MIMM – Page 22

Yoga Teacher Training Weekend #7 MIMM#25

January 26, 2015 by Alicia Leave a Comment

Happy Monday everyone!! I can’t believe this is the last week of January. We just got what I am considering our first real snow (that has actually stuck to the ground) on Friday evening. Very late in the season, but this is my first winter in Philadelphia. I have enjoyed the fact that it has not been too cold this winter and it is warmer than Chicago, but honestly I do kind of miss the snow. I like the snow except for driving in it. I think I need to move to a place that has snow and sunny days in winter. The number of cloudy and gloomy days this winter has been depressing. Anyway, they are calling for more snow today and tomorrow, like 4-8 inches tonight and tomorrow, so we will see what happens. I am just glad I take the train to work these days 🙂

So backing up to the beginning of this past weekend. Another teacher training weekend. Friday evening each of us chose a namaskara (sun or moon salutation, for those unfamiliar) to teach to the whole group. Up to this point we have done a lot of practice teaching for specific poses with partners, but not to the whole group. Teaching/speaking to a bunch of people is definitely not my strong point. I always get super nervous and red in the face, but that is part of what I want to conquer in this teacher training. I knew it would be out of my comfort zone, but with any yoga teacher training, you have to remember that everyone is nervous and everyone is there for you. Yoga is such a great community! So for now, I just don’t worry about it. I say what comes to mind for the poses and I know more alignment cues will come with time or through observing the class. I thought I did pretty well considering I did not prepare for it. After everyone went, we discussed improvements as well as what people did well at. Then we made another sequence together. Friday nights go by fast since it is only 3 hours and when you spend an hour or so practicing, you only have 2 left.

On Saturday we began the same way as Friday. A few people chose different namaskaras. I stayed with the lunging namaskara. I honestly did not have time to look at it beforehand, but I improved immensely and my teacher said that I did a great job, so I was very proud of myself. I am definitely feeling more confident teaching and I think that is really important. However I know I need to work on looking around the room more and not having my head in my notes. When I teach my own sequence to the class, I will definitely have to run through it a few times so I know what is coming next. I need to work on when to say inhale and exhale, since I know I don’t always follow teacher’s cues for that myself.

After our practice, we discussed The Bhagavad Gita and then we spent almost 4 hours doing an adjustment workshop where some other yoga teachers joined us. It was great to get the perspective of adjustments from other yoga teachers. When you work on adjustments in many poses, you definitely see similar adjustments as you go through a practice. I was happy to be the demo for the tree pose as that is one of my favorite poses. My partner and I were quite tired half way through the workshop. The last hour seemed to go by slowly, but once we got to seated poses, I was so happy!! We had been standing for so much of the day. There were some really great adjustments at the end but my body was already so sore.

I got home with the intention of foam rolling, but that didn’t happen. I basically went straight to bed and left foam rolling for Sunday morning.

On Sunday in teacher training, we went through an hour long practice which was really tough, but good. Then we discussed sequencing more and came up with a sequence together and broke up into partners practicing a section of the sequence. This was really eye opening to me, knowing how I need to kind of fill in the blanks and transitions to poses and when to say right hand up or down, etc. It got me thinking a lot about what to write in my own sequence, which was helpful.

I then got a ride home which was awesome since I basically got home when I would be heading on the train from the city. That gave me some extra time to look back at my draft of a sequence and start adding in the details. I still have a lot to work on, but my goal this week is to spend time each night with a section of it and hopefully I will be ready to teach it in a month. EEEKKK!!

Thank you Katie for hosting!!

What to do..MIMM#24

January 19, 2015 by Alicia Leave a Comment

I didn’t really know what to name this post other than “What to do” seeing as that is how I felt this weekend. Thursday and Friday I worked 10 hour days instead of 8 to make up for my half day I had to take on Tuesday and we are down one person at the office so I had a bunch of work to do anyway. It kept me busy, jumping from one task to another, which I actually don’t mind. I find sometimes jumping between tasks keeps me more focused sometimes. Due to the long days, that meant I didn’t go to yoga those days, so Friday night I felt like I had “extra time”. I made dinner and caught up on some tv shows online. Then I showered and headed to bed at 9pm. I was really tired for some reason. Maybe due to getting up earlier to get into work earlier. It was so nice to turn off my alarm and “sleep in.” Since I went to bed so early I was up by 7am, but it was a wonderful 9-10 hours of sleep.

