Beginner's Mind - Like a Fish

I spend a lot of time on this blog talking (and even teaching a little bit) about things I'm good at. I don't talk much about my weaknesses. One of my biggest weaknesses that I'm reminded of every summer is swimming. It's not like I can't swim, but I'm not even remotely a strong swimmer.

I can do challenging yoga for like 9 hours a day, and I can run for at least 5 miles without much work, but swimming in freshwater around 80 feet is HARD. I was at the lake yesterday and practicing maintaining my composure in water maybe 10 feet deep. I was swimming the length of the dock (80 feet or so) and then swimming back. I do this for cardio and for general practice. Ya never know when you're gonna need to swim. Every year I have to re-learn all these skills and work back up to being comfortable in deep water... then work on basic swimming skills... then on stamina and ability to hold my breath. It's crazy. It's humbling. I can outrun Adam by distance a thousand times, but he swims like a fish and I swim like a clumsy rock.

In Yoga we're supposed to at least attempt to always come at our practice from a space of being open and listening. Not cocky, not like we already know what we're doing. We're still supposed to take the time to quiet the mind, open to grace, feel what's going on and what can shine brighter. When you're just as open as a fresh newbie at her first class with no expectations and the willingness to try - This is beginner's mind.

What brings you back to beginner's mind? For me it's swimming. Definitely.

I Love Nature (Video)

Holy cow guys, this treehugging video made me tear up a little bit.
Fabulous poetic nature love... and tiny lizard foots.

Watch it! Watch it! Watch it!

Growing is Forever from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

PS... I know it's feet, so don't go all grammar nazi on me.

Dancers & Gymnasts

Dancers and Gymnasts make me look like a slacker. *sigh*

Photo Source: http://bgirlsofia.tumblr.com/post/6025960506/irina-kazakov

Wasting Time

Runners Lunge & Other Stuff

Yesterday I rambled on about the importance of stretching for runners. I promised a sequence for just that purpose. Here it is. Be sure and do a little warm up beforehand like 2 sun salutations to prepare.

Reach high - take a little backbend if you want.

Fold forward from the hips. Lengthen the side body.

Step back into a lunge, lower the back knee to the floor.
This much flair is optional - both hands can stay on the hip if you want.

Bend the back knee so you can draw your foot toward the outside of your hip.
Fingers and toes facing forward.
Step into a forward bend and repeat from the top.

Downdog!

Take a leg high - reach through your toes & your hands.

Bend that leg at the knee - draw your foot back towards your imaginary neighbor's hip.
Back to Downdog then repeat on the other side.

Back in Downdog - reach a hand for the outside of the opposite ankle, look up past your front armpit.
Shorten your stance if necessary to reach your leg.
Repeat on the other side.

Step back into a lunge - draw your back ankle down, torso up up up - for Warrior 1.

From Warrior 1 - straighten the front leg, shorten your stance, square your hips.
Hands can be in reverse prayer, hands can grab opposite elbows, or hands can be on hips.

Root down into your feet, draw your legs toward the midline
Fold forward drawing your head toward your shin.
Return to downdog and repeat Warrior 1 and pyramid on 2nd side.

 

 

Runner's Lunge! 3 variations pictured - choose the one that feels best to you.
Turn your front toes out a smidge to provide a release valve to the knee.
Step back into Downdog and repeat on 2nd side.

Last but not least - Virasana (Hero Pose) for the intermediate student or beginner with a good teacher present. Virasana can be risky if done improperly. If done well it can heal the knees and open the quads from bottom to top.

Knees can be hip distance apart... spread your calves outward and sit between your heels.
Your 2nd toe should be in line with the outermost bone of your knee.
You can stay seated upright, lean back on your hands or elbows... or lie all the way down.

For more front-body opening - reach the arms overhead and reach from knees to fingertips.
Stay here for 30 seconds or more.

Finish with a 5-10 minute Savasana and/or meditation if you want to.
If you try this sequence - let me know if you like it. Let me know if you have questions. I'm always around. Namaste.

In general, this sequence is for anyone, but please don't try this sequence without speaking to your Dr. first if you have any medical/physical problems. Seek Peace At Your Own Risk!

Why do Runners Need to Stretch?

You're well aware that I am into fitness. I am a yogi first and everything else second, but I do love to work out and do whatever is active. Yesterday I jogged/ran 4.5 miles... and I think I need to up my pace because it wasn't all that hard. I mean, I was trying for steady moderate cardio, and I definitely did that but I could've worked harder without killing myself. It took me an hour (pacing ya know) and I watched a little X-Men while I was at it. Gotta love treadmill TVs.

Point being - runners need to stretch. A little stretching beforehand is fine, but afterwards it is absolutely demanded. If you don't stretch after a long run you'll fall over and die the next day. Well, maybe not die, but you might wish you were just dead with quads as tight as yours.

Why is stretching necessary? Because just like with weight training - when you work a muscle really hard it tears the muscle fibers up a little bit. They get all split up and so when they heal it's like they sew themselves back together. You get a little more tissue in the process (which makes muscles grow) and they tighten up so that the muscle will be better prepared next time and not get so torn up. Yay!

As great as that is - helping us get stronger, bigger, faster... whatever... it doesn't just tighten up metaphorically. Muscles feel tighter as they heal up from that work and if you want to keep your range of motion and decrease your chances of pulling a muscle or cramping up - you need to stretch that mess out. More on that tomorrow with a short specific little sequence of a couple of my favorite yoga stretches for runners.

Photo Source: not sure. Maybe http://fuckyeahyoga.tumblr.com/ or http://sweatsparkles.tumblr.com/
Definitely one of those... I know it's from tumblr and those are the only two tumblr blogs I watch.

There Will Be Blood - So Be Prepared

Wow guys... I have been having one of those weeks where I just have nothing to talk about. Most of these posts this week have been written at like 1am (like this one). I've been spending a bunch of time in the gym lately trying to jump start a serious gym regimen. Adam is officially being paid to workout regularly so we have no reason not to go.

I love working out... it's awesome. Some people really have trouble finding motivation to get to the gym... or the yoga studio, or wherever... but I don't have that problem. I'm just one of those people that is always up for doing something. However, part of being ready when you lead an active lifestyle is being prepared for something to go wrong. I don't mean big things like hyperextending a knee or dislocating a shoulder. I mean small things like your hair tie breaking or overworking a bit. Be prepared to go fish an extra hair tie out of your bag (because you carry those all the time right?)... or be prepared to run an epsom salt bath as soon as you get home to avoid feeling crippled the next day.

What my hand looked like before it got destroyed.

I had an ugly reminder of this yesterday when I smashed my finger between a 35 lb weight plate and a giant metal machine. I didn't exactly plan on such a thing, so when my finger was missing some skin and a small chunk of itself I wasn't prepared for all the blood. Seriously, it bled all over the place. It seemed to have no intention of stopping bleeding so I had to ask the front desk for a band-aid. I got lucky because they only had one left and it was barely big enough to do the job. By the time I got it on I had blood on my legs, arms, and clothes. I was a biohazard! My finger is still throbbing and it's been like 28 hours.

I learned a lesson here - you can't always count on the gym to have band-aids, so carry your own. No matter what you're doing there can be blood shed (as I've definitely learned in yoga, weight training, hula hooping, team sports, etc.) so I'm officially keeping a bag of band-aids in the car. 'Cause you never know when you'll be bleeding all over the equipment.