Fitness | Chi Organic Girls

We know you’re looking at the title and thinking one of three things.

1) Where the bleep is Regina, SK?

2) What would anyone be doing in Regina, SK?

3) I’m from Regina, SK and I love it! Keep our location a secret please.

Or maybe some of you had to keep reading the word Regina to make sure this post was child friendly…

Regina, SK is a city in our lovely neighbor to the north (eh), Canada! The capital city of Saskatchewan sits above North Dakota in between Manitoba and Alberta. It has a small town feel yet still a plethora of fitness (there’s even a Lulu Lemon) and healthy food options, making it a fit trip destination.

Victoria Square is one major area of activity. Every Wednesday and Saturday, local vendors come out to the weekly farmers’ markets in the square. Fresh saskatoons (little dark berries akin to blueberries) and alpaca yarn gloves abound as well as food trucks with up north delicacies like bison poutine (definitely not healthy, but worth a try!) and stands with green tea mint ice cream sandwiches.

Zero calorie poutine…fruitless wishes

Victoria Square also hosts free yoga classes on their meticulously lady scaped lawn. As I snooped around the market, I noticed that there was Bollywood Yoga the next day. The experience pushed me out of my comfort zone.

Sponsored by Bodhi Tree Yoga, Bollywood Yoga Groove was led by teacher, Colin Hall with beats provided by DJ Dev. The best and worst part was the mix of yoga and bollywood dancing. In between poses, the class would bust out some dance moves and my sometimes shy self was made to prance around the park with fellow yogis in a free style dance session (shudder!). When you do let yourself go, it can be quite freeing or…it can be like the painful look I saw in a pale Canadian man wearing a flannel.

To this I say: “Yoga isn’t meant for the weak, flannel man. Buck up and prance like everyone else.”

Oh yoga bottoms…not even aware of what will come next.

For you non-prancers, Regina also hosts a series of pathways at Wascana Lake. Visitors can kayak, canoe, run, walk or skip if they so choose throughout the 9.3 square kilometer park (darn metric system). There is also an island that can be rented for private partying, P. Diddy style.

For more information on the wonders of Regina, check out http://www.sasktourism.com/places-to-go/regions/regina.

With a multitude if yoga studios in Chicago, how does a brand new yoga business set itself apart?

Zen Yoga Garage is unassumingly tucked on Milwaukee avenue in between Western and Leavitt. The stand out feature? It is literally housed in a garage space.

The studio features 2 pristine studios; one which maintained the garage door format that can be cracked open during classes to allow the summer sun and breezes in, and the other which has windows that peek into the alley way.

The most attractive feature of the studio were teaching staff. Each class that we took during our free week was delivered with care and attention. The teachers were were quick to correct form and helped challenge yet also relax members. Class offerings range from the traditional vinyasa classes to the heated weight bearing Yoga Buddha Burn class to a barre yoga class. Owner, Piper Parker, also teaches and provides a welcoming and warm vibe, making it accessible for those new to yoga.