"We have a lot of people coming in craving the warmth," says instructor Ashley Pehrson. "People walk in the room and they say, 'Oh, this is so pleasant,' because they've been out in the cold."
Storm says that the slow, flowing Vinyasa moves are accessible to beginners but challenging enough for the most experienced. You can schedule a private lesson, too.
The U.S. Botanic Garden's Conservatory features a jungle with exotic plants and trees as well as a warm, humid environment for those craving a respite from the winter blahs.
(Lucian Perkins - The Washington Post)
|
|
"Yoga is about the inside, about what is within," he says. "We use the body to get into the mind and heart and spirit. The heat is just to keep the room at ambient temperature. It allows you to 'build your own fire.' It creates energy, like stoking a fire in a train."
I feel warmer already.
THE GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF AQUARIA
"In the winter, you don't realize how brown and drab everything here is," (oh, yes, I do), "but then you go to the Caribbean and it's so green!" says Jim Karanikas.
Karanikas owns Tropical Fish World in Gaithersburg (Walnut Hill Shopping Center, 16529 S. Frederick Ave.; 301-921-0000; www.tropicalfishworld.com). With a degree in marine biology, he knows his way around a fish, and he is most illuminating on the subject of aquariums, salt-water and fresh, and in particular on the winter blahs-beating effects of something known as a "planted aquarium." As the name suggests, these are aquariums in which the plants take center stage (the fish serve as accents), and for serious enthusiasts, the art of the planted aquarium is like aquatic bonsai. There are even competitions (check out the worldwide entries in the Aquatic Gardeners Association's 2004 aqua-scaping contest at www.aquatic-gardeners.org).
For you and me, what's key is that a planted aquarium could be your little piece of tropical heaven. The water bubbles. The fish swim. But most important, "in the winter it's very soothing," Karanikas says. "For the planted aquariums we have full-spectrum lights that simulate full sunlight -- they're very bright. I love sitting in a dark room with that bright light and watching the fish swimming around -- it's so green."
The planted aquarium on display at Tropical Fish World is a 58-gallon tank. But a nice, three- to five-gallon desktop planted aquarium, complete with fish and all the fixings, might set you back maybe $125, Karanikas says. Or you can go for broke; the store has clients with custom-built, computer-monitored, 1,000-gallon setups that would run you more than a small car. Either way, Karanikas and his staff will sit you down and go over all the information you need to know.
Karanikas says it's not particularly difficult to maintain an aquarium. "Anybody who has the time and patience to learn and is eager and wants to learn about it, they can do anything that we can do in the store," he insists.
If, however, your idea of "time and patience" is instant-messaging, there's always the downloadable fish tank. Mac and Windows versions (with free demo download) of "Marine Aquarium" are available at www.serenescreen.com. While you're at your keyboard, torture yourself with a tour of Caribbean Web cams, like this one from Aruba: www.bucuticam.com.
