Finding Nemo? Captain Nemo? Blizzard Nemo?

Blech, I’m not a fan of winter. This mega blizzard  makes me real reminiscent for the Los Angeles sunshine.

Tomorrow was supposed to be my AFAA group fitness certification and exam. I already got an email that the exam has been cancelled. While safety is a priority, I’m definitely disappointed that I have to wait to take the exam. Between NASM and AFAA I’ve been non stop studying for an exam since October, so I was looking forward to finally being done. Eh, such is life.

Crummy weather did give me the excellent opportunity to tidy up my mess of an apartment.

 

YAYYY organized bookshelf. I’ve been living here since my junior year of college so all my old textbooks, notebooks and folders slowly took over my bookshelves. I was always too lazy to organize school papers and throw out what I no longer needed at the end of the semester. Today was finally the day! Ah it feels so good to have my school stuff organized by year and my books all organized. Making use of being trapped indoors, oh yeah!

Earlier this week I put my food processor to work and finally made some amazeballs. Just what I don’t need, more peanut butter in my diet.

 

Totally enjoyed eating the leftover “dough”.

 

Trust me… these tasty peanut butter balls are not gonna last long in the fridge. It’s taking a lot of restrain to not eat them all.

The theme of this week has been getting back to yoga and lots of spin classes. The perfect yin & yang. Whenever I took yoga in the fall my pesky, previously injured, right shoulder would bother me (really arm? Trapeze doesn’t hurt, weight lifting doesn’t hurt, but yoga?) Finally I can practice yoga without pain! I forgot how much I love yoga and how good it makes me feel afterwards.

I’m still on a total spin kick, which is hilarious considering I hated spinning the first 10 times I tried it. Actually, I hated yoga too until last year, I guess my fitness preference has changed. I love that spin classes are a guaranteed sweat fest– no matter what I leave a spin class drenched in sweat and feeling rather zen. Maybe spin and yoga are more closely related than I thought…..

Now it’s a lazy Friday. I thought I was going to spend the afternoon studying for AFAA but instead I’ve been lounging around watching Say Yes to the Dress. Gotta love Bride Day Friday.

Hopefully I’ll be able to leave the apartment tomorrow and get around the city….

what’s your current fitness obsession?

fellow northeasterners, how are you making the most of the blizzard?

sweat, soup and socializing

Guys, it’s national peanut butter day! Granted every day is peanut butter day in the life of Kayla, but still!

Unfortunately I couldn’t spend all of today hibernating, so my way of dealing with the cold? Sweat, soup and socializing.

First sweat session of the day? 7AM yoga at my favorite studio Yoga Vida. It’s been a while since I took a yoga class, but this morning’s vinyasa class reminded me of how much I love yoga. Recently yoga classes aggravate my old shoulder injury, but I’m hoping that the pain-free class this morning means that there’s a whole lot more yoga in my future.

After yoga class it was time to celebrate national peanut butter with PB on a whole wheat english muffin with honey. Oh wait, that’s what I eat for breakfast every. single. day.

Post english muffin it was time for sweat session #2: a spin class at Flywheels with Jesse Alexander.

I’ve got a few confessions to make.

1. The first time I took a spin class I hated it. Like loathed the entire experience and counted down the minutes to when it would finally be over.

2. Actually, I hated my first 10 or so spin classes.

3. But now, I’m obsessed. I’ve been spinning roughly every other day since I got back to the city.

4. and lastly, I’m a bit of a spin whore and I’ve been spreading my spin love around to various nearby studios. I just love each fancy studio so dang much in it’s own unique way.

So what’s Flywheels special thing? They add a competitive factor and throughout the class you can see how you are doing in comparison to your fellow classmates.

 

Go Kayla! You spun for 17 miles! Sadly, I definitely didn’t burn that many calories because they don’t calculate based on weight. And sadly I was in second to last place for most of the class. womp womp.

But, I must say todays class with Jesse Alexander was pretty freaken awesome.

