My body and I had a blast at Yoga Jam today! We’re both very tired though 🙂
The day started with 6:30am oatmeal and coffee (as you saw!), followed by a 30 minute bike ride in the beautiful warm weather (I had on shorts!) to the hotel where the jamboree took place. I met up with Kelsey and we began our 6+ hours of yoga.
Overall the day was a blast – well coordinated, great classes, good attendance and a fun lunch. The highlight of my day was definitely when one of the assistant instructors was helping me align and said “You don’t need to use your eyebrows to do this pose.” (My eyebrows were obviously raised high, working hard 🙂 ) In fact, almost every time they told me to relax my face I realized I was flexing it! Guess that’s a tension zone for me. I only got to try 3 different studios of the 8-10 that were there, but I found one that I really loved.
Here’s a quick recap of the day:
- 2 half moons
- A few fish
- A handful of binds
- 3 pigeons
- 3 shoulder stands
- 4 tree poses
- 5 bridges
- 15 chair poses
- 25 planks
- 50 warriors
- 100 downdogs
- 200 forward bends
- 1,000 breaths
Morning
Class #1 was a good opener because it was very slow and all about alignment, but we weren’t keen on the instructors at all. They were…on the hippie side. Very nice, but not our favorites.
Class #2 was totally awesome. A really fun vinyasa flow. This was by a studio that I can really see myself going to. The secret ingredient: they have assistant instructors that go around and help everyone with the poses, which was really like getting a back massage during the class! They don’t just lightly touch your hips; they press their hands into you and slide them down your back. It felt wonderful!! If there is anything that I’m missing out on with audio home yoga, this is it. I really loved their energy and attitude as well.
Around 11:30 Kelsey and I split a banana. I wasn’t really hungry, but I felt like I wanted a little something after 2 classes and with an hour and a half till lunch. Oatmeal held me all morning though!
Class #3 was Deep Stretch. I wasn’t in the mood for stretching at this point, but stretching is what I got! We must have held most of the poses for 3-5 minutes and I think this class was the hardest on my body all day! By the end I was really enjoying it, but I think my entire back is now ripped open 😥
Lunch
Then we had lunch! It was catered sandwiches, salad and cookies. Accompanied by sunshine!
I took one of the Turkey and Swiss Sandwiches to start
Along with a plate of salad
And a cookie!! The choco chips got all melty in the sunshine 🙂
But half way through my sandwich I wanted to try one of the veggie wraps. I ended up eating both sandwich halves, most of the salad and half the cookie.
More yogis
Afternoon
Class #4 was another from the awesome studio and was quite hot and sweaty flow. We had just had lunch and no one wanted to be in down dog, but we made it. A few people had to leave because they were so full! The classes were all over an hour, and I can’t stress how fast those hours went.
Class #5 was a smaller (because lots of people had left) intermediate/advanced power flow and was a nice way to end. The instructor turned the room up to 85*, so I got a taste of hot yoga. It was great, but I did find that I got quite slippery, which made some of the poses difficult.
Overall reflections
I was pretty pleased with myself overall in terms of my yoga ability. I felt like my in-home YogaDownloads prepared me well. I didn’t realize how advanced YogaDownload can be until I started to compare to the poses today that were considered challenging! In terms of going to a studio, I feel like between YogaDownload and the YMCA’s basic classes, I have my bases pretty much covered for my yoga needs except for the Yoga One studio’s style. I really loved their vibe and of course the assistants and think Kelsey and I will definitely go there a few times. We have free passes from today, and they have student rates, so I can see myself adding in a few classes a month. We’ll see! But while it was nice to be with the other people and have a real person instructing, I still think I prefer my home-style yoga for regular use.
My body was pretty beat on the bike ride home, but after a shower and a fun dinner, I feel fine. I came home pretty hungry, but I think I was just really thirsty because I didn’t need a snack when I was sipping water. I do think I’m pretty dehydrated though, so beer for dinner probably wasn’t the best choice!
