Yoga - Day 31

Sad day, last day of yoga and last day working with my good friends at my current place of employment. It’s been a good run all around, and I’m sad to see it go, but I’m looking forward to my new adventures as well. I think I did pretty well at yoga today (considering it was 5:30 am), and my dear friend made me breakfast and let me shower at her house before heading to my last day at work, so it all worked out rather well. No going back now, on to the next adventure!

Yoga - Day 30

Just one friend and I tonight, but it was a good flow class lead by my favorite instructor. I’m getting better at the more difficult poses like “Side Crow” and headstand, which is kind of fun. I wonder if I’ll be brave enough after this month to try and keep improving these poses. I don’t know if my sweat glands were just more open tonight after the Fire class yesterday, but I’ve never sweat in a Flow class as much as I did tonight. One last day tomorrow, and it’s going to be a crazy one . . . 5:30am Flow! Let’s do this J

Yoga - Day 29

It’s rather fitting I guess that my last day of yoga is my last day at my current job. I am so sad to be leaving, but I’ve enjoyed it so much (kind of like yoga). It’s going to be really, really hard not seeing all of those wonderful people that I work with every day as often as I do now, but I hope I’ll still get to hang out with some of them occasionally. I’m really looking forward to my new job too, another new adventure J Yoga tonight was the 90 minute, 105 degree Fire class. It was tough and I was very sweaty by the end, but it does make me feel kind of powerful and flexible at the same time. Only two more days . . .

Yoga - Day 28

“Slow Flow” class tonight was pretty good. I got a good workout, but it almost seemed too easy. One good benefit I have noticed of yoga, and I may have mentioned this already but I think it is rather important, is that I have gained a new awareness of my body and my posture. I notice more often when I am slumping my back now, and am much more aware of the alignment of my spine and how my body moves. I’ve also noticed how small parts of my body that I didn’t consider very powerful before (like my feet, for example), really have some strength in them and are capable of quite a lot. It’s been a fun realization along this journey that is yoga month J (Side note: there was an awesome rainbow over the highway on my drive home . . . I felt that I could almost drive underneath it . . . God is good J).

Yoga - Day 27

I did yoga with a new friend today. She had never done yoga before, so it was fun to share it with her. My regular yoga buddies were either not feeling well or went to another class, so it was nice having someone to go with. We went to the 9 pm “Relax” class and it was indeed relaxing. I was again stressed and not feeling very well when I went and felt SO much better when I was done. The teacher gave us some scented oil in our hand during our final relax period that we could rub on our shoulders or neck, etc. I did both and it felt great. I wish I could have done all 30 days of hot yoga because they just started a program that if you do that you get a t-shirt when you are done . . . I want a t-shirt L Oh well, I will have my awesome newly acquired yoga poses as souvenirs instead.

Yoga - Day 26

Another Flow class with my favorite instructor. I don’t know why I like her so much, but I think it has something to do with the fact that she teaches us some of those poses that makes one think “how in the world is she doing that?!?” . . . that’s what I want to learn J Today I got “Side Crow” on both sides, not for a very long time, but definitely longer than I thought I would be able to.

 (Image from http://www.fitsugar.com/Strike-Yoga-Pose-Side-Crow-2405633).

And I did a headstand out of a tripod today J I’m very happy about that. It probably wasn’t perfect since I couldn’t see myself in the mirror to gauge how straight I got my legs, but I felt pretty straight. It didn’t last long either, but it was pretty cool while it lasted. Now I’m up late baking, surprise surprise, I’m going to be so tired tomorrow. What a long last couple of days, long but good. I can do it J

Yoga - Day 25

Ahh, so nice to be back in the hot yoga studio again! Early morning Flow class was just wonderful this morning. We convinced another girl from work to join us too, so there were all four of us there . . . so much fun. I’m going to be sad when this month is over, it’s been a great experience and I’m so glad it is something that I decided to try.

