Yoga Lovers & Cross-Trainers (week of 18 Nov)

yesterday/today

Yesterday I did Low Max (fun!) and did not end up doing any yoga. I did move a lot of furniture around. I'm hoping my feng shui is improved by all of the vacumming and has an effect on my financial situation. I skipped this morning's wo cause I had a mild case of the flu last night.

WNP (worknprogress)- It is similar to diabetes. Some people refer to insulin resistance as pre-diabetes. I handle it with diet/exercise/and vitamins. I keep my carbs low. I try to have them be all vegetables and very little fruit. Exercise is crucial. It effects my hormones and if I'm good I notice that my body is more feminine and less masculine (facial hair and skin tone.)

Belinda- I hope your dh is feeling better.
 
I've been away from this thread for a while and am excited to see how it's taken off!

I really hope to participate; I'm in a very weird and difficult place personally this year. Yoga has sustained me for years but I spent a good part of this year caring for an intimate loved one who was very, very ill, and yoga (and everything else) went by the wayside. It's been a looong time since I got on the mat on a regular basis, or frankly did any kind of exercise. To top things off, I have a crazy job, and I'm in grad school part time (resuming studies now after taking time off).

I miss yoga!! And I miss all kinds of exercise. I'm ACE-certified as a personal trainer and am certified as a YogaFit instructor -- other things that I need to attend to!

So I can't post any kind of fitness routine right now -- because, to be brutally honest, I don't have one. But I really want to get back into it things in the coming weeks, and certainly by 2009, especially yoga.

But I'm finding encouragement and community here. :D
 
Hi fellow yoga lovers!
Didn't check in yesterday, but I did 30 mins of strike zone. Was hoping to do a ravi/ana at night, but things got too crazy. Plus, I'm fighting a cold.

My 1 1/2 hr iyengar based class was brilliant, as usual. She really focused on the upper spine/shoulder area with some approaches that were completely new to me.

Today, I'm doing a 1 hr vinyasa class that's become a favorite of mine.

I'm a member of the Y in our town... which grants me unlimited classes! It rocks.

What are you guys doing today?????
 
I would probably not have worked out today if not for the check-in (I am so pre-occupied with my current work assignment). Thanks to everyone who signed up for this! I just finished my workout, shower and dinner and I feel G-R-E-A-T.

I did the 38 minute full body premix from Kelly Coffey Meyer's 30 Min to Fitness Weights. The DVD is perect! It has so many versatile options. This premix is a timesaver that manages to hit every spot. Perfect for days like mine today.

I then did Yoga Dance Fusion from Patricia Moreno. As a yoga session it does not do much for me at my current level at yoga, because it does not really use poses that are deep enough on flexibility/strength/balance. But I still enjoy doing it. I love the music from Soul Food, the way it has been shot, and the flow. It is the only yoga that has fusion in the title that I like.

Neither workout really challenged me, but I had fun and I did move.

Belinda: I hope your baby-at-heart is better.

Atgood: I hope the holiday season and next year bring you the opportunity to stop and smell the roses, and get back to working out and yoga.

Debbie: I envy that you get to attend yoga live class so often.

RapidBreath: My sis is(was?) pre-diabetic and her daughter (not only 19) was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovaries (predisposes a woman to insulin resistance). My sis too looks after herself with exercise and healthy eating. The doc's prescription for my niece was to do cardio for at least 30 minutes everyday.

WNP: I am looking forward to your check in when you try the new DVDs.

Marcy, Tamrahan, Lori: Hi!
 
Hi Yoga Lovers!

Sorry for not checking in yesterday but I also had a bad day yesterday. Did Ali McGraw's Yoga Mind & Body yesterday. I heard great reviews about this one but it wasn't for me. I feel it's geared more toward the beginner although it did remind me about focusing on proper breathing. Ali McGraw does the moves while Erich Schiffmann does the voiceover. I really like the other Erich practices I have: Inversions and Backbends. I'd like to get Lotus but his store is down for now.

Today I did the hi-lo portion of Rob Glick's Amazing Cardio Combos. Fun, dancy hi-lo just the way I like it. IMO, Rob Glick is the king of dancy hi-lo and Amy Bento is the queen of athletic of hi-lo. There were 3 combos which he puts all together at the end. He is great at layering. Even though his combos get complex with lots of turns, he builds things up great so I get his choreography almost all the time. He ended with a cooldown and yoga stretch.

I also did Body Max 2 abs and stretch and 2 chinups.

