Foot Cramp During Yoga

So I haven't had a chance to write in the last few days so here's a quick recap of the last few days:

Monday: Went for another run and it went much, much better. I started off slower and ran for less time at first. It ended up being quite enjoyable and helped relieve my sore muscles.

Tuesday: Back to yoga finally. I thought it would be an especially difficult class since it had been a week since I'd been to yoga, but my muscles actually felt stronger, I'm guessing from running the past two days. I was able to move from a low lunge to a forward fold in one step.

Wednesday: No exercising. Ate pizza instead. A lot of pizza...

Today: Went to yoga and felt pretty successful. I did the best one legged dog I've ever done. Granted it was short lived, but for a few seconds both legs were straight and the leg that was up in the air was as high as the girl's next to me was (who seemed like an expert. Not sure what she was doing in the beginner yoga class).

One bad thing did happen. I got a terrible cramp in my foot while trying to go from pidgin to dancer. I guess I need more potassium? Not sure, but it was pretty unpleasant.

Tomorrow is a free day unless you count dancing to a funk/jazz band exercise (which I totally do). Then Saturday it's finally back to Power Yoga.

Yoga and Running

So as mentioned before, I have decided I need to add some cardio to my workout routine. I love yoga and it has in fact been the encouraging factor of why I want to start doing more cardio. So I decided that today I'm going to start running. I figure I need a goal, and this may be a bit out of my reach, but I want to try to finish the Color Blast 5k on March 23. Noticed I said finish. I don't know if I'll be able to run the whole thing because of how running went today.

 So the way I like to run is with music. I know a lot of people disagree with this because you can't hear your breath and keep your pace, but I love music. It encourages me to keep going and keeps me from getting bored. So here was my playlist:

1. Lose Yourself by Eminem
2. Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (Walk)
3. Raise Your Glass by Pink (Run)
4. Radioactive by Imagine Dragons (Walk)
5. Panic Station by Muse (Run)
6. Tiptoe by Imagine Dragons (Walk)
7. Lonely Boy by the Black Keys
8. Ho Hey by the Lumineers  (Walk)
9. (I cannot remember what I listened to but I ran to it) (Run)
10. On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons (Walk)

Overall about a 30 minute run/walk routine. A really good workout, possibly too good. But here was the problem. I started off with Eminem and my pace was pretty fast (too fast for someone who hasn't ran for nearly 2 years and wants to keep going after this song). But I thought, its only a 3 to 4 minute song and I can run this fast for that long. Well 'Lose Yourself' is actually a 5 to 6 minute song. I finished the song, and the entire run for that matter, but I never caught my breath. I kept thinking "And there are people who actually like to run???" I couldn't imagine in that moment ever wanting to run again.

Now I'm home and I can barely move. If I get up its a shuffle around my house (thank goodness I have hardwoods floors and socks). But I'm in a better state of mind about continuing running and I realize that that was the first step. I hadn't run in a long time, started out too fast and need to built up slower. So I am planning on running again tomorrow. Just a bit slower.

But I will not be doing my Progression of Poses today for two reasons:

1. I only went to one yoga class this past week so I don't know how much good it will do. 
2. I can't move.

So there you have it. First day of running a success because I finished what I set out to do, but now I am more tired than ever. I really hope this gets better. 

Great Rainy/Icy Day Workout

So I didn't make it to yoga today because ice was covering my car when I left work and was still coming down so I thought it was in my best (and safest) interest to go on home. But since I was already in my yoga clothes, I decided to to SOMETHING when I got home. So I found this workout plan on Pinterest and did Thursday's. Grrreeaaatt rainy day workout. I plan to use this again when I need to. I did some variations though:

• 100 Jumping Jacks - Only could do 75 at one time so I added 25 more at the end
• 25 vertical leg crunches
• 30 crunches - Thought it said 40 so I did 10 extra. Cool mistake.
• 20 squats
• 20 wall pushups - Maybe I was doing this wrong, but I thought these were way too easy so I did 10 of those and then switched to girl pushups and did 10 of those.
• 50 Russian twists - I read that these were right and left = 1 twist. So depending on how you look I either did 50 or 100. I choose 100. I did 4 sets of 25.
• 15 second side planks
• 10 lunge split jumps
• 5 jump squats
• 40 high knees

All in all a pretty good workout. I was out of breath and could feel the burn. Didn't take too long. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes? I'll be doing this again.