Yoga - Day 24

Early morning easy Rodney Yee yoga at the B&B. Nothing too exciting, just stretching out and getting ready for our long drive home. 7:30 am hot yoga tomorrow J

Yoga - Day 23

Whew, I did the Jillian Michael’s workout again today . . . that one is tough. I couldn’t do quite everything on there, but I definitely worked hard. We are at a lovely bed and breakfast for our last night in Canada and we got a really nice room with a little sitting area complete with TV, so I was able to do my work out much easier than when I tried to do it at the campground. This place is really lovely, and I will be sad to leave Canada tomorrow, but it’s been a great vacation and I know I have lots to do when I get home. So it’s been a great break, but I am looking forward to getting back to my yoga studio too J

Yoga - Day 22

It’s our 3^rd anniversary today J We are going to see some monuments and waterfalls today. I wanted to get my yoga practice out of the way early on, so right after breakfast (which was rather late as I’ve been sleeping in every day J) I did the “advanced” Rodney Yee video again in the same spot as yesterday. It wasn’t as windy today and the sun beating down on the tarp actually made it rather warm in my little yoga spot, not quite “hot yoga” warm, but still pretty nice. The video has some weird “cardio” aspects in it that involve a lot of arm swinging and little hops. It’s kind of weird. Oh well, I still got my hours’ worth of practice in . . . now to go have some fun!

Yoda - Day 21

I tried another Rodney Yee yoga DVD today . . . the 50 minute advanced work out. It was much easier than most of the classes at the hot yoga studio, but definitely not as crazy as the Jillian Michael’s one that I tried the other day. No difficult wheel, camel or crow poses, just a few warrior one and warrior two poses, but it felt much more like yoga than my “yin” stretching yesterday.

Warrior I

Warrior II

Also, I tried a different spot (under a tarp my husband put up over the tent) and the ants seemed to leave me alone, so today was much better. Still nowhere close to my enjoyment of the hot yoga studio, but at least I felt more relaxed than the other day, and it is good to get in tune with my body and nature at the same time I think. I think the campground should have yoga classes on the beach or something J

Yoga - Day 20

I did pretty much the same yoga routine tonight as I did last night because by the time we got back to the campsite, it was about 9:30 and I didn’t feel like doing my yoga outside in the cold and dark. Plus, my legs could still use quite a bit of stretching, so that’s what I did. Unfortunately, being on a somewhat squishy air mattress, covered by a thick sleeping bag and surrounded by cold temperatures, does not make for a very good yoga practice. I was distracted by the sounds of the campers around me, and my husband was moving in and out of the tent and when he moved on the air mattress, of course I moved too. Plus the space was cramped and I couldn’t breathe very well in the poses where my face would be on the mat. I don’t really feel like I did yoga today, it was more just a little bit of stretching. Oh well, only a few more days of this improvised yoga and then I get to go back to my hot yoga classes . . . they are so much better.

Yoga - Day 19

Crow pose

So we hiked to the “Top of the Giant” today in Ontario (near Thunder Bay). It was a pretty tough hike, but the views at the top were spectacular. I decided to try to do some nature-inspired yoga while we were up there J I saw a crow, so I did the crow pose, and then there were lots of trees around, so I made myself into a lovely tree among the trees. On the way back, instead of going back the shorter, flatter way that we came, I decided it would be more fun to make a more looping path. Since we are cheap and didn’t feel like spending $11 on the topographical map, we didn’t realize that the mountains were connected and our hike was ridiculous and our round trip for the day was about 18.5 miles of hiking (there were some serious bits, not just walking on a trail) that we completed in eight hours. This lead to very sore knees, feet, hips, and legs. Therefore, my yoga hour for the day (which of course I saved until after the hike) was a very “Yin” practice. I did lots of leg and hip stretches and held them for about four minutes each. My legs will thank me in the morning J  

A tree amongst the trees

Yoga - Day 18

I got in tune with nature doing my yoga today. Let me tell you, it is not as glamorous as it sounds. At the campground, I wanted to find a somewhat secluded area so people walking by our campsite wouldn’t think I was crazy, so I found a small patch of grass behind our tent (since the ceiling in our tent was too low to do my practice in there) and I used that. I watched a Jillian Michaels yoga DVD and it was much more intense than the Rodney Yee one yesterday. She made it more like aerobic yoga where a lot of the poses were fluid between poses (does that make sense?). At any rate, it was tough, and I couldn’t do it all. Granted, the uneven, rocky ground with the large tree root in the middle of my mat made it a bit more difficult as well. Also, since I couldn’t have my laptop plugged in, of course the battery died right before the video was over, so I didn’t get to see the very end and just had to make up my own cool-down segment, but I still got a good work out. Let me tell you, the “shavasana” (corpse pose) at the end is much more difficult outside. I normally don’t have a problem just letting it all go and relaxing into my mat, but ants don’t seem to respect that my mat is my space and I can’t relax when I feel things crawling on me . . . gross. So for all the issues that came up, the one highlight was doing a sun salutation and looking up at the blue sky and clouds and feeling that sunshine warming my back during my practice. God truly has made a lovely creation.

