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 :)