Progress toward more self care #prAnastyle #poseoftheday

Yesterday for prAna and Fit Approach's #poseoftheday challenge, we of course had to talk about #transformationtuesday. I love this theme. It's so easy to get frustrated about where you still want to go that it's nice to remember how far you've come.

There's always going to be postures I'm working on. That's nothing new. What is new-ish is the idea that the progress I'm working to focus on is self care and moderation. I'm always so focused on pushing my edge, until I can't. The fall and winter has been full of injury for me. There was the light ankle sprain in August, neck and shoulder spasms in September, the bad ankle sprain in November, and now I have a displaced rib. 

Last Monday I did three yoga classes and ran. Tuesday I taught 2 yoga classes, ran to bootcamp, and had my first bootcamp in two months (so many burpees...). I woke up Wednesday sore, but feeling good. I reached up to stretch and bam! Rib out and spams like whoa. I've found a chiropractor, whom I love, that has told me that even though the pain is manifesting in my rib, the root of the problem is in pelvic imbalance. Through an imbalance in my hips and my continued intense activity, the compensation has worked it's way up my spine and into my rib. And that last stretch was just the straw that broke the camels's back. So yes, I most likely overdid it last week, and for the weeks before that. But it wasn't just a simple stretch overhead that knocked a rib out. It was likely a culmination of stress, over activity, walking funkily while healing from my sprained ankle... It's never just one thing. 

Top Left: pre-bad ankle sprain; Top Right: pre-rib displacement
Bottom: yesterday... Sometimes progress doesn't always go forward.

It's easy for me to tell myself and sit here and write that I know I need more yin and moderation in my life. It's quite another to practice it. I have written that I need to work on moderation and balance, and practicing what I preach. The trick is now retraining my brain and habits. If I know I'm going to take two yoga classes later in the day, maybe I don't practice with my students in the morning. Maybe I don't take every vinyasa in every class. Maybe I don't add a handstand in to every vinyasa. Maybe I only do 1 handstand session every day instead of 5. Maybe I don't wait until I'm injured to get body work done. Maybe I don't run 5 days in a row when I'm trying to get back into running shape after an injury. 

All of these ideas are smart and logical, but it's so hard for me to put into practice. I love going full throttle and being active all day every day. It didn't seem crazy to me to go to three yoga classes and then run. And 5 days in a row of intense activity is the norm for me. I won't touch on what a friend and I talked about yesterday about our personal identities being tied up in our physical abilities... But I need to remind myself that I'm 26. Yes, I'm in the physical prime of my life, but I also want my body to last me for another 80 years or so. I want the marathon rather than the sprint for my physical health and abilities. Running and yoga (exercise in general) is my outlet for stress and emotion, and to not be able to turn to that sucks. To not be able to demo postures for my students sucks. To not feel good about my body because I've had to stay in my pillow fort on the couch sucks. Not to mention being in pain sucks! 

So here's yet another commitment to self care. To make the effort to check in with my body and take care of it rather than getting so caught up in the push. To keep in mind that I want to be running, skiing, handstanding forever!

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by prAna, and any opinions are my own. I truly appreciate all of the brands that support the Sweat Pink community.

Funky #ForearmFriday! #poseoftheday

Happy #ForearmFriday, sweaties! Today for #sweatpink's #poseoftheday, we're talking Funky Pincha (Option 1 is Tripod Headstand).

This pose used to be incredibly awkward for me! I had a regular Tripod and Forearmstand practice, but every time I tried to kick up into this hybrid inversion, I was at a loss. I felt lopsided. I didn't know how I was supposed to hold it when my balance wasn't centered.

But that's the yoga. (Oh boy, that's a discussion for another time...)

I've established my affinity for trying postures that scare me on the beach. There's no fear of falling in the sand. So after not attempting this pose for a while, I tried it out on the beach a few years ago when it was a pose-of-the-day for another challenge. It was awkward, hard, and unnatural, but I got up there. And got some hang time!

The theme for the day back in October of 2013 was a pose that felt impossible. I'd been really focusing on my forearmstand (this was the same trip I tried handstand away from the wall out on the beach and again surprised myself!). I knew I could hold forearmstand AND tripod headstand, so this was in fact physically possible for me. I just had to try, and try, and try again. 

Holding it long enough for my mom to capture a shot was the motivation. I knew I could get there, so now I just needed to keep working and progressing. It's not a super regular part of my practice, so when again it was a pose-of-the-day a while later, I was reminded that I hadn't been including this in my flow (well, handstand really eclipsed so much of my practice....hello, #handstand365). Because I had been training so hard for handstand, I had the core strength to float right up into this funky pose. I was shocked! 

Yes, I know how it all interrelates, but it was still amazing to me. The awkward weight distribution between a hand and a forearm wasn't a factor. The focus of getting my hips up over my shoulders without losing the integrity of my spinal alignment within handstand completely translates across to all of our favorite inversions. 