He had some of the best quotes I’ve ever heard in a fitness class

“this is only 3% of your day”

(isn’t it crazy to think that exercise is only 3% of your day? That means you can totally give it your all during that 3%)

“sexy is an endorphin”

(if you say so 🙂 )

and the real reason he captured my heart? HE PLAYED GREEN DAY. I might’ve had a rather emotional experience when “Wake Me Up When September Ends” came on. The key to winning me over in life? Play Green Day…..

 

any ways. I highly recommend Jesse Alexanders class… even if you’re not a mega Green Day fan like yours truly. His class was definitely one of my favorites because he not only pushes you to keep going, but he also approaches fitness from a mental stand point– its about so much more than losing weight and looking hot.

 

After sweat session #2 I realized that the only appropriate cold weather lunch was soup so I made a pit stop at Agata and Valentina for some fresh soup.

 

Super simple ingredient list? Love it.

1 cup of this stuff + some turkey meatballs = the perfect cold weather lunch.

 

After lunch it was time for the final sweat session of the day: teaching a zumba class for kiddies! Over the past three summers I’ve worked at a day camp as the dance specialist where I choreographed dances for campers ages 3-14 in addition to teaching zumba classes geared towards kids. It’s been awhile since I led a kids zumba class but I forgot how much fun it was. I’m so used to teaching in the sweltering summer heat that I was actually thrilled to be teaching in cold weather.

 

and lastly my day ended with thai food for dinner with some friends from high school. A lot of my friends from high school and sleep away camp are either attending graduate school or working in Manhattan so it’s been great catching up with old friends. My dream in life is to some how make all the people I love in my life move to the city so that I can see them all the time. Not gonna lie, my dream is actually slowly coming soon since so many of my friends are now moving here.

oooof I’m sleeeeepy after all those sweat sessions. Time to rest up because tomorrow I’m attending an all day TRX workshop!

 

questions of the day:

anyone else celebrating national peanut butter day?

what’s your favorite cold weather food?

how time flies

It’s already week 5 of camp, y’all? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE. More than halfway through the camp season and I’m still learning staff members names….

When this summer began I started referring to it as “the last summer of childhood”. yes, I am 22, and the last summer of childhood should have happened approximately 4 years ago, but I am dead serious about this concept. It is the last summer quite possibly in my life that I will have a true summer. As much as I would secretly love to work at camps for the rest of my life, I sadly have the enter the real world of full time work for minimum wage and with no summer vacation.

While I am the least reckless, rebellious, exciting person ever, it is necessary to push myself outside my comfort zone and do things a bit on the wild side. There is a totally valid point to YOLO: you do in fact only live once, so why always play is so safe?

It all began with this

seeing the dark knight rises at midnight in the middle of a work week? Eh, not the brightest. But I can only be irresponsible and reckless for so much longer…

The midnight showing was brought to you by CAFFEINE

unfortunately starbucks in suburbia closes around 9PM, so I had to actually make coffee. Lemme tell you, this cup of coffee was absolutely necessary. Even so, I still managed to fall asleep during the movie. Multiple times. Talking about the movie with my friends feels like recapping a party I blacked out during. I kept going “WAIT, THAT HAPPENED?” So let this be a lesson to you all, don’t work a full camp day and expect to stay up for a 3 hour movie at midnight.

Thanks to the midnight showing I didn’t make it home til 3:30AM. Silly me ambitiously set the alarm for 6AM  thinking I would actually be functional for bootcamp. LOLZ. I am a believer in no excuses when it comes to working out, however the exception to the rule is exhaustion. It is more important to listen to my body and what it needed. 6AM bootcamp would have been a silly mistake.

—

post midnight showing was a full day of camp followed by a lovely weekend in the city with the boy.

the jam packed mini-vacation began with seeing Fela on Broadway. 2 years ago I saw the original broadway production and loved the energetic, emotional story of african musician Fela Kuti . This production is technically the tour making a pit stop on broadway for a few weeks. The touring production definitely matches the powerful original version.

Saturday was spent loving the beautiful weather in central park.

 

a bonus for the weekend was getting to see my very good friend Jenna on her 22nd birthday. We have a long history of spending summers together both at day camp and sleep away camp.

