Bambikitty Moving Makeover: Raissa

What I love about these fit girls is that they have such wonderful stories to share with how they went in their fitness journey. Aside from hearing them, I love witnessing their fitness journey unfold before my own eyes.

I met Raissa at the yoga studio. She was still a Vinyasa yoga teacher in training and I was in my pre-teacher training yogi self. We usually attend the same classes and get to hang out after class.

Once, my friend (and fitness blogger) Nikki had a  training program and she did that program with a couple of other friends. I've witnessed her do her HIIT and circuit training after yoga (joined one session as well and didn't die!). Coupled with a few lifestyle changes and diet (which includes one cheat meal a week), I've seen Raissa trim down, tone up, and strengthen. She lost weight the old fashioned way, making it a lifestyle change rather than just vanity, which is the key to a very successful fitness journey. She has maintained the figure and upped her fitness game as well as living a well-balanced life. As of the moment, Raissa teaches Vinyasa classes, Hot Yoga, and Power Yoga. I attend her classes which have both restorative and relaxation as well as challenge to help you go deeper in your yoga practice. It was through her that I discovered and embraced yoga being everyday a leg day (also helped with my transitions and practices where I tend to arm out everything and sometimes solely rely and blame things on flexi). I recommend them at any time of the day, whether it's the morning when you want to wake up, or when you're just tired from work. The energy is steady enough while feeling the challenge and it winds down slowly towards then end, and you get and feel the relaxing benefits of yoga, like you came from a spa.

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A photo posted by Rai Gatus (@raissagatus) on Oct 27, 2016 at 3:32am PDT

With regards to her exercise regimen, Raissa does yoga, rowing, and cycling. She loves taking walks as well (walking is also a sneaky way of getting some movement to your system).

Two things we also have in common aside from fitness are beauty and food! We love food with flavor and character, in short, happy, good food. We have our veggies as well as our cheese and ice cream. She also introduced me to stay-put makeup products made by her good friend and we talk about our love for brow makeup. We have the same mantra about brows - never leave the house without awesome, gorgeous brows. See how I love these girls?

I did Raissa's look after she taught a Power Yoga class. She would still have one class at night so I made sure the makeup stays put (I used primer, long-lasting foundation, waterproof mascara, and makeup setting spray) as she would be going out after.

Since she was game for makeup, I did warm smokey eyes on her using coppers, browns, and a tad of red or chestnut, a look I fell in love with. I did a nude lip on her (Revlon Ultra HD Matte lip color in Seduction), which are very Kylie inspired. Cheeks were warm and peachy and I added highlight using my Lou-minizer palettes. I skipped the falsies, though as she would be teaching one more yoga class.

I styled her hair in soft curls, the type that when it loosens up, it will look like the donya blow-dry, with the curls loose and volumized just at the ends.

You can catch Raissa's classes at Beyond Yoga branches. Log on to Beyond Yoga's Instagram account for their schedules. Follow Raissa as well on Instagram at @raissagatus to get updates on her fitness journey as well as her adventures off and on the mat. Thank you Raissa for being my December girl!

Space to Love: YogaHive

My favorite spaces involve quiet spaces lately that involve me being able to devote 150% of my self to the job. For makeup, I like cold, controlled temps where the model doesn't sweat and my makeup in good condition, good power supply, privacy for the model and myself, and lots of natural daylight. To teach yoga, I like a space that inspires meditation and peace.

One of my favorite places to teach and do yoga is YogaHive, which I have been teaching some of my classes as a substitute teacher. YogaHive is located in the heart of Makati CBD, very accessible to offices and residential areas. It's  right in front of the Jaime Velasquez Park, where they hold the Salcedo Saturday Markets weekly. It's got the nice, relaxed spa-like atmosphere but it's in the city. I'm very much a city girl. I like being in a place that's 30 minutes to anywhere I need to go max. Despite being right smack in Makati CBD, it has a very chill vibe you wouldn't know the offices near it are super busy.

The reception area is total living room peg. Are you the type who's super stressed at work that the moment you get out of the office you run to your yoga studio for some chill out time? While waiting for your class, the reception area, complete with wellness books and comfy chairs and sofas already prep you up for a relaxed yogi vibe.

I've fallen asleep on that daybed once. it's my most favorite spot.

If you want to take your practice at home, a bit of shopping for yoga equipment to get you started. They also sell cute yoga outfits because we can never have enough yoga wear (or sportswear)

The studio is perfect for your practice, with lots of space for large classes and spaces in between students to do the stretchy twists.

stretch before class

YogaHive offers a lot of yoga classes - Vinyasa (Easy and Intermediate), Yin Yoga, Hot Vinyasa, Yoga Start. and Power Vinyasa for the yogis that want a strong practice. They also offer special fitness classes such as NT Sweat ( a fitness program taught by fitness blogger and yoga teacher Nikki Torres),  CoreWell (fitness meets wellness), and pole dance and fitness.

They recently added Broga, a strong yoga class geared for men in their list, which they launched last week. Broga will be taught by Paulo Leonido.

