Week 10 - Part Two

72 Sun Salutations later, cycle two of The Ultimate Yogi is officially complete. If you watch the video below, it shows the entire flow of one single Sun Salutation.. now times that by 72.

It was definitely a hard class that really kicked my butt. I found my body fighting with my mind, and had to really push myself to make it to the end. Repeating the Sun Salutation flow 72 times gets very repetitive and once you lose track of what number your on, it just starts to feel endless. The one thing that I kept telling myself was that each Sun Salutation I pushed myself through, represented a day of the program that I have overcome, and that the sole purpose of this class was to celebrate the 72 days of this amazing mental and physical journey that I am on. That is what truly helped push me through the class. I am so grateful for the past 72 days, but I am happy to put them behind me as I start cycle three and make my way to 108 days!

With the start of cycle three, there is the start of another new weekly schedule:

1. CrossTrain

2. Strength

3. Balance

4. Yin

5. Cardio

6. Vitality

7. Mountain Pose

I am really sad to be losing Gentle and Flexibility class.. Gentle has honestly been one of the most amazingly soothing classes I've ever taken. I know that when I complete this program, I will be doing Gentle yoga every night before bed. It's the perfect gentle stretch for my body that leaves me completely relaxed and almost sleeping at the end of class in Savasana. The Flexibility class I will miss because I feel that it has brought me the most change. After only doing the class a couple of times, I am now almost able to fully do a split. I have become so much more flexible through this class which has allowed me to do some of the fun poses that I have ventured into on my own.

Although I am sad to see the Gentle and Flexibility classes go, I am thankful that I get to replace it with Yin Yoga and am so happy to have it back in my life! Yin provides deep intense stretches while also being a very calm and relaxing class. It leaves me feeling so amazing without ever having to break a sweat. I am looking forward to CrossTrain coming back too. I love how this yoga class dabbles between balance, strength, flexibility, cardio and stamina. I really enjoy it and the class just flies by. 

I honestly feel that this program has changed my life. I don't know how I would've made it through this semester of classes with such heavy workloads without it. In moments where I wanted to scream, I was able to find calm and keep my  mind clear. If I couldn't do this on my own, just by immersing myself into a yoga class, all of my worries and stresses would just float away. It has made me so much happier throughout my daily life and I am so thankful for that. I've even noticed that my body shape is changing and getting much tighter. It's making me feel so much more confident with myself. I don't have to hide or cover up my body in fear that I am being judged, which is truly liberating. My mind, body and spirit are all in alignment, and I am feeling on top of the world. With just a week or so left of school, I am ready to take on cycle three and complete this amazing 108 day journey over the summer.

~ "Your life is a sacred journey. It is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way" ~

Caroline Adams

Week 10 - Part One

It's officially the last week of cycle two of The Ultimate Yogi, and I am feeling amazing! My flexibility, balance and arm strength have improved so much over the past few weeks and I'm having fun trying out new poses. For the first time, I was able to hold a Forearm Balance (Pincha Mayurasana) for a couple of seconds, but not long enough to snap a picture. I continue to work on it every single day because I am determined to master this pose. This weeks schedule is slightly different than the past few.

1. Balance

2. Strength

3. Flexibility

4. Detox

5. Mountain Pose Series

6. Gentle

7. Yin

8. 72 Sun Salutations

Next week, I will let you know how the 72 Sun Salutations go. I am very nervous but excited at the same time. Repeating the 36 Sun Salutations at the end of cycle one wasn't that bad, but doing double will definitely be a challenge. This class is a celebration of how far I've come, and each Sun Salutation represents one of the 72 days we have completed thus far.

After yet another great week of yoga, I decided to take it outdoors to the nature walk again. This has become one of my new favorite places; especially when the sun is setting. I love coming here with Gio at the end of the week. It's very relaxing, and we happened to spot some turtles, squirrels and gators which was pretty cool.

This is a variation of a Supported Headstand (Salamba Sirsasana) that I've been playing around with. During Week 8 I went in depth about the benefits of this pose. This variation adds a deep lower back stretch and each time I practice this, I am able to arch my back and bring my leg lower and lower.