Saturday night was another broadway show, Bring it On the musical! I’ve been anxiously waiting to see this musical for over 2 years now! Back when I was 10 I was obsessed and watched the movie every single day on pay per view. An added bonus is that the creative team who wrote and directed the musical are some of my favorite broadway people EVER. It’s like they put together my dream team to create Bring it On. The musical does not follow the same story line as the movie, but has a similar style. I think people who like the movie will also enjoy the humor of the musical. I was thoroughly impressed with the musical especially the crazy cheerleading stunts. My hero Lin Manuel Miranda was also sitting in the row in front of me taking notes– made the whole theater experience even more magical.

Being in Manhattan also means being surrounded by delicious food all weekend long. The boy and I made sure to hit up as many of our favorite places as we could cram into the weekend. I also discovered a new favorite dessert place

 

meet STOGO, my new dairy-free obsession. Being an ice cream addict, but currently dairy-free I’ve been crying a bit missing my favorite frozen treat. Only a few blocks away from my apartment is STOGO, the greatest thing ever. I chose the coconut based chocolate chip vanilla and soy based salted caramel pecan. Both were good, but the vanilla was a bit bland after the outrageously awesome taste of the caramel. The boy refused to try it since it was dairy free and he thought it was weird. More ice cream for me 🙂

and what would a trip into the city be without a class at Yoga Vida! My body was crying for a yoga class, since I’ve been a bad bad yogi and haven’t gone to class since the first day of camp 4 weeks ago. oooh it felt so good to have a sweaty vinyasa class. I miss it so much. It is amazing what the body doesn’t forgot– the wise corrections and words of all my various yoga teachers and the things I realized when I did 21 yoga classes in 22 days only a mere 2 months ago.

there is nothing more lovely than walking in union square after a delightful yoga class with a soy chai latte

—

returning to the city briefly makes me realize how much I miss it and how that island has become my home. the second I opened the door to my apartment I felt a sense of being home that I don’t think I will ever feel in suburbia

as much as I would have loved to stay in the city, it was time to back to my other home, my parents home.

after being on a workout break, it was time to kick my own ass again when I got back to the ‘burbs.

ugh, a dreaded 25 minute run.

but the weather was lovely at my old high schools track, a nice breezy evening

and I made a killer playlist of green day, katy perry and ska tunes to keep me moving.

So I kept on running

for 25 minutes.

the longest I have ever run without stopping in my entire life.

#proof

and really, it wasn’t so bad! Okay, maybe it was a bit rough during it at times, but it was all about not stopping. Knowing that I could do it even I wanted to stop because it was difficult. It didn’t matter how fast I ran, just that I was running for the full 25 minutes. And it was a bit glorious to know I accomplished something– something I have never done before. After feeling so brought down by my injury for the past few months, this feeling of accomplishment is even more rewarding..

now I have to mentally prepare myself for 2 more 25 minute runs this week. EEEEEEK

here’s to week 5 and the second half of camp. the last summer of childhood continues!

 

 

Kayla [back] in the City [briefly]

after 3 or so week home in the ‘burbs, yesterday I went back to visit my lovely city, apartment, and neighborhood.

it was one of those perfect days that makes me wonder “why the hell did I ever leave the city in the first place”.

first was lunch, courtesy of my new neighborhood grocery store

I’ve been mourning the closing of my nearby d’agastino’s all year. I missed being able to literally run out and get groceries across the street. Agata & Valentina though is an EXCELLENT replacement. The brand new store is gorgeous and stocked with amazing fresh food. I enjoyed a chicken caesar wrap from the cafe. I have a feeling I will be a daily costumer at this new store.

After lunch it was time for a job interview that included getting a smoothie at my favorite restaurant/ cafe Grey Dogs.

Post smoothie I couldn’t resist stopping at a cute food cart to see what they had. The Squeeze was an AMAZING find, and makes me even more depressed that I’m not living in the city this summer. After sampling the coconut granola, I couldn’t resist taking some home.

this stuff is addicting. I couldn’t stop munching on it all afternoon

it is like a crunchy, nutty, pina colada.

