Every year, the employees at Hallam-ICS are treated to an amazing selection of activities, where people get to mingle, laugh and experience with the other employees- often not in their own direct work group. Not only does everyone get to have fun, they also get to know another side of their work colleagues!
Of the plethora of choices that were on offer, this year I chose something different. Yoga.
Sacred Mountain Yoga Studio, situated on the third floor above a burrito joint, musical instrument store and another yoga studio all connected by an old creaky staircase, was the venue for our inaugural Yoga Hallam Day activity. The room was a very nice mixture of natural light, brick veneer and comforting ambiance.
From here, we settled in with a nice mellow introduction and light banter where we met our first instructor, Jane. We then started on our first series of vinyasas.
Our yoga experience was varied between all the participants- from experienced instructor to first timer and everything in between. It was such a treat to be able to breath, concentrate and move into the varied postures whilst at the same time appreciate the noises from the downtown hustle and bustle of the nearby Church Street traffic.
Our first class was roughly 90 amazing minutes of free flowing vinyasas which is the term given to describe a sequence of poses and breathing techniques organized in specific way. Chaturanga to Upward-Facing Dog to Downward-Facing Dog is something that you can hear quite common during these energetic and intense yoga sets.
After the first class had finished we all had worked up quite the appetite and Brenda led the way!
We headed towards the healthy B-GOOD located on Church Street, and being a beautiful day outside the yoga team chose to sit outside and catch some beautiful Vermont sun which really helped the amazing food go down. As we sat enjoying our lunch we saw another group of Hallam employees and guests heading to their Paint & Sip activity. It was nice to chat with them briefly, and to see others enjoying the day as much as we were.
After lunch, we headed back to the studio for our second session.
Our second session was a very different type of yoga called Restorative Yoga. Our heavily pregnant instructor Jane (different Jane!) was amazing with her knowledge and calmness that resonated through the entire class. A much slower, focused, breathing oriented style which complimented the more quicker, energy demanding (and creating..!) style earlier in the day. By using more props and the surrounding walls we slowed our heart rates down significantly. The fewer intentional postures of this style is all about slowing down and opening your body through passive stretching. It is a completely different experience than most contemporary yoga styles. Not only did it allow the body to slow down but also gave the mind the chance to slow down and concentrate on the breath, which in turn creates a form of moving meditation.
We all finished the day on a high and were extremely grateful for the opportunity that we were given on Hallam Day, to participate in such an amazing activity!
It was such a fun day and to share it with an awesome group- Brenda, Casey, Jen and Liza made it even better!
About the author
Spencer Lambert is an Instrumentation and Controls Technician based out of sunny Vermont. He has been involved in a variety of projects since joining the Hallam-ICS team in 2015.
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About Hallam-ICS
Hallam-ICS is an engineering and automation company that designs MEP systems for facilities and plants, engineers control and automation solutions, and ensures safety and regulatory compliance through arc flash studies, commissioning, and validation. Our offices are located in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Vermont and North Carolina and our projects take us world-wide.