Saturday morning I made Becky’s Cinnamon Raisin oatmeal muffins and protein pancakes mentioned in this post. The muffins turned out well and I subbed peanut butter for almond butter and used craisins instead of raisins since that is what I had. The protein pancake was too dense. I think if I added another egg it would have turned out better. I still ate it though while drinking lots of water with it. I love trying new breakfast recipes on the weekend since I have more time that I can spend in the kitchen. Plus Becky’s menus lately have looked sooo good. I know it takes a lot to plan out each meal and snack for 7 whole days and I appreciate the ideas for new recipes.

I didn’t have to be anywhere until 10am, so I enjoyed the sunshine coming in and did some yoga.

At 10am I had an appointment to see an apartment since I have to move at the end of March. Parking around that apartment was not too great as I circled the block a few times. That already isn’t good for me. Then I was shown a one bedroom apartment. My thoughts…it was small. Major problem, I could stand in the kitchen, spread my arms out and touch the fridge and counter on the other side and you could NOT fit 2 people in that kitchen. I may mostly cook alone, but when Brian is here, I love cooking with him too. So basically that apartment is not going to work for us…back to searching. It is stressful finding an apartment that I know we will both like and have plenty of space and be able to walk to the train. We have a really good deal at our current place. Only problem is parking for a second car and they are tearing down the building in May soooo everyone has to move at the end of March or April. Hoping I will find something in the area soon. I emailed two other apartments after getting back from that one and then had a quick snack before heading to the mall. Shopping is the perfect de-stresser, right?! There are tons of sales going on now. I really didn’t buy much at all, just a couple gifts for a little girl’s birthday coming up.

I stopped in Lululemon to browse too and there were 2 guys doing some acro yoga at the entrance.

It was nice to walk around the mall though so I could hit my 10K steps without a problem 🙂

I also enjoyed a delicious pizza for lunch at the mall before heading to Target and Wegmans.

By the time I got home, I was ready to rest. I made some dinner and then I spent some time catching up on blog reading, watching some tv and foam rolling. Before I knew it, time flew by and it was 9pm already. It was another early night as I crashed at 9:30 but also knew I had to be up at 6:30am Sunday.

Sunday morning I got up early, had breakfast and quickly headed out to catch the train to yoga. I have mentioned before how we have to go to 50 yoga classes and 20 of them have to be with each of our teachers (10 each). The only class I can make for the one teacher is the 9am Sunday class in the city which means I need to take the 7:50am train. I don’t want to have to go to the class before a teacher training day so I am trying to go on all the off weekends. Well it turned out that there was a sub yesterday too. I didn’t look at the schedule online before leaving. I actually did enjoy the class as we spent longer in some of the poses and got good stretching and obviously the class still counts towards my 50, but there is no way I am going to make 10 classes for this one teacher unless I start coming at that time on teacher training days and then hang out at Starbucks for 3 hours…hopefully I will have a laptop again soon [as it was sent in for a second time to get repaired under warranty]. Then maybe I could spend that 3 hours blogging or reviewing my yoga notes and making sequences. I just don’t want my time wasted as on yoga weekends I try to do my food prep and shopping in the mornings.

While Saturday was nice and sunny. Sunday was the complete opposite. It was warmer (about 40 degrees) but it was raining all day. Due to the temperature change, it was really icy on the sidewalks. I almost fell 3 times on my way to yoga, but luckily caught myself each time and took little baby steps walking (which is sooo hard for me!!).It started out as drizzling and I didn’t bring an umbrella, just wore my usual winter coat, scarf and hat to keep me dry, but I have to say I was soaked by the time I got to the train station to go home after yoga. Then the train was delayed due to a fire in the other city station. I assume the fire was on a train. We eventually went through that station but I didn’t see anything. I took advantage of the time by reading my yoga book anyway. I try not to get frustrated when there are delays. At least I was waiting on the train and had my kindle.

I finally arrived home and couldn’t wait to take off my soaking jacket and clothes. Due to moving soon I realize I should probably dig into the freezer stash of meat. I got some pulled pork started in the crock pot.

Then I got my laundry going while cleaning the stove. I think there was a dead bug under the stove burner for a few weeks….it is nice to have the stove clean again. White stoves are annoying but at the same time it forces me to wipe it down more often so I think it only took 15 minutes to clean. Looks so much better now. Sorry no before picture.

Rainy days are good days to clean. So I spent some time cleaning and picking up around the apartment and then doing some more meal prep for the week. I also finally sat down (actually more like laid down on the floor) and read for a bit, finishing my yoga book. I may have been doing that instead of working on my sequence, but it had to get done anyway. It was a nice quiet afternoon and evening. Always feels good to check things off a to do list and start the week with a clean apartment.

Happy Martin Luther King Day! If you get off work today, I hope you enjoy it. Unfortunately I am working this holiday, but we get President’s day off in February instead. So it is a 5 day work week for me. At least it looks like the train schedule is normal. Hope everyone has a good start to their week 🙂

Thank you Katie for hosting!!

