Yoga And Healthy Eats

This morning I woke up with an urge to do some serious yoga.  To be honest, I've been a bit of a slacker lately with my yoga. It usually consists of 30-40min after my run. I really should take advantage of being able to take free yoga classes at the studio where I teach, but it all comes down to convenience. I can do yoga easily by myself and I can do whatever posture I feel like doing. If I go to a class on the other hand, I'm at the mercy of the teacher and what he/she wants to teach. I'm usually never disappointed when I take a class though.

Today I needed to get out of my head and have someone tell me what to do so I took a yogalates class. Yogalates is a fusion of yoga and pilates. The two really go well together and the teacher teaches this fabulous routine. First we warm up with some Astanga Sun Salutations, followed by a few standing forward bends, and warriors etc. Then we spent a good amount of time doing some serious core work laying down. We then finish up with more standard Astanga poses; seated forward bends, shoulder stand, back bending, and all the while were told to focus on our core and engage it.
Its a physically oriented class, but it was very therapeutic for me. For that 1.5 hrs I was able to forget about my issues in life (we all have then don't we?!) and after the class I felt relaxed and rejuvenated.

Yoga is SO healing! I love it!

Other things I love are yummy foods. I can't end a post without some food related thing can I! Recently, I've been keeping it really simple in the kitchen. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have a lot of produce to use before they go bad. Yesterday I did a pretty good job of making a dent in the fridge. The variety of vegetables and fruits I had yesterday made me proud :)

•  spinach
•  kale
• sugar snap peas
• green pepper
• carrot
• cucumber
• apples
• pear
• banana
• tangerine
• lemon
• tomato

 Some simple things I enjoyed today.

Pear & apple w/flaxseed topping

 

Roughly pureed tomato and avocado topped on a rice cake - mmmm ,this was SO good! 

 

My current favorite nut is pecan! Raw pecans and raisins. 

 

I'm SO excited its Friday! I've got a full sporty weekend planned. A long run with girlfriends tomorrow and a hike with Motozo on Sunday. I hope the weather continues to be as beautiful as it is now. Crisp cold air and clear blue skies. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and if you're feeling some sort of stress....never underestimate the power of yoga and healthy food :-) 

Yoga For Runners - Hip Stretch

My Gosh, November is gone! Time for a new blog design and a new project to tackle.

For the next little while, I'm hoping to focus on sharing different yoga postures that will benefit runners. I've been teaching a Yoga For Runners class for a little over a year now, and its been a wonderful and rewarding experience for me! I've been so lucky to have a wide range of students from the ultra stiff students to flexible students. From students who are hard core marathoners/triathletes, to the easy going weekend runners. Each one is special and different. I've learned that every one's bodies respond differently and while some may benefit from a particular pose, others may not.

Through these small video clips, I hope to help runners find a balance in their bodies. That is ultimately what we want! Of course, we want to run faster, have better endurance and minimize our chance of injury. Well, believe me, finding a balance in your body is going to bring you a HUGE step closer to obtaining those goals.

I'm so excited about this project of vlogging about yoga for runners as running is something quite dear to me and I truly understand what its like to be injured and out of running for weeks and months! Its depressing and very frustrating. But with the help of yoga, I've become a better and healthier runner.
My goal is to keep all of you runners running healthy for a long long time with a combination of stretching, strengthening (yes, yoga can be extremely strengthening) and LOTS of core work.

Since I have zero editing skills, nor do I have a proper video camera, I do apologize in advance for the blurry footage and lousy editing. Hopefully, I'll get used to talking to a camera and my instructions will improve over time. Of course, there's many things I could apologize for in this video..... messy hair, strange facial expressions, but oh, well....:) I'm not perfect.

I hope you enjoy today's simple outer hip stretch. DO IT!

Happy running!

Autumn, stay forever!

The days are seriously getting colder and the Autumn leaves are looking more and more beautiful! Although I have to bundle up on my runs now, I often find myself smiling because the fallen leaves and vibrate colored trees are just so delightful! I keep telling myself to bring my camera with me on my run, but I always forget it, doh!

With the change of temperature I've been really enjoying a hot cup of Echinacea tea after my green smoothie. Green smoothies tend to lower my body temperature, so tea is appreciated.  I just noticed yesterday that the tea bags have these lovely little quotes on them. Oh, I love it!

 Today I had to pull out the long running tights, 2 layers of long sleeves, and gloves! Putting my brave/happy face on even though I don't feel like running in the cold.  How flattering these mirror photos are :)

This week I'm trying to catch up on some running that I couldn't get in last week. I usually try to run 4-5 days a week, but its easy to put off my run because I'm not training for anything. Running now is just for my sanity and weight management :) mmm....food!

Last week I had a huge yoga week! I took 10 hours of yoga classes, plus my own practice at home and my thighs, buns and upper back was sore on a whole other level.
Special teachers Chuck and Maty did some intensive teaching for 3 weeks at my yoga studio. I finally managed to take their morning mysore for 4 days. Each class is 2.5 hours starting at 6:30 AM! It was exhausting waking up at 5AM, but I got SO much out of each session that it was totally worth it!
Chuck and Maty are extraordinary teachers! Maty has eyes like a hawk and can see a misaligned yoga pose from a mile away! It was great to get adjusted by her and I feel my standing postures are different now. I learned I was tensing certain muscles that prevented me from getting length in the spine or putting my hip off balance. Really really subtle adjustments made a HUGE difference in how I felt in a pose.
Chuck is such a warm gentlemen who has such a great way of explaining yoga. Yoga, not as an exercise, but as a spiritual journey. He really inspired me and made me smile so much!

