a yoga/pilates twofer

so there i was, stuck in traffic on the northbound 405. i had just left the office in torrance and was headed for my physical therapy appointment in century city. i was actually moving pretty well through the south bay curve, at least until i reached LAX. then one by one, the cars ahead of me started hitting their brakes.

and no, it wasn't because of an accident on the freeway; it's like this every single day! weekday, weekend, day, night -- it doesn't seem to matter; for some reason, traffic comes to a screeching halt on the stretch of freeway right around the airport. is it caused by all the out-of-towners who hop on and have no idea where they're going? or the travelers who are insanely trying to cut across four lanes of traffic to get from the carpool lane to the century blvd off-ramp? or motorists who slow down to marvel at the jets descending over the freeway towards the twin runways? whatever it is, it's pretty annoying... it's gotten to the point where i expect it to happen and have to give myself an hour to drive what should take half as long under ideal circumstances :(

anyway, it was while i was sitting at a standstill that i spotted the billboard:

Love Yoga Love Pilates
Yoga & Pilates Conference and Expo
January 23-25 - Hyatt Century Plaza
fityoga.com pilatesstyle.com

oooh... a yoga conference! because the sign was located near the century off-ramp, i figured it was going to be held right there by the airport. until i remembered that the hyatt century plaza was NOT on century boulevard but in century city, out on the westside, fairly close to where i live. hmmm... three days? with my busy schedule, i might be able to squeeze in a day or two...

what initially sounded like a combined yoga and pilates conference turned out to be two separate conferences that'll be held at the same time in the same place:

yoga evolution conference, presented by fit yoga magazine, and
los angeles pilates style conference, presented by pilates style magazine

since both have identical registration rates (full conference - $375 early / $450 regular; day pass - $150 early / $175 regular) and follow almost the same schedule (including breakfast, lunch, and evening breaks), it seems that you should be able to hop around from class to class, regardless of which conference you actually register for. other than by checking badges, it would be hard anyway to tell who belongs where... after all, don't all yoga devotees look and dress just like all pilates junkies? :)

i can't speak for the pilates side of things, but the yoga offerings sound fairly interesting:

Experience three mind-expanding days of asana and enjoy compelling workshops in Anusara, Vinyasa, Ayurveda, Body Rolling, Traditional Indian Dance and much more. Practice with the rising stars of the yoga world as well as some of its most illustrious teachers including Ross Rayburn, Sara Ivanhoe, Amy Ippoliti, Jill Miller, Kristin McGee, Moses Love, Hemalayaa Behl, and Cameron Shayne. Including special Ayurveda programming presented by our sister publication LAYoga Ayurveda and Health Magazine.

i've already blocked off my calendar and plan to attend. and thankfully, i won't have to drive past LAX to get there :)

i hope to see you there!

update: they've added a kirtan led by joey lugassy on thursday, the 24th, at 7:00pm... so there's even more reason to hang around after the sessions!