Tag Archives: yoga

girl, my leg doesn’t lift that high.

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I’ve started on another yoga journey for 2018. First of all, we’re doing Whole30 again, which I am quite looking forward to. Last year we did Whole30 in January but I went and got pregnant a few days in, so I didn’t necessarily feel that great afterwards – not bad, just not amazing. I’m looking forward to a clean start to the year as I aim to get my body to a new normal post-baby and post-caesarean.

We are on Day 2 of this Whole30, and Day 2 of Adriene’s 30 Days Yoga. I haven’t gotten to the yoga today yet (and Evie’s still napping almost 2 hours in so I fear her other naps will be short) but I am excited for it. Yesterday I got interrupted several times – Evie waking up, Luna going out, Luna coming in, Evie losing her bink, etc., but I still did it. I am letting control go and trying to realize that uninterrupted yoga is probably a thing of the past for a bit.

Realizing that is like realizing the truth about babies, which I was talking to someone about the other day. When you have a baby, the baby is in charge. Very different no matter what you think from a pet (which let’s be real, is what a baby feels like in the beginning, as they just eat, poop, sleep, repeat.) Evie’s in charge – she sleeps when she wants to, eats when she wants to, and asks to be changed when she needs to, plays when she feels like it, etc. Realizing that (and having the luxury to be home to let her lead the charge!) has made a huge difference in my life.

I am a very organized, planned, type-A person. I’ve read about sleep schedules and how often a baby should eat and nap and poop and how long she should play ad nauseam. But honestly, I am trying to shake the dust and let her lead me. I know at some point we will aim for a schedule and routine, because (as I’ve read) this is good for babies – they do great on a routine!) but right now, I’m letting her set the path.

Anyway, all of this is to say, my yoga journey might look different than it did a year or two ago, but I’m taking it in stride. Letting my losing control to a tiny monster be part of the path. Watching her giggle while I make faces at her in Warrior 2 is so worth it. So, although my leg doesn’t go as high as it used to, and I can’t hold plank for as long as I could before, I am moving. Moving my body. Moving forward. Growing, changing, breathing, becoming something I wasn’t before.

you got your heart right.

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Photo Apr 16, 10 49 16 AM

Well chickadees, today was Day 30 of my 30 Day Yoga Camp. Yesterday I did yoga in the parking lot of a hotel just so I didn’t have to skip a day and miss the amazing streak I was on.

I can actually say that’s the most days in a row I’ve ever done yoga. It’s the most consistent practice I’ve had. And it’s been an amazing journey. It’s taught me that it is possible for me to get up early, get on the mat, and make time for myself. I made myself a priority for the last 30 days, and I carved at least 30 minutes out for me to focus. It wasn’t always easy, and there were days I wanted to skip it, do it later, quit halfway through…but by the end of each video, I was so happy I’d committed the time to it.

My hips are more open. My shoulders are more open. My balance is better. My patience is longer. My breath is more even. My heart is cracked wide open to the world. To the endless possibilities and the light and the sky. I’ve loved taking advantage of my backyard to get outside and appreciate nature while I practice, and I cannot wait to see where this practice takes me. It was the perfect reset to my yoga practice, and I see only up and up from here.

I want to get back into running a bit because soccer will start this month and I want to be prepared, but my body feels so much better after having focused on this yoga, so I know I need to focus on that as well. My wrist is healing and strengthening, and my right quad is feeling better than it has in ages. I pushed myself too far for that half-marathon, and now is the time to find the balance I deserve.

That’s where I’m at, y’all. Hope you’re in some valley of balance, too. Namaste.

check your thoughts.

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After weeks (probably months) pushing this off, I’ve started Yoga with Adriene‘s 30-Day At-Home practice. I’ve been off the mat too long, and Fiji’s 14-Day Yoga, while amazing, is just too much for me right now. Adriene is chill enough yet serious enough to get me hooked, but hard enough to make me stay and stretch and feel happy.

treepose

Yesterday was day one, today day two. In class yesterday, she remind us to “check your thoughts” – keep focused on what you’re doing, what you’re feeling, and where you are. My life mantra is pretty much “Do the best with what you have where you are” and I feel like this is what Adriene was trying to tell me through the TV, too.

So much of our lives is spent having negative thoughts and I’ve been working ons self-love for years. As hokey as it can sound, you have to put yourself first if you can love others. You have to take care of you to take care of “them.”

Adriene’s 30 days have different mantras. Yesterday’s was I Accept. Today’s what I Create.

I Accept where I am.
I Accept who I am.
I Create time for myself.
I Create space in my body for twisting, turning, stretching.
I Create energy and light to use and spread through my world.

I can’t wait to see what’s in store tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. I need this reset to get me back to a place where I am hitting the mat more on the regular. Luckily this is a great time, before soccer starts again, to get back to it.

What are y’all up to?

5gts: you only get one person knows you best.

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1. Matt Nathanson’s “Show Me Your Fangs” album.

2. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Specifically, the audiobook version with all it’s nuanced voices and accents.

3. Hamilton in 3 weeks. (I cannot even allow myself to think about this.) (But I can’t stop.)

4. Yoga tonight for the first time in almost two weeks.

5. My husband, which, though cheesy, is really the number 1 on this list. Keeping me sane over weeks and weeks of busy lives with a cool, even attitude and knowing what I need at every turn.

Happy end-of-Monday, y’all.

yoga & what i’m reading

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Writing once a week is proving hard, so I’ll write about what I always want to know about y’all. First of all, I did Day One, Day Two, and Day Three of my yoga challenge, and it took me all week to do them. Looks like I am going to have to be better this week if I want to get this 14-Day challenge done in 3 weeks…yikes!

Meanwhile, I am trying to get some good reading done while I’m in-between book club books, a rare time when I read what I want instead of what I’m supposed to! Right now, I’m listening to Mindy Kaling’s first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, which is read by her and therefore delightful. I will say, though, that celebrities-turned-authors are not my fave genre, and I’m glad I am listening to this instead of reading it…I miss the fiction story of it all. Maybe I should do some autobiographies.

I am also reading The Likeness by Tana French who wrote a book club book we read, In The Woods which was an awesome Law and Order:SVU-type book with partner love and intrigue. While I can I say I didn’t like how the first one ended, I will say I love the way French writes and I am enjoying the second one.

Next up, I want to read Midnight’s Furies, which is a book about India’s independence and the partition of Pakistan. Book Club is this week, so I’ll get a new assignment there, and I also am stumbling through the audiobook of Team of Rivals (I don’t love the narrator, she’s a little pretentious sounding to me) and I have Empire Falls next for an audiobook, too. I have an Audible subscription because I am in the car for about an hour and a half a day, so I try to make use of my time.

In other news, I am caught up on Limetown, Serial, Radiolab, and trying to find other podcasts to love – I also dig 99 percent invisible, and I know Katie will remind me of Pop Culture Happy Hour.

So that’s what’s up here. Happy Sunday, everyone!

xo