This pose is an intense lower back bend for me. Two-Legged Inverted Staff pose, also known as Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana, increases flexibility of the lower back and spine, soothes and relaxes the brain, massages and strengthens the heart, increases lung capacity and stimulates the pineal, thyroid, adrenal and pituitary glands.

I've recently tried Mermaid Pose for the first time, and I love it. For me, it's an easier version of One-Legged King Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana) which I am unable to do right now, so I'm hoping this pose will help me get there. Mermaid Pose opens the heart, chest and shoulders, strengthens the core and pelvic floor, stimulates the organs of the torso, stretches the lower back, hip flexors, quad muscles, groins, chest and shoulders, challenges balance and improves mobility in the spine and hips.

Supported Shoulderstand (Salamba Sarvangasana) improves digestion, tones the legs and booty, stimulates the thyroid glands and abdominal organs, reduces fatigue, stretches the neck and shoulders and helps relieve stress and calm the brain.

Here is Monkey Pose (Hanumanasana), AKA the splits. I have improved a lot in this pose which I last discussed during Week 7. I'm so close I can taste it! This pose stretches the hamstrings, thighs and groins and also stimulates the abdominal organs.

Lastly, is a Seated Forward Bend, also known as Paschimottanasana. The last time I posted a picture of myself in this post was Week 4, and I can definitely see the improvement. Instead of grabbing my feet, I now use my yoga block to get a deeper stretch, and am slowly working my way towards a flatter back. This pose provides many benefits. It stimulates the liver and kidneys, soothes headaches, anxiety and fatigue, improves digestion, stretches the hamstrings, spine and shoulders while also calming the brain and helping to relieve stress.

This program has helped me view life in another light by introducing me to such a beautiful practice. I have become so much happier and stress free through yoga and have had such a fun time throughout cycle two, venturing further and further into this yoga journey. Next week, I will sum up cycle two, talk about how the 72 Sun Salutations

went and give you a peak into what cycle three holds.

~ "When ego is lost, limit is lost. You become infinite, kind, beautiful."~

Yogi Bhajan

Week 9

With Week 9 complete, we are just one week away from 72 Sun Salutations to kick off the third and final cycle of The Ultimate Yogi. We continue to dig deeper every time we step on the mat for class, but it is starting to feel sort of repetitive so we are definitely looking forward to cycle three to switch up the schedule again. I can't wait to get the Yin and CrossTrain classes back from cycle one. They were two of my favorites and I've really missed them over the past few weeks.

This week, Gio and I planned to go stand up paddle boarding on Saturday. I was really excited to try and do a Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand) on the paddle board, but it ended up being rainy all day so we had to cancel our plans. Today ended up being a beautiful day and after I finished up my homework load, Gio and I went on a nature walk to soak in the fresh air. I couldn't resist doing some stop, drop and yoga on such a perfect day. 

There's something very calming to me about doing yoga in nature. It makes me so grateful and appreciative of all of the beauty around me, while helping me rid myself of negative thoughts and the daily stresses of life.

I love that every day, I am one day closer to becoming the Ultimate Yogi, but I feel that the end of this journey will just be the beginning of something bigger. I look forward to digging deeper every day through my practice and can't wait to continue exploring my body even after this program is over. There's so much for Gio and I to discover in yoga which got me to start looking into yoga books. 

I came across one called Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff which seems really interesting because it helps you see each movement in a completely new light. With detailed pictures/drawings and expert instruction, the book shows how each muscle is used, how breathing, the spine and body position are all fundamentally linked, as well as how the tiniest alterations of a pose can enhance or reduce effectiveness. It's definitely a book I am considering purchasing as this program nears its end.

Overall, its been another great week of The Ultimate Yogi. The most valuable thing I learned this week is how important and beneficial it is to take a moment to step back, inhale a deep breath and absorb the beauty in the world around you. It's always a major plus to have someone by your side to enjoy it with you.