Dinner Date
We met Kate + Nate at Brixx (the best pizza place ever) for dinner tonight!
Twins!?
Of course I got the infamous beer sampler
Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse, Blue Moon, Abita Turbodog & New Castle
Annnnnd my very favorite Spinach Salad with goat cheese, peppers, pine nuts, croutons, the best focaccia bread (which Matt ate 75% of) and a spicy low-cal dressing. Other than the bread, I ate it all.
The four of us split 3 delicious pizzas –
Quattro Fromaggio, mozzarella, parmesan, gouda and goat cheeses with sun-dried tomatoes
Bronx Bomber, spicy italian sausage, prosciutto, gorgonzola cheese, tomato sauce and fresh oregano
Spicy Shrimp, wood-roasted shrimp, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, Cholula® sauce, goat cheese and fresh basil
I had one slice of each, plus 1 extra bite! The slices are super thin but are packed with flavor –
Sweet Cream
Being the first summer-like day of the year, we made a bee-line for the ice cream shoppe!
I got – Coconut 7 Layer Bar!!!!!! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!! I believe this is a rip-off of my favorite Hello Dollies 🙂
He got PB Cookie Dough. I inevitably had a few bites. I would also like to thank Kate + Nate, especially Nate, for their generosity sharing their flavors with us!
I’m off to chug some water and get a good night’s sleep. I’ve got midterms this week and then a trip to Africa (!!)
about time! I’ve been hitting refresh for the last half hour or so…
Looks like you had a fun day!
I wanted to share with you… I made your kale chips today and they were delicious!!!!!! I mean really – so so good. They will definitely become a staple in my house! Thank you for the yummy recipe 🙂
what fun, yoga, and a dinner date with the hubs and friends. It can’t get any better then that!
Oh my gosh, what an awesome and tasty time!
Sounds like a great day! I bet the yoga retreat was amazing to experience! 🙂
I recommend you go try a real hot yoga class in a specifically made studio for it…the trick is to use a thin towel when it gets sweaty and spread it on your mat-does the trick for me.
😉 My skin looks amazing since I became addicted to hot yoga!!
LOL..the pic of you with a devious grin behind the beer made me laugh out loud!
Glad the yoga was a hit!
Coconut ice cream is my favorite!
The Yoga workshop seems awesome, thanks for the recap!
Kaneil, balanceisbest
Sounds like a great yoga-filled day! That’s got to be such a great experience to get to share your new passion with a bunch of like-minded individuals.
What a great day! I wouldnt be surprised if tomorrow your appetite really picks up from all that working out!! Not to mention youll probably be a little sore 🙂
Africa’s coming up, I’m so excited for you!
what a fun night at brixx! Kate + Nate look like fun people!!.. oh congrats on your 2 half moons… I had the pleasure of doing about 10 more of them in my back bends class…errrrlack!
What an active day!
What a day! I wish there wasn’t a snowstorm brewing, and I could enjoy lunch outside!
AFRICA??????
It sounds like you had a truly amazing day! I can only hope that I can find something I enjoy as much as you enjoy yoga!
I really liked reading about your yoga-filled day! It sounded great…and makes me want to break out the mat! 🙂
what a great sounding day!
awww you are tooo cute!! you make me miss my southern college days. i ran outside for the first time since nov. over here in new england 🙂
Glad you had such a great day!
That yoga day sounds like a challenging, but rewarding day! You look like you’re having such a good time out afterward! That pizza AND ice cream look incredible! Haha I love at the end you threw in the trip to Africa. Gosh, it sounds unbelievable, but you’re doin’ it! AMAZING.
Yoga all day, and beer, pizza, and ice cream all night? That might just be the perfect Saturday. So jealous.
That yoga day looks like it was awesome! I kinda feel the opposite as you do…I signed up for a 25-class pass at a local studio, because I feel like I need to watch an instructor (and fellow students) and get guidance before I can do a practice on my own.