So glad our check-in is off to an amazing start.

Debbie - I wanted to be a professional dancer, but alas, it just didn't happen for me although I am still very passionate about it. I take ballroom classes twice a week now although I took ballet for 7 years. Flexibility has always come easy to me and even though I stopped exercising for years while raising the kids, doing yoga helped bring back any flexibility that I lost.

Barre workouts are basically non-weighted leg workouts that isolate the smaller muscles and use pulsing movements with high reps. Workouts like Squeeze and Pure Barre. I know Cathe has killer leg workouts but these will fry your legs in a totally different way.

Atgood - I hope you're able to come back strong in 2009!

Rapidbreath - Hope you feel better soon.

Tamrahan - PUB is one of my least favorite workouts. It drives me crazy with all the switching of weights and I'm one that needs more rests in between than what Cathe does (I guess that's why I prefer Slow & Heavy). Although PUB is one of my favorite core workouts (and one of the toughest).

Bayerngirl - Glad you liked yoga with Patricia Walden. I've never done any of her yoga but she writes for Yoga Journal and I enjoy her articles.

Lori - Thanks! Splits come pretty natural to me but the horizontal one is the toughest.

Vee - I am also getting overwhelmed by the number of DVDs in my collection. I've done David's Primary Series which I got pretty good at but not perfect. I had gotten his 2nd series first and that one is still too tough. He does 7 different kinds of headstands! I will probably do Fire next week. I agree everyone has great form in Mind & Body but I guess it just didn't have enough in it for me to be a keeper in my collection.

Have a great day everyone!

Marcy
 
Hi Everyone, :)

Vrinda, I hemmed and hawed after seeing your first post about a yoga check-in. I was a dedicated yogini for about 8 years, but since discovering Cathe, my practice has faltered quite a bit.

In addition to not wanting to tack on another workout to my day, I have found over the years that my right shoulder doesn't like Chaturanga too much. That's been a point of stress for me, as it really bugs me that I can't do it without paying for it later with pain. I can do regular push ups, I can weight train, and I've tried all kinds of modifications for the pose, yet all it takes is one yoga practice for me to ache for 3 days after.

So yesterday, as I thought about this yoga check-in, and I thought about how my inability to do Chaturanga without pain has effectively chased me off the mat, I came to the realization that I'm missing out on an entire yoga practice and all its benefits because of ONE pose. How dumb is that?! I can modify with a less-than-graceful, Cathe-style push up (it won't be pretty, but it won't hurt either). I can still do fun arm balances. And I miss how happy I was when I was practicing regularly!

I'm in. :) My practice will probably be more mediative and restorative, perhaps only 20 minutes at the end of my day. But this is probably exactly what I need right now.
 
Hi LaughingWater Lori!

I just visited your lovely blog. Deva Premal is singing to me now while I type. Nice!

Welcome to the check-in. So glad you joined us. :)

I love your profile pic at the blog. It has you doing yoga. I hope you enjoy getting back to yoga.
 
mj476 said:
Vee - I am also getting overwhelmed by the number of DVDs in my collection. I've done David's Primary Series which I got pretty good at but not perfect. I had gotten his 2nd series first and that one is still too tough. He does 7 different kinds of headstands!

Have a great day everyone!

Marcy
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My jaw dropped to the floor. :) You actually did Primary Series! You must be incredibly strong, centered, graceful and flexible.You are working your way up the 2nd series! You are my hero, Marcy! I am so sorry the dancing did not work out. You would have been a treat to watch if pure Ashtanga is something you can do.
 
Vee said:
My jaw dropped to the floor. :) You actually did Primary Series! You must be incredibly strong, centered, graceful and flexible.You are working your way up the 2nd series! You are my hero, Marcy! I am so sorry the dancing did not work out. You would have been a treat to watch if pure Ashtanga is something you can do.
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Thanks, Vee. You're so kind! I am now working on trying to jump back into chaturanga from crane. I realized (I forget from which practice) that I have to balance really high with my knees more towards my shoulders so I have room to jump back. This move's going to take me awhile! I haven't taken out 2nd series in a long time (so many other vids to do!) I also have A&B which I've never even opened but I'm sure is a real treat to watch.

LaughingWater Lori - You might want to think about trying Tilak Pyle's Altar of the Heart -- vinyasa, not many chaturangas and I always go to this one when I want to feel good. Music and scenery is beautiful.

Marcy
 
Hey everyone!