Curviness in Yoga

Sorry for the delayed post. I've been busy preparing for a wedding I'm in this weekend by picking up my dress, getting a haircut, etc.

But I did make it to yoga on Tuesday. I think it was Monday's post that I said I hadn't been shaking during my poses. Well strike that because I started shaking on Tuesday. Not nearly as bad as I had been, but I think missing my Saturday Power Yoga class really took a toll on my progress. I need that class! But I'll be missing it again this Saturday because I'm in my friend Kathleen's wedding (a sacrifice I am totally fine with!) But I will be excited to get back to that class the first Saturday in March. It really pushes me to improve in a way my beginner classes don't.

So while I was in class on Tuesday, I noticed that compared to my teacher and the girl next to me, my Warrior 1 didn't look right. I looked at both my legs compared to theirs and I seemed to be doing at least that part right. Finally, I realized it was my butt. My butt was sticking out a lot more than theirs. So I tried to pull my butt in. Still not right. It finally dawned on me that it may be that I'm not doing the pose wrong so much as I've got a big butt.

See I'm not your typical yogi. I'm a very curvy girl. And I get it honestly. So I called my mom after class and said "Okay mom, give it to me straight. Will I always have a big butt? No matter how much I work out?"

She answered fairly quickly "Yea, but that's a good thing. You don't realize how people just stare at you because of your curviness. It may not look good in yoga, but in the rest of life, its a good thing."

She went on to tell me that when she was 22 and working out everyday to hour long workout tapes and didn't eat any fried food, she still only got down to a 4 or 6 in pant sizes. So I guess the flat butt just isn't in the cards for me. But that's okay. I like being a curvy yogi. :)

No yoga today, maybe running in the future?

Today is my off day. But I've been thinking that I may need to start adding in some cardio/cross training to my workouts. I've been reading the blog Ben Does Life by Ben Davis and it's been really inspiring me to start running/walking/bike riding on my off days. So as soon as the weather starts being decent I'm going to try to get out there...slowly.

I'm also going to start reading Ben Davis' book "Do Life." Apparently it's got a 5k training guide as well as being inspiring. FYI that's in case I get REALLY inspired.

Jillian Michaels Yoga

This is about to happen...

....for some reason she doesn't seem like a relaxing yoga teacher.

Progression of Poses Week 2

Happy Sunday! This is my second time doing the "Progression of Poses" so I'm excited to see if there are any changes. Justin took the pictures and he mentioned I should take the pictures after I do a yoga workout so my muscles are more loosened up. Thoughts? Leave a comment if you think it's a good idea or if you think it'd be better to do it before the yoga workout.

Forward Fold Weeks 1 and 2

Downward Dog Weeks 1 and 2

One Legged Dog Weeks 1 and 2

Plow Weeks 1 and 2

Warrior 1 Weeks 1 and 2

Warrior 2 Weeks 1 and 2

Warrior 3 Weeks 1 and 3

So I think I can really tell a difference in my Down Dog which is pretty exciting. I can also see I'm getting better at Warrior 3 so there's some motivation!

PS: My cat Gus was trying to help me with plow. He's a pro at baby cobra. :)

Valentine's Day Yoga

Quick post about my Valentines day, Justin had to go out of town for business trip but my grandmother came to see me and we went to yoga! Yup, my grandmother is super cool and does yoga. She thinks it will keep her young and I completely agree. She's been doing it for much longer than I have so she's much better, but it reminds me how versatile yoga is. Everyone can do yoga!

Yoga Class #2 with Hubby

So Justin and I decided to try the Monday night yoga class since it was taught by a man. Justin found this article by Jill Lawson that talks about why yoga may be tough for men. Basically they have too much strength and not enough flexibility. Jill Lawson: Why is Yoga Hard for Some Men.

With that in mind, Justin thought that a class taught by another man would give poses that were better suited for men. Well apparently Lou, the guy who teaches on Monday's and Wednesday's, was out of town. So we got the girl who teaches Restorative Yoga on Sundays. The class seemed super easy, except when she kept us in downward dog too long. I had to drop to my knees a few times because I couldn't hold myself up any longer. (Just an FYI, my arms are still really weak.) But still, this class didn't shake either of us up too much.