I love that you can see the blue skies outside my apartment. My bowls in the city are so much prettier than at home 🙂

After eating lots of granola, it was time for a yoga class at my beloved yoga vida! I felt like a little kid going to Disney World I was so giddy to be back in their beautiful studio with a favorite teacher. Oh Yoga Vida, I miss you, your affordability and your 13 class times a day oh so much! Luckily they now have podcast of their amazing teachers. I haven’t tried it out yet, but will definitely be trying these out soon. While I’m sure it is no substitute for class, listening to a podcast and doing yoga on my back porch seems like a nice alternative.

Sadly it was time to go back to the ‘burbs after my quick visit to the city. I did however get to see a rainbow on the train ride home.

I like to think of it as some good luck and telling me that exciting new things are on their way

—

this morning I continued my recent cooking kick by making dairy free overnight oats courtesy of Peanut Butter Fingers. I’ve recently been trying to cut back on my dairy consumption, I’ve never really loved milk on it’s own and think that it might have been contributing to some stomach pains and ailments I was having during Spring Semester.

I love the concept of overnight oats because they are so simple to make. I tried to make a different recipe during the school year and wasn’t a fan of the final outcome, but this variation was super sweet and tasty.

Before heading to the gym for some Zumba I mixed the ingredients in a tupperware and left it in the fridge.

When I came home I had a refreshing brunch treat waiting for me.

Since I’ve been on a berry kick recently, strawberries and blueberries seemed like the prefect addition to this summer breakfast.

I’m thinking this might be the perfect lunch this summer. The day camp I work at is peanut free, which makes me cry a little every day because I just want a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. It does however encourage me to be creative with my food options. I might finally have something new to add to my day camp lunch rotation.

Tonight will be spent pigging out enjoying hibachi with my work friends from camp, and excellent way to kick off another summer working together.

CHALLENGE COMPLETE

I DID IT!

At the end of April I decided to beat fitness boredom with a 22 day yoga challenge. I was determined to take a class every single day for 22 days… and by the end of the challenge I would be 22 years old and a college graduate. I knew there would be tricky days to fit in a sweaty class (y’know like having to attend 2 college graduations), but I was determined to make it a priority for these 22 days.

So, how did I do?

in the end I did 21 yoga classes in 22 days.

Out of those 22 days I only didn’t attend a yoga class at all for two days– and that was because I was in pretty terrible pain from getting shots into my shoulder joint.

I went to yoga class before my huge nyu graduation at yankee stadium (which was also my birthday) and also before my Tisch graduation at Radio City. I went to Yoga in Manhattan (a lot ) and in Northern Westchester. I survived getting shots in my shoulder despite being a huge needle-phobe thanks to knowing how to breathe. I woke up at 6:15AM on days I was worried 7AM would be my only chance to go to yoga. I planned my day around ensuring I would be able to take a class. I took classes at Crunch, Yoga Vida, Sacred Space and Katonah Yoga.  I looked forward to class every single day. I had amazing classes and meh classes. I found teachers I adore and teachers I will avoid.

While it isn’t a huge feat, it was a challenge for me and something to keep me busy instead of sulking about my shoulder, and hey it did the trick.

The best part of the challenge? not allowing myself to make excuses about why I should skip class– I was gonna go to class no matter what (with the two days of pain exception). While I’m sure I would have gone to lots of yoga classes in the past 22 days, I would not have woken up super early for yoga class on my graduabirthday, I would not have travelled to a slightly farther away studio because it was the only class I could make all day, I would not have forced myself to try out yoga studios in Westchester, and I would have found a million excuses why I should skip class on any given day.

While the challenge is over, I am definitely continuing on. This girl who HATED yoga in January is definitely obsessed now, and even deeply considering teacher training— who would have guessed? It has definitely helped me find peace of mind, happiness and confidence. Before every class I get so excited to be on the mat once again.

So now, I continue to search for the perfect-for-me yoga class in Northern Westchester (can Yoga Vida please open a third location here, k thanks), and continue on this path that has already been paved.

….. and my gym buddy Annica and I are even gonna sweat our asses off with some bikram this week. Uhhh wish me luck.

