My staying active "hack"

Life is busy. Seriously busy. I teach at three yoga studios, work from home, take yoga and spin classes, travel on the weekends, go trail running and skiing during the week, go to shows, have tons of dinner/lunch/wine/coffee dates... My days are super packed, and I'm single and with no kids. I can't even imagine how others fit it all in. I LOVE being busy, but it's hard to fit everything in I want to do, especially fitness sometimes.

Sometimes, life things have to be the priority, even if you don't want them to be. Sometimes you have to spend your gym hour for bank and post office errands or that trip to the DMV you've been putting off for a few months (yay, I finally got my Oregon license!). Generally speaking though, I do get some sort of activity in every day. Whether it's an all-day hike or three yoga classes or a 30-minute walk for coffee.

Some of it comes from making fitness a priority too. Ever mean to get to the gym that day, and it just never happens? If it's extra, it'll get pushed off again and again. I remember reading an article by a pro soccer player with fitness tips, and she said you have to put it in your daily schedule with permanent marker. If it's a maybe type of thing, it probably isn't going to happen. Sometimes it sucks to have to turn down that happy hour invite because you have to hit the gym. But it's gotta be a concrete part of your schedule.

That's a big reason why I love working out in the morning. If I get up and hit the gym, go to class, go for a run or a ski, then I can happily be flexible for the rest of the day for those impromptu invites. Plus, then I set myself up for the rest of the day to be happy and relaxed. If I work out later in the day, it's gotta be a set-in-stone thing, like a class I signed up for or a date with a workout buddy.

Another way I'll fit working out into my schedule is by incorporating fitness into my friend dates. I generally have a lot of friends that love being active. So a lot of times we'll go ski or hike together while chatting, or go grab that glass of wine but after a yoga class. It's a great way to not only be active, but to also bond with people.

Fitness is a lifestyle, but it's one you have to work hard for and choose every day. And have fun! ;)

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @lizwilsonyoga 

Go with the flow

At some point, even if you don't want to, you're going to have to go with the flow. There are just things out of our control that we have to deal with. This example is fitness/yoga related, but the concept is widespread across life.

Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of when you have a limited amount of time for a quick run you feel amazing and like you could run three times what your schedule allows but when you want/have to run a long distance your legs feel like lead and your lungs feel like fire? I hate this! It always seems to happen. It's why when I go for a run, I try to have a decent amount of time available in the event that if I'm feeling really good and I can keep running.

Have you ever made time for a fitness or yoga class with your favorite teacher and there's a sub? Yeah, it can be a bummer! You made the time in your busy schedule to get to a specific person's class and that person isn't there! Ok, it happened. You have two options: 1. Leave. 2. Stay.

I've been on the receiving end of someone leaving when they saw I was subbing a yoga class. She really really really wanted the regular teacher and had already expressed that my teaching wasn't really her jam. I get it, but it still kind of hurts. That's her issue though. I've never left a sub's class. Even if it isn't my newfound favorite teacher, style, class, you can always get a little something from the situation. The saying of our childhood still stands: it's good to try new things.

This week I subbed a Power Vinyasa class: some heat, jams, lots of flow, tons of arm balances and inversions. Stoked! The Hatha class in the other room ended up not having a teacher, so we had to combine the classes. We all had to compromise. I expressed that everyone should do what they could and to make decisions based on their bodies and practices, whether it was to amp a pose up or to modify it. The students for the Hatha class showed up expecting a slower paced, more mellow and less flow type class. Power Vinyasa students wanted…more. I think people left not-so-stoked.

But y'all know what? That's the yoga. It's being able to deal with what's in front of you, regardless of your expectations. It's not easy to accept that, but it is what it is. Hatha students had to handle more challenge. Vinyasa students had to handle some longer holds and slower pace. I had to try to walk the fine line between the two. We all had to compromise, let go of our expectations we'd held for the 75 minutes of yoga class, and go with the flow of the situation. And we survived! It may not have been what everyone expected or wanted, but we still practiced 75 minutes of yoga. You push yourself to run, even though it's a lead-leg day. Rather than be disappointed, be liberated!

IG and Twitter: @lizwilsonyoga

Harder Than It Looks...

So last week while I was at the beach, I wanted to take a pose-of-the-day picture on one of our SUP boards before going out paddling. My dad came down to the water with me to take the picture. Super quick, super easy. Or was it…

Original POD shot

After snapping it quickly (the pose of the day was wild thing), my dad asked if I was going to take my handstand of the day while on the board. (For those of you who don't know, I'm participating in a daily handstand challenge.) I thought this was absurd. I could do headstand on a paddle board, but hadn't every been able to even do forearmstand, let alone handstand. 

I tried pincha, again unsuccessfully. I was about to paddle off when my dad said, "Just give it a go." Well, I gave it a couple of kick-ups and thought it was impossible. My dad called me out, saying that I wasn't really trying. I wasn't getting my hips up high enough. So I really kicked up. And fell into the water. 

Splash!