Well I'm glad I decided to wait until today to post because, I AM SORE! The class seemed so easy at the time, but now I am sore from head to toe. Justin said he was as well. I guess yoga can be sneaky like that.

The Listening Act of Yoga

So just got done with my Tuesday Beginner Yoga class. Justin didn't go tonight since he said he was still super sore from last night's "easy" class.

Tonight was a more standard kind of hard (not sneaky like Monday's) and we did things like crescent  and one legged dog. I find those very hard, especially back to back. My legs aren't shaking as much any more though so I feel like that is an improvement.

Also, I started really listening to how teacher my teacher talks us through yoga poses and I feel like my crescent and one legged dog poses are more stable (that could also be due to the strengthening of muscles, though). But she said things like "push through your heel" for crescent and "push your heel towards the wall" for one legged dog. When I started to follow those instructions I felt I performed the poses better. See differences below:

Without pushing heel back

With pushing heel back

Without pushing heel back

With pushing heel back

 I don't know guess you can tell this but I'm much more stable when I'm focusing on pushing my heel back in these poses. It's like I'm forcing my wobbly-ness out through my heel. Yay!

Progression of Poses Week 1

So I'm still sore from yesterday's class, but I thought I share the first of many poses. I'm going to try to take photos every Sunday to show how I progress through the poses - how I become more flexible and aligned. Well, at least that's what I hope will happen. I may add more poses as I learn more (or as I'm able to do them), but for now here are some common ones.

Downward Dog

Forward Fold

Plow

One Legged Dog

Warrior 1

Warrior 2

Warrior 3

Cinnamon Rolls and Yoga

So today was my Power Yoga class and I was really excited to go this morning. Its an 8:30 a.m. class so I thought if my will power was going to waiver it would be with this class. Especially since my friend Danelle who usually meets me there wasn't going. But I'd been noticing a few changes in my body like the way I could roll out of bed like a ninja instead of with a grunt. Also, I got out of the shower and could balance on one foot while I dried the other. I call that progress!

So an old habit for Saturday morning is Justin get's up and goes to Great Harvest Bread Company and gets us freshly baked cinnamon rolls. I'm telling you these things are AMAZING and huge. And their packed with lots and lots of sugar.

Well Justin gets the cinnamon rolls and I think, "Okay, I'll have one as a snack later, NOT before yoga." Well once I had one sniff of that cinnamon roll, all bets were off. It was very yummy, but I knew the sugar would be my enemy later.

Sure enough half-way through my sun salutations I was feeling really stuffed and like I was having a sugar crash. So note to self: No cinnamon rolls before yoga.

All in all though it was a great class. I was dying half way through, but once we got to the cool down I knew it was all worth it. While we were in our savasana, our instructor got lavender scented oil and came and pulled our legs out and wiggled them around. Then she rubbed the temple of my head. Talk about a good cool down.

Husband Begins Yoga

Today is Thursday so I have been planning on going to the 4:30 Beginner Yoga class. Well last night my husband, Justin, tossed and turned all night in his sleep. He's also been pretty stressed from work (he's a financial advisor). So I started daydreaming about how great it would be if Justin went to yoga with me. I had been sleeping like a baby and had just been generally feeling better with less stress. So I sent him a long text (I was assuming a rejection would be easier read than heard) about how I really thought yoga would be a great thing for him and would help relieve stress and get us in shape for boating season. Well he called and said...okay! He'd try it out.

So we got to class early and I told our teacher, Kate, that this was Justin's first yoga class and to take it easy on him. She definitely did in my opinion. I actually thought it was such an easy class that he would come out of it saying it was super easy.

Well when we got done he was drenched with sweat and said it was a super hard class. I told him she took it waaay easy on him. But overall he liked it and said he wanted to go back at least twice a week!

Back to Basics - Beginners' Class 1 (in blog terms)

This is actually my second beginners' class since the first was on Jan. 1. But it was over a month ago so I didn't know exactly what to expect. I honestly thought it was going to be super easy. I mean, its the beginners' class, and I made it through the Power Yoga class so this should be cake, right? Wrong! More crescents, more one legged dogs, more shaking legs. It was slightly easier. But again, it left me feeling completely at ease and stress free. Thank you yoga!

