I can't move my arms!

Last night, I went to an aerial yoga class with some of the other teachers at Ignite. It was such a fun experience! But after my arms literally felt like jelly :O It's soooo much more challenging than it looks.

We went to Satva Fitness in Escondido and I had quite a bit of trouble finding it. It was on Grand Avenue but I didn't realize that I had to type in W. Grand as opposed to E. Grand so I was pretty confused. Luckily, I didn't miss any part of the workshop due to my lack of driving/directional skills (I can pretty much guarantee that I'll get lost every time I go somewhere new).

We started off with a warmup - lots of stretching and some strengthening poses. Then, we were taught how to climb the silks! The instructor made it look so easy but it requires SO much strength. I tend to have more strength in my legs than in my arms so it was pretty tough but I ended up being able to climb pretty well.

After we had practiced climbing for a while, we moved on to doing tricks! We started with doing splits. To do splits you wrap both your feet in the silks and let gravity pull your legs apart. But, you have to keep your hips square to the front which makes it trickier and, as for all the tricks, you have to use your core a TON. Then, we did some tuck jumps and tried to lift up our legs. I was pretty bad at those :p but it was still tons of fun. Our final trick was one where we wrap both our feet then wrap the silks behind our back while in the air. Then, we lift our legs in a straddle split over our head. Kind of hard to explain but it looks really cool! We finished with a cool down and a lot of stretching. Even before we left I could feel my arms beginning to get sore. By the time I got home, I could barely move them!

It was such a great night trying something totally new and getting to know the other teachers better. I am so lucky to be able to work with some amazing people at Ignite! 

Finally Friday!

This week I started nannying full time, so I am pretty exhausted and glad that the kids are going out of town for the weekend (including today!). I work 7-8 hours a day and then go straight to Ignite to either work, teach or do classes. This week, I taught Yoga Sculpt on Saturday and Gentle Yoga on Tuesday and I'm teaching a vinyasa flow class tomorrow night. Yoga sculpt has been my favorite class to teach so far because it allows me to be creative with the music and what poses/exercises I incorporate. I also love the energy I get from it and can pass on to the students.

 Gentle Yoga was a departure for me, who always wants to be active and moving. It was hard for me to tone it down a bit, but I was able to. It was a really good experience for me to learn how to teach a different style of yoga. Really, I just love teaching yoga in general and I want as much practice as I can get!

This morning I got up early for my favorite class - vinyasa bootcamp - even though it is at 5:30am. I knew I didn't have to be up early today but I also knew that I'd feel better after going to class than from sleeping in a couple hours. I love this class because it helps build strength to get into harder poses. Today we focused on some warriors, Eka Pada Koundinyasana (hurdler), full splits, vasistasana variations (side plank) and urdhva danurasana (full wheel). These are some of my favorite poses to do. They make me feel strong and confident in my practice. I love trying new variations of these poses and just playing. I love the fun atmosphere of vinyasa bootcamp...so worth getting up at 5:30am! 


After class, I came home and showered (I was sweaty!) and made my breakfast. Oatmeal with unsweetened almond milk and a dash of vanilla. I also tried my hand at a green smoothie. Like any good fitness blogger, I have heard of the benefits of green smoothies but always felt a bit apprehensive to actually making one. Today, though, I decided to try it. My smoothie consisted of a bunch of kale, 1/2 a banana, some blueberries, a few strawberries, water and ice. Surprisingly, it tasted just like a regular banana berry smoothie. Though, in the future, I will make sure to blend it a bit better because there were big chunks of kale that were kind of icky (not that I don't like kale, but it's really not appetizing to have chunks of it floating in the smoothie). It wasn't a total green smoothie, but baby steps! I'll try to get more creative with my recipes and smoothies this week! 


This evening, I'm going with the other teachers at Ignite to an ariel yoga class. It should be super fun. I've never done ariel but always wanted to try it. I'm also looking forward to getting to know the other teachers better!


My wonderful boyfriend is coming to visit for the weekend tomorrow! I am hoping the weekend will be fun and we'll get some tennis, hiking and yoga in as well as some relaxing and eating yummy food that I cook!