They emphasis that the most important thing in yoga is the breath and the mind. Those 2 aspects are really the most challenging part of yoga. Its not the poses that are hard, its keeping the breath smooth and constant (you won't believe how often we hold our breaths without being aware of it). The mind has to always be present so it can be sensitive to the body. Its easy for the mind to wander, so the challenge is keep it focused on what I'm doing in each pose. In 2.5 hours I felt like I used my mind for 8 hours straight. It was intense and exhausting, but also very rewarding!

Sunday was their last teaching day and of course I had to take their conducted class. We did a very slow Astanaga class and even though I hardly broke a sweat, my legs and arms were shaking with the intensity of each pose. During savasana Chuck said "If you want to feel a little bit of freedom, relax a little. If you want to feel more freedom, relax more. If you want to be completely free, relax completely." I can't say exactly why, but I started getting teary eyed after he said this. I wanted to be completely free and then suddenly I felt like a weight was lifted off me and I felt RELIEF.
Yoga has seriously changed my life! I don't know what I'd do without it!

But I still really enjoy running. My yoga teacher, Michael, said he hopes I can continue to keep the balance between running and yoga. Some runners get SO into running that they become so narrow minded about health and fitness. And the same goes for yogi's, its easy for us to think yoga is the best, but there's really no need to make it a competition. Do I think yoga will help runners? Absolutely! Do I think doing more yoga over running is better? No! And visa versa. Its all about maintaining balance.

Last weeks running/yoga log: Nov 8th - 14th
Yoga - 10 hours      Ran - 27.8k (lowest since September)

Mon - Off (legs needed a break from the 10k race)
Tues - 2.5 hrs Mysore class. 11.5k run (heavy legs)
Wed - 2.5 hrs Mysore class
Thur - 2.5 hrs Mysore class
Fri    - 9k run (easy run. Can't believe how sore yoga got me!)
Sat - 7.3k run after teaching yoga. (thighs still sore from yoga)
Sun - 2.5hr Ashtanga class

Go ahead and hug yourself!

Let your food be your medicine. That's going to be my motto!

I've been reading this awesome book "Happy Yoga" It says, 7 Reasons why there's nothing to worry about. 

It's really an AMAZING book and every morning I read a little from it before beginning my day. I find these great little quotes that inspire and put me in a great mood first thing in the morning.

                

A lot of things that he mentions are things I've heard before, but it's great to review some important points. 

Here are some things that spoke out to me:

Treat My Body As I Would A Dearly Loved Pet (don't you want your pet to be healthy so you feed it the best food and give it the best treatment?)

A pet is an idea that is mentioned in the book, but it can be anything from husband, child, or friend. Basically, anything that I have lots of respect and love for. This is a very good thing to keep in mind, because when I really think about it, I realize that I don't love my body as much as it deserves to be. Hell, I would never tell my friend, child, or husband "Why, after all that running and healthy eating, do you have a larger ass then most girls!" OR "You'll never fit into skinny jeans because your thighs are too large!"  And yet, these are things I say to myself quite often.

If a friend says anything negative about her body I'm quick to tell her something positive. Now why don't I do that for myself!? Why don't we all do that for ourselves?

I Am Not My Body. I Am Intelligence.

Having six pack abs and buns of steal(not that I have either one) doesn't define who a person is. A yogi views the body as a vessel for living on this earth. And we want that vessel to be running smooth and living a long life. How do you do that? Treat the body well!

There are LOADS of other wonderful points, but I won't mention it all now.

BUT

One of the most important things to remember is that Happiness is a state of mind. Bottom line, its my choice to be happy and no one or anything can change that.

This morning I told myself some arrogant things, but let me tell you, it totally worked! I was so happy right after doing this and felt happy ALL DAY. Here's what I did.

Before I got myself out of bed, I laid there with my eyes closed, put my hand over my heart and told myself out loud "You are happiness, you are joy, you are love." I felt good....why not continue. " I am intelligent, I am brave, I am strong, I am capable, I am beautiful." Of course, I felt a little foolish talking to myself and being VERY immodest, but when do I ever say those things to myself? And why shouldn't I? I spend a lot of time telling myself negative things, I deserve some sweet talk every so often. No I deserve it EVERYDAY!

And so does EVERYONE! Go on, become friends with yourself because your body and you is going to be with you forever so you really should like love you!

I know this sounds so cheesy and like I'm writing some Self Help thing, but really, I just want everyone to be/find happiness!

Alright, enough deep talk. Time for some YOGA! Here's a little something for dear Hana. I'm so proud of you for training for your 10k! Here's a little stretch/massage you can do to for your legs.

Even if you aren't a runner, anyone can benefit from this. As I mentioned in the video, it's a massage for me, so go ahead and give yourself a treat :)

PS. I make lots of grammatical errors and look pretty sweaty because I videoed it right after my run. SORRY! But I feel damn proud of myself for not having to get all dolled up for the cam. No make up!