First Power Yoga Class

Oh. My. Gosh. That was a tough class. The class is called "Power Yoga" and is described as "A more intense flow yoga class designed to get the heart rate up and then a strong mat-stretching cool-down." Intense does not begin to cover it for me. It was like there was no chance for my legs to take a break. With all the one legged dogs and warrior three's and crescent poses (see below, photos from YogaJournal.com/Poses), I could not get my muscles to calm down. My legs were shaking so bad and I felt like reprimanding them "Stop that legs, you are embarrassing me!" 

One Legged Dog

Warrior Three

Crescent

The thing was I was breathing hard and sweating and my legs were trembling, but overall I was in a calmed state. I wasn't thinking I can't wait until this class is over, I was thinking "Okay, just hold this pose a little longer and then the next pose certain muscles will get a break and you'll make it through." Obviously I did. 

And...I loved it! Truly, it was hard, but not to the point of no return. I will be going back on Tuesday to the beginner class. (I've been practicing waking up earlier to make it to class on time).

My Yoga Experience (subpar to say the least)

So as I start this yoga journey, I would like to explain my very limited yoga, as well as general fitness, experience.

General Fitness
I played soccer for about 12 years starting in first grade until I graduated from high school. I also played intramural soccer in college.

Other attempts at fitness include gymnastics (they put me in the "slow learner" group so I quit after one season), swim team (didn't go past 5th grade so that didn't last long), and dance (my teacher told a friend of mine that I was uncoordinated, which of course she passed on to me. What fourth grader wouldn't? So I quit that too.)

Overall, soccer was the only thing that stuck and had it not been for good friends, I may have quit that too because honestly I was never amazing at it because I didn't have the passion to be great at it. I love it now because after twelve years of playing I got better and found the fun in it all. But its really hard to assemble enough people for a pick-up game so that's not really an option for this time in my life.

Yoga
So as mentioned above, I'm already considered a pretty uncoordinated person. As much as that hurt, it was true at the time. I became more coordinated with my feet after playing soccer for so long, but as far as dancing or even yoga goes, I'm a pretty uncoordinated person.

I'm also as flexible as a stick. I can't even touch my toes without bending my knees. (I'm hoping that will change soon). And my upper body strength is pretty lacking as well. I'm pretty small on the top and playing soccer all those years didn't do much to build arm muscles.

In college I took my first yoga class. I went with my good friend Kelly and it was pretty disastrous. I fell a LOT, I felt incredibly uncomfortable, and I swear the teacher and fellow yogis were shooting me death stares for making such racket. I quickly decided yoga was not for me.

Fast forward to about two months ago and I began talking to my friend Danelle about the possibility of trying out one of the yoga studios here in town. She was very excited about it, but I was pretty skeptical. But I decided to give it a try with my friend at the first of the year. So in December I began trying to ease into by doing a few 10 minute videos of the Yoga Solution with Tara Stiles on Youtube. Great videos by the way. She has a great beginners section with about five different videos covering lots of different aspects of yoga like flexibility and breathing. 

So when January 1, 2013 came, we went to the Yoga at the Cottage studio for the Beginner Yoga class. What an amazing class! It was a pretty rigorous class and there were poses I couldn't do, but I felt so restored and energized afterwards. The cool down part made it all worth it because my stress just melted away. I went home and couldn't stop talking to my husband about it. 

So I was ready that day to make yoga a part of my weekly routine. But I didn't have an exercise regimine of any kind so I realized making yoga a regular thing would take some work. First off I normally worked until 4:30 25 minutes outside of town and the class started at 4:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was allowed to adjust my schedule so I could make it, but that meant waking up 30 minutes earlier and getting to work at 7:30. I decided to try their other class, the 5:30 pm class. I liked it, but it had me getting home at nearly 7. So I put yoga on the backburner for a while.

Fast forward to today. This past weekend I had the flu. I felt terrible, but as I sat there for four days, I made a promise to feel good. Not just not sick, but healthy, and I felt yoga was the way to do that. So I decided I would make my start on Saturday. So tomorrow morning at 8:30 is my first class back and my goal is to go to three classes this week. I'll let you know how it goes!