to do a downward dog. Sounds simple, right. But I am not agile. Bonnie is. Replacement knee and all. It must be all the gym time she logs.

I used to be. Back in the 80s when I was young, Bonnie and I did the Jane Fonda workout in her living room, two three times a week.  (OMG it still exists online!) That combined yoga and other exercise. I was agile. Heck, I could even do the plow. Not anymore.

So I'm checking into some yoga studios. I guess I could buy a tape, but I know me. It will sit there sealed. I'm much better if I have to hand out cold hard cash.

The closest one is The Yoga Loft above Cantelmi's hardware store. I could get a 3-3.5 mile walk in round trip if I pick there. They offer Kundalini Yoga and plain yoga. I have no idea what the difference is. Plus Belly dancing and Pilates.You can sign up for a free Friday, and then pay for a 2-day Saturday Sunday class before making a serious commitment. They have a drop-in rate of $7, and then plans starting with 5 classes at $60. Not horrible. If I could get someone to go with me it would be even better.

Easton yoga has a free community class the first Sunday of every month. That might also be an option. They offer a variety of activities. It's on Northampton street which is quite a hill, and would make a great walk if you also hiked up the hill to the cemetery.

Back in my 20s when Bonnie and I tried different exercise programs, we'd go to eat afterwards undoing all the good we did that day. Today was no exception.

We parked in front of Eastern Penitentiary, a really scary gothic prison in Philly. We discovered walking back that there was lots of restaurants. We ended up eating at Jacks Firehouse Grill. Bonnie kept thinking the name sounded familiar. We finally put our finger on it. Remember when the Food Network was Food TV and Bobby Flay was young and grilled outside with a hick in overalls? Grilling and Chilling was the show. That was Jack. We ended up at his place. I think he has another one at the Reading Terminal market.

The food was great. A good portion of it raised in Pennsylvania. They even had fresh apple butter and right from the churn butter.