The last time I went to the Brentwood Farmer’s Market, I was given a flyer for a new cardio fitness class called ‘Rayve’. I stuffed it in my bag and forgot about it. On Monday morning I woke up early and it was already hot outside. As a regular exerciser, I was up for a work out but it felt too hot to go for a jog. Then I remembered the flyer I had in my bag. I started off my week at a ‘Rayve’which takes place at Gym Box, a sweat mecca on San Vicente near Montana. Theclass is only $10 and includes valet parking – a no brainer in my opinion.
In the Gym Box studio, I was greeted by a fit looking lady wearing day-glow clothes with the letters R-A-Y-V-E on her chest. She turned out to be Plavka Coleridge, the instructor and creator of the exercise. She handed us all glow sticks and proceeded to turn down the lights in the studio. What was happening?
Everyone else seemed to be regulars as some even had day glow tops on too. Plavka cranked up some cool mellow music and proceeded to guide us through some stretches. She said the main things to remember throughout the class is to breathe and listen to the beat. She stressed that we are all unique and thus don’t need to make the moves look identical to how she did them.
We moved in to high gear with loads of hopping, pulling, skipping and reaching. It all gelled to the high energy rave music. I was relieved it wasn’t proper dancing though. Don’t get me wrong, I love dancing but I’m two left feet when it comes to choreography. The fact that the lights were turned down was fantastic too. I was drawn to the beats and felt uninhibited. By this point I was feeling sweaty and alive! My favorite part was when Plavka played a tribal drum track and we all hopped around the studio like native Indians. Before I knew it, she announced that 45 minutes had passed and it was time to cool down. By this point I was feeling high from all the cardio and ready to take on the world! Who would ever thought, you could cut loose to loud, awesome music, get high and be ready for work without a hang over or losing sleep.
Rayve Classs takes every Monday at 10:00am
Gym Box is located at: 11980 San Vicente Blvd. LA 90049
Sign up for a spot on: www.rayvecity.com
