I would have never thought that I would continue yoga after completing the 40 day trial back in March! It even got to the point where my body started to crave for it when I skipped a day!!



It's now the place I go to when I want to relieve stress, find some sanity, looking for a good stretch, get a good night sleep, meditate and challenge myself! It has honestly changed my life physically and mentally.




I actually consider yoga as a "reward," if I finished all my readings / assignments and have time to do a class in the evening! I also consider "blogging" as a reward too! It's just a great motivator to be productive.




So two weeks ago, Jaclyn (my yoga instructor and my sister's classmate back in University - small world right?!) asked me if I was going to come to her and Natalie's "Yoga in the Vines" event at Niagara Falls! I told her that I would have signed up with my sister if I wasn't scheduled for work that weekend.




She asked me where I worked and then told me that they were actually looking for a photographer! She told me to get back to her if I could somehow take off work and help them out. I quickly started searching for someone to work for me because I didn't want to miss this fun opportunity with two of my favourite hobbies combined - yoga and photography!



Luckily, my close friend Allie was willing to because she knew how much I wanted to go!!




The morning started off with all of us hopping onto the coach bus and making a quick stop at the Oakville studio to pick up a few more yogis before heading to Niagara Falls!




The reason this trip was called, "Yoga in the Vines" was because the itinerary for the day included power yoga with Natalie, salsa dancing with Jaclyn and wine tasting at four notable wineries in Ontario!





When we arrived at the first winery, all the yogis were served a quick snack before setting up their mats to do Natalie's 60 minute power yoga class!!




Afterwards, that was when the wine tasting began!! We all sipped and listened to the host talk about his family's history in winery and the competitions they had won. Ryan taught me how to drink wine by holding it at the back of throat before swallowing. And yeah... this classy stuff ain't for me.




Here are a few more fun photos that were taken in the morning before lunch was served!





I was having so much fun with my brand new lens that I snapped hundreds of photos on Saturday and it was seriously so hard to choose only a few to share!






It was actually so cool not being on the mat and observing everyone doing yoga poses! You also notice little things like cute tattoos and pedicures!!




Afterwards, lunch was all ready for us! Since we were going to do some salsa dancing with Jaclyn, we were served a light lunch. I really enjoyed the falafel patty and butternut squash soup!





We were also served more wine during our meals. Since I am not into wine, I would just pour my drink into Ryan's or gave him my glass each time! He was really happy with it and I was really happy with it too!!




Now that I think about it, alcohol was probably their tool to get everyone drunk enough to be comfy dancing on the dance floor. And it worked!!




There were actually three people's birthday that day and it was so nice how they surprised them with cake after lunch! I realized that birthdays are a really big deal at my yoga studio. If they find out it's your birthday, they would announce it at the beginning of the class and then ask the whole class to sing you a happy birthday at the end when we're all dying in the wheel or bridge pose!





The problem with being the photographer is that I'm always in a hurry when I'm eating because I don't want to miss capturing a moment on my camera!!




And for some reason, my sister always seems to capture these attractive photos of me stuffing food down my throat...



After salsa dancing, we were on the road again to check out three more wineries that were in close proximity to each other!





So at each winery, we basically did the same things. We would listen to each place brag about how unique their products were, were served samples to try out and then given a few minutes to mingle with each other!




One of the things that I couldn't get over was seeing all the rows of grape wines! It seriously made the perfect backdrop for photos!!




Most of the yogis would do a yoga pose while standing between these vines! My sister and I thought we were doing an awesome dancer pose until we saw Jaclyn's...




... and ya... nevermind!!





Thanks for photo bombing Ryan!!! This photo below cracks me up every time.



After this trip, I honestly feel like I'm part of the PYC community now!! There were many people that I frequently saw in my classes and now I feel like I can easily say hi to them in our classes because the ice has been broken!!




This event couldn't have been a success without Natalie and Jaclyn!!! Thank you so much for asking me the photographer for this trip and I really hope this becomes an annual event guys!

Nichie said...

Your photos of human beings is literally so lovely and vibrant and just so great to look at.

Anonymous said...

Cindy there really are not enough words to describe my gratitude for these amazing photos!!! Can't wait for next year! Xoxo. Nat

Anonymous said...

Cindy, these pictures are absolutely amazing. You've captured all the emotion and connection this workshop inspired! Incredible. xx lauren

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