Yoga Progress Shots | An Exciting Journey

Happy World Yoga Day everyone!

I didn't do anything to contribute to the project this year (heck, I probably won't even get around to doing yoga at all today ha) but I did want to highlight my yoga journey as of now.

Watching the progress of just six months has got me so pumped to see where my practice takes me in the next few years!

I haven't really participated in any yoga challenges (like on instagram) but I was definitely inspired by them to start taking photos of my progress.

It's exciting to watch myself grow!

One huge thing that yoga is teaching me is patience with myself.

It's humbling to realize that you can do something one day but not the next. Or that you can do a really deep stretch on one side of your body but not the other.

And you just have to accept and listen to what your body is telling you. I also have to listen to myself as I work on challenging poses. There are some shots I have taken that don't really show any progress at all in six months, and that's okay! It's all part of the journey!

Those lessons learned on the mat help ground me in the rest of my life, too. So three cheers for YOGA!

Downward Dog: I have been doing focused work on opening up my shoulders. And I'm noticing increased leg flexibility, too (see how my heels are almost on the ground now.)

Forward Fold: Not bad for a gal who couldn't touch her toes in high school! This pose has become really therapeutic and helpful as a counter stretch to all the work I've been doing to open up my back and shoulders for backbends.

Half Moon: It might not look like much progress going on here, but I can usually take my supporting hand and hold my ankle now... this requires a LOT of balance. Check out the long-term super awesome versions of this pose!

Crow Pose: Yeah man! I didn't think I'd EVER fly crow and I definitely didn't think I'd be able to do it within six months. This is one of those things you chip away at and once you fly on the mat, you feel like there's nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it! At least, that's how I felt ;-)

Wheel Pose: Significant growth here. I'm really proud of this because it can be a potentially difficult, even dangerous pose for someone with previous back injury. But with wise instruction from my yoga teachers at Grace Studio, I have been able to work into it carefully and mindfully. And now look where I am! My creaky old back that's been bothering me since high school is getting stronger and longer and bendier. Which I'm sure is a word.

 

 

And new (to me!) this year - Headstands! I was introduced to inversions at Grace Studio's summer intensives and I have to say I'm hooked. (Here are Laura's top 5 reasons to do a headstand every day, in case you're curious.)

 

I'm working on tripod (left) and forearm (right) and neither are very strong yet... which is why I do forearm headstands with a wall behind me for now. There is something super fun and empowering about being upside down.

 

So fellow yogis... what are you proud of this year? And even if you don't do yoga... whatever you do (and I hope you do something) take progress shots, or write down your run times or your weight training or how far you can walk or swim or bike (with the dates) so you can look back next year and say WOW I'm totally killing it!

 

Get up and move. And be proud of yourself when you do!

 





Nothing's More Intense than TEN DAYS OF YOGA at Grace Studio!

Busy busy BUSY week (or two or three) in the Aiduk casa. But so much of it is fun and exciting that I absolutely can't complain! 

I just finished my first experience taking a yoga class at Grace Studio. If you are interested in yoga, dance, or German language classes this semester, I highly recommend them! (If you join German 1 on Mondays and Wednesdays I'll see you there! And my girls will be taking ballet on Thursday afternoons!)

[If you're scratching your head and wondering if I have time for all of this on top of JGP and the NYIP course, the answer is probably no. But my commitment to these things is a story for another time. And also, we all know that I tend to get in over my head. We'll see if I can manage to balance life this time ;o) Some of these opportunities are just way too good to pass up! Moving on...]

So Jenny, the owner of Grace Studio, does this super awesome thing called Summer Intensives in between the end of her summer semester and the beginning of her fall semester. You sign up for ten days of your favorite - one hour per day! There was ballet, tap, swing dance, German, and yoga. Since my German is so bad (STILL) I thought yoga was the obvious choice.

Of COURSE I had already committed to this BEFORE we knew J would be up to his eyeballs in ALS. And yes of COURSE it happened before we finally made a decision on that second car purchase. And of COURSE the girls were on their summer break!

Needless to say, my resolve to attend all ten classes was definitely tested. Especially after how sore I was the first few days! I usually only do at most 40 minutes of yoga at a time. So I was pretty nervous that I wouldn't be able to keep up.

Thankfully, Jenny is a patient and wise yoga instructor... one of the biggest lessons she and Linda (another instructor) reminded me of is to be patient with your body and be present in each day. No matter what fitness program you choose, you can't get caught up in your goals. Because there will always be another goal! It's awesome to be proud of yourself and to push yourself.