I got up early this morning and thought - there just has to be early morning yoga on some channel and there was! So I got some water, kept the lights off in my bedroom and started the yoga in my pj's.

HA HA - my husband came in at one point (he leaves very early in the am) and started laughing at me. I know there will be a huge learning curve, but oh my gosh - some of these poses took extraordinary strength and balance to do!!! After 20 minutes and many falls to the floor, I checked into a short yoga stretch On Demand for another 10 minutes and that one I could handle!!

Afterward my legs were felt like rubberbands. I have never done anything this hard - I am looking foward to the challenge!
 
Marcy, thank you for the suggestion! I'm going to check it out right now.

Debbie, this is why I and many others refer to it all as a yoga "practice." :D We're forever in the state of practice because it's always challenging. Good for you trying an early morning session. My range of motion is horrible before 10am.
 
Debbie: Discovering that you are getting better as you sustain with yoga is such a happy process. It never ends. I agree with Lori, yoga is always a practise. Once your DVDs arrive I think you will find the learning smoother with the Banagh and Alan Finger.

Lori: Tilak's Altar of the Heart is a great suggestion in my opinion too. It does have what Tilak refers to as "cobra vinyasa" - chaturanga to up-dog to down-dog for a few times, but there is plenty of non-chaturanga material. I often do the modified sub salutation - going down from the knees on the ground to lying flat on the floor (instead of going to chaturanga from high plank) and then arching the back into a cobra (instead of an updog). It is much gentler.
 
11/20/2008
I did Eoin Finn's 'Magically Hips" portion of "Yoga For Happiness" 55 minutes in length. 5:30 to 6:30 AM. I'm loving this DVD. He says things like "take a deep breath, incidently that breath comes from all the little plants and trees" :) always makes me smile. He has such a soothing voice.
Later that evening I walked 20 minutes on my TM.


11/21/2008
This morning I did Cathe's Low Impact Step for 40 minutes then 20 minutes MFR on my foam roller-best fitness investment I made all year.

Have a wonderful day!

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Today turned out to be rest day. I planned badly and am still up working late into the night. I am looking forward to an active weekend.

My challenge will be next week.

I am travelling on Sunday night to Kuala Lumpur on business and I am not very good at keeping up wth workouts when I travel.

Hiya Tami!

Looking forward to catching up later with how everyone else fared........Ciao, and have a great day everybody.
 
Today turned out to be pretty much a rest day for me. I just didn't feel like getting out of bed this morning. I've been swamped at work all week and traffic has been a nightmare. I figured I had to do something though so here's my big workout for the day:

2 chinups
20 pushups
plank - held for 1 min.

Tamrahan - Glad you enjoyed Eoin's Magically Bliss Hips. I love Eoin! He always puts a smile on my face too.

Marcy
 
I did Hardcore Extreme's Interval Circuit. That workout is just plain evil.

I'm looking forward to quiet time on the mat tonight. I'm going to pop in Seane Corn's DVD, Session One, just for the soundtrack.

Tami, Eoin is such a sweetie, isn't he? :)

Vee, safe travels next week. How long will you be there?

Marcy, 2 chin ups is more than I can do!!
 
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Well, I had some pretty good DOMS in my back from yesterday's vinyasa class. We had a sub instructor and she led us through quite a vigorous workout! So this a.m. I just did 30 mins of a Christi step... and am hoping to squeeze in a ravi/ana (probably yoga bliss hips) before I wolf down Friday nite pizza!!
 
Hey ladies. Bad news here. I got up today and did the Rodney Yee morning am yoga stretch which was On Demand. I previewed it quickly yesterday and it looked very basic. Just a few yoga poses and stretching.

About 15 minutes into the session, moving from one stretch to another, BAM, my back went out. Within 10 seconds I was immobile and in extraordinary pain. I have been managing my back pain but it hasn't actually "gone out" in 10 years.

My husband is home now with meds from the doc and gave me my laptop so I wanted to fill you all in.

I think at this point and time I have to check out of this yoga check in. As much as I wanted and thought that it could help in my back problems, it brought about the worse pain I have had in 10 years. I don't know if it's because yoga is too much twisting and turning, or that it was just a freak accident. I will be going back to my Physical Therapist next week to find out where I go from here.

I am so so sad as I thought yoga would be the best thing for me:(:(:(.
 
Debbie,

I am so sorry to read about your back.

Sending healing wishes for a quick recovery.

Vrinda
 
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