Yoga - Day 17

Well, this is the earliest I’ve done yoga yet . . . 5:15 am. I was supposed to start at 5, but of course, I turned my alarm off and fell back asleep ;) I did Rodney Yee’s Yoga for Beginners DVD. It was pretty good, but when my husband asked me how it compared to my classes, I had to say “easy”, and “not as warm”. I miss the stillness and focus that comes more easily in the yoga practice room than at home, but as an alternative to accommodate our busy travel plans, this worked out pretty well. At least my body got some nice stretches in today, I think that will really help prepare me for the long day in the car.

Yoga - Day 16

My last day of hot yoga before my vacation L Granted, I am very grateful for the vacation, but sad I’m missing out on my hot yoga. I did get a few yoga videos to take along, and I think I know enough poses now to make up an hour’s worth of practice for myself, but it probably won’t be in the best order like a class would be. Tonight’s class was a “Core” class so my abs were definitely burning for part of it. For the inversion section of the class (designed to get your hips over your head in really any way possible) she said we could just do whatever we wanted, which I’m not used to, so I was just looking around aimlessly so she came and helped me do a rather easy one. She demonstrated a head stand, and since I didn’t get to do one in class, I made my husband help me when I got home J I’m so intrigued by the tough poses, I really want to push myself so I can do some of them by the end of the month. Yoga is cool J

Yoga - Day 15

Well, I’ve made it about halfway through the month and I’m feeling good. I do have to say (and pardon the details, but in the interest of full disclosure I feel I must share this), I have never sweat this much in my entire life. I could feel it running down my whole body and when we were doing inversion poses, it was running into my mouth (gross) and I even felt like my ears were sweating. Hooray for Fire yoga at 105 degrees for 90 minutes. It was sweaty and hot and difficult, but I feel so good when I’m done. I never got a “runner’s high” from all of that running I did, but I definitely feel good after hot yoga. My whole body feels more fluid and relaxed. This could have been a really stressful month for me with the new job and having to leave all of my friends at my old job, but the yoga has been really good for me just to take a lot of deep breaths, trust that God has everything under control, and r-e-l-a-x. It doesn’t hurt that it’s making me stronger and healthier at the same time. I’m going to be bummed when this month is over (although I saw a new Groupon today for hot yoga at a different studio . . . one month of unlimited classes J) . . .maybe I'll have to get that.

Yoga - Day 14

Slow flow class today. It was a bit easier than the previous two days, but it was still hard work. Learned a new pose today . . . frog pose. There are so many fun yoga things to do. I’m really going to miss hot yoga when I’m done. We are going on vacation next week so I’m going to have to do “nature yoga” because we are going camping, but I think it will be fun. Oh, in other news…we saw a real, live skunk digging in the grass near our car in the middle of the city today . . . how odd J

Yoga - Day 13

Today was just as tough as yesterday. She had us do all sorts of tough crazy poses like wheel, tripod, crow, and headstand. I almost got the headstand! I was very excited about that J I’m going to be sore tomorrow. We are supposed to set an “intention” for each practice, and today I picked “courage” . . .. see where that got me ;)

Yoga - Day 12

Something that I have to remember to mention tonight . . . I noticed it in my very first class and I thought it was funny. We are supposed to have our fingers spread out when we have our hands down on the mat . . . like starfish J I think that is one thing that I will remember from this month for a very long time. Anyways, today’s class was pretty core-intense, even more so than the actual “Core” class that we took on Thursday. I could not do everything that she was demonstrating, but I still feel like I got a pretty good workout, and made some progress on my “Side crow” (I can get it on one side, but not the other). This class was a fun mix of strength exercises and yoga stretches. I think the instructor we had today was my favorite . . . I hope I get more classes with her before the month is over.

