First I do Yoga, Then I do Things.

I tried something new!  This week I attended a Barre class at my yoga studio before my usual Aerial Yoga class.  What a great work out! I did Barre from 5:30-6:30 and then Aerial from 6:45-7:45.  Best work out combination because you had the strength training and stretching from a Barre class and then the stretching, relaxing and fun from Aerial.  Perfect Monday night if you ask me!

I had never taken a Barre class before and did little research on it before attending, I just kind of went without really knowing what to expect.  There was only 1 other girl in the class with me, which was absolutely awesome! Our instructor Rose is great and she tailored the class to fit exactly what we wanted to do and work on.  Practicing in front of a mirror was wonderful.  I felt like I could really work on my positioning and technique.  You know those pictures that float around pinterest and youtube where they say "what I think I look like and what I actually look like", this was a little like that.  

For those of you who haven't taken a Barre class before it really isn't as intimidating as it sounds.  There is A LOT of leg work but you don't need to be flexible.  You build your flexibility slowly.  Barre is more about strengthening your legs and core in a way that feels graceful and controlled.  The nice part is while your taking the class you don't really feel how much of a workout your legs are getting...that hits you later and for me it was during Aerial.

I brought my friend Mindy with me to Aerial for her first time and she did AMAZING!  I really love when I invite new people to join and they really enjoy the class and want to come back.  Best Surprise ever! My best friend Sam showed up! I had no idea she was coming she was getting home from a trip earlier so that absolutely made my night.   Aerial is so much fun when you go with friends.  You can applaud each other on accomplishments, try new things and laugh at each other when you have an epic Aerial fail like I did that night.

After Barre I was already feeling warmed up and my muscles were loose so I thought great I can really get a deep stretch going tonight.  I didn't realize how bad my legs really hurt until we were practicing warrior 1 and warrior 2 in the silks.  With every squat and lean into the stretch my legs felt like they were on fire.  Thankfully at the end of class Rose commented that her legs were dying also and then I didn't feel so lame.  I really think I was walking funny even the next day my legs and inner thighs were hurting for sure.

So let me tell you about my epic Aerial Yoga fail moment.  This is what I get for trying to be cool and keeping up with the girl behind me who is Fantastic at Aerial!  I don't even know if I can explain what I was attempting to do.  You have to start in a hip hang and then wrap your leg around the fabric.  Then you pull yourself up in the silks and flip yourself over so that your upper body is wrapped in the silk.  I am not explaining it in a way that makes any sense.  I will master this eventually and then share a picture of what it is supposed to look like and maybe a video so we can see how close I was at explaining it! Anyway I got myself really stuck when I was trying to wrap my body around and ended up flipping towards the floor.  I was able to catch myself and ended up so tangled with the biggest wedgie imaginable!  I don't even remember how I was able to get myself untangled but it did take awhile.  Sam was super helpful by taking pictures and laughing at me haha.  Now we just have a really funny story to tell.

It never gets easier. You just get stronger

It's time for my favorite weekly yoga post! Honestly going to yoga is probably one of the top things that I look forward to every week.  Sure it's nice to practice at home also, that's a great way to really work on positions, but I love actually attending a class.  I find attending classes is way more relaxing and I get more of a work out from a session as compared to just doing yoga at home.  At home I find that I can't really stop thinking about everything that I have to do either that day or the next day.  When I go to classes I really can just zone out and forget all worries and responsibilities for that precious small amount of time.  

   This week we went to a Vinyasa class at our usual studio.  We were at first a little disappointed that we couldn't squeeze in an aerial class this week but vinyasa was a refreshing change!  I felt more challenged in the vinyasa class.  Not having the silks to help support your weight and help with balancing really made me focus on my body position and using my core muscles to help me achieve the position I wanted to stay in.  I actually was sore the day following class.  Also the pace was a nice change, we moved through sun salutation pretty quickly so staying focused on your movements and breathes was very important.

Standing pigeon

 In this pose balance is the most important. Your standing foot must remain completely rooted into the floor with your core muscles engaged to keep yourself balanced.  Such a great position to work on balance, core and strength.  The more you sit into the position the more stretch you feel and the more of a core work out you will get from it.

  The best thing about yoga is that it's always something new.  With every class you are learning new positions and pushing yourself to new limits.  The relaxation at the end is just the icing on the cake.

  I just wanted to add that my friends are absolutely amazing! They are so great about me always
forcing them to take blog pictures with me.  Yoga nights always lead to the best girls nights.

  

    

Yoga is not about touching your toes, it's about what you learn on the way down

  This week at aerial was really fantastic.  I dragged my sister to an aerial 1 class for her first time.  She did AMAZING! Way better then I did my first time.  Now my sister isn't the most secure when trying something new and different.  She struggled with hip hangs (but seriously who doesn't at first). I couldn't have been more proud of her for really sticking with it and wanting to go again! 

