yoga week 8 & 9

Yoga Classes:

I made it to all of my yoga classes the past two weeks, Yay! They were all nice...one of them was actually a guided meditation (my yoga teacher was gone). That was nice too, but I made sure I did yoga on my own to make up for it!



Yoga on my own:
I did alot more yoga on my own week 8, and I plan on continuing to do it!
I did the free yogatoday class twice week 8. It was called "Playful Open Hamstrings and Stable Shoulders". I only did half an hour the first time I did it (because I was already way sore, and that's all I could do)  The second time I did it was Saturday, and I was already sore, but made it through the whole thing!  It was an awesome class !
Week 9 I forgot to do the yogatoday class :(. I did some yoga on my own, but I didn't feel very well this week, again.



Sun Salutation Week 8:  I wanted this one to be a good one so I worked really hard and did alot of hip openers and of course focused on my breath.  I focused alot on my core and foundation throughout the movements, instead of just moving with no control....

Sun Salutation Friday Week 9: Well this is the first week I didn't do all my 23 sun salutations on Friday. I had a feeling I should do them early, so I did as many as I could on Thursday, but the baby woke up early from what I thought would be a long nap, and I only did 5....on Friday I didn't feel well at all, so I only did 5 more. This left 13 more for Saturday which I did with no problems, because I felt alot better. But I still didn't feel THAT good, so I kept it simple and didn't add alot of hip openers.


Other workouts:  I need to up this area!
I do good on Mondays and Wednesdays, The past 2 weeks, I ride on the stationary bike around 5 miles on my first break, and walk about 2 miles on the tredmil on my second break. (instead of eating in my 2nd break I eat during Math :) Plus with pilates and yoga, Mondays and Wednesdays are my best workout days!
I want to start jogging outside a couple times a week, but we've been having winter weather again! So yet again I am putting this off until it's more spring like!
The past few days I've been doing workouts from Melissa Bender Fitness. She is awesome and I wish I was as strong as her! She records all her workouts and there are over 300 on her blog! And most of them are pretty short! And unlike yoga I can do these while watching the baby! (with full yoga classes I need to concentrate on the yoga and not have any distractions...)
I'm going to try to at least do one workout thing everyday besides the random yoga stretches I do!!!
whether it be a Melissa Bender workout, walking/jogging outside, or some other youtube video,
I want to get in better shape for summer!!!!




Meditation March Maddness.  I made a new goal at the beginning of week 8, to meditate EVERYDAY for at least 10 minutes.  I saw this idea online somewhere, I didn't even read the whole article, but thought it was a good idea for me.....So since March 10, I've been doing this.  Some days are better then others! Some days I just sit there and keep getting distracted.  But I set aside 10 minutes each day (I try doing it morning and again at night)  And I just sit in silence, and focus on my breath.  I don't look at my phone, computer, or anything.  And breathe and try to relax my body and mind.... I love it!
Sometimes I do a guided meditation, other times I find a meditation in one of my books or online to follow, but most the time I just sit and focus on my breath....and over the past couple years (since I started meditating) I have gotten alot better at it, so this hasn't been too hard for me, but it's worth it.  It helps me clear my mind of unwanted thoughts and stress, and focus more on the NOW. and it helps me fall asleep better at night!


Thoughts/observations:

OK so here are some things I thought about/learned this week, ha, because I'm trying to write more of my thoughts and observations, instead of just saying I did it.....


1.   Do a little yoga before you meditate, and it makes doing a Sitting meditation SO much better, and easier.  Yoga poses (along with breathing through the motions) calms my mind enough to be able to sit still and just breathe.  I am way less fidgety!
2.  Focusing on your exhales calms you down and relaxes you enough to sleep, or if your mind is racing it is good at grounding yourself....
3. Focusing on your inhales can give you more energy if you are feeling sluggish in middle of a long day.
4.  At anytime during the day, in class, in your car, doing homework, anytime, you can focus on your breath for only 10 breaths and feel a million times better!
5. Focus on your breath at night when you have the munchies and are craving the worst foods (at least for me night is when I just want to eat eat eat!!!!)  brush your teeth first, and drink a glass of water.......and on your exhales, exhale out any food cravings you had, and inhale the good feelings of being full but not too full (so do this BEFORE you overindulge...) 
You can also do that if you are craving something you are trying to quit, like alcohol, cigarettes, etc........
Breathe slow for at least 10 breaths before you decide if you really want to indulge in your craving or not!


Improvement I've noticed, that made me happy:
-after I had MJ and started doing yoga again, I couldn't swing my right leg up between my hands, from downward dog to a low lunge....I would swing it as far as I could, then have to scoot it the rest of the way, recently I noticed that I don't have to do that anymore! It swings right up between my hands with ease!
-my shoulders are tight, and I never was able to clasp my hands behind my back, with one arm above my head, elbow bent, in a sort of tricep stretch and the other hand reaching behind. (I forgot the name of this pose ?) Well, I can (sometimes) do it now with my right arm above, left hand reaching back. I never even came close before, but my shoulders and chest are opening up more :D
- I can do crow pose for long(ish) periods of time, and it feels steady and awesome!
-I have WAY more balance then I did when I was pregnant and right after.....wow being pregnant really messes with your balance. But mine is coming back and I love feeling steady standing in tree pose or another balancing pose!
-I've been doing more and more poses or sequences that I've never done before!  Even just trying a new pose is fun! Even if you fail, as long as your safe and can just enjoy trying, it can be very fun!


I can't wait to be able to do more inversions, and arm balancing!
I am still working on keeping my hips open!
I have a new yoga goal in mind that I think I'll start in July! (when my 23 Sun Salutation weeks are over) It's a 6 month goal, and it will keep me on track, I will tell you more about it later :)

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK WHEN I WILL POST MJ'S 9 MONTH UPDATE !!!