Today has been a great day! It’s been really rainy and gloomy here (like, we were under a flood watch rainy) but I’m still full of smiles and energy. 😀
No AM workout today. Oatmeal at my desk.
Oats, blueberries, banana, dried cranberry, cinnamon, pinch salt, almond milk, water, chia seeds. Topped with almond butter and Crofter’s. Nothing new here!
I had fun lunch plans to meet the Charlotte lululemon crew at 300 East. The east coast community manager is in town visiting, attending a lot of classes and meeting with local fitness lovers. She couldn’t make it to one of my classes so we decided to grab lunch instead.
This salad was really delicious. Mixed greens, dried apricots, roasted beets, pecans, blue cheese and pears with a shallot vinaigrette.
Imagine my surprise when our server showed up with this…
lululemon is opening a retail store in Charlotte in the coming months (they currently just have a showroom) and they asked me at lunch (with this fun dessert) if I would continue my ambassadorship with them as they transition to the retail store. Of course, I said yes. I love working with them to continue making Charlotte a healthier and happier city!
After a crazy, crazy afternoon at work, I met back up with the lululemon team for a cardio strength class at the Y with Becky – one of the toughest instructors in Charlotte. (If any of my class members are reading this…Becky loves pushups more than me…if that’s even possible! ;)) About a million pushups, mountain climbers, squats and box jumps later, I left class very tired and sweaty. I love attending other instructors classes!
I was not hungry at all for dinner tonight, which is really rare for me. I went with something that always sounds good to me – peanut butter and honey toast. I had a pear on the side. Simple and good.
I spent two hours tonight working on yoga teacher training homework.
I had to write out a 90 minute power yoga class as well as identify 10 pose/counterposes. It took forever to write out the flow because I had to keep getting up and trying it to see if it flowed. What you see isn’t the final (I changed a few things when I was typing it out) but close. I’m pretty happy with it!
I asked this on Twitter but I would love to get your feedback here too. What poses are “must haves” in yoga classes. What do you need to feel like your practice is complete? I would love to know for future class planning! 🙂
I feel like no yoga practice is complete without pigeon pose. It is my absolute favorite because my hips get so tight from running. Sometimes I just hang out in pigeon when my hips feel tight while I’m watching TV. Nerd alert.
you are totally not a nerd! pigeon is an extremely beneficial pose for runners!
My hips are extremely tight (especially my hip flexors), so I really love pigeon pose, even if it is a little painful——it’s a good pain. I have a pretty obvious case of anterior pelvic tilt so I’ve been trying to work on stretching everything in my hip area.
Anyway, my favorite thing to do in yoga is go from shoulder stand to plough to…whatever it’s called when you can rest your knees on either side of your head. It’s my favorite way to wind down near the end of class.
that’s ear pressure pose/Karnapidasana. I love that one too. I feel like I’m in my own little cocon!!
Pigeon pose and tree pose are a must or me.
Warrior II!
You’re coming a long way in yoga teacher training. I bet your classes will be fabulous. My favorite classes always include the warrior series, pigeon, and some challenging balance poses.
Thanks, Becky! 🙂
I’m with you on the balancing poses. And I think they’re great for runners to help with developing more single-leg stability!
I love all spine twists because i sit at a desk all day and it is great to release some tension in my back! camel, backbends, and other back working moves are definitely a must for me!
For me, my practice isn’t complete until I do shoulder stand, or tree pose. They are my ultimate favorites. 🙂
Aww that dessert thing is SO CUTE!!! Being an ambassador for such a great company must be AMAZING 🙂
The Warrior series!! No class is complete without it (or the sun salutation obviously! :P)
Yes! I love to start all classes with sun salutations. Best way to warm up!
Another vote for the warrior series. I really enjoy those poses.
My must is pigeon pose but I see you already have that!
Yes, pigeon seems to be a must for everyone. Not to self to never leave that one out! 🙂
I keep saying that I just have to get into yoga, but haven’t joined a class yet! I do a few yoga videos at home but not enough to work up a sweat. I really want to work on strengthening my core. 🙂
Alaina – if you get a chance you should try a class at a studio. It’s a totally different experience from doing videos at home!
oh what an honor!! Being an ambassador for Lulu is amazing. You are quite the amazing woman Jen! Love it.
For yoga poses, I really just like getting into a flow, lots of backbends too. I know, I am weird.
You are too sweet! Thanks girl!
You are not weird at all. I also just love flowing through a class and backbends are my favorite!!!
I have to have balance poses as well as the warrior series!
Congrats on being selected to be a lulu ambassador! I just finished my one year term as an ambassador with the lululemons here in San Antonio, Tx. It was a blast and you will be a great inspiration and voice for them in the community.
Peace!
Thanks Jill! So good to hear from someone who has been through it. What do you teach!?
I teach Yoga/Dance. I used to teach Bikram yoga full time and danced in a professional company, but I found the world of Ashtanga and fell in love. My real passion is with teaching special needs, so I left the Bikram world and now teach in a psychiatric hospital. It can be such a challenge, but also very rewarding. I teach both the children and the adults suffering from depression, schizophrenia, bipolar and other mental illnesses. Needless to say it has made me a much more compassionate and better teacher:)
Have fun with your year as an ambassador, you will do great things!
Congrats on being an ambassador! I don’t know a single pose in yoga, so i’m 0 help for you on that one!
Thanks Jen! It’s just always great hearing from you! 😉
I feel like yoga classes are not complete without some form of inversion. Headstand is good, although I get a bigger kick out of handstand and forearm stands. I also like side planks and any variations of them.
Courtney – headstands are a must for me too in every class. I also enjoy working on things like handstands and forearm balances.
Thanks so much for the input!
Hi Jen! Not sure if you remember me from UGA (it’s been longer than it seems!) I’m Matt Montgomery’s friend from Cartersville. I love reading your blog!! I’m in Savannah now and lately I’ve become completely addicted to a new studio here, Savannah Power Yoga. Our teacher is the only Baptiste Power Yoga teacher in all of GA and I think it’s an absolutely amazing form of yoga (if you haven’t tried Baptiste Power Flow I highly recommend it, both of my teachers converted to Baptiste from Ashtanga)…I’m a huge fan of all balancing poses (airplane, tree, etc.) and also really love it when it’s time for trikonasana/triangle pose. It’s such a great side stretch and heart opener. Congratulations on the teacher training, I love reading about it! I hope to go through it sometime next year (if I decide I’m ready…it’s a huge commitment). Good luck!!
Triangle and ardha chandrasana are two poses that I love to practice. Both really help me stretch out my hips and my inner thighs, which are always super tight. I also always do some variation of a wide legged stretch, whether its seated or on my back. Finally, I’ve recently been reintroduced to firelog pose, and I think I prefer it over pigeon for loosening my hips.
Katie – thanks so much for the comment! I also love triangle for the same reasons plus the awesome side body stretch if you reach the arm towards the front of the room.
Firelog (or double pigeon) is a wonderful hip opener and definitely more intense than pigeon. I often take double pigeon and fold over my legs rather than pigeon in classes that I attend.