Yoga Weekend 6: MIMM #23

January 12, 2015 by Alicia 3 Comments

Hey guys, I think I blinked and the weekend went by. Does anyone else feel like that? Anyway this weekend it was back to yoga training after having a month off! I will be honest and say at first I was not too excited, but once I got into the studio on Friday night, I was happy to be back with everyone and spend my evening with my fellow trainees. With all the free time the last few weekends I was beginning to run out of things to do. I even started reading my next yoga book over a week early, which I found necessary, knowing that with work 5 days a week and trainings every other weekend, I would have less time and wanted a head start.

All I can say right now is, I am SORE! My back, shoulders, hamstrings…so sore. I am writing this Sunday night so I can only imagine how it will be worse once you are actually reading this. It has only been just over 24 hours since our very intense practice Saturday. Usually the 48 hours after an intense workout is when it hits me.

Well the end of my work week was not the best, due to some things going on at work and finding out that I will be attending a funeral this coming Wednesday. On the bright side I get to see my boyfriend earlier than expected, but obviously not under the best circumstances. January is moving by so quickly already and with all the things I have on the calendar, I can only imagine how soon February will come, but let’s get back to this weekend.

Friday after work I took the bus and walked over to the yoga studio. Well actually I walked to a tea place and enjoyed some mint tea and my dinner I brought with me before yoga. We then spent our few hours Friday discussing our recent homework and writing up a sequence for a class. Then we spent some time practice teaching. I felt much more relaxed when practice teaching with a partner compared to when we started.

Saturday morning I did my usual grocery shopping early before yoga teacher training and just some quick errands. Then it was teacher training for the remainder of the day. We started by going through a full beginner sequence for Ashtanga yoga. Man that was tough!! So many jump throughs and jump backs. I can do about 1 of each and then reach my limit. Even though I didn’t do those, I still did half push ups for chaturangas for most of them and my shoulders definitely felt that Sunday. I think we were practicing for 2-2.5 hours. We were all pretty much dead afterwards. Then we got those dreaded anatomy tests back. Good news, I got a passing grade, but definitely a lot of things I need to review for when the final comes in April.

Later in the afternoon, we talked about special cases, like pregnancy, in yoga and about yoga injuries. Then we were able to relax as we learned a couple restorative poses and partnered up.

After I got home Saturday night, I immediately spent some time foam rolling. My legs have just been so stiff lately and with all the practicing we did in training, I knew it would be good to roll out a bit before going to bed.

Sunday morning was fairly laid back. I like to keep Sundays as relaxing days. I made a quick trip to Whole Foods since my recycling pile was overflowing (my apartment doesn’t have recycling so I drive it to Whole Foods since I have to shop there anyway and they have bins). Then I made a half batch of The Healthy Maven’s Detox Veggie Soup. I didn’t have all the veggies available and I didn’t have diced tomatoes so I improvised a bit with a whole tomato. It turned out really well and was very easy and quick to make which is just what I like. I have honestly never been a soup person. I don’t know if I have ever had chicken noodle soup actually…when I was sick I’d drink water and eat crackers and bread if anything. Only in the last year or so I tried minestrone soup and I liked that. Canned meat kind of scares me and meat in soup that is canned doesn’t sound good to me, so I only buy veggie soups. Since this soup turned out well, maybe one day I will make a soup that contains meat. For now though, I am really liking this soup as it is easy and a perfect hot meal for the cold winter days.

Sunday afternoon was more yoga teacher training. We went through standing balance poses and practiced adjustments on each other and then came up with another sequence using those poses. The afternoon went by so quickly and like I said at the beginning, I blinked and the weekend was over.

I did have a few hours to relax and wind down Sunday evening before the start of the week which is always nice.

What is marvelous is just being back in the routine of things after the holidays the last couple weeks. We are now back to 5 day work weeks and yoga training weekends and even though it is busy, it is nice to have that routine again.

Thank you Katie for hosing!

Catch up Weekend: MIMM #22

December 29, 2014 by Alicia 2 Comments

Happy Monday!! I am happy this is another holiday week even though I only get New Year’s day off and have to go back to work Friday, it will be nice to have that mid week break. I don’t really have any New Year’s plans other than a yoga class on New Year’s day and some relaxing with a good book.

I did have a wonderful almost 5 day weekend for Christmas though. It was so nice to have time to celebrate Christmas, even if it didn’t really feel like Christmas with the warm weather and I didn’t go home. I had a great Christmas with Brian’s family. His parents even got me an essential oils starter kit and diffuser. I have been looking at essential oils a bit in the last few months so it will be great to try them out, learn more about them and grow my collection in time.

