Musings from the Yoga Mat

As I lied there yesterday afternoon listening to the instructor say "Feel this feeling, and know that you're ok in this moment, in this place.." I realized something. I need yoga in my life on a continuos basis. Lot's of times with yoga I like to buy the unlimited passes, and go as much and as often as I can to try and get maximum physical benefits from the practice. But, what I realized yesterday was that's not what I need it for. I can get maximum physical benefits of the gym or on my runs when the DJ is blaring in my ears; what I need from yoga, is a little taste of bliss and a bit of inner peace.

I don't know whether it's the January blues that has me in a bit of a rut, or what it is. I don't actually think I'm in a rut in the big picture (with volunteering, school, marathoning, and work), but internally I have been.

So yesterday I came to the conclusion, that I don't need yoga for physical benefits of any sort. I need it almost as my religion. I'm not baptized, I didn't grow up in a religious home, but I've always felt quite spiritual, and never had an outlet for it. I do every now and again head to church when I'm in desperate needs, or I find myself back on my yoga mat, but for the first time, I'm starting to come to terms with what my yoga mat and spiritual connection is, and I like it.

I don't want to go on and on about my spiritual experiences on the yoga mat, but I think one of the reasons for it's popularity is that religion can be so confusing in todays society. People need to believe in a universe or something bigger then the one we're living in, and I think that it's easier if you didn't grow up with the church to find that on a yoga mat then to adjust your adult beliefs. (Although- I can imagine how great it is if you could combine the two).

Anyways, that was something I wanted to share with you as I woke up this morning, and thought someone could appreciate.

Rainy Run with a side of yoga

Hello again, this morning I got up at 6am for what was a very wet and rainy run. I thought to myself as I was lying there deciding whether to get up or not that yes, today in fact was my day and I needed to get as much from it as I could. So- of I went, trotting along for about 13km again, this time it took me 57minutes. When I got home I had about 20minutes to spare before having to get in the shower and sort out my life for the day, so I did about 20minutes of sun salutations and warriors to get a nice little stretch in before I head to my class room and sit all day.

Once I got home, I was all excited to mix some chia seeds into my oats, so excited, I forgot! But, I did manage to change things up, I made 1/4C of oats with 1/2scoop of brown rice protein powder, 1Tb of peanut butter and a banana; and of course 1.5Tb of bran buds (luuurve the crunch).

I'm feeling pretty good about this combo, another thing I'm looking forward to is dabbling in the green monster world. I've got my spinach and magic bullet ready for later in the avo.

Until then..

Hey Clouds- Get Lost!

Another cloudy day here in Victoria. I'm about ready for them to get out of here and move onto the interior, we're supposed to be living in a tropical island (in my dreams) and this is just making reality even harder to bear.

So, I woke up this morning after a glorious 9.5 hour sleep. I think that may be too much, but I went lights out at 10:30 and woke up just before 8 with no alarm, so obviously that's what my body wanted.... and what my body wants, it gets. ha, unless it's cheap chocolate or chips, I try to maintain a standard.

After waking up, I got on my black leggings and chugged a liter of water. I actually made 2 breakfasts this morning. I only ate one, but I couldn't decide what I wanted until one was made and I wanted the other. I figure if I don't fix that craving right away it'll be a day of them.. So I made my second breakfast.

I slapped some almond butter and agave nectar onto some corn thins with a banana and as I was making them, I managed to scoop an extra scoop of almond butter into my mouth (it slipped- I swear).

While I was putting that together, I took my leftover salad from last night and some tofu, popped that into a container with some Little Creek dressing on it and peeled myself a grapefruit for later. I get a little munchy just having this, as it truly isn't that many cals, so I also made 2AB/J corn thin sammys to have in the afternoon before coming home for some bend and flex with Eoinn Finn, my best friend on DVD.