Yoga For Life Teachers Quino Reyes, Me, and Paulo Leonido at the Broga Launch Last Saturday

I invite the boys who read this blog to go try this super strong and super fun class, or invite the men in your life like your friends, dads, brothers, boyfriends, husbands, or cousins to try out Broga.

If you would want to start your fitness journey here, you can walk in the studio and check out their rates and inquire. They are located at 101 Three Salcedo, 123 Tordesillas St. Salcedo Village, Makati City. You may also call (02) 7290254. Go with friends or just by yourself.  I'll announce if I'll be subbing some classes and I really hope I see you there!

A Yin Experience

I've had a lot of friends who practice yoga, are passionate about it, and even went to studying on teacher training. Which is why it did get me to be curious. I'm familiar with yoga and I've done some home DIY practices I've stumbled online or in magazines, but never classes. I want to, and am open to, especially when I got into fitness. I'm glad two of my yoga-enthusiast blogger friends Ria and Jane organized a yin yoga event for bloggers and it didn't take enough convincing for me to say yes. It was rainy too that day (also, it's a perfect yin weather) but I still went through with the class and excited about it. I first heard about yin yoga from Jane and she told me it's a passive kind with yoga, that targets the deep connective tissue. She knows I have an obsession with getting bendy and flexible and splitty and she told me this would help a lot.

Yin yoga is actually a calming yoga practice where we come into poses with our muscles in a relaxed state, instead of tensing them up or engaging them. The poses are held on for like 3-5 minutes and just let gravity and time take you deeper into the pose. As we go along our very active lifestyle, our body tenses up and we kinda lose our flexibility in the process. It somehow starts to make sense as I remember Kayleen telling us that we need our stretches after we do our squats to gain our flexibility back. Last weekend's bridal fair also had me standing up most of the time with tense wrists and arms and as I wrote this, it kinda made sense why my split was higher again when I went back to pole class the following day.

I was at Beyond Yoga in Il Terrazo earlier than our call time and I had a chat with Ria before the session. I asked her about her journey to yoga, which she started becoming passionate about. I met Ria 2 years ago. Back then, she weighed 40 pounds heavier and had an unhealthy lifestyle. Now lighter with a calmer disposition, she is now in yoga teacher training and a full vegetarian.

Our teacher, Donna Tumacder-Esteban introduces herself to us and also a bit of yin yoga. I love how she explained it and how it made sense for those who never heard about yoga. And just so you know, we have no headstands in yin yoga.

The yoga class started with us sitting in a cross-legged position allowing out minds to calm down as we start getting curious with our body. I noticed that my breathing was faster and shallower and as usual, I was tense around the shoulders and neck. It took quite a while for my shoulders to drop. Hip openers came next and we did the butterfly pose, something I'm familiar with as I do a lot of these in pole class and it somehow feels like a torrent of hell on earth is removed from me. I think it's because girls carry a lot of stress on the hips though, I'm not sure.

photo by Ria

I'm quite flexible on the hips as than most people so this pose was quite easy for me to bring my forehead to touch my foot. I felt the stretch on my outer hips too and I love splitty hip stretches.

Donna spots me for this other pose, and teaches a bit of modification so I could get the stretch up to my neck.

This hip stretch didn't make me cry as much as the caterpillar pose did, since it needed a bit of back bendiness. However, towards the later part of the stretch, I felt myself getting lower in the pose. I didn't fight it and just surrendered, relaxed, and felt a deeper stretch. The end of the session had us do a Savasana pose, where we lay in stillness. By this time, I noticed my breathing get a bit slower and deeper and there was a time that I would be able to just not breathe for a few seconds and then go back into another deep, slow breath. The session ended with Donna answering a few questions, and demonstrating more poses. She showed us a snail pose, which was much like an inversion. When I tried it, surprisingly, I was able to execute the pose and hold it longer. I also tried doing a split, and I was able to make it lower and squarer.

Group picture! Spot me na galit sa saplot.

That's my fellow polekitten Anna! She's awesome on the yoga mat as she is on the pole.

Ria also shares her favorite healthy veggie recipe of incorporating more vegetables in our diet using a Green Smoothie recipe.

I see mangoes, I see bananas and I see what? :Pechay and malunggay? Ria was like, "yes, pechay!" Quite unusual but I was game. She mixes plain yogurt, mangoes, bananas, a bit of cold water with malunggay and pechay

It looks green but promise, it tastes awesome and delicious. In fact, I was so inspired that I went to the grocery after and bought a lot of fruit and vegetables for a home version.

Yin yoga is an awesome complement to the dynamic exercise I have. Actually, after the session, I felt energized and my whole system reset. Aside from the fruits, I also bought a yoga mat after for home practice.

Thank you Jane and Ria for the invitation, and Donna for that marvelous session! More fitness love!

Beyond Yoga is located at 3F II, Il Terrazo building Tomas Morato Ave COR Scout Madrinian St. Quezon City. Contact them at inquire@igobeyondyoga.com or at  0917 -5BEYOND (0917-5239663)