Don't you just love that sensation of when you surprise yourself with what you can do?! When you drop the expectations and give something a go just for the hell of it?! That happened to me over the summer with another forearmstand variation: palms touching. This always seemed impossible too. And then I gave it another go. 

Have fun with funky forearmstand (or any variation or Tripod Headstand) today, sweaties! Show us your variations! #sweatpink #flexandflow #poseoftheday #stopdropandyoga #yogaeverydamnday @FitApproach @Lizwilsonyoga

Take it or leave it; it's all an offering...

Photo by Stark Portraits

When I'm talking to people who are interested in trying yoga, I tell them to try multiple studios, teachers, and styles of yoga. That's one of the beautiful things about yoga these days, is that there's SO many different ways to do it! If you stick with it and shop around a bit, you'll find the style/studio/teacher that you vibe with. 

Vibing with yoga is a beautiful thing. We all have had that teacher that we just love, that we leave her (or his!) class with our mind blown. She inspires us, pushes us, nurtures us. We sweat, move, breathe, feel, relax, and all of the sudden we get that yoga craze. We find the studio that feels like home, where we have a community of teachers and practitioners that come together in a beautiful way. And maybe a juice bar if you're lucky. 

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: teaching yoga is like no other job out there. It's physical, the wellbeing of the practitioners and their experience is my focus, there's rigorous training and education that never ends, there's a lot of stigma with the field (both positive and negative), there's a historical spiritual and mental component... Teaching a class is both energizing and exhausting. I have to hold space for everyone in the class, which for my classes is a high energy, fun, upbeat space. While also leading them through a flow and making sure they are safe in their alignment. The style I teach is pretty common in the West, but is also definitely not the only type of yoga to be found by far. 

Most yoga teachers have completed numerous trainings and have at the very least basic anatomical knowledge. Many meditate and have a daily practice in or out of a studio. Many also constantly continue their education and seek inspiration, whether it's a new pose from Instagram, a clinic or training with a teacher, or reading the latest Mary Oliver poem. Even with all of this, yoga teachers do not know it all! We know there is infinite amount of knowledge out there which can never be acquired. That's part of the beauty of it all. 

Photo by Stark Portraits

A major part of our job is to share our experience with everything listed out above. We learn a new cue from another teacher, and try it out in our classes. We hear a new song on the radio and put it on our playlist. We use a mantra in our meditation and set that as the intention of our classes that week. We share our practice and inspirations with you, the students. When you walk through the door of the studio, unless you tell us otherwise, we have no idea what's going on in your life. When I talk about something before class, I don't know that you had a rough day, that you're going through a divorce, that all you want to do is flow. When I offer handstand in class, I have no idea that you're healing from a shoulder injury, that you're pregnant, that you've never tried handstand and are terrified. 

When I show up to teach yoga class, I'm offering...pretty much everything. Every time I offer a pose, transition, or intention, it's just that: an offering. I openly say, "take it or leave it" in my class (always with a smile!). To please do what's best for your body today on your mat. When I share an intention, it's something that resonated with me in my practice or in my life recently. I'm not calling anyone out, I'm not trying to shove an idea down your throat, I'm not trying to turn class into a sermon. All I'm doing is giving you the option to think about an idea that has resonated with me lately during your practice. 

And that's the kicker about being a yoga teacher. It's a part of me. When I'm teaching, I'm sharing a part of myself with my students. While setting an intention, I'm opening up to my classes by sharing personal stories and vulnerabilities. I am the teacher, and the teacher is me, a 26 year old, skiing/running/fitness junkie, handstand addict, overposter on Instagram, booty shaker, self-conscious, high energy ME! 

If you can't say anything nice...

When you go to classes, you generally don't know what you're going to get. Even if you've been to a studio and a teacher hundreds of times, something will be subtlety or obviously different. Or maybe you're trying to find the teacher/studio/style of yoga that you love. Or maybe there's a sub for your regular class. Or maybe you're dealing with an injury or some tightness in your body. Something, every time on your mat is going to be different. Try to think of it as an adventure! You can learn something from every experience, whether you found your new favorite teacher or not. You're not going to vibe with everyone everywhere. You might not like a teacher's sequencing or playlist, the mural on the wall, the heat in the room. That's ok. There's something you can learn or appreciate about the situation, and you say "thank you" and move on. You maybe give it another go or your don't come back. There's no need to complain or criticize if it wasn't your thing. That's the teacher's style, a part of her that she's opening up and sharing with her classes. It's a very vulnerable position to be in and it's a beautiful thing when you can tell she's being totally authentic and genuine. There are going to be plenty of people that resonate with that teacher, just as there's a teacher/style/studio out there that you resonate with! 

Namaste my OMies! Much love!