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Back to (Yoga) Basics

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A few months ago when I was injured, yoga became my go-to exercise. A workout I once dismissed as too easy or boring became my hobby. I felt so much peace after every class, both in mind and body. Therefore, because I had such a great experience I now feel it is my personal responsibility to force encourage everyone I know to try yoga too. So far I’ve succeeded in bringing two friends and my cousin to classes and this summer I made it my mission to bring my sister to a class.

Saturday morning while waiting for Body Pump I casually checked the yoga class schedule, intending to sign up for a Sunday class. But when I saw there was a 10:45 Beginners Yoga that day, I had the brilliant idea of dragging my sister out of bed to go to the class with me. After blowing up her phone with texts she finally agreed to come and I, being the great sister that I am, left Body Pump early to meet her at the studio.

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I might be one of those people…

I had never been to an actual “beginners” yoga class before, so I was excited to learn (or re-learn) to the basics. One of the main reasons I love yoga is because it emphasizes listening to your own body. Leaning deeper into stretches when it feels good, backing off when it doesn’t. Focusing on YOUR pose and YOUR breath rather than looking around at what other people are doing.

The instructor did a wonderful job of incorporating breathing exercises, simple stretches and standing poses throughout the class. I’m usually so accustomed to rushing into Warrior 2 but today, I was given the time to correct my form and sink breath with movement. I loved watching my sister learn new poses and accept adjustments from the instructor.

The instructor never said anything about the class being “easy” because that wasn’t the point of it. The point was to introduce new people to the awesome benefits of yoga and to remind the non-new people (aka me) that slowing down our practice isn’t bad. Sometimes slowing down and going back to the fundamentals is necessary…for happiness, health and even sanity. I’m grateful I went to this class because it reminded me that yoga really is not about being flexible. It’s about being present on your mat and giving your body what it needs: love.

notflexible

P.S.- My sister loved the class and wants to go back. Props to me ;)

Workout Recap & Weekly Reads #1

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When I joined cross-country in high school I started tracking my mileage. Usually I’d just keep track on my phone calendar and then write it down on paper every few weeks. Now, years later, I have stacks of paper recapping workouts and I love looking back and reading what my thoughts were during a specific day. So I figured now that I have a blog, I can keep track here (just for my personal note).

I’m hoping I can keep a balance of treadmill and outside runs. During the summer I normally resort to the treadmill because running in the Florida heat and humidity is not my cup of tea. Any time it’s cloudy or slightly breezy, I try to take advantage and run outside. We’ll see how much that happens this summer…

Monday- 4.5 hot miles at the beach. My family and I stayed at a friend’s beach condo for the long weekend and I took advantage of the scenic place. There was barely any breeze and definitely wasn’t any shade but it was a good, sweaty run.

Tuesday This workout from Heather’s blog. Typically, I’m not motivated to workout after work but I’m trying to adjust to the later time so I can sleep in some days ;) I saw this workout earlier in the day and it was just the motivation I needed to get into the gym. I only had time to complete the workout 2 times through so I used heavier weights than I would have if I completed 3 round.

Wednesday- 4.25 miles on the treadmill and planks before work. This was one of my workout-before-work days. Made it to the gym by 5:45 a.m. for a quick run with my dad.

Thursday- 3 miles and a quick weight circuit (3×12 squat to shoulder press, rows, tricep dips). I was not feeling my run today. After I hopped off the treadmill I completed a short weight circuit of my go-to moves.

Friday- Bikram yoga. I’ve been regularly practicing yoga for about 8 months and this was my first Bikram class. To be honest, I didn’t love it. Because it was my first class, all poses and general structure of the class was new to me, so that was the good part. But I feel like I’d get bored going to future classes because of the repetitiveness. Anyone been to Bikram?

Saturday- Body Pump followed by Hot Flow with my mom. Haven’t been to Body Pump in a few weeks and this was a great workout with some new-to-me tracks. Body Pump never disappoints. After Friday’s Bikram, I needed a good Hot Flow class to restore my love of yoga. No worries, it’s completely restored. It was a great and challenging class with a lot of spinal twists and abs.

Body Pump

Sunday- 4.5 mile run outside with my dad. A hot, sweaty, no-breeze run was a nice way to bookend the week of workouts.

Run 6/1

My watermelon colored outfit ;)

 

Finally, I’m not sure how I want to post links from this week, so for now I will post them today. I like when bloggers share their favorite links so I figured it would be fun to share my favorites here. The topics are pretty random but these are a few that caught my eye this week :)

How to Become a Better Cook- Helpful for people (like me) hoping to improve cooking skills and confidence in the kitchen

Why Celeb Yoga Pics Are Causing Controversy- I wasn’t aware of this controversy, but I guess I can see both sides

Thoughts on Running (+ 3 Tips to Find Joy in Movement) and Body Shame? 5 Ways to Embrace Imperfections- I recently discovered Lauren’s blog and it has become one of my favorites! I love how she has such a positive view of nutrition and exercise.

 

Hope you all had a nice weekend!