Hi and I hope you all had a nice weekend. Mine passed by in a blur of yoga.
Twice a year we hold 200-hour teacher trainings at the studio. These are the trainings that people complete if they are interested in becoming a yoga teacher or just learning more about themselves and the practice. You can read more about the ins and outs of yoga teacher training in this post.
Our winter training takes place over the course of eight weekends between January and April and last weekend was the first training weekend our 10th teacher training!
On Fridays I teach a regularly scheduled class from 4:30-5:30 p.m. and then we had TT from 6-9 p.m. Our first session is a practice and then a getting to know you/introductions group meeting.
Needless to say, I was HUNGRY when I got home from all of that. I made a grilled cheese with avocado and had it alongside some homemade tomato soup that I whipped up last week and pineapple.
My Saturday morning began at the gym. It was too cold (for me) to run outside and I really wanted to get some miles and some strength in. I drove over to Metro Fitness Club and worked out for about an hour.
Here are all the details on what I did!
I love working out at Metro but it’s kind of on the other side of town from where I live now. I miss the gym so much and it’s still weird not to be there daily after 5+ years of working there!
I went straight to the studio from the gym to teach my 11:15 a.m. hot class. Holy happy new year…I had 105 people in class. We were over capacity. It was awesome and crazy.
Unfortunately, I had to take a trip to urgent care after class. The sickness I’ve had for three weeks is still lingering and I’ve had a sore throat on the left side for a week now. I went to get my throat swabbed for strep and thank goodness it came back negative. They told me they think it’s just a virus hanging on and for me to hang in there.
A friend of mine recommended the carrot cake from Laurel Market and I happened to be in that area for urgent care so I had a slice for lunch. I can report that it was AMAZING! Tasted homemade and I loved the thick cream cheese frosting! You will be seeing this cake again, I’m sure. 🙂
I was with the TTs from 3-6 p.m. and Tanner and I did a posture clinic where we went through all the common postures of power practice and the alignment/form for them. I think they TTs enjoyed it and learned a lot.
FYI to y’all…I made a bunch of videos last year for the Y2 Yoga website with tutorials on how to do a lot of basic power poses. Check it out here!
Fun news…Tanner’s mom is participating in our teacher training this winter so she stayed with us over the weekend because she lives about 50 minutes from the studio and we are only 10. I knew everyone would want a comforting, hearty dinner on Saturday night so I made Ina’s Perfect Roast Chicken and my braised red cabbage and apples. I roasted the chicken on top of a mix of potatoes, carrots, parsnips and turnips.
This is just the best recipe ever! I highly recommend roasting a bunch of veggies under the chicken because they get so deliciously seasoned by the chicken fat that drips off. Yum.
I got to sleep in a little on Sunday morning because I didn’t have the TTs until later in the day. Brunch was scrambled eggs, bacon, bagels and grapefruit. Pregnancy has just made me want to eat alllllll the bagels, bread, oatmeal and frozen pizza.
I arrived at the studio at 11:15 a.m. to teach my first prenatal yoga class! I just took this class over because we’ve been wanting to reformat it. I figured since I’m pregnant and feeling in my body what they feel, now was a great time to do it! I also just love working with women and helping them connect with their bodies so it’s a double blessing. I can’t wait to get to know my yogi mammas!
Sunday was a loonnnnggg day of yoga. After prenatal, I had the TTs solo for a couple hours. We worked on practice teaching for the first time and they taught sun salutation A and B. They did such a great job and it’s always fun to see them teach for the first time ever!
After TT, I taught my normal 4 p.m. class and then took the 5:15 p.m. I felt a little crazy for staying to take but after you teach so much, you kind of just feel like you need to fill your own cup to balance it all out.
My next stop was a Trader Joe’s shopping extravaganza. These are my two favorite purchases (haha) and I can report that both are VERY delicious! 🙂
I ended the evening with the leftovers from our Saturday night dinner and feet up on the couch. I started watching “Pretty Little Liars” thinking it was that show “Big Little Lies.” Definitely not the same thing BUT can someone tell me if Pretty Little Liars is worth watching? It seemed kind of teen-y.
Oh, and I finished Shanghai Girls last night and I’m on to book two, Dreams of Joy. I am loving these books.
Have you completed a 200-hour teacher training or considered doing one? Any questions about it?
Also, any prenatal yoga questions? I’m working on another post.
Recent new/delicious/amazing Trader Joe’s finds? Share the knowledge!
Okay! I hate unsolicited advice and you probably truly have a virus (that’s most likely by far) especially this year bc apparently it’s one of the worst years we’ve had in a while. That said. Just In Case, I’ll tell you what happened to me (spoiler alert: it’ll work out alright in the end either way). So two years ago, I had this lingering “virus”, swabs kept coming back negative and the sore throat would come and go. This went on for abt a month. I thought I was going crazy. Then I developed a sore throat on one side and it kept growing in intensity and I ended up in the ER with my throat actually closing up. Long story short: the streps were coming back false negative and I ended up with an abscess in one tonsil that had to be medically drained. All that to say, don’t be afraid to go in for another strep test and make sure they’re also sending 48 hour cultures out. Hope you’re feeling better soon!