Week 8

This week has been a pretty rewarding one. Just by consistently showing up on the mat everyday, we continue to improve and have even starting practicing some fun yoga moves on our own time. Over the weekend, we decided to enjoy a beautiful day out at the beach and of course practiced some of these fun yoga moves in the soft sand. We both practiced what felt like a million handstands, but were not able to hold them long enough to snap a picture. Before we knew it, an hour had already gone by, so we decided to play around with some other moves. The next morning, we both woke up feeling sore all over, which was pretty nice. Just by playing around and having some fun at the beach, we got a good workout in. Here are some pics Gio took:

This Supported Headstand is one of my newest accomplishments! Also known as Salamba Sirsasana, this pose tones the abdominals, strengthens the neck, arms, shoulders, legs, spine and lungs, improves posture and digestion, stimulates the pituitary and pineal glands, allows a healthy, pure blood flow to brain cells, calms the brain and helps relieve stress. This is my new favorite pose. It makes my body feel so amazing. As I hold the pose, I can feel the blood leaving my feet and making its way down my body just like when you flip a rainstick upside down. I continue to practice this headstand every morning and night, sometimes venturing into different variations of the pose.

This Wheel Pose backbend is one that I first ventured into during Week One and Two of The Ultimate Yogi. Also known as Urdhva Dhanurasana, this pose strengthens the arms, wrists, legs, glute muscles, lower back, abdomen, and spine, stretches the shoulders, chest, lungs, hip flexors and wrist flexors, increases energy, is therapeutic for back pain and stimulates the thyroid and pituitary glands. When I first started this program, I struggled to push up into this pose and could only hold it for a few seconds. If you compare this picture to the one I posted during those first two weeks, you can see the vast improvement I've made here. I'm now able to arch my back a lot more, completely straighten my arms, get up onto my tippy toes and have been trying to crawl my hands closer to my feet every time I practice. I am even able to get into this position from standing, called Standing Chakrasana.

Here's one more pic from the beach where I was playing around with a variation of Salamba Sirsasana. It's really fun testing my balance in this pose while strengthening my lower back and shoulders. Definitely going to continue practicing this to improve my back arch.

After a beautiful day at the beach, we went to publix, grabbed some ingredients and went home to make cauliflower pizza. This was our first attempt at making this, and it came out really good. We made it with non-fat mozzarella cheese, spinach, tomato, tomato sauce, turkey pepperoni and cauliflower crust. The entire pie was about 700 calories with only 15 grams of fat. Much healthier than your average pizza pie, but just as delicious!

~ "Do your practice and all is coming"~

Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois

Week 7

Week 7 has been a week of great improvement. Last week we we're falling all over the place doing the yoga Balance class, but this week we were able to hold some of the poses that we weren't able to before which definitely made us feel more confident. It's crazy how each week we can see so much improvement in ourselves in our classes and our daily lives. This week, I would like to focus in on the Flexibility class. Below is a video to get a feel of what the class is like:

This class pushed us into some deep stretches which we both really enjoyed. It definitely put our flexibility to the test and when we woke up the morning after class, we were extremely sore in our shoulders, groins and hamstrings. Below are some photos of the various stretches and poses we did in class:

This class has become one of our new favorites and we can't wait to see how much our flexibility increases throughout The Ultimate Yogi program. 

We feel our bodies improving every day and have even starting practicing new poses we would like to achieve on our own. I've been practicing forearm stands a lot and every day I notice myself getting closer, while Gio has been practicing some cool arm balances. Once we reach our goals, I will be sure to post a picture. In the meantime, we are now in the midst of Cycle Two and feeling better than ever!