I’m going to investigate Yoga download again I think to supplement my classes…what sessions would you (or anyone) recommend I download??
Your yoga day sounds like it was fun. One day I’ll get myself into yoga on a regular basis. Alas, I just don’t know when I’ll find the time.
And an evening of pizza & ice cream sounds good to me!
Wow what great food and what an awesome day! I’m jealous girl! It looks like so much fun!
Looks like you had a great day overall… pizz does look really good!
sounds like a great day from start to end- especially with an ice cream finale!
Hi Kath,
Sounds like you had a great yoga day! I’m sitting here in Scandinavia – with snow – and am jealous of your lovely, sunny spring weather. I’m afraid we have to wait at least one more month to go out without a thick winter jacket. 🙁
By the way, the link to the Hello Dolly recipe doesn’t seem to work (I got it by copy-pasting it: it seems like you have accidentally typed the “http://” twice. 😉 Just in case someone else tries, and doesn’t know how to copy the link location instead…). Those are also my favorite cookies. 🙂
What a cool yoga experience! I think I remember you saying you hadn’t tried shoulder stand @ home (for fear of injury) — way to do it today!!
such a great yoga with yoga overload…I’ve been wanting to go too. how did u find out about it Kath? Did they invite you?
Faaaaaaabulous!!!
Glad you enjoyed yoga! Did you try an inversions? Inquiring minds want to know 🙂
yoga jam sounded so fun!
And yeah for Turbodog! We love it.
Jess ,
Yay for another kale chip fan!
thepinkpeppercorn ,
Go back and look at the “Tea Travel” post (search in the yellow box).
Hallie ,
Start with the beginner ones – you can search by level. Power Yoga #3 is beginner and is a very great basic class.
Emma ,
Sorry about the link!
fitforfree ,
No, I’ve always done shoulder stand – I dont like the head inversions.
coco ,
Fliers in the Y!
Beadie ,
Just shoulder stands, plow, deaf man’s pose. We didn’t do any head ones. I was hoping for crow to show off but it didn’t come up 🙂 There were tons of newbies around, so I think they stayed away from doing them. Although there was an inversions class, but I didn’t sign up for that one.
Kath
Wow, that is a LOT of yoga poses! Love the comment about eyebrows – faces are so expressive 🙂
All of your eats look super yummy, and the photo of you with the beer sampler is fantastic! I can just hear you saying “mwahahaha!”
Haha too funny about the eyebrows – at least you weren’t sticking your tongue out too 😉
Everything looks insanely delicious in this post! I’m a beer newbie and wanted to know your opinion on the Hefe-Weisse. I love Blue Moons, does the Hefe-Weisse taste similar?
what a crazy packed day! you managed to squeeze all of the best things in: exercise, friends, food, drinks, husband. hope your sunday is just as good!
Sounds like an amazing day!!! your yoga workshop sounded so fun!! Ha-that picture with of you and your beer sampler is so cute! 🙂
Yoga to start the day and ice cream to end it…that sounds pretty ideal to me!
K ,
I don’t think any of the hefeweissens I have tasted are as good as Blue Moon, which is very full bodied and has a vibrant taste. Sounds like a good question for Brewandbake boy because he knows all about beer types.
Kath
sounds like you had a fantastic day! dinner looks yumyy and fun! good luck this week!
Diana
I loved reading your review about your day full of yoga!
Great photos as well!!!
Looks like you girls had such a fun sunny weekend!
glad your yoga day went well!
that picture of you and your beer sampler…..adorable! 🙂
what a fun day!
I love the picture of you with the beer!
so jealous of your trip. I can’t wait to hear about it. Still waiting to find out if I get into my south africa study abroad this summer.
Yoga Jam sounds like fun! Oh man, and that ice cream flavor!!!
I love Brixx! I wish we had one here in Vegas. When I go visit my mom in Mooresville we always have to go to the one in Birkdale, and we share the Brixx salad (yummy goat cheese!) and a pizza. Then we get to do a little shopping. I miss it already!
-kristen