In conclusion…. I encourage anyone who even remotely likes yoga to do a mini challenge, 20 days? 21 days? 22 if you just so happen to be turning that age…. any challenge, whether it be yoga, zumba, spinning, or not eating dessert, making it a challenge and knowing there are no excuses makes it so much easy to commit.
As I read in another blog after someone completed a challenge there is never going to be a good time. Was doing a challenge in the midst of finals, graduation and shoulder x-rays a good idea? no, but instead of searching for the perfect time to do a challenge, just do it. You won’t regret it.

accepting where I am

‎4 years, 4 dorms,2 apartments, changed my major 2 times, floor 9, NMTC, purple group, gallatin, a COW, more In the Heights and American Idiot lottos than I can count, 20 or so shows worked on in some capacity, very few hours of sleep, far too many hours spent at 440, dangerous amounts of starbucks consumed, all nighters in bobst, plenty of blood sweat and tears…. I can’t believe it’s over.

Friday was Tisch Salute aka Graduation Part Two!

While I quite enjoyed graduabirthday at yankee stadium, Tisch Salute at Radio City Music Hall was pretty sweet

Hopefully it was not my last time walking across the stage at Radio City (Tony Awards? Please?)

and I got to see my HERO Michael Mayer, director of American Idiot, Spring Awakening and other musicals of my childhood was our HILARIOUS guest speaker. It was incredibly fitting that after spending the second half of my college career obsessing over American Idiot, Michael Mayer would be the speaker at my graduation

—

I’m in the home stretch with the yoga challenge!

Day 19 (Saturday)

Vinyasa at Yoga Vida with one of my favorites, Jessie. She discussed our “ness”, that natural thing confident, radiant people shine out naturally. She explained that as a teacher instead of correcting a pose she instead wants to observe the “ness” and then adjust to make it help us radiate more and feel it deeper.

It got me thinkin’ about happy people, how happy people radiate this positive essence and therefore it makes other people happier. It is as sample as being nice to the starbucks barista instead of silently grabbing your macchiato and avoiding eye contact. Use your “ness” it it’s best ability.

Day 20 (Sunday)

One last class in Manhattan before heading to Westchester for the summer. Took Domenic’s class at Yoga Vida, a guaranteed sweat-fest and challenging class. The discussion in that class was about freeing your heart– that is what the breath does. That is why it is so important to gain control of your breath, especially for people like me who have anxiety issues. Free the breath helps control the anxiety attacks, you don’t get those hiccupy panting breaths when you free it. I was super sad to leave Yoga Vida not knowing when I’ll be back this summer. I have a feeling I’ll be making some yoga day trips to my neighborhood in Manhattan this summer….

and then I was homeward bound with my parents for a summer in the suburbs

random things I bring home: whole wheat bread, girl scout cookies, yoga mat…

Day 21 (Today)

Today began the quest to find quality, fabulous yoga in Northern Westchester! Ready, set, go!

This morning I took at vinyasa class at Sacred Space. My philosophy for the day was accepting where I am– physically and literally. Physically yes, I have limitations. Yes my right arm is literally weak, but that doesn’t mean I am weak— and today began the journey to repairing my rotator cuff with physical therapy. Literally, this is where I am for the summer, for better and for worse. This is where my friends are, my family is and my boyfriend is. But I also feel out of place here– whole foods and trader joe’s are 30 minutes away, yoga is expensive and harder to find, suburbia is obviously a very different rhythm from manhattan– and I’ve always been a city gal at heart.

The class was good, it is also weird having a different instructor and slightly different style of yoga for the first time. I’ve become very used to the general “yoga vida” style that all the instructors follow, and love taking Amrit’s class as well. It felt very different this morning, but I hope it is something I will get used to.

so my yoga mat and I will travel around northern westchester together in search of a good sweaty class. Thinking about trying out Katonah Yoga tomorrow….

and I’ll have to settle for Mrs. Greens as my go to grocery store….

but sometimes it’s nice to be home

and when it is torrential raining all day it is pretty nice to have a car as my main form of transportation instead of walking……

challenge continues

after a mini hiatus from yoga due to painful injections in my shoulder, I was thrilled to return to the mat

day 16: MY GRADUABIRTHDAY.