Pretty yoga girls :) 

Yoga - Day 11

Today was a relaxing late Saturday morning Yin class (deep stretching). I was having issues with my legs getting all tingly (probably from lack of circulation) while I was in some of the stretches, so I couldn’t hold them quite as deeply as I wanted, but I still feel like I got some good stretching in. At the end, the instructor put a little bit of peppermint oil on the backs of our necks and ears and it was a very relaxing end of the class . . . I almost feel asleep J

Yoga - Day 10

After work “happy hour” yoga was definitely needed today. I’ve been rather stressed lately with work stuff (I just got a new job so today was the day I got to inform most people at my current job . . . kind of a stressful situation). It was the smallest class yet, only five participants, and one really wanted to work on her lower back so we focused on doing a lot of poses to strengthen the lower back. My husband has back issues, so he really should have been there, but he is not too sure about this whole “hot” yoga idea so I doubt he’ll join in the fun. At any rate, it was a nice end to the work week, and I feel like I’m much more flexible than I was a few weeks ago . . . we’ll see how I feel at the end of the month J

Yoga - Day 9

First “Core” class today . . . ouch. My core was definitely feeling it. It was nice that it was a little later at night and the teacher slowly turned the lights down throughout the class so by the end it was dark and now I’m all ready for bed. It’s really cool how yoga can be so intense and relaxing at the same time. We’ve been trying to convince some other people from work to come, but so far, no luck. We’re just all enjoying every day that we get to go and I’m very happy with how I did tonight, even with the crazy “crow” pose (I don’t know if that’s what she was trying to get us to do, but it was close, so that’s what I did). Try this on for size:

(Image from http://www.menshealth.com/yoga/poses.php)

Yoga - Day 8

Another good day of yoga today. It was a very hot class today . . . 105 degrees. It was fast paced and challenging though and I felt like I had accomplished something when I was done. I feel like I squished my abdomen too much, but hopefully it will feel better tomorrow. I was definitely sweaty by the end of this class (I don’t usually sweat much), so that was progress. I should go shower now!

Yoga - Day 7

It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole week of hot yoga already. I really like it and wish I could continue after this month, but the studio fees are a bit more than my budget has room for. Today’s class was a little more intense than yesterday’s, but not as difficult as tomorrow will most likely be. It’s really nice to take that hour for myself to just relax and not have to think about anything. I fully intend to enjoy every class and try my best for all the classes I am able to take.

Yoga - Day 6

Another rather relaxing late night class. This one was called “yin” class (as opposed to the “yang” classes where we work on strengthening the muscles I guess). Tonight we focused on easier poses but held then for longer, some for as long as four minutes, to help stretch the deep, connective tissues instead. My hips are definitely feeling it now, and they said some people feel taller afterwards. That remains to be seen, but as I am rather short, I’ll just pretend that I’m taller, even if I’m not ;)

Yoga - Day 5

We got a new member of our little yoga group now, another girl from work. We visited the other yoga studio tonight and it was the most relaxing class we’ve been to so far. I didn’t sweat too much, and I felt very relaxed after class. I think this is doing wonders for my stress levels. I made a little progress on my poses too . . . I think I did a pretty good shoulder stand and I finally got the camel pose and could reach my heels. Here’s what those look like:

Shoulderstand

Camel

(Images from http://www.menshealth.com/yoga/poses.php)

Readers, I think you should be trying some of this at home J

Yoga - Day 4

Me and my tea

Another good day of yoga, although it was awfully early in the morning. I must have changed a lot this year because I had a little yogurt for a light breakfast before I went and when we got there, they have a cute little tea/relaxation room, so I was brave and drank a whole cup of tea before yoga class. Last year I didn’t eat yogurt or drink tea, so I’m doing pretty well at trying new things this year J The class was a little less intense than yesterday, and I felt pretty good about it. I am happy that I have a little more time between classes as tomorrow’s class isn’t until the evening. My body could use a little time to rest. I think I should go take a nap now J