I really enjoyed sleeping in the past few days. It was so nice to not have to set an alarm and Friday it finally decided to be sunny so I woke up to sunlight!! I am happy the days are finally getting longer. December has seriously been the gloomiest month, but it hasn’t been too cold which is nice. Weird to think about this time last year and the crazy snow and cold that was just beginning. I have no complaints about this recent weather. Yes I do prefer a white Christmas because that just makes it feel like Christmas and the holidays but since I was driving for a few hours Christmas Eve, I was fine with just rain and then drove home Friday in the wonderful sunshine. Sunny drives make the drive seem sooo much faster!

Getting to the rest of my actual weekend. I got back Friday afternoon and had a couple hours to find places for my new things and unpack. Then I headed to yoga, where I was the adjustee for a fellow teacher trainer. She adjusted me in almost every pose throughout the class. We each have to be an adjuster twice. One time is with a fellow trainee and the next time is with a whole class where we adjust people we don’t know. It is definitely weird getting used to lightly touching strangers to adjust them into poses. I have been practicing my savasana adjustments on Brian lately. Those adjustments are the best as they are like short neck massages. I find myself much more relaxed when I get one at the end of class. I never realize how tense I am until the teacher comes by to adjust me. I felt at the end of the class that I got a really good workout in. There were also some surprisingly tough poses thrown in Friday’s class. I started feeling the soreness kick in from the class by the time Saturday evening hit.

After yoga on Friday, the rest of my night was pretty laid back. I headed to bed pretty early for a weekend night, but it was nice to be back in my own bed and I also had my lavender oil diffusing as I went to sleep.

Saturday I did not want to leave my comfy bed. I got a good 9 hours of sleep which was so nice. Eventually I got up and made some 3 ingredient protein pancakes (banana, egg, protein powder) for breakfast. Then I was super productive. I did laundry and cleaned up the apartment and finally got to vacuuming. There is so much space in the living room again after clearing away some boxes from the numerous packages. Then I went for a walk to drop off a package and pick up some photos I printed. I was actually sweating in my light jacket, it was so warm and sunny outside. I decided to wear just a sweatshirt later as I headed out to Wegmans to eat lunch (since I had no food at home) and then grocery shopped.

When I got back home, I quickly put away the groceries and decided to take advantage of the 50 degree weather and walked to the park with my yoga book. The grass was still really wet from all our recent rain, so I found some concrete to sit on next to the grass and did some of my yoga homework and some yoga in the mix too! I also had some fun with plank jacks and push ups. A short little workout. I had tons of energy after sitting so much the past couple of days. I got so warm, I was hanging out in my short sleeve shirt in December!! Again no complaints! Walking outside and not freezing makes walks so much better. There were so many kids at the playground too.

After a little over an hour at the park, I headed back to my apartment and did some food prep and decided on my dinner. I then worked on my blog and watched Gilmore Girls on Netflix.

Sunday morning I had to set an alarm again…boo. I had to wake up at 6:30 so that I could be ready in time for the 7:50 am train to the city to head to a yoga class with one of my teachers. The class went well and I made it in time for the next train back home. I got off a stop before mine and walked around a bit. I was looking at apartments online the other night seeing as I have to move in 3 months, so I walked around the other town to see what apartments had signs for rent and such. It was another beautiful day even though it was a bit drizzly in the morning. Still pretty warm so walking around was perfect. I also stopped in the grocery store on my walk back to get some cilantro because I really wanted to make fresh salsa and had everything except cilantro. I was laughing at myself as I was walking home with a yoga bag over my shoulder and carrying a bag of cilantro. That must have looked strange lol. I was definitely ready for lunch when I got back after all that walking. I hit 10K steps before noon!!

I made my fresh salsa to go with my lunch, ate lunch and then did more food prep and cleaning. I think I live in the kitchen when I am home, but that’s ok.

Then I was able to spend some time writing and relaxing before heading out to the movies. I have never been one to go to the movies alone. I just think it is so lonely, but I have heard of people going to the movies alone. When I saw that “Into the Woods” was playing at the theater around the corner from my apartment, I couldn’t pass it up. I headed to the 4pm show and enjoyed the movie. Brian probably would have hated all the singing anyway 😉 but I loved it. It was definitely different from what I expected and I even thought it was over and then it wasn’t during it. I was glad it was not a predictable ending.

When I got back from the movie it was time for dinner. I loved that I was able to prep so much food this weekend as I whipped up a delicious dinner with lots of veggies. Then spent the rest of the evening watching tv and reading.

It was great to have so much down time this weekend. Now back to the short work week. Thanks Katie for hosting!!

Hope you all have a great day!

Do you ever go to the movies alone?

Were you able to relax after Christmas?

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