When I was little I would wake up basically every hour too excited about the fact that it was my birthday. Apparently at age 22 some things never change because at 6:15AM I couldn’t contain my excitement about the day. After a few practice downward dogs on my bed to make sure my shoulder joint was ready for yoga, I was off to Crunch for some graduabirthday vinyasa at Sunrise Salutations.

Between my excitement to be back in a yoga class after 2 days away, my excitement for being the birthday girl and my excitement to graduate college I was a hot, but incredibly happy mess in this class. I knew it would be a slightly lost cause from the start because my body was literally buzzing, but I knew I wanted to go to yoga.

I really try to make a conscious effort now to workout in some format first thing in the morning since it was really reduced my anxiety. I didn’t want anxiety to ruin the day. It was an incredibly sweaty but lovely class.

I’ve never left before shavasana in a yoga class, but I knew it was necessary in order to get ready with enough time to go to Yankee Stadium. Leaving I gave a cute little shrug and said “sorry, graduation!”

 

day 17: after the whirlwind that was graduabirthday I definitely needed to calm down and re-calibrate my mind and body. I went to a basics class at Yoga Vida with one of my favorite teachers there. As much as being injured is a downer and consuming much of my life now-a-days, one odd perk is that people remember me now. Teachers remember who I am since I am the one-armed girl modifying everything. Generally I am shy and would never introduce myself to instructors at the end of a class, but because of the injury it has brought about conversation from instructors and other students.

a big focus in this class was finding balance, something that I definitely needed to find after being a ball of energy on Wednesday. It was incredibly difficult for me to balance, a mixture of being a bit dizzy all class and feeling wobbly the whole time.  As frustrating as falling over was, I knew it what mirroring how I felt this week. As thrilling and exciting as graduating is, I definitely feel off balance.

I have found great comfort this spring semester. Sometimes the semester feels like a mad dash to the finish line where I just want the insanity, work and stress to end, but this semester I remained calm for much of it. I found a schedule that worked– I had a good grasp of when I would work out, when I would go to yoga, when I would eat, where I would eat and kept a pretty consistent schedule week to week. I feel frazzled now knowing I will have to create a new sense of schedule when I get home, another schedule when I start work, and a completely new schedule when I move to california. I already miss the sense of balance I had this semester, but I am sure I will find it again

day 18: later today is part two of graduation. Yes, we have TWO graduations at NYU! Today’s is for all the students at Tisch. I am ridiculously excited for our guest speaker Michael Mayer who directed American Idiot. How fitting that the guy who basically created the broadway show that made a hugeeee impact on my life at college would be speaking at my graduation?

Worried I wouldn’t be able to make it to a yoga class later today, I went to Yoga Vida early this morning for a class. The instructor started off class talking about making room for change. Allowing change to happen and not being afraid of it. Oh wow, how perfect for the day of my college graduation, and the day I cut off my last tie to New York University.

Change is scary, terrifying even, since there is a lot of unknown. But this morning I was reminded that in actuality we are constantly changing– my downward dog is different today than it was yesterday, my relationships with my friends are constantly evolving and changing in their nature and I am constantly changing

While big changes like graduating college and leaving Manhattan for 6 months are rightfully scary, it also leaves room for so many good things. Incredible opportunities that I don’t even know about. Change doesn’t have to be bad. 

Love Happened Here

“may 5th, my heart is like a bomb……”
–American Idiot

Another gloomy day in New York.

( I’m almost positive that the ridiculous castle looking penthouse is Alec Baldwin’s apartment. Yes, I have the ability to stalk him from my living room window….)

This blah weather we’ve been having makes me even more excited to live in California this fall. I miss the sunshine.

Gloomy days are perfect for yoga though….

Day 5 of the Yoga Challenge

This morning was much better than yesterday’s class. My body was far more cooperative and it felt so so good to stretch this morning. The class was with a teacher I’ve never had before. It is great to have the opportunity to take class with various teachers at Yoga Vida, experiencing their different styles of teaching and what their trade marks are. Todays class had a whole lotta chatarungas. I might be a freak because I love me some chaturanga, but wow doing a lot of them at the beginning of class is tough!