  After taking the more advanced aerial classes I realized how nice it was to go back to the basics in aerial 1.  Now I'm not a super aerial yogi so when I am in aerial 2 I am just trying to master the poses and keep myself from hitting the ground. Last night I could just really focus on the stretch and enjoying moving with the poses.  It was a nice grounding moment to really enjoy the practice and center yourself in your movements and breathing.

  That is why I selected the specific quote for the title of this post. "Yoga is not about touching your toes, it is about what you learn on the way down". This quote couldn't be more spot on, it's very true and sometimes it's easy to get away from the real purpose of yoga, to enjoy and feel good about yourself.      

   Everywhere you see photos of people doing impressive and crazy poses and you think "I want to be able to do that". So you begin to work on your strength, flexibility and balance so that in time you can do that same pose.  The great thing about yoga is that there is always something new to work for and strive to be able to preform. Sometimes you can get lost in this and it feels so so good to just go back to the basics and really relax and enjoy your time! 

    The best thing is when you can take those feel good poses and turn them into something else...

                          Flying pigeon

     This pose starts in a nice relaxing arrow pose but with a simple grab of the extended leg you can turn that feel good position into a nice deep stretch!

    Last night after class the instructor had me try a new pose that she had just learned.  Now I have no idea what this is called but next time I will find out and maybe include a video on how to get into it! 

    

 Here is it! How fun! 

This weeks outfit is all from lululemon that I had shown in my what I got for Christmas post.

Click on the link to take yourself to the actual site to see other styles and colors!

 Top - Wild Tank $64

Bottoms - Wunder Under Crop ii- $88

 Thank you for reading! Enjoy the last remaining days of your week.  I am home with the flu so hopefully I will get caught up on more blog posts since I seem to be unable to move off the couch!

Stay Healthy Everyone!

Take time to do what makes your soul happy

Just about a month ago I started really getting into aerial yoga and just plain yoga in general. I had done yoga before my son was born but gave it up after due to obviously no time after having a baby.  Now that he is almost 2 I have really gotten back my love for yoga that's to my wonderful boyfriend for giving me the time and my fantastic best friends for going with me! 

   We take aerial yoga at a studio in Harrisburg called Om My Yoga. The studio is gorgeous! It is in an old building with exposed beams and sits right on the river.  We have only been to classes in the evening and the atmosphere there is so relaxing and comforting.  The instructors are also fantastic, they are so helpful and friendly.

  This week Debbie and I were the only ones from our group who had the evening off and could make it to a class. We tried Aerial 2 for the first time and had a private class.  Now we had only ever taken Aerial 1 classes before so this was our first 2 class.  We were thankful we were the only ones in the class because at times (a lot of the time) we had no idea what we were doing.

  Now I'll share some of my favorite poses from last night. 

Vampire with toe taps

In this pose we started in vampire which looks like this 

With one leg always in the fabric we worked on taking the free leg up, over and down to tap on the floor for a intense core workout.

Flying Butterfly

A new pose learned tonight but definitely a favorite for hip stretching and turning into a fun hip hang that gives a good stretch and is relaxing!

flying butterfly turns into a hip hang with a simple flip forward turning it into an inversion 

Now the first time we did this was absolutely hilarious.  We were positioned in flying butterfly when the instructor told us to hinge forward and turn this position into a hip hang.  I was so petrified that I was going to fall out of the wrap and right onto my face on the mat.  I looked over at Debbie and saw her just completely go for it, pretty much just diving forward.  Of course Debbie is fantastic and not only did not fall on her face but she totally mastered the move.  I closed my eyes and just went for it. After that I figured, if that position change didn't make me hit the floor then I was pretty good for whatever else we would do.

Warrior 3 Combination

My third favorite move from the night (sorry no picture of this one) was using a hand wrap to do a deep warrior three position.  We then took the warrior three down to a Three Legged Down Dog and then up into plank.  This combination gave a great deep stretch and also really engaged the core for a great ab workout!

Now everyone knows the best thing about doing yoga is the fun outfits you get to wear!  One of my favorite parts of going to yoga classes is deciding what I am going to wear to class that night.  So here is a little peak at our wonderful outfits from last night.

                                        

Debbie in the Wonderful LuLuLemon Free to Be Tank

                                  

I wore this super fun colored matching top and yoga pants that I recently purchased at Express.

No girls night is complete without Margaritas!  After every yoga class we decide on a new bar to try and go for a drink! Last night we went to El Sol downtown and had the best margaritas and appetizers.   Debbie tried the strawberry marg and mine was mango.  Both were extremely delicious and much needed for some girl catch up time!

                                        

 Hope everyone had a wonderful Friday and enjoys the weekend!