But true fitness is a lifelong journey!

I was just so amazed by how much fun I had and how much I learned during this last ten days of yoga. I got to know new friends, I learned tons of new poses and ways to build up to them, and I learned about some essential yoga gear that I need to add to my collection. (Read: I thought that yoga blocks were only necessary for beginners, but now I learned how I can use them to go deeper into some poses and build up strength for others!)

I also learned some good lessons about going with the flow and just smiling in the midst of chaos. 

Please imagine five people trying to take yoga seriously with a 3yo and 4yo in the corner watching a movie. They have headphones in. So they don't realize that they're talking loud to each other. Really. Loud. But Jenny encouraged me not to worry so I kept bringing them on the days I had to! ;o) No harm was done and it stretched me to be more tolerant of my children being around during my yoga practice. Sam even experimented with me a little!

But we're kind of glad (as a family) that the yoga intensives are over because they were, well, intense. Having to get to the studio every day by 4:45pm wasn't always easy. But it was so so worth it!

If you're in the area and want to check out a sample of what Grace Studio is all about, come enjoy their 4th anniversary party this Wednesday! There will be champagne, pineapple cake, short performances from all the intensive classes, and dancing to end the evening! (And bonus - get your photos taken by yours truly!) 

PS the above photo is the beginning of Lily and my attempts at imitating the amazing Laura Sykora and her daughter Mini! Yoga is fun for the whole family!!

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If you'd like to support my blog at no additional cost to you, make an amazon purchase through my affiliate links to the yoga blocks , yoga towel , and yoga mat that I plan to purchase soon. You don't have to buy any of those things for amazon to send me a financial thank-you! They just track whatever purchase you make through my link and send me a small percentage. Thanks!

I Have MUSCLES for the First Time EVER

Another title for this post could be:

Yoga is No Joke

or

It Only Took Me 10 Months to Reach my New Years' Resolution About Fitness

or

I Have the Weirdest Exercise Motivation Ever


I stepped on the scale earlier in the week and was pleasantly surprised that I was two pounds UNDER my goal weight!  In the interest of not obsessing, I don't typically weigh myself regularly.  But I do notice that I tend to fluctuate in a five pound bell curve... I've been trying to get my base weight to be closer to what I weighed at the beginning of our marriage.  (Which is 15 lbs less than I weighed two years later when I got pregnant with Lily... then add two pregnancies in two years and the subsequent Mommy flab and you have an idea of what we're working with here.)

But reaching my goal weight isn't what excites me enough to want to share with the internet... it's the fact that I have muscles!!!!!  People, this has NEVER happened to me before!  For those of you that know me and my sisters and/or have seen my chicken arms, you know.  Rawleigh girls aren't known for their upper body strength.  

I've been doing yoga semi-consistently for about 6 months now and I noticed a few weeks back that I have arm and shoulder definition for the first time in my life.  Please picture me flexing in front of the mirror with a big smile on my face.  Cause that's what was happening.  It's a cryin' shame that I didn't have the foresight to take before/after pictures.  Honestly, if I showed you a picture now you'd just laugh at me... but if you have a "before" picture you'd laugh... less ;o)

Anyways I just wanted to share with you all but I also wanted to tell you how I did it and what really got me motivated to stick with a workout routine.  And I want to challenge you to do the same.

I didn't do anything fancy: just limited my portions when I ate (I was having an "it's okay to have third helpings cause I cooked this and it's healthy" problem) and exercised 3-4 times a week (mostly yoga and some running in the nice weather.)

These are my four favorite FREE and SHORT workouts on youtube:
Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown
Denise Austin Yoga Cardio Burn
Denise Austin Yoga Metabolism Booster
Denise Austin Power Yoga

About three months into exercising regularly I started to get discouraged... I was feeling healthier but I wasn't really seeing any results.  And that's usually the point I start slacking off.  But then I read this timely post from Carrie... and not only did she renew my motivation to stay consistent, but she gave me a new motivation that I'd never thought about before... BETTER SEX!

(Sorry Dad and Brother.  You can go throw up now.)

But seriously!  We all know the normal, boring reasons for exercising and staying healthy... we want to keep our heart healthy and stay around a long time for our children blah blah blah.  But Carrie reminded me of another great benefit to exercise: having more confidence in the bedroom!  

