Bootcamp!

Went with the D group girls to Bootcamp last Wednesday and somehow I'm still sore! It was totally worth it, though this week I'll have to make sure not to let the soreness derail my Yoga practice (missed class on Thursday cause I could barely walk!).

Leaving, on a Jet Plane

Well, not exactly right this minute, but I am gearing up to move to DC in August. I can't possibly be more excited to leave Caltech and chemistry behind! But I am a little sad that I'll be leaving YH and YC and all my awesome yogis behind! Especially now, just as I'm getting really integrated into the "family" at both studios. I'll have to work extra hard to find a good studio in DC.

That said, I'm planning a "yoga" themed vacation for September, been looking into retreats and even teacher-training programs, though I'm not sure I'm there yet in terms of my own practice. We'll see....

Yoga in the Moment

So life is full of moments right? Well the really great moments in yoga, for me, are when I make a discovery, either in my practice, or in my body, or in my understanding of my practice. For example, recently, I've come to the realization that the vinyasa transition from chaturanga dandasana through urdhva mukha svanasana to adho mukha svanasana is a lot smoother than I originally intended. To begin with, your legs must be lifted in upward-facing dog, so moving from chaturanga, one does not completely touch down - your stomach, hips, thighs never reach the ground, instead you transition pretty much in mid-air.

This allows for a smoother transition, and prevents you from overextending your back if you try to reach upward facing dog from the ground up. It also requires stronger core strength.

In terms of movement in my body, besides this new understanding, I've also gotten stronger, and my balance is improving, so vasisthasana has begun to enter my grasp.

Last Days of the Challenge

So the challenge didn't really work out the way I thought - in the end, I go to yoga about 4-5 days a week, lift 1 day a week, run 1-2 days a week. I feel like I ought to do a little more running, but I enjoy yoga and the social/meditation aspects much more.

I've gotten to appreciate Susan and Sabina more and more - they're both great teachers. I just wish their classes weren't so crowded! Especially Susan's. Today I brought Ray to Susan's, hers is a good class to introduce newbies to I think. Shoshana's Friday at 7am class is a great one, to start the day off with, if I can bring myself to wake up that early, that is. Haven't been to Tracy's in a while, gonna try and make it this Tuesday. I did however, treat myself to a whole bunch of new Yoga clothes... so it's time to put 'em to use!

Yoga Yoga Yoga

I'm getting to the point where I've almost tried half of the teachers at Yoga House. I still have my favorites though, Tracy and Cybelle.

Tracy's class is Tuesday's at 5:45 and I can only describe her as the world's cheeriest cardio-cheerleader bunny on crack! I always feel wide awake after her class (for better or for worse) and my abs hurt for at least 48 hours afterwards. Her class can get pretty crowded, but everyone's friendly and we all suffer through the torture together. Tracy herself is a lot of fun, she's quick to laugh and make jokes and the woman has nonstop energy.

Cybelle's class is Thursdays at 7:15 and if I miss a week, I get really sad. I love her focus on alignment and doing all the poses correctly. I know I can't slack off at all in her class, cause she's got eagle eyes - she's never pushy about correcting you, but she'll help you into doing the pose right, even if that means a burning in your thigh for a good 90 seconds. I also like her approach to the class, she's very calm and has a story at the beginning of each class. Her demos of the poses are also spectacular - I don't think I've ever met someone in more complete control over their body, every single muscle - she can show you exactly what each of your shoulder blades should be doing during any given pose. Plus she likes to learn everyone's name, which is cute.

Another teacher I'm a fan of is John, he teaches Monday mornings and Wednesday nights. His Monday AM class is a little slow for my taste, he subbed for Susan once on a Sunday and that class was a lot better. The reason the Monday class is slow I suspect is the population that goes to Yoga at 9am on a Monday (re: retired, older folk), rather than his own style cause at his Sunday class we were moving at a much more reasonable speed.

I've also dabbled in classes with Susan, Sabina, Hanna, Matt and Shoshana - so far, all great, though I prefer the Level 1-2 over the Level 1 classes. Anyways, just my two cents on Yoga in Pasadena so far!

Yoga

Since I started taking Yoga seriously, I've racked up 45 hours of instruction (including Level 1-2 with Susan, Cybelle, Tracy, John and Sabina). Today I went to the Ashtanga class which was okay. I signed up for 3 months membership at Yoga House, and in order to make it worthwhile I'll have to go to 3-4 classes a week. That'll be Tracy's Tuesday class, Cybelle's Thursday class, Sabina's Saturday class and a "roving" random class depending on my schedule.

I'll also be leading group runs for Caltech Roadrunners starting tomorrow at 7:30am every Monday!

Wednesdays there's the Lululemon Runs as well as the Los Feliz Flyers track workout (which I went to on Wednesday and it kicked my butt!)

Back on Track!

Got derailed a little bit by trip home to DC but *gasp* I have a job now! And a really great one at that! SOOO excited ;o)

Things are working there way back on track, got a nice little groove going:

Mondays: Softball with Imperial Palace (so what if we're 1 and 3?)
Tuesdays: Yoga with Tracy Krosnoff (redefines core burn... plus tonight she played Florence and the Machine. LOVE)
Wednesdays: Run Club! 7am! 7AM!
Thursdays: Yoga with Cybelle Greenman (yay! She's back this week!)
Fridays: Okay so I haven't yet managed to get my butt in the pool yet, but this week's gonna kick it off I swear...
Saturday: Yoga with Sabina Weber

So don't have a good thing picked out for Sunday yet. Thinking about adding Tracy's Level 2-3 class but a little intimidated cause her Level 1-2 class I just barely handle. Thinking about maybe trying out cardio barre again, this time at a different studio, or maybe a dance class? Just gotta find something that's enough of a workout...