Getting a Grip – Rock Climbing

It’s nothing like scaling El Capitan, one of the most famous rock climbs in the world, but at a local place, you can get a taste for what it’s like to dangle without spending too much dinero.

Here I am admiring a giant rock near El Capitan in Yosemite
National Park, not knowing I would attempt it myself one day.
In a safe environment.  In a gym.

Coral Cliffs in Fort Lauderdale offers several different options for those wanting to scale – from climbing to belaying to bouldering.  We started with the “Intro to Climbing/Belay” class for $40.

Here I am attempting one of my first climbs!

A hands-on introductory class from one of the instructors showed us the basics of rock climbing and belaying – that is, securing the rope for the climber.

Here, Frank belays, while I climb to the top

Once you have the essentials, you have your choice of almost 100 courses.  All of the courses are marked with colored tape and a grade that shows the difficulty of the course.  The easiest grade is 5.5 (easy).  The grades at Coral Cliffs go all the way up to 5.13 (fucking hard).

I chose to stick around the 5.6 range, which was slightly challenging for a girl with no arm muscles.  But I still rocked it!  Check it out while I scaled this wall:

I’m not too bad at belaying either! 

Too bad we didn’t have the videos caught on tape where Frank fell and it lifted me up about three feet in the air!  Luckily some other gym patrons were there to help me get down and then belay Frank to safety.

I did get a little crazy… Frank wanted to attempt a 5.7+ though, and who was I to have him show me up? So I did it too.

It's the climb marked by orange tape

I was partially upside down for a moment, and even though someone is holding you with rope, it’s still a little scary.

If you’re not one for heights, bouldering may suit you – and it’s just $15.  You don’t need any ropes for that, as you are just moving from side to side.

Also, you don’t need as much gear when you boulder.  When you climb, you need the following gear, which you can rent at Coral Cliffs:

You can get all the gear for a special rate of $10.

When you boulder, you only need the shoes ($6) and the chalk bag ($1), which would bring a day of bouldering to just $22. 

Because a day of climbing (assuming you brought a climbing partner and have already taken the class) is $19, that will cost $29 per visit with the gear.

Coral Cliffs also offers team building classes, which would be really fun to do!  I wonder if my school will spring for it… 

Total Cost: $40 for a class and unlimited climbing that day
Best Deal: $135 for 7 visits, including gear (must be used within 3 months) – I’m totally doing this over the summer!

Five Ways to Practice Yoga for Free (or Almost Free) in South Florida

I’ve been practicing yoga for about 12 years now.  I dearly love feeling center, challenging myself with side plank, and performing upward dogs.

But the price of yoga is ridiculous.  I remember when I took my first class out of college (where I had been practicing for free), it was $6 a class.  At a studio I went to a few months ago, I paid $17!  I joined the gym for a few years, but found the people there weren’t serious.  So, I started searching for ways to practice and not break the bank.  Here are five ways to get grounded without going broke.

1. Yoga at the West Palm Beach Library

Free

When I first went to the library to practice yoga, I expected the same crowd as the gym – a bunch of people who didn’t have their whole heart in their yoga practice.  I. Was. So. Wrong.  The instructor was amazing and the people in the class were serious business.  The West Palm Beach Library now offers four classes a week: on Tuesday at 5:45pm and 7:00pm and on Saturday at 9:45am and 11:00am. 

Click here for more information about yoga at the West Palm Beach Library.

2. Yoga Day in West Palm Beach

Free

 

This is by far the most awesome yoga event I’ve ever been to.  Thousands of yogis, dozens of vendors, and several amazing instructors get together to put this event on every year at the Meyer Amphitheater in downtown West Palm Beach.  You’ll find several different yoga sessions going on at once, from classes for kids to partner yoga.  On the main lawn, there’s always a huge class, led by very talented professionals.

 

Did I mention this is free?!  I usually attend two classes (which would normally run about $34 at a studio), but you could stay all day and attend five classes if you want and save $85 in yoga fees!  Yoga Day has much more than yoga too, they also featured aerial yoga (which I hope to do soon), hula hooping and balancing.

You’ll also find food trucks specializing in healthy food!

 

Yoga Day this year has passed (it was February 24), but it will be back.  Maybe even Frank will join again.

 

Click here for more information about Yoga Day.

3. Yoga at Community School

Less than $4 per class

If you live in Palm Beach County and haven’t taken a class at a community school, you are missing the deal of a lifetime.  Not only have I taken several (cake decorating, salsa dancing, French, and Italian), it is dirt cheap.