So after reading that post, I would say "consistency over time" or "stay hot for my husband" in my head over and over on a run when I wanted to quit and walk.  Or before a yoga workout when I'd rather be sitting on the couch with a third cup of coffee.  Or when I looked in the mirror or at the scale and didn't see much change.

And that's why seeing "the number" on the scale and "the muscles" in the mirror means so much to me this time around!  Cause I almost gave up right before I saw real change!

All this to say: busy moms!  Get off your butt and find time to exercise!  Get hot for your husbands (and keep your heart healthy and all that jazz!) and be a strong woman!  I feel so awesome and it only took me six months of consistency to get to this point.  I can't imagine how I'm gonna feel after doing yoga all winter and then getting outside once the sun comes back to Germany!  I'm excited already!

Don't wait till the New Year to make your new fitness goals!  Start today... and then keep at it every day (or most days). And when you see results give yourself a pat on the back and flex your muscles in the mirror.  It feels awesome.

How Hiking My First Mountain was like Giving Birth to a Baby

(I should preface this with the reminder that I gave birth to both girls without any medical intervention.  Should help the points of this analogy make more sense!)

1.  No matter how many stories you hear about how hard it is you still underestimate how hard it's going to be.  Baby: when the real contractions started happening during labor with Lily I was like "oh crap.  I can't do this." Mountain: when we stopped to catch our breath at the base of the first huge incline of rocks to climb I was like "oh crap. I can't do this."

2.  You need support from someone who's been there.  Baby: even if your husband is a fantastic birth coach, consider hiring a doula.  Mountain: my Brother led the way while Steph and I struggled along... with Bethany shouting periodic encouragement from the rear.  I don't know what I would have done at points without seeing Brother go first so I would know which part of the path was best.  And once Bethany physically pushed my tush right up over the edge of this huge rock.

3.  You will feel like throwing up at some point.  Baby: transitional labor anyone?  Your body kind of gets to a point where the stress of labor makes you want to hurl.  Mountain: I've been exercising pretty regularly for a few months now but that didn't prepare me in the slightest for a three hour cardio workout.  I obviously couldn't breathe and definitely wanted to throw up a couple times.  (mountains have childbirth beat in that you can take breaks as needed.  Like every five minutes)

4.  You lose track of time.  Labor: it's best not to look at the clock anyways, but when you do you can't believe you've been pushing for XXX hours.  Mountain: I can't really remember the hour and a half between the "I'm gonna throw up stage" and the "hey we're almost to the summit stage".  Coming back down was weird... I was like "we climbed UP this??"

5.  When someone tells you the end is near, you get really excited... especially if you can see the end.  Baby: when you can actually touch the baby's head coming out of your body.  Mountain:  when you see the first "sneak peek view" and see the trees changing around you.

6.  When you get to the top it's like your adrenaline and sense of accomplishment completely make you forget all the pain it took to get to that point.  Baby: when you hold that tiny person in your arms you almost forget you just pushed it out of your body!  Mountain: when you reach the summit (and after you eat a sandwich) you forget about how you almost turned around halfway up.

7.  You feel kindred spirits with everyone who's ever experienced the same thing.  Baby:  I still want to high-five every mom with a new baby.  I don't care it you had a scheduled c-section, you still gave birth and that's HARD and I salute you!  Mountain:  I wanted to high-five everyone on the summit of Algonquin.  But I'm new to the hiker-club so I refrained from embarrassing my siblings.

8.  There comes a point when you realize you have to leave "the summit". Baby:  you can't stay in the hospital snuggling your baby... have to take it home and do your own laundry.  And those first few months of sleepless nights are kind of torturous.  Mountain:  you can stay on the summit for as long as you want, but it gets a little cold. So you have to drag your tired legs back down.

9.  Getting back to reality is hard... really hard.  Baby: you just push through those first few months in a blur until all the sudden your baby sleeps and you become human again.  Mountain:  you stumble and trudge down the mountain... no one takes pictures or makes jokes or even talks.  You finish your water and you have to pee but you just keep plodding till you reach the car.

10.  You completely forget all the previous things I've said... pregnancy amnesia is very similar to mountain amnesia.  And it's awesome.  Otherwise I wouldn't have Samantha!  And I certainly plan to hike another mountain someday!

Top Ten Tidbits about the Adirondack Mountains

#1:  There are 46 high peaks (above 4,000 ft.)  My brother Alex and sister Bethany are going to become "46ers".  Basically, it's a special club of people that have climbed the 46 peaks of the Adirondack Mountains.  They're about halfway there.

