Five Friday Favorites 2/26/16

WEEKEND SHENANIGANS

I got back from vacation last week and hit the ground running! After work on Friday, I had dinner with a friend, met up with the group for drinks, and then saw Diane Coffee at Bunk Bar. Saturday night was spent with some good ole fashioned family fun at the bowling alley! I made the decision not to bowl so I wouldn't throw my rib out again, but it was awesome hanging with some of my favorites and watching Caitlin get bowling advice from a 6 year old! Caitlin and I then went to see the Cave Singers Sunday night at Doug Fir, a band we saw in Astoria almost a year ago. So so so amazing!

BACK TO YOGA AND HANDSTAND

I took my second yoga class since my rib on Saturday with Jessica at Flex & Flow. Man did it kick my butt! I still didn't do everything I normally would have (as in, I did take every vinyasa, but didn't add in any arm balances or inversions to them), but I did decide to play a bit with handstand afterward! I don't know if I should have or not, and I felt pretty weak up there, but it made my soul oh-so-happy! The rest of the week with yoga was great! I was able to walk again (hah) and have continued to return to my practice more and more each day!

JAMIE FINISHING THE ORCAS100

My badass bootcamp bitch / #yogawithfriends partner in crime Jamie ran AND FINISHED the Orcas 100 race this weekend! Basically she ran for 29+ hours, through intense muddy and mountainous terrain with 26,000' vert, for a grand total of 100.8 miles. Dayum is she inspiring!

SIP 'N' SWEAT

The event at Flex & Flow I've been working on for a few weeks happened last night, and it was so much fun! We figured what could possibly make sweating with an awesome group of people any better? WINE! So we coordinated with the wine bar next door to the studio to go over there with our group from bootcamp. Knowing that we're definitely not the only ones that love to get our Sip 'n' Sweat on, we turned it into a virtual date for the whole of the Sweat Pink community too! We laughed, we cried sweated, we toasted. All in all, a wonderful evening with a wonderful group of people!

RETURN TO RUNNING

We've had some amazing weather this week in Portland. It's got to get cold and rainy again, for sure, but for now I know I'm definitely enjoying the hint of springtime. It's been great to be able to get out running in it for the first time since my rib! I even went out running in a tank top the other day! Building pace and miles back up has been going well in the first few runs back, so hopefully I can keep trucking along and be ready to hit the trails when they dry up a bit and get back to attempting to keep up with Jamie soon.

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