You probably get the flyer in the mail every semester, but if you don’t, you can check it out online.  More than 18 yoga classes are being offered for the spring semester (which officially begins April 15), one as low as $26 for 8 weeks – that comes out to $3.25 a class!  While that particular class is at Seminole Ridge Community High School, which isn't close to most people, there is almost guaranteed to be a class at a school year you!

Click here for more information about yoga at community school.
 

4. Yoga Fest 2013

As little as $5 for a class

Yoga Fest takes place in Fort Lauderdale and is in its third year.  I’ve never been before (and won’t be able to go this year because of prior obligations), but my studio puts it on, so I know it will be great!

I’ve already seen discount tickets available on Living Social - only one day left!), but if you pay full price, you’ll shell out only $20 for a whole day of yoga.  If you arrive after 3:30pm, you’ll pay only $5!  That late in the day, there is one class left, yoga with Keith Fox, who runs Yoga Fox, where I practice!

Click here for more information about Yoga Fest.

5. Connected Warriors

Free yoga for veterans and their families

This is something I learned about at Yoga Day this year.  The group, Connected Warriors, works to secure free yoga classes for veterans at studios all across the nation.

 

Though I’ve seen better organized websites, you can search by state to see which studios offer free yoga in your area.  I found a class on Fridays at 2pm at Yoga South in Boca Raton, which is a truly wonderful studio (it’s also where I found the classes for $17!).

Click here for more information about yoga through Connected Warriors.

Hopefully this list helps you explore this wonderful, and sometimes pricey, practice a little more economically… Namaste! 

Polo – The Only Sport Where You’re Encouraged to Drink on the Field

So, I’ve been gone for awhile.  Unfortunately, I’ve been working to finish my teacher certification because it’s crucial that I have an actual income.  Fortunately, even though I haven’t been writing, I have been having many awesome adventures.  Starting with the only sport where you tailgate through the whole game and drink on the field.

To think, all these years I’ve been forced to watch football, coerced into viewing basketball, and sucked into attending soccer games.  When all along, this was happening ON THE FIELD at polo matches.

Yes, my friends, you are served bubbly during halftime!

We attended this polo match at International Polo Club in Wellington, courtesy of one of my awesome co-workers.  Wellington is the “winter equestrian capital of the world.”

Perhaps Wellington's only claim to fame.  That, and the Mall
at Wellington Green.

Awesome Thing #1 About Polo: Almost everybody is tailgating.  The tailgating starts before the match and continues long after.

Courtesy of  Sari

You have to be a member to tailgate, or at least know a member.  I am lucky enough to know someone who belongs to the club.

Sari, on the right, was our "in" to this crazy event!

But even if you aren’t a member, the general public is allowed to watch the match and take pictures, just like we did.

Trying our best to pretend that we understand
the rules of the game!

Oh yeah, the polo game.  Here’s how polo goes: four players ride around on four horses during seven-minute intervals.  Those periods of time are called chukkers. 

During the chukkers, the players are speeding across the field on the polo ponies (not ponies at all, but that’s what they are called), with the horses kicking up dirt everywhere.  After a few of these chukkers, a 10-minute halftime starts.  This is also when the fun begins.

It is now that everyone rushes the field.  They are supposed to be stomping the divots, or pieces of grass the horses kicked up.  Really, everyone is just bee-lining for this:

Just bags of champagne glasses everywhere on the field, a
sport after my own heart! 

And then this:

Men driving pick-up trucks with bottles
upon bottles of sparkling wine unload
their bubbly into our glasses!  Forgive
the fuzzy picture, but I didn't want any
socialites stealing my pour!

Which brings me to…

Awesome Thing #2 About Polo: You are invited to drink on the field.  Once the wells ran dry of sparkling wine on the field, people were much more interested in stomping the divots.

Let’s just say, hypothetically, that you ran out of drinks while you were tailgating during this sport.  Not to fear.

Awesome Thing #3 About Polo: People ride around the perimeter of the field on bicycles taking your orders for Veuve Clicquot.

Don't be silly, I didn't run out of drinks!

I’m very grateful to my co-worker, Sari, who invited me to this wonderful event!  Anyone at all can attend on Sundays through April 21^st... trust me, it's better than baseball!

Total Cost: $10 admission fee, $10 for parking = $20
Best Deal: Well, it’s not exactly a deal, but you can pay $120 for a Champagne brunch!