Tackling My Monthly Goals: Trials and Tribulations of Yoga
(Image via google images)
Okay, okay I know it’s Monday and you’re looking for your Through the Looking Glass post. I haven’t been able to upload all of my photos from the weekend yet and I want to be able to give you a full view of the eats and antics over the holiday. I’m hoping to be able to work on it tonight and have the post up tomorrow instead! But for now…
During the month of April, I’ve vowed to start doing yoga. As with my bodymindfulness goal for last month, I’m tackling this one by way of reading. (Can you tell I work at a bookstore? Is it obvious?) I’m lucky enough to be able to borrow 2 books at a time from the shop where I work, and one of them is 30 Minute Yoga by Viveka Blom Nygren. (The other is 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Fabulous read if you’re wanting a recommendation) 30 Minute Yoga is a beautifully illustrated step by step book that is perfect for beginners, which is exactly what I am.
Viveka recommends doing yoga first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I’ve been trying to get a routine in on the days I don’t go for my run, or I’ll do a few cycles after my runs as cool down stretches. So, in other words: so far, so good! It’s been a heck of a lot of fun, and I’m stretching my muscles in a new way.
I’ve also been reaping some psychological benefits from yoga. Another one of my goals was to manage stress and take time for myself to de-stress and reconnect with my body and surroundings. I’ve noticed that yoga has a particularly powerful impact on the way that I connect with and view both of these things. So I guess really I’ve sliced two blocks of tofu with one knife, while deepening 2 of my goals from the month of March: practicing bodymindfulness and reworking my exercise routine.
Setting personal fitness goals for yourself is a great way to revamp your workout regimen and reap the benefits of different types of exercise and movement. My mini fitness goals for yoga consist of the following:
-improve flexibility
-utilize stretching as a form of strengthening and toning muscles
-build on weight training and cardio regimens through yoga
-connect with the world around me through mindfulness and meditation
Starting off with yogaing several times a week (I’m aiming for 3) is just the beginning. Over the course of the next few months, I hope to elaborate on the work I’ve done during this one and eventually achieve my smaller goals in the process. Even though I’ve only been at this for about a week or so, the impact has been mind-blowing. I am amazed with the new level of awareness (both to myself and other entities) that I am achieving and coming into through this new exercise form. It’s amazing how much of a difference viewing the world through a different lens will make. Somehow, through this one, everything I look at seems just a little bit brighter.
What’s your way of revamping your exercise regimen?
Bisous!
Rachel
Yay for you! I aim for 3 times per week as well, but have found that mornings don’t work for me because I’m just too stiff. So I do my run/workout in the morning and do a session of yoga in the afternoon. Amazing the difference in flexibility.
Awesome! And good for you! I’m really trying to keep it up, though I understand what you mean about mornings, it can be tough to stretch when you’ve been all snuggly in bed all night!
Reblogged this on Inspiredweightloss.
Awesome! Thank you so much for the shout out! I appreciate the love and the support!!!
We all can appreciate the love and support of others in our society today, and Rachel thank you as well!
Woot! I’m still looking for a “Yoga for Dummies” book… /blush
Seriously-get this one! Only $15 and probably even cheaper on the interwebs! It’s simple and a great jumping off point! You could even do it with your kids!
Sweeeeeeet! ♥
Awesome, good for you! My yoga adventures started with Bikram Yoga 2 years ago – I really loved the intensity (I am a bit of a type-A and a running), and even enjoyed the sauna atmosphere. But I eventually stopped partly because it was expensive and partly because my headaches got more and more frequent (and I certainly did not want to be in a sauna with headaches). I do miss it and hope to get back to it. I also tried Iyengar yoga, but it was a bit too extreme for me. After giving up Bikram, I tried various yoga studios with hatha yoga with various levels of satisfaction. I absolutely LOVED my yoga studio in Amsterdam, I miss it SOOO much!!! Other places were more blah. I found it that it very much depends on the instructor & the studio itself…i am really not flexible and it is difficult for me to practice alone (nobody is correcting my poor form), but I do try to incorporate yoga poses into my pilates workouts.
Wow! You are waaay more intense than i am! I have always been interested in the more extreme forms of yoga and hope to try them out someday after I’ve made it past the beginning level! It’s been a significant challenge for me to slow down enough to do yoga on a regular basis as I’m so used to strength training and running, but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve been able to do so far!
I wouldn’t call myself intense – I am always in level 1 classes & still haven’t mastered ‘beginners’. i definitely hear you about slowing down, yoga (also pilates, though it is not meditative) is something VERY different, much slower, making me to be aware of my body in a very different way than running is.