Blending Grace and Strength: My Barre Yoga Experience

Barre Concept

What is Barre Concept? It’s a popular exercise that has been gaining in popularity. It blends together the precision of Pilates as far as the positions and moves along with the grace and technique of ballet. Add a layer of the alignment yoga brings plus the strength from sports conditioning and you have the aspects of a Barre workout.

There is a plethora of videos on YouTube to try out in the comfort of your home.

My brief intro to ballet

I’ve long held an appreciation for ballet. When I was quite young, I was enrolled in a ballet class. In those days, my dad was a working, single dad; therefore, it became challenging to maintain a ballet schedule. It wasn’t long before I was withdrawn from classes.

I still cherished my ballet slippers and was thankful to have tried it. My appreciation for ballet also spawned my years long collecting of nutcrackers but that’s for another story.

My Yoga Journey meets Barre

Fast forward to present day, I have been practicing yoga for nine years and absolutely love it. While I mostly practice at home, I occasionally seek out a class to join.

I was intrigued to see a Barre yoga class offered at the nearby yoga studio. I did some research and tried a session at home, thanks to YouTube.

I felt confident enough to attend a class, so I booked. It was an early start time at 5 am. Despite not being a morning person, I made myself go, otherwise I would regret not trying something new.

The atmosphere of the class was upbeat, and I could hear music thumping from the upstairs yoga loft.

Fun Fact – The yoga studio used to be a wine shop the next street over from my dad’s home. I used to go there as a kid to the upstairs video rental store. My friends and I would pick movies for the weekend sleepovers. Oh, the nostalgia!

The lights were bright and the barres in place. I was eager to begin. The instructor was sweet, upbeat and encouraging which helped to keep the motivation and adrenaline going.

We had small Pilate balls as part of our routine. There was one point where she had us place the ball behind our knee, squeeze and while still squeezing, lift our leg out to the side 5 times. We had the barre for stability. The breath work learned in yoga helped us to breathe through it. She said we would get a J.Lo booty if we continued that practice!

Feeling the burn!

Next came the balancing act. We placed our Pilates ball on the floor, and while gripping the barre, we were told to balance on the ball with our feet, toes pointed down and do several plies. This was a bit challenging for me because I am no athlete.

I could feel the burn, but our instructor was encouraging, and I came here for the experience. All I could think of was my newfound appreciation for ballerinas and their endurance.

I was thankful for my yoga background doing this class. Even though I don’t work out much besides yoga, I had that to help me through the challenging parts. Yoga plus the breath work. Being mindful of my breath helped me along immensely.

I also feel this helped ignite a desire to try more things, workout wise. It will keep things interesting and fresh.

Ready for anything

After class, I felt energized, sore and refreshed at the same time. I was actually more productive through the day. I was also happy I tried something outside of my comfort zone.

Overall, I would attend another, but I will do most of these classes at home. Mostly due to the early start time. I will attend one every other month and do a class every week or two at home.

My goal is to gain endurance and heck, why not strive for that J.Lo booty she mentioned! Haha! The most important thing is doing something for my mind, body and spirit.

Yoga in and of itself is magical to me. I love it. If you’re a fellow yoga lover and are open to trying something new to add to your routine, I would recommend trying a class. Also, if you share an appreciation for ballet and are curious to try something new, why not try?