#2:  It's owned by all the citizens of NY State.  It's a 50/50 split of public and private land.  All the public land is open for hiking.  And free camping (in designated spots.)

#3:  ADK park is bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Parks COMBINED.  6 million acres of park... all in my beautiful state!

#4:  The tops of the mountains are home to some of the most rare plant life in New York State, because it only grows at high altitudes.  Unfortunately, these plants are easily prone to death by human injury... so on all the most popular high peaks, there is a Summit Steward.  He/She hikes the mountain in the wee small hours of the morning and stays on the summit all day and educate the hikers about proper care of the fragile ecosystem.  They basically make small talk with everyone while keeping an eye that you don't ruin the mountain flora.

#5:  Mount Marcy (the tallest point in NYS) is getting higher and higher each year.  Tectonic plates are constantly moving and pushing it up.  (Technically the whole mountain range is moving, but Mt. Marcy gets all the attention.  PS it's by feet/hundred years... how do they measure this stuff???)

#6:  It is the "first American wilderness".  ADK Park was the first protected public forest before it was cool to make parks.  The motto as written in the NYS constitution is that it will remain "forever wild"... kept the same for generations to come.

#7:  Within the park there are 3,000 lakes and ponds.  Obviously when people think of the ADK mountains they think of the high peaks... but the majority of that 6 million acres are the surrounding rolling hills, lakes, and ponds.  People vacation not just in the Lake Placid area, but all throughout the "mountain region".

#8:  Three of the highest peaks are actually under 4,000 feet.  And there's at least one that isn't included in the 46 peaks that is above 4,000 feet.  Old measuring isn't as accurate as new measuring.  But for the sake of tradition they keep it the way it always was... 46 peaks.  Marcy and Algonquin are over 5,000 ft.  (I did not learn that I would be hiking the second highest peak in NY until AFTER I was in the car on the way there.  Thank you siblings.)

#9:  Adirondack black bears have gotten too smart for everyone's good (because there are so many hikers in the woods with yummy smelling food) so you now have to use "bear canisters" to keep your food safe... they make it impossible for the bear to get to your stuff.  And you keep it away from your campsite so they bears also leave you alone.  My siblings use their car as a bear canister ;o)

#10:  Rumor has it that the MacIntyre Range (including Iroquois peak, Boundary peak, Algonquin peak, and Wright peak) names came from the "boundary" between the Iraquois and Algonquin Indian Nations.  More likely it was a boundary for logging companies in later times.  Believe what you want.

Bonus tidbits... #11:  There was a thing called the "simplified spelling movement" in the early 1900s, so in 1927 when the ADK Loj was built at the trail heads of the popular peaks, Melvin Dewey named it "Loj" instead of "Lodge".  I accidentally pronounced it loge.  Oops.

#12:  Legend has it that the word vacation originated in the ADKs.  People living in the cities in the early 1900s realized that sickness and summer go hand-in-hand in the cities (public sewage in your cities anyone?) so they would "vacate" to the Adirondacks for the fresh, clean, mountain air.

Three cheers for MOUNTAINS!

Running Barefoot... in Purple AND Pink!

This year's new running shoes.  Brought to you by "my old shoes are starting to fall apart" and "my Brother has these neat new 'glove' barefoot shoes and they were cheap so I got some, too!"

You might remember from last year... I typically pick my running shoes based on color.  This year is no different. Brother gave me a recommendation on the style and my immediate question was "do the come in pink?"  And sure enough, I now have neon pink and purple running shoes!

So they're a little weird for me because you have to train your body to run differently.  But doing the research on them has me excited... because apparently they train your body to run in the proper alignment.  Better for my back and my joints.  After their maiden voyage, I'm sore in weird places (like my calves and my shins) but this is apparently normal since you're using muscles that you don't usually use.

I'm so thankful that I'm in the States for this purchase.  Cause I ordered them off amazon, but I was able to go to Dick's and try them on ahead of time.  So I could order confidently, knowing that I had the right size and that I liked the fit!  In Germany, when I order shoes online I have to just cross my fingers and hope for the best!  Also, I need to man up and admit that being pregnant made my feet a half size bigger.  I keep trying to cram my feet into little size 8's. Doesn't work.

Brother said that he read they strengthen all the muscles in your feet.  Which I'm hoping means my feet will finally stop complaining when I wear high heels periodically ;o)  And if not, then at least I have yet another bright and fun reason to keep hitting the road.  Three cheers for staying healthy!