So there you have it, my relaxing, yet productive morning, of two breakfasts a lunch and a snack, all while consuming a pot of coffee, before I grab my tea and head out the door pretending I don't drink coffee the rest of the day!

Back to Business Monday

So, after a brownie infested Sunday night, complete with ice cream and raspberries, I'm back to reality, and back to business... It's funny because I tend to think the world will end on Monday, so I eat dessert like it's going out of style... They were whole wheat brownies and it was ice milk, but it didn't matter because I ate so much of it! haha

What does back to business look like? I was up, bright and early for a 12.5km run, it took me about 59minutes to complete. I can do this run faster, but on rainy mornings I head out with my mom and her girlfriend for the plod. I'm just happy to be out, and then will be doing my new favorite style of yoga later- Moksha... If you haven't been, go. It's the funniest, and funnest experience. They play the Beatles as you do sun salutations and tell you, "Just do what your body feels, if you want to dance, dance. If you want to jump around, jump around. Just be here, now."

It's all quite amazing, I'm not a big hippy, but it feels like I could be after going to a class like that-- if I go to enough, you never know, I may end up with armpit hair and dreads.. haha, you should see me, that won't happen.. Just a dream.

Anyways, have fantastic days.

Breakfast? Mango (appie) with Oatmeal combo main dish, and coffee of course, lots and lots!

It's true

This is what's getting me through January.. well between this, doing yoga last night and getting up this morning for a run along the water as the sun was coming up over the horizon. Thought I'd share it incase you haven't heard it yet.

Wednesday: In a Nut Shell

If this was journalism, I would need a nut grab in my story to grab your attention. Lucky for me, I can leave the nut grab behind and just let what I feel flow out onto the screen.

I'm trying to decide whether or not I should be embarrassed that I find the term "nut grab" funny in my fourth year of university, I'm going to go with not for the sake of this post.

This morning I started my day waking up at 8am with a little more energy then earlier in the week, which was a bit of a relief; I can't wait to wake up in the morning with energy again, this head cold is putting me to bed early and making me sleep in late. All I seem to do right now is sip tea, sit, sleep and wait for my energy to return. I need to be more patient, but I'm not, maybe that will be one of next month's resolutions.

So for brekkie this morning I decided against the usual bowl of oats and mixed things up. I sliced up an apple and dumped some goat yogurt on it (yes- I'm slightly lactarded- I pretend I'm not some days though- you'll see) and topped that with organic granola and a couple frozen raspberries for style. It was pretty good, less filling then the oats, but a good change up from what was starting to be a creepy routine.

I followed up my brekkie with this lunch: leftovers from last night (recipe in previous post). Instead of dumping a bunch of brown rice on it, I just had a little bit and then filled it up with romaine hearts instead. I followed this, with 2 kiwis to feed my sweet tooth.

When I got home from school (my days go 10am-3pm) I was starving, so I snacked on corn thins with almond butter and also ate a piece of a chicken breast (apparently I didn' t want to wait for myself to finish making the corn thin/almond butter combo- patience that I lack).

After having a cup of ginger tea and working on a paper, I popped in my Eoin Finn Pursuit of Happy Hips dvd and got to bending and flexing. I love his yoga dvds because they're based on the concept of flow; uniting your breath with your body movement. I usually find it quite hard to do yoga at home with a dvd, but he offers them in different lengths so that I'm never bored enough to hit the skip button. So, I completed an hour of yoga before dinner, and I was feeling quite blissful by the time dinner rolled around.

For dinner I steamed up some broccoli and tofu (I do about 2 cups of broccoli--I'm obsessed) with some more brown rice on top. It was good, but not good enough, so I tossed back a corn thin sandwich (AB and real fruit jam) and 3 pieces of dark chocolate to tie it all together; needless to say I was goooood.

So now, I'm sitting at home with a cup of tea, listening to Kenny Chesney sing me sweet nothings (I'm Alive) and I think I may just retire for the evening.

Good night!