But I got the feeling of it. So I gave it another go. And promptly fell flat on my back on the board. Ow! So after shaking away the little birds circling around my head, I tried again, but keeping in mind not to flip directly out of it. I knew if I started to go over I needed to fall off to the side. 

I didn't get a picture perfect straight up-and-down handstand, but I got a nice little hold up there, and managed not to concuss myself. Yes, Dad, you were right. 

Final result #handstand365 post

To see more handstanding and adventures, follow me on IG and Twitter: @lizwilsonyoga

Sweat Pink summer challenge: #1millionminutes of movement

The Sweat Pink community is kicking off #1MillionMinutes with a blog challenge everyone can do! Just copy and paste the Mad Lib below and fill in your own answers! Once you’ve published your post, be sure to share it on the #1MillionMinutes page so it can get shared, reshared, and shared again!

I am so excited to join #1MillionMinutes with #sweatpink! This summer my goal is to do a million! (but realistically 5,000) minutes of yoga, running, hiking, bootcamping, SUPing, spinning, while wearing my favorite funky Liquido pants or lululemon shorts and lululemon and sweat pink tanks.

I predict that we'll absolutely crush the goal of #1MillionMinutes - we'll actually hit 2 million minutes this summer! I predict that running and hiking will be the top-logged movement.

I'll get extra minutes in by walking (and doing yoga while on) to wine and dinner dates! And getting in my handstand and poses of the day pictures every day. (#theworldismyyogamat #stopdropandyoga!) And continuing to explore the PNW!

My favorite way to get extra minutes in is by taking yoga pictures while hiking, running, and just hanging out with pretty much everyone, but always Jamie, Caitlin, and Ella! Caitlin is my BEST activity partner because she is so fast while hiking! Our favorite way to relax post-workout is to drink wine and eat yummy Portland food! Jamie is my BEST activity partner because she is so inspiring and is always pushing me to go hard! Our favorite way to relax post-workout is to take yoga pictures!

I tag Jamie, Jenn, and Alyse to help us reach #1MillionMinutes… or more! Join us! http://fitapproach.com/1millionminutes/

Follow me on Twitter and IG: @lizwilsonyoga

#forearmfriday

Happy #forearmfriday y'all! Since forearmstand, aka pinchamayurasana, is one of my favorite yoga postures, and I love Instagram and posting pictures, Friday is one of my favorite days. ;)

My #forearmfriday shot today!

People on Instagram have been doing daily hashtag posts: #mancrushmonday, #transformationtuesday, #womancrushwednesday, #throwbackthursday… The idea is to post a picture related to the hashtag for that day. 

Forearmstand, like handstand, has a reputation for being super hard and almost inaccessible for many. However, I've broken it down into 7 steps here, including 4 prep poses… Be safe, and have fun! 

My first forearmstand yoga pic!

1. Forearm plank

Plant the forearms and step the feet all the way to the back of the mat. Shoulders line up over the elbows. Find the sweet spot between tenting the hips high and hammocking them low so that you're in a straight line between crown of the head and the heels. Low belly squeezing in!!

2. Dolphin pose

Almost like downward-facing dog. From forearm plank, lift the hips high. Allow the heels to reach down toward the mat and the heart to melt between the shoulderblades. Shoulderblades reach toward one another, but the armpits also tilt down toward the mat. Seemingly counteractive, but they instead counterbalance each other. Challenge: from downdog, lower the elbows at the SAME time. 

3. Dolphin x 2

Shift the gaze between the hands. Press up and forward on the toes to bring the shoulders back over the elbows and the hips even higher. 

4. Lift a leg

If the previous prep poses start to feel easy, lift a leg! Keep the forearms parallel to one another, and the shoulders engaged. They'll want to start to splay out so keep that alignment and engagement. No spaghetti limbs! The lifted leg is super strong!

5. Hops

Now the whole "getting both feet up in the air" part starts. Grab a wall or a spotter if this is new! Keeping shoulders over elbows, low belly in, and lifted leg strong, start to hop up off the bottom foot and try to bring the heel of the foot to the butt cheek. I recommend starting small, rather than going full tilt and kicking over or slamming into the wall. Over time, you'll get hang time in the air. 

6. Both legs straight up

Once you can hold the hop position, try to float the bottom foot up to meet the first. No banana back! Keep that core squeezing in and pressing the forearms firmly into the mat. 

7. PLAY! 

Once you can get away from the wall (aka have an exit strategy for when you're in the middle of the room/field/beach), you can start to play with all sorts of variations: eagle legs, splits, scorpion, funky pincha, stag legs… Even using it as a transition into baby crow and forearm wheel, or even from headstand!

Stags legs partner play

Funky pincha

Eagle legs

Partner play

Hallowback with ankles crossed

Stags legs

Hallowback with legs straight

Classic forearmstand

Splits/stags

Splits/scorpion in the snow

There are so many fun things to do once you feel strong and okay with the possibility of falling out. That's why it's so important to not be intimidated by the crazy, and put in the time with the prep poses!

Happy inverting!

Follow me on IG and Twitter: @lizwilsonyoga.