today is as good as any to start blogging. i've always wanted to. but what could i blog about? and who the hell is going to read it anyway? so on this soggy portland morning i start my virgin blog. and i'm gonna blog about stuff like being a mama to 2 little girls, being a wife to my amazing husband, jack, running this big old house like a tight ship (ok, maybe not a tight ship, more of unfettered, free-wheeling dinghy of sorts) and how i make it all work without hanging myself in the closet or drowning my kids in the bathtub. oh, and i'm gonna blog a shit ton about yoga! all in lower case....
i've been doing yoga for almost 3 years. anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that i live for yoga! it has changed my life. i started doing yoga when i joined 24 hour fitness in july 2007. i had gotten in during some "sale" and was determined that i was going to get in shape once and for all!! i've been a yoyo dieter my entire adult life and it was not pretty. geez, i was sick of the up and down of it, unhealthy habits, post-2 kid body. yikes! here i was at 40 and heading downhill fast. but yoga....hhmmmm. i could go with my best gay boyfriend, kevin. we could get in shape together!! and so started my "ghetto yoga" phase, as i affectionately call it. i stuck with it, surrounded by others like me who were clearly just trying to get in shape and feel good. by november i was chomping at the bit for more of a challenge with my yoga. i canceled my 24 hour membership and started shopping for a "real" yoga studio, and in december i bought a 1-year membership at yoga pearl. a whole year paid for up front, i was committing a lot of money for the unknown and i jumped in feet first!! my first class was daunting, an advanced power vinyasa class that made 24 hour fitness feel like romper room. omfg what was i doing? but i kept going...and going....and going.....and worked my way up to a 6-day a week practice. the skinny bitches don't intimidate me anymore. since i've started yoga, all those bad habits i once had have seamlessly melted away. i juice everyday, i have eliminated all processed foods from my family's diets cuz if i'm going to suffer, they will too, i quit drinking alcohol for the most part, i have lost 30 pounds and by doing so i have become waaaaaay more flexible. i mean, c'mon, it's uber difficult to bend and twist and forward fold with all this flab in the way! i am a rockstar!!!
so i got up for 6:30 yoga this morning. ooooooohhh it was chilly when i dragged myself out of bed. my good sensibility deterred me from crawling back under the cozy warmth of my blankets. i just kept thinking about how warm that yoga studio was going to be!!! i put on my stinky yoga clothes that i like to wallow in for at least a couple of classes before laundering. don't ask me why, it's gross, i know. when i got to the studio i was the only one signed up for class. i did a little jump for joy at the idea of having shaney all to myself! but then two others showed up...oh well. now, shaney aalbers is a fantastic yogi and teacher. her classes are always packed, but she JUST started teaching the early monday morning class, and frankly, not a lot of peeps are on to this little known secret yet. she teaches a pretty brutal flow. my favorite pose we did this morning was a twisted standing pigeon that just about kicked my ass! i will be practicing and perfecting this one at home!!!
i started doing yoga simply to get my fat ass in shape. i have realized since just how awesome yoga is for all the other stuff it does!!! the enormous physical benefits are just a side effect of a strong practice. yoga harmonizes the mind with the body and this results in real quantum benefits!!! with yoga and the "moving meditation" it offers, you can achieve an emotional balance through detachment. by that, i mean that you learn to not be affected by the goings-on surrounding you, and it creates a calmness and a positive outlook. who knew? and while i still get all riled up about lots of things that i will certainly blog about, i'm pretty zen. the new and improved me! golly, it almost makes me perfect....almost.
my beautiful girls can bathe without fear, mama is in a state of eternal bliss!
i've been doing yoga for almost 3 years. anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that i live for yoga! it has changed my life. i started doing yoga when i joined 24 hour fitness in july 2007. i had gotten in during some "sale" and was determined that i was going to get in shape once and for all!! i've been a yoyo dieter my entire adult life and it was not pretty. geez, i was sick of the up and down of it, unhealthy habits, post-2 kid body. yikes! here i was at 40 and heading downhill fast. but yoga....hhmmmm. i could go with my best gay boyfriend, kevin. we could get in shape together!! and so started my "ghetto yoga" phase, as i affectionately call it. i stuck with it, surrounded by others like me who were clearly just trying to get in shape and feel good. by november i was chomping at the bit for more of a challenge with my yoga. i canceled my 24 hour membership and started shopping for a "real" yoga studio, and in december i bought a 1-year membership at yoga pearl. a whole year paid for up front, i was committing a lot of money for the unknown and i jumped in feet first!! my first class was daunting, an advanced power vinyasa class that made 24 hour fitness feel like romper room. omfg what was i doing? but i kept going...and going....and going.....and worked my way up to a 6-day a week practice. the skinny bitches don't intimidate me anymore. since i've started yoga, all those bad habits i once had have seamlessly melted away. i juice everyday, i have eliminated all processed foods from my family's diets cuz if i'm going to suffer, they will too, i quit drinking alcohol for the most part, i have lost 30 pounds and by doing so i have become waaaaaay more flexible. i mean, c'mon, it's uber difficult to bend and twist and forward fold with all this flab in the way! i am a rockstar!!!
so i got up for 6:30 yoga this morning. ooooooohhh it was chilly when i dragged myself out of bed. my good sensibility deterred me from crawling back under the cozy warmth of my blankets. i just kept thinking about how warm that yoga studio was going to be!!! i put on my stinky yoga clothes that i like to wallow in for at least a couple of classes before laundering. don't ask me why, it's gross, i know. when i got to the studio i was the only one signed up for class. i did a little jump for joy at the idea of having shaney all to myself! but then two others showed up...oh well. now, shaney aalbers is a fantastic yogi and teacher. her classes are always packed, but she JUST started teaching the early monday morning class, and frankly, not a lot of peeps are on to this little known secret yet. she teaches a pretty brutal flow. my favorite pose we did this morning was a twisted standing pigeon that just about kicked my ass! i will be practicing and perfecting this one at home!!!
i started doing yoga simply to get my fat ass in shape. i have realized since just how awesome yoga is for all the other stuff it does!!! the enormous physical benefits are just a side effect of a strong practice. yoga harmonizes the mind with the body and this results in real quantum benefits!!! with yoga and the "moving meditation" it offers, you can achieve an emotional balance through detachment. by that, i mean that you learn to not be affected by the goings-on surrounding you, and it creates a calmness and a positive outlook. who knew? and while i still get all riled up about lots of things that i will certainly blog about, i'm pretty zen. the new and improved me! golly, it almost makes me perfect....almost.
my beautiful girls can bathe without fear, mama is in a state of eternal bliss!
Yaaaaay! You go, baby girl! This is so you. I'm so proud of your new-found virginity. I am so supportive and so with you. As you get up in the dark, on a cold rainy morning, step into your rank and stinky yoga clothes, drive yourself to class and bend your body into shapes and positions god never intended..you go, baby girl. As I sit in my warm, snuggy room watching the huge rain and hail come down, with hot coffee in hand, I think of you, baby girl..and want you to know, I'm so with you..strongly..in spirit! You go, baby girl!
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