I love trying new fitness classes. Always have, always will. Which is why CorePower Yoga's introductory offer that gives you a free week is so awesome. I'm a sucker for this type of thing. Try before you buy, am I right?

I'm a regular at TITLE Boxing Club (where I now teach!), but I wanted to try something different while I was home for break. Boxing and yoga always felt like the best combination — yoga was for slowing down, for finding peace. Yes, I find peace in boxing as well, but it's an entirely different kind of peace. In both, you focus on the importance of breath.

Photo by Bizzy Coffee // Sports Bra: Lululemon

I liked Bikram but wanted something that was faster paced. I liked Vinyasa but I wanted something that built up more of a sweat. CorePower is the perfect combination of both — most classes are heated, it flows quickly, and true to its name, it encompasses a good amount of core work.

Like with boxing, yoga pushes me to my limits. It shows me that I can do more than I ever thought I could, like doing a headstand and a chinstand for the first time and finally getting back into crow.

It empowers me. It shows me how strong I am, how strong I've grown. From upgrading to heavier weights in Yoga Sculpt to holding horse pose for longer than I thought I could, so long that pain left my body, I leave every class feeling alive.

Photo by Bizzy Coffee // Sports Bra: Lululemon // Leggings: Lululemon

It humbles me. It reminds me that there is so much more that I can always do, so much more that I can achieve. I am not perfect, nor do I need to be.

It gives me peace. No matter where I am in life or what I'm feeling, I leave everything beyond the four corners of my mat out of my mind. It's just me, my breathing, and my body.

Photo by Bizzy Coffee // Sports Bra: Lululemon // Leggings: Lululemon // Mat: Manduka Eco Lite

I walked out of that yoga class, as I do out of every yoga class, with gratitude in my heart and contentment in my soul.

The thing is, going to new fitness studios can be scary. I was thinking about that as I drove to TITLE yesterday — I had been gone for so long that people didn't really recognize me, that I didn't know that I had to bring my own mat now. My heart beat faster than I'd like and my breathing shortened.

Some people give me sh*t for this, but I love fitness franchises like TITLE and CorePower. Because no matter where you are, you know that the experience will be the same. It'll be a kickass workout that you love. If you try it, love it, and feel safe there, it's a place that you'll return to over and over again.

Photo by Bizzy Coffee // Product: Bizzy Coffee

And when you work out as much as I do or travel as much as I do, it's nice to find a little bit of familiarity when you travel. After returning to the same studio day after day, people begin to recognize you, welcome you, joke with you, push you more and more.

So find that place where you feel at home. Allow it to be your second home, your sanctuary, your place to leave anything that's going wrong in your life at the door.

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by CorePower Yoga or TITLE Boxing Club, nor was I given any type of compensation for this. All opinions are my own. This has been edited since its last publish date (5/14/16).

Fun Note: I'll be starting my Yoga Sculpt teacher training at CorePower in March!

the importance of finding a fitness studio where you feel at home