~ "Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self." ~

The Bhagavad Gita

Week 6

The first week of cycle two has certainly been an adventure. We were able to try out some new classes which I discussed a few posts back that were very challenging but fun at the same time. I felt really strong going into this week and am loving the arm strength that I am gaining. Gio took the latter half of the week off because he got his wisdom teeth out, but is recovering very quickly. The one class that really stood out to us this week was Balance. It was definitely on another level from the previous classes we've been doing. As we challenged our balance, we were falling all over the place and laughing, but kept trying regardless of the amount of times we fell. It was our attempt at not letting our egos get in the way. Here's a peek into the class:

The way that Travis challenges our balance in this class helps develop a sound body, mind and spirit by working with both hemispheres of the brain. As he says, "Physical equilibrium leads to mental and emotional equanimity." We definitely underrated this class but are excited to conquer it throughout cycle two. Below are pictures of various poses we attempted in class:

This is Floating Pigeon Pose, a variation of a standing Pigeon Pose. It not only challenges your balance, but also lengthens the back, strengthens the shoulders, back and legs and opens the hips.

This is Crow Pose, also known as Bakasana. It definitely took us time to get here, but was pretty cool for our first attempt. I've been looking forward to learning arm balances, so doing this in class was really fun. This pose improves balance, strengthens the wrists, forearms, and abdomen, stretches the upper back and opens the groins.

This is a Warrior III Variation, also known as a Virabhadrasana III Variation. This pose challenges your balance, strengthens the entire leg, ankle and foot as well as the back and shoulders, provides an amazing shoulder stretch, lengthens and supports the back while also working the abdominals and improving posture.

This week has been new and exciting for both Gio and I, and we cannot wait to grow and conquer the challenging yoga classes throughout these next five weeks. We are taking on cycle two one day at a time, and are well on our way to becoming The Ultimate Yogi.

~"One becomes firmly established in practice only after attending to it for a long time, without interruption and with an attitude of devotion."~
Yoga Sutra

Week 5 - Part Two

The fifth and final week of the first cycle was really great. The schedule this week was slightly different from previous weeks. It was:

1. CrossTrain and HardCORE

2. Cardio

3. Strength and HardCORE

4. Mountain Pose Series

5. Gentle Yoga

6. Yin

7. Sun Salutations

The Gentle Yoga class was amazing. After being pretty sore from the first three days of the week, this slow yet constantly flowing class was exactly what Gio and I needed and has become our favorite class yet. We cant wait to add it to our routine for cycle two of The Ultimate Yogi. The class gave our muscles the time to repair and heal themselves while also helping us reduce our stress levels. We really enjoyed the slow pace of the class which helped introduce us to some new poses and motions. Throughout the class, the instructor kept us focused on alignment as well as our breathing techniques as we explored the variety of yoga poses we were experiencing. Here is clip on what this class was like:

Mid-week, I went to a park near my neighborhood, found a really peaceful and beautiful spot right next to a lake, and practiced some yoga moves in the sun. I usually do yoga in a dark room so this was a very different environment but it was really great. I had the best time and felt so calm and happy. Below are some pictures from that day:

Feeling the warmth of the sun and taking in the beauty around me made these Warrior poses truly special. In the first picture I am doing Warrior II, the second is Warrior III and the third is Reverse Warrior. I love doing these poses as a sequence because it helps me lengthen my spine, stretch my ribs, burn my quads, and challenge my balance and core. With this first cycle coming to an end, being at the park practicing poses on my own was a great way to celebrate my accomplishments. Speaking of accomplishments, since losing weight was one of my goals from the start, I'd like to share that I have lost a total of eight pounds throughout these first five weeks of the program. Here's a before and after picture to see my progress:

I am loving watching and feeling my body change. Everything is becoming tighter, my arms, core and legs are becoming stronger, my balance is greatly improved, and I am getting more and more flexible each day. Gio is loving the benefits he is gaining through this program as well and his new found flexibility is really helping improve his mixed martial arts performance. We have both acquired a new sense of calm which is making us much happier overall. With the first cycle of The Ultimate Yogi done and gone, we enter cycle two with high hopes and determination and are ready to take our yoga practice to the next level. I would like to leave off with this beautiful quote from Caroline Adams Miller, as we say goodbye to cycle one:

~"Your life is a sacred journey. It is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. 