Today was all about listening to my body, what was the best variation for me today. Sometimes it is easy to become secretly competitive “obviously I’m going to take the most difficult variation!” For me personally there’s always this inner guilt that I am being lazy if I don’t try the hardest version of a pose. THIS IS NOT TRUE. and this is something I have to constantly remind myself. Some days I can push harder and try things that are difficult, but other days I need to back off. By listening to my body I took cues for what was really the best variation to be doing today, the one that doesn’t hurt my arm, the one that feels good and the one that is the best match for today.

One of the most difficult parts of being injured for me is feeling lazy. As someone who prides herself in being strong, it is such a challenge to acknowledge the fact that I am not strong right now, and that is not because I am lazy. It’s actually because I injured myself being anything but lazy. Modification is not laziness. When I drop to a lower weight in a strength training class it is not because I am lazy, it is because I have to. When I modify a pose in yoga it is not because I am lazy, it is because I have to. Constantly I have to remind myself that it is not laziness, laziness would be sitting on my couch sulking about my arm. Modifying is necessary for me to continue doing some of the things I love. I’m trying to kick the lazy stigma in the butt (and also punch it with my working left arm). Doing something to the best of your ability is never laziness.

and now, it is time for a super exciting intenSati workshop about positive psychology! getting to be nerdy while also getting to exercise? yes please!

Yoga Vida: how I finally gave in and started to love yoga

the dreary weather started getting to me this afternoon. I’ve had a lame week of workouts thanks to a minor trapeze related injury. Dance & zumba classes this week with limited movement in my right arm? Hilarious.  Today I wanted to workout, something I would really love that also wouldn’t be hindered due to my painful deltoid.

Running? meh. Running is great when I’m really worked up and stressed out. My blah feeling wasn’t quite that

Group fitness class? meh. nothing was being offered at the nearby Crunches that sounded like a great idea to my arm.

Yoga? hmmmmmmm. Yes. A crummy mood, crummy weather, and crummy arm pains seemed like the perfect match for yoga. (note: because of the nature of my arm injury yoga is actually painless to do. I do not recommend doing workouts that aggravate a recent injury– healing is key).

I decided to try out a nearby studio Yoga Vida located at 99 University & 12th street. For first time students it is $10 for a week of unlimited yoga– what more can a gal ask for?

For years I proclaimed my hatred of Yoga loud and proud. I wasn’t against the practice of yoga for other people– you rubber band people with your well lubricated joints can downward dog all ya want. It didn’t seem like a good match for me– a gal with clicking joints, lots of thoughts, chronic jaw tension that isn’t even my thought, zero flexibility and is far from relaxed.

I have converted to the other side. First with “Sunrise Salutations” at Crunch, and today I admitted to myself “man, i love me some yoga” at Yoga Vida.

in september I got a taste of what acro yoga is like. that I actually loved

The class today, an open vinyasa class, was just what I needed. The instructor, Jessie, was knowledgeable, encouraging and incredibly helpful. I loved that she encouraged us to laugh and smile throughout, a reminder that this isn’t meant to be painful, it is meant to be an enjoyable, nourishing experience. With Jessie’s guidance I was really able to connect my breath with movement to make the most out of the poses and the class. The pace was perfect for me, a sorta beginner, and was the perfect combination of strength and relaxation

For me the sign of an amazing class is when I don’t look at my watch once. I was fully there, committed and focused the whole time. Most important is that I left there definitely feeling a million times better than I did when I arrived, and than I would have if I just sulked on my couch for that hour. Isn’t that the most important part of a workout, remembering that you should feel better leaving than you did arriving? 

I am not quite sure exactly what has made my completely change my view on yoga– a handful of great classes, instructors I have really enjoyed, and the awareness that it is not a competition with other students. It is a good thing it has happened though because I can already see the changes my weekly yoga classes have made in my life– I feel far more relaxed and at ease recently, my posture and alignment in performance has benefitted, and I feel more grounded and stable than ever. If this all is in fact from the yoga (which I think it is, among other changes in my daily life), sign me up for more

I am excited to see what else Yoga Vida has to offer, they have already won me over with their affordability to students, convenient location, cleanliness, and the wonderful instructor I had today.