This exact thing happened to my husband! I’ll say though that something was very obviously wrong. Like he was in excruciating pain by the end. So I think if it’s an abscess, you will likely know it. He was in so much pain that he could hardly do anything.
I also visited Trader Joe’s this weekend (love that place), and as I am currently doing a Whole30 and getting a bit tired of cooking every night, I was excited to find some pre-cooked, ready to eat roasted Brussels sprouts! 🙂
Have you tried the salted dark chocolate graham crackers at TJ’s yet? They are the best if you’re into sweet and salty (which is totally my jam!).
Does your braised cabbage recipe reheat well? There’s only 2 of us and I wasn’t sure if I should halve or quarter it, or if we could eat it a few times reheated?
Okay, those sound right up my alley! Getting them next time! And yes, the cabbage reheats wonderfully!
I was super skeptical of Pretty Little Liars, due to it being a teenybopper show but it easily become one of my favorite shows! I’d recommend it! There’s an on-going mystery that keeps you hooked!
Yes to Pretty Little Liars, both the show and the books! The next time I’m at TJ’s I’ll be sure to pick up some Cowboy Bark.
Loved Shanghai Girls. But, I wish I had known some Chinese history before reading the sequel bc it was traumatic for me! I recommend reading the wiki article on China’s “Great Leap Forward”, if you are like me and don’t know much history. 🙂
That cowboy bark and the dark chocolate peanut butter cups from TJ’s are amazing! My favorite TJ dessert items are the Old-Fashioned Graham Crackers (delicious).
I honestly would love to do teacher training at some point to deepen my practice, BUT, need to reestablish a more regular practice first AND think my two boys (3 and 4.5) need be a bit older. But it’s an eventual goal.
they aren’t new but i can NEVER get enough of the dark chocolate sea salt almonds with turbino sugar – SERIOUSLY. the closest TJs is about 4 hours away and i always STOCK UP
Thanks for sharing in your pregnancy adventures with us! I’m right there with you at 12 weeks pregnant myself with baby number 2. I prenatal yoga’d my way through pregnancy one so big kudos to you for taking on that class! One book I recommend to you is The Mindful Mama to Be. It has so many yoga and doula tips. I think you’ll like it!
Trader Joe’s riced cauliflower stir fry in the freezer section, reduced sugar cherry preserves, sparkling pineapple mineral water, cauliflower pizza crusts, & the restaurant style white corn tortilla chips are my fave store chips ever!
Ok, since you said your digging frozen pizza at the moment… my husband and I LOVE TJ’s frozen pizzas. They are just 10x better than any others we’ve tried! Our faves are the spicy Sicilian, the arugula, and th bbq chicken. You’ve got to try them if you haven’t yet! We make a salad and a pizza and share both, so it doesn’t feel like an unhealthy dinner. It’s our favorite easy dinner!
I LOVE to seriously just look at your eats! Can we please have a slice of carrot cake together, next time I venture to Charlotte? Maybe for breakfast with some coffee! xoxo
Wow that chicken looks AMAZING! Yes, I’ve been looking into doing yoga teacher training. I got into yoga last year and love it! My hang ups are it is so crazy expensive and I’m not sure I’m advanced enough to be able to teach. So..maybe! Love your blog!
I’m 38 and I loved Pretty Little Liars!! As did all my friends who tried it! Fun show!
Hi Jenn,
I’m a 500 RYT from Canada. I teach hot Hatha and Vinyasa, but I would love to take your teacher training as continuing education. Have you ever considering condensing your YTT to week format (maybe 2 weeks) for international students 🙂
Congrats on your pregnancy, sending love & light from Canada!
Amanda
I recently binge watched the entire Pretty Little Liar series and loved it, although I do tend to love teen dramas lol. I was entertained by it and used to watch it a lot while running on my treadmill – it’s a good show when you don’t want to think too hard!
I’m a regular reader, but rare commenter – had to pop in and say — watch Pretty Little Liars. I binge watched it a few months ago, and my only regret is that I didn’t watch it real time so that I could have enjoyed it for 7 years. :). And I’m older than you. 🙂
Pretty Little Liars is a bit teenish but it’s also a good guilty pleasure!
Hope you are feeling better soon!
Hi Jen! I’m 12 weeks pregnant and have enjoyed following your pregnancy. I’d love more clarity on core exercises (yoga poses or stand alone core) that is safe during pregnancy. There’s so much information out there it can be overwhelming. Thanks!
What fitness watch do you use? Do you find it accurate?
Sounds like a super busy weekend! I hope you’ll have a weekend soon when you can have some more feet up time for yourself. The food looks delicious. I’m going to have to try that roast chicken. (I’m trying a plant based diet at the moment)
TT…every season I entertain the idea. I’d love to have a yoga for moms group sometime. Maybe one day I’ll teach? But TT always seems like something I’d like to do even just for myself. (Though as a SAHM, it’s hard to justify that cost). Every season, I also think to myself: I need to have a more regular practice for myself before I embark on TT. I wonder what you think of that, Jen. How deep into ones practice should a person be before trying a TT program?
Anyway, as always I enjoy reading your blog posts! Thanks for sharing!