You are on the path exactly where you are meant to be right now. And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing, of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love."~

Week 5 - Part One

This week, is the last and final week of the first cycle of The Ultimate Yogi! Gio and I cannot believe how fast time has gone by and how much this workout has changed us. We are eagerly awaiting cycle two. This week, Part One of Week Five, I am going to focus on how this workout has impacted us as well as get into what will be changing going into cycle two. Next week in my "Part Two" post, I will sum up our final week of the cycle, focus in on our favorite class of the week, and provide stats and pics on how our bodies have changed now that the first cycle is complete.

Gio and I have both noticed changes in ourselves from doing this workout. We are able to find our calm throughout the stress, and grab onto the light in the darkness. We even feel a closeness to each other from going through this together. After class, we often find ourselves playing around with our new strength and flexibility by trying out new poses that are way beyond our reach as of yet. To keep us inspired and motivated, I decided to make us a board of inspiration to hang in our yoga room to always remind is to keep pushing and digging deeper. Here's a peek at how it came out:

It really excites us that one day, we will accomplish some of these amazing yoga poses. But we know that before reaching the top of the mountain, we have to go through that uphill trek. Our next step on the way to becoming Ultimate Yogi's, is cycle two of the program. With this new cycle, comes some new classes which we are really looking forward to. The new class schedule will be as follows:

1. Balance and HardCORE

2. Strength

3. Flexibility and HardCORE

4. Gentle

5. Detox and HardCORE

6. Cardio

7. Mountain Pose Series

We are going to miss our CrossTrain, Yin, and Vitality classes but are excited to face Balance, Flexibility, and Gentle yoga to help bring us to the next level. This 108 day journey has been way more amazing than I could've ever imagined, and we both cannot wait to enter phase two of the program.

~ "All problems are illusions of the mind" ~

Eckhart Tolle

Week Four

This week we started off strong with yoga CrossTrain. I felt stronger and more flexible than before and was able to do all of the moves 100%. The next day, I woke up SO sore. I know being sore is a good thing but the next two days of yoga Cardio and Strength were very rough because of it. When it was finally Yin Yoga day, it was amazing. The stretch felt so good especially since I was very sore. Somehow, I managed to truck through it and am still pretty sore today. Gio stopped cutting weight for his fight because his opponent dropped out so we binged on some food that was definitely not part of our diet. As a result, I did not lose any weight this week but will be back on the diet starting tomorrow. I'm really loving doing yoga every day and am excited to finish the first of the three cycles of The Ultimate Yogi next week. The next cycle throws in some workouts we haven't done yet which we are really looking forward too.

I wanted to focus this week on yoga CrossTrain as it is one of the classes Gio and I are really growing to love. It is the perfect blend of balance, strength, cardio, stamina and flexibility which makes it really enjoyable. Here's a quick peak in on the class:

It's very fast paced but we do so many different flows to incorporate strength, balance, stamina, flexibility and cardio which makes the class go by really fast and leaves you feeling amazing afterwards. It takes elements from all of the different classes we do each week, and puts it all into this one workout. It's a great class to do at the beginning of every week to check in with your body and see how you've improved. Here are some of the moves we did in class:

This arm twist opens up the shoulders and back. To get an even deeper stretch, we did a flow by holding this arm twist while we brought our heads low to the floor and then all the way back up and leaned back which felt really amazing.

This is Warrior II pose, also known as Virabhadrasana II. Holding this pose increases stamina, stimulates abs, stretches and strengthens the shoulders, legs, ankles, groins, chest and lungs, and relieves backaches. 

This is Reverse Warrior pose, also known as Viparita Virabhadrasana. This pose stretches the obliques, groins, and hips, strengthens the quads, arms, and neck, and opens the chest and shoulders.

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Our favorite pose of the week is this Seated Forward Bend, also known as Paschimottanasana.

This pose feels so amazing, especially when held for 5 minutes. When we first started this program, we couldn't touch our toes at all, but from holding this pose for an extended period of time, we were quickly able to do so. This pose has so many benefits. It improves digestion, stretches the spine, shoulders, and hamstrings, calms the brain, helps relieve stress, soothes headaches, anxiety, and reduces fatigue, and stimulates the kidneys and liver.

