Hi and happy Saturday! I had such a wonderful day.
It began with a tropical green smoothie while I finished up making a new playlist for my morning yoga classes. I went straw instead of spoon and no granola today.
I spent my morning teaching yoga…7:45 a.m. hot vinyasa at Charlotte Yoga followed by 9:30 a.m. hot vinyasa at Om Yoga. Classes were so great today and full of amazing energy.
I came straight home after I taught to get a quick run and lunch in before heading back to the studio for a workshop. Lunch was a salad with spinach, avocado, goat cheese, pears, dried cranberries, walnuts, aged balsamic and lemon olive oil.
Speaking of salads…one of my yoga students commented today that she wished there was a central location to find all of my salad combos so I made a Pinterest board!
I went through a bunch of old posts and pinned some of my favorite salad combos and I’ll keep it updated moving forward. I hope to do this for a few other things too like smoothies, easy dinners, etc. Let me know if you have any requests!
I had a really fun afternoon! I taught an arm balance and inversion workshop at Om Yoga.
We spent 90 minutes breaking down headstand, crow, side crow, mountain climber, figure four arm balance, flying splits and handstand. I taught each pose in progressions that allowed everyone to be challenged and work at their level whether they were beginner or advanced.
The 90 minutes flew by but arm balances and inversions are exhausting so it was 90 minutes of hard work. Everyone was shaking and tired at the end of it and agreed they would probably be sore.
The workshop was a success and every single person was able to get into an arm balance or inversion that they had never done before. I am going to offer another Level 1 arm balance and inversion workshop at Charlotte Yoga and Om Yoga in the next few months and I’ll also put together a format for a Level 2 that builds off of what we did today. I can’t wait!
I can’t wait until my arm balance and inversion book is out! I want to take these workshops on the road! 🙂
Because the universe is so full of love and blessings, there are cupcake bakeries next door to both yoga studios where I teach. I usually resist but after teaching all morning and my workshop this afternoon, I needed a sweet treat! I stopped by Cupcrazed to pick up a carrot cake cupcake on my way home. It was delicious!
The rest of my day has been spent hanging out with this fluffy thing. She is out of control (in so many ways!).
Tell me about your Saturday…what did you do, what did you eat?
Yogis…what arm balance and inversions would you like to learn?
Mmm I definitely need to follow your salad inspiration board. Your salads are just the best!
And I’m so excited for your inversion/arm balance book! I would love to get a handstand eventually, but I’m really working on the headstand variation where your hands are cradling your head. I can only do tripod headstand right now. I think I have the core strength to do it, but my hip flexors are pretty tight, so it’s difficult for me to keep my knees in before taking my legs up…if that makes sense.
hey allison! yes, that variation of headstand is hard! just remember…practice is the most powerful tool you have with yoga. don’t give up and keep believing in what your body can do!
hi! I’m at student of yours at Charlotte Yoga and I am really wanting to learn arm balances (mountain climber, arm stand/head stand, side crow) and inversions. I just don’t feel strong enough despite the fact I lift weights regularly and do yoga 4-6 times a week (for the past year). I would love to attend a class like this. Could you tell me when you are doing your next inversion/arm balancing workshop. Thanks Jen!
you ARE strong enough! i would love to help you out with all of it. i am hoping to plan one at charlotte yoga in March! stay tuned! 🙂
Come do a workshop in Chicago!
i would LOVE to! hopefully i’ll make it happen soon!
Sounds like a lovely day! That cupcake looks amazing. Carrot cake is my favourite kind of cake hands down!
I spent my Saturday at work until the afternoon, then went skating on the Rideau Canal here in Ottawa (Canada). It’s the biggest skating rink in the world, and skating + a Beavertail is an essential Ottawa experience! It was -25 Celsius with the wind chill though..made my face hurt! haha
carrot cake and strawberry are definitely my two fave cake flavors. your saturday sound so much fun! i wish i could try it…minus the freezing cold temps. that’s INSANE!
Hi Jen! I had turkey wrapped in avacado almost everyday for lunch last week. Loving this combo! Yesterday I was craving my version of the snack plate which includes, but not limited to, hummus, lebne, olives, tomatoes and pita bread. Trying a new boot camp class Tuesday night! Can’t wait! Happy Sunday everyone!!!
i love, love, love that turkey and avocado combo and your snack plate sounds amazing. let me know how your boot camp class goes! good luck.
THANK YOU for the salad inspirations! I was hunting some new ideas yesterday, and searching through your previous posts as well 🙂
And loving the blue leggings, where can I find a pair?
yay! glad you like the board! the blue leggings are lululemon wunder under crops but this color is a couple of seasons old.
YAY! I’m so happy about your salad pinterest board! Ha! I just followed. I’m looking forward to a smoothie one too! Your smoothie recipes are the only ones that has ever stuck with me! ps. my hubs loves them too! 😉
thanks for following! i’ll get the smoothie one done asap. so fun that you hubs is into them too! 🙂
Sounds like a awesome Saturday…I so so so want to nail handstand without a wall. I’ve been practicing it a lot more and I’m slowly, but surely getting there. 🙂
practice, practice, practice. and even when you do it against the wall…take your feet away from the wall and practice balancing there. you’ll get it!
Oh man… so excited about the salad Pinterest board. When I do my weekly meal planning/prep I regularly comb through your “recent eats” posts for inspiration! If you do another Pinterest board, I would love to see one on weeknight dinners – the protein/veggie combo that you do where you can prep everything, then stick it in the oven and forget it. Thanks, Jen! I say this every time I comment, but I love this blog – so much positivity and inspiration! 🙂
thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment christin…and thanks for the board idea! 🙂
can’t wait to catch one of your workshops!!
Hey Jen! Just wanted to say you’re awesome and thank you for taking the time to post helpful, thoughtful material (even when life gets crazy busy!). Love reading your blog! I was fortunate enough to make a quick trip down south this past weekend (my parents live in Roanoke, VA). Saturday my parents and I visited an art museum, watched UVA beat Boston College in men’s basketball (wahoowa!) cooked dinner together, and tried some new beer brewed in VA. It was so fun!