I love yoga, and can’t even imagine running without following it up with yoga.  I actually have been maybe getting back the running bug a bit after  many, many months of doing very little besides work. And paddleboarding, but that usually is reserved for weekends so doesn’t get  much of a chance to keep me in any kind of good shape, especially when all of the rest of my time was at the computer.

Sometimes I go through whatever yoga poses happen to seem right at the moment, but for the most part I prefer to put my mind on autopilot and follow along with a video. This is my favorite one at the moment:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOTGz-1vizY] Why is it my favorite? Easy. Because it’s close to 40 minutes long so every single time I start it I have no intention of finishing the video (it IS bedtime after all) but then it’s done and I am sooo relaxed.

It’s also a super easy one so whether you are into yoga or not, give it a try. By the end you will wonder how you ever survived without yoga in your life.

Do you have a favorite evening yoga practice? Share the link if it’s an on line video, I always love trying new practices and new people to follow for videos.

I’ve finally started feeling better (yay!) and ready to get back to running.  Only a mile at a time, but tonight will make it three times a week so I’m pretty happy with that.  I switched back to running outside which is HOT but also fun. I’m really surprised that after running on the treadmill for a couple of months and then not running at all for over a month running barefoot is just as comfortable as it was before.  I don’t know why but I thought my feet would get un-used to it.

Before I started running again I started doing yoga again.  It’s amazing how hard everything is the first time after doing very little but sitting or laying around for too long. But I found two yoga practices that are perfect for when you don’t have the energy to go all out but you want to do SOMETHING.  And the cool thing is after you do something you naturally want to do something else.  A body in motion and all.

This yoga practice is from Yoga Journal.  It’s nice and mellow but still leaves you feeling great when you’re done.

Here’s one for digestion.  It’s also gentle and relaxing.

My colitis isn’t completely back in remission but it’s close enough that I feel confident that if I keep up the meds and the aloe juice and keep down the stress and the bad attitude it’ll be gone in no time.   All in all it’s been a great week.

What do you do to keep your energy up when you aren’t feeling it or to ease back into working out when you’ve been off the wagon for a while?  If you know of any other great, mellow yoga practices I’d love to hear about them!

I have been having a bit of a problem lately with headaches, neck aches, and sore shoulders at work.  While I’m sure that the stress of being a single mom to 3 during the holidays has added to it significantly I also think it has a lot to do with having a desk job.  Sitting at a computer 40 hours a day can’t be good for me!  So of course here I am at home sitting at a computer, but whatever….

I mentioned last week that I decided to join a ‘Just 1 Thing‘ challenge for this year, which asks you to chose one thing to work on for your health at a time.  My one thing for the moment is getting back to daily yoga.  Since tonight I came home with especially sore and stiff shoulders I decided to look for a practice that focused on this area.

I found this video on Do Yoga With Me’s YouTube channel  and it is wonderful for getting a good stretch throughout the neck and shoulders.  I had forgot how great it feels to do 30 minutes of yoga that just focuses on relaxation!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3lQQieptsI&w=560&h=315] If you work on a computer all day another thing you can do to help is to give yourself hourly reminders to stand up, roll your shoulders and shake out your hands, or just to sit up straighter.  I created an hourly pop up message reminding me to sit up straighter because it seems that as soon as I stop thinking about it I’m slouching in my chair again.

If you think that an hourly reminder would be helpful to you too it’s easy enough to add a reminder to your computer.  Here is an explanation on how to set it up.

Do you have a desk job?  If so how do you combat the effects of sitting 40 hours a week?

I love yoga because I love the way I feel after practicing.  Kind of like I love barefoot running because I love the way it makes me feel.

Running in general really, but who’s being specific?

I started getting really interested in both somewhere around the same time but as completely separate things.  But somehow these days the two have merged.  Usually the only time I do yoga anymore is after a run, but it could be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Yoga is just the perfect after run stretch and cool down.  The down side being I rarely do an intense yoga session anymore because who wants to put THAT much effort into it after all that running?  Hmmm, maybe I should start doing at least one just yoga session a week now that I think about it.

Anyways, one negative thing about my first year running barefoot is sometimes my feet hurt the next day.  Also, and this could be a good or a bad depending on your view, I notice unbalances in my body more. I often literally feel like I am not standing evenly on my feet the day after a run, I balance more on the inside of my feet. Being the oddball that I am I think it’s kind of cool that I even notice that. But still, it’s a kind of uncomfortable feeling. I’ve found that a couple of yoga poses can fix that right up.  The main one?  Mountain pose.

Now as you may or may not have read on my disclaimer page (probably not but whatever) I am not an expert on yoga or anything else so HERE is a link to The Yoga Journal’s official and professional and all that‘s explanation to how to properly do the pose.

Now for my not official nor professional nor all that take.  If you clicked the link you would see that in step one they say to ‘rock back and forth and side to side’.  This is KEY in my humble opinion.  My main goal (running related, not yoga related) is for my feet and then the rest of my stance to feel completely balanced.  This is significantly easier in theory than in reality.  Just like everything else, I know.    The thing is to do this rocking back and forth after each check in with the rest of your body.  As in – Balanced? Good.  Firmed your thighs and lifted your knees?  Good. Now get balanced again. Tucked your tailbone?  Oh good, now rock back and forth and get balanced again.  And so on.

I find that doing mountain pose (every morning at my desk at work then occasionally throughout the day just because) is a great way to just kind of get centered both physically and mentally. Who doesn’t need that during a busy work day full of meetings, customers, and whatnot?

Because

1) I’m too lazy to take a picture of me doing mountain pose

2) I couldn’t find a good picture of anyone else doing mountain pose

and

3) I miss Camelback Mountain (and all mountains, Florida is flat as flat can be)

here is a lovely picture of Camelback Mountain.  See how stable it looks? THAT isn’t falling over, push as you will.  Be the mountain!  🙂