Yoga - Day 3

I’m still rather sore in the shoulders today, but I’m excited for another day of hot yoga. Strangely I’m even regretting planning the vacation a little bit, just because I’m going to miss out on my hot yoga days. It’s okay . . . regular yoga will have to suffice. Class today was pretty good, it was a similar style class to yesterday, but with a new instructor. I think perhaps my circulation is improving already because I’m usually very cold at work, and I haven’t been lately. Also, I have noticed that I’m less stressed and have a happier demeanor . . . all from 2 days of yoga. We’ll see if it really is the yoga and not just a random phase later on this month. I don’t really sweat a lot either, but I think that is changing. The room today was 95 degrees and I think I sweat more in that one hour than I have in all of the rest of the year combined (even rock climbing and running didn’t make me sweat much). I think this will be good for my pores and my body in general (I have pretty healthy skin, but am very prone to lots of acne on my face, so I’m hoping this month will help that too . . . we’ll see). So, even though we weren’t planning on going to hot yoga today, I’m glad we did, and we have another class with the same instructor bright an early tomorrow morning at 7:30 (on a Saturday . . . why do I do this to myself?). In other news, two of our other friends from work will most likely be joining in the hot yoga craziness. They saw how much we were enjoying it and decided they would come too . . . how fun is that? This month is going to be great J

Yoga - Day 2

Another good day of hot yoga. We had a different class with a different teacher (and a little cooler room . . . only 95 degrees today) but it was still fun. It’s more difficult than I thought it would be. They do a nice job of offering different suggestions to make things easier or harder depending on what different people need. There are some things that I tried that were really hard. It’s funny how many of the poses are named after animals. The tops of my shoulders are very sore and instead of just doing regular yoga tomorrow, we signed up for another hot yoga class. I really like this stuff, but we’ll see how long my body can hold out. So much craziness, so little time J

Yoga - Day 1

Lovely tea room at Dragonfly Hot Yoga Studio

Today was my first day of “hot yoga”. If you know me personally, you know that I’m always cold and it takes quite a bit of heat to warm me up. So even though it’s August and rather hot outside, I’m still generally cold at work, so I am looking forward to spending time in the hot yoga studio. I won’t go to the studio every day (an exception I planned this month as we are hoping to go camping in a few weeks and I can’t take my yoga studio with me), but I’m hoping to get in as much hot yoga as possible. One added bonus this month is that my friend (you may remember her as the “Ganache Queen” from Cake Month) agreed to go to hot yoga with me, so this is a joint adventure.

We're ready!

I really enjoyed my first hot yoga class. We had gone shopping a few days ago to get yoga/running clothes (running clothes work well as they are designed to wick the water away from your body and sweating is one thing that is guaranteed in hot yoga) so I had some fun new outfits to get me in the yoga mindset . . . I looked the part at least J I changed after work and headed right over to the studio. We got a tour because it was our first time there, and I was rather impressed . . . it’s a pretty nice place. We were a little early, so we laid out our mats (with towels on top to catch all of the sweat . . . eww, I know), and just chatted for a little while before class started. It was a one hour class in 105 degrees. I don’t know why we decided to start with one of the hottest classes first, but it sure made the lower 90 degree temperatures outside feel nice when we were done J I felt really good after class (even though there was one pose that didn’t feel good, the camel pose I think, and I couldn’t do the lotus tree standing on my right leg because my left ankle is hurt and can’t twist that way, so I just did the regular tree instead). I don’t usually sweat much, so I think this will be good for my body, as long as I remember to drink water regularly throughout the day to stay hydrated.

Okay, that’s enough for today. I am really looking forward to the rest of this month now . . . wish me luck J 

August Reveal

So, have you been wondering when I’m going to do something crazy again? I bet you have, and guess what? The time is now. I’ve been sitting in front of my computer for the last month and it’s been a while since I’ve had an exercise month, so it’s time for that again. Any guesses on what it’s going to be? It’s something that I actually enjoy, but with a little bit of a twist. I am not very flexible, so I figured that was something I needed to work on; hence, one month of doing yoga for at least a half an hour a day. And the twist? I bought a “Groupon” for a month of unlimited classes at a hot yoga studio. What is hot yoga? Basically, it’s yoga in a room that is between 85 and 105 degrees. Sound fun to you? It sure does to me . . . here we go!