After a nice 3 week break from yoga teacher training, I was back at it this weekend. This was our second to last weekend. It is so hard to believe that it is coming to an end. I will be so happy to have my weekends back, but I will also be sad about leaving my fellow trainees. I just wanted to do a quick recap of this weekend.
First, let me say that this weekend was tough! Since I moved and no longer live near the yoga studio, I focused on weight training the last two weeks. My weight routines have been really working on my upper body strength and shoulders and although my shoulders have been sore from that, I felt that that work came in handy this weekend while we worked on our vinyasas. Friday night was my first full yoga class in over 2 weeks. At first downdog felt more challenging than usual, but then as we worked through the class, it felt great to be back. We then discussed our written sequence assignment and went over some concepts that will show up on our final exam. The evening went by fairly quickly. Then I walked to the train station with my fellow train buddies, but it was the first time we would part ways taking separate trains and unfortunately my train was 30 minutes later than theirs so I had 30 minutes to kill at the train station. Finally I made it home and headed right to bed as it was so late.
Saturday morning I went to Whole Foods and another grocery store for my groceries. I have to go over the bridge to NJ to go to my beloved Wegmans store and I just didn’t want to deal with that before yoga training. I spent an hour or so making a light alfredo pasta. Since I avoid dairy most of the time now, since becoming lactose intolerant somewhere around my senior year of high school, I avoid heavy cream which is used in a typical alfredo sauce. When I saw this recipe on Pinch of Yum, I wanted to try it, despite the fact that I do not like cauliflower. I love broccoli, but never have been a fan of cauliflower. I figured since it was blended up, I wouldn’t notice too much and I didn’t. The sauce consistency/texture was a bit different, maybe just the way I did it since I tried to cut the recipe in half, but it was still tasty and perfect for my lunches this weekend.
After making that and running around to clean some things up, it was time to head out to yoga training. We started with a class led by a fellow trainee, which was wonderful. Then we talked about the business of yoga, some things I knew and others I didn’t. Then we had a workshop, “Building a Better Vinyasa” which was super challenging. It felt like we did 100 push ups. So many low to high planks and then curling the toes under. I hate curling my toes under but I think that is my own foot problem and my foot cramps to the point of I can’t do anything sometimes. Sometimes it might be dehydration I know, but I think there just may be some sort of trigger point in my foot that causes it. Anyway I digress…back to vinyasas.
My form has definitely improved with my vinyasas through this training and I can turn my feet over one at a time so that my thighs don’t touch so I do that to avoid potential cramping. Also with these last couple weeks and knowing that I have become quite dehydrated on some long Saturdays, I am making sure I drink more water. It was about 80 degrees Saturday so I was already sweating when I arrived to the training and knew I needed more water. I ended up buying 2 bottles of water and a Honest Tea from Whole Foods Saturday to keep hydrated. I also felt by drinking more water, I was less hungry, which was great too.
The two hour workshop was quite the workout. Luckily after that, we just had some more discussions and created another sequence together as a group. I finally feel like I am understanding creating the sequences better. I am not super creative with them yet, but I feel better when I can contribute something. We actually got out about 10 minutes early on Saturday evening which was great, but we missed the earlier train by 5 minutes (the one time you want the train to be late, right?…). So it was a long wait at the train station but luckily we talked for a while together. My train comes at the same time, different track, so it is nice to have people to wait with. Since it was a long day and another late night, I headed right to bed when I got home.
Sunday morning is my relaxing morning (or rather a day when I don’t spend an hour shopping at the grocery store). I made protein pancakes, which has become a regular for sundays. It keeps me full for a while, which helps when we don’t get a lot of time to eat during yoga training. I also got my corrections on my yoga sequences done and some laundry. I even went for a quick 15 minute walk by the river, where I had fun sitting watching the water and making faces. #selfiesunday
[side note, I may be bigger and 25 years old now, but not much has changed here. #age6vs25]
Before I knew it, it was time to head out. My shoulders were very very sore so I was not looking forward to our workshop about floating and flying (aka the jump forwards and jump backs in vinyasa). We began with a nice yoga class and every moment I got, I had my Yoga Tune up ball behind my shoulder against the wall just pressing into the knotted area. With some help from the building a better vinyasa workshop on Saturday, I actually realized that my jump from downdog to forward fold is pretty good. The goal is to jump forward quietly. It is a lot of pressure in the shoulders and strength is definitely required to do it well, so I believe with my current weight workouts as supplement, it will help me build some more strength there. As I have mentioned before, not having a gym membership and weight training over these last 6 months has been really difficult. While I may have toned other muscles throughout this training, I definitely noticed when I went to do my first weight workout just how much muscle I have lost. It is great to begin to feel strong again!!
Our Sunday workshop had a lot more partner work and I quickly helped my partner, but we were both beat. I was happy to just sit and massage my shoulder. It was an insightful workshop though and there are things I learned, but definitely a lot of work to get there and I honestly don’t even know if all the jumping is something my shoulders can handle. For now I will stick with stepping back.
Our last half hour we discussed the topics on the exam. I really don’t even know how to study. I am mostly just placing tabs, post-its and trying to get familiar with my books, since it is open book. Hopefully I pass on Sunday. This week I can focus on studying during lunch breaks and after work.
Once I got home, it was time to prepare for the week, making my lunch and starting some chicken cooking in the crock pot overnight. I also had to stay up to watch the All-Star Academy finale, since I have been following for the last couple weeks. (It’s great having basic cable again 🙂 ) I knew the weekend was going to go by quickly, but it was enjoyable (even if my shoulders might be sore for a couple days). Hope everyone has a great Monday and good luck to all the people running the Boston marathon today!!
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