~ Do your practice and all is coming ~

Week Three - Part Two

Week Three is now complete! Gio and I have started eating our egg whites with spinach, tomato, and cheese for breakfast and dinner because we are obsessed and still haven't gotten sick of it yet. For lunch, I've been subbing in these really delicious yogurt parfaits from Publix and three hours later I eat this great Power Crunch protein energy bar. I usually like to keep the protein bar in the freezer because it ends up tasting like a chocolate wafer bar which satisfies my chocolate fix:

Gio has been subbing in this really yummy Power Chicken Hummus Bowl from Panera for lunch and loves it:

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The yoga class that I want to discuss this week is Detox. This workout has really become one of our favorites. It's filled with a variety of spinal twists that feel AMAZING and really gets you sweating. Here's a small clip of The Ultimate Yogi Detox class with Travis Eliot:

I was excited this week to do this workout because with me having such a bad head cold all week, I figured it would help me sweat out some of this sickness. All of the deep twists throughout the class had us sweating like crazy, helped us ring out our toxins and flush our internal organs with freshly oxygenated blood. After the class was over, I felt like we had just gotten an adjustment at the chiropractor. It restored our spine's natural range of motion and stimulated circulation. It left us both feeling brand new on the inside as well as the outside. Here are some of the poses we did in class:

Favorite pose of the week:

This is move is called Plow Pose, also known as Halasana. This pose has so many benefits. Not only does it give you a great spine and shoulder stretch, it also massages the abdominal organs, improves digestion, calms the brain and nervous system, relieves stress and fatigue, flushes mucous from the lungs, and massages and stimulates the thyroid glands.
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Today I did my weekly weigh-in, and lost 3 more pounds. In just three weeks of The Ultimate Yogi as well as eating a healthier diet, I've lost a total of 8 pounds! Gio who started the program at 185 has been cutting weight for his MMA fight this coming weekend at 165. Today he weighed in at 175 pounds which is right where he needs to be at this point. We are both becoming more balanced, flexible and happier overall. It's safe to say, we are loving our first cycle of The Ultimate Yogi. I'll send you off with a before (alternate pose) and after picture of one of Gio's newest accomplishments, the Backbend Pose!

~ "The nature of yoga is to shine the light of awareness into the darkest corners of the body" ~ 

Jason Crandell

Week Three - Part One

This week was a rough one for me. On Monday, I woke up with a horrible head cold and cough but had to suck it up and head into work because it was the first day of my new promotion. I trucked through each day of work and still found the energy to do yoga once I got home. I hoped that sticking through the workouts would help me sweat out some of this sickness, but it is now the end of the week and I STILL have this head cold and cough. I have noticed that I've had a sense of calm throughout the week though when normally I would have very high anxiety. I really think this is one of the effects yoga is having on me and it is truly amazing. Gio is now one week away from his next MMA fight so he's been cutting weight, training three times a day and doing yoga with me at night. He's noticed the impact yoga is having on his flexibility because he can now throw a really great head-kick that he wasn't able to do before. We've both noticed this increase in flexibiliy as well as balance. During weeks one and two we were always falling all over the place and had a lot of trouble keeping our balance but now we are able to move through all of the sequences without falling nearly as much if not at all. It's really great because now we can flow through all of the yoga sequences swiftly which makes the workouts even more enjoyable.

This week, our favorite Ultimate Yogi workout was Detox. With me being so sick, and also  having some back tension, this class was literally my savior. All of the moves throughout the class are meant to twist your spine in every which direction while also causing you to sweat A LOT. The feeling after this class is indescribable, but tomorrow I will go more in-depth into the class, show some pictures of our favorite spinal twists, do my weekly weigh in to let you know how much weight I've lost, and let you know where Gio stands on his 20 pound weight cut for his fight next week. 

~ Namaste ~

Week One and Two

I am currently on my third week of the Ultimate Yogi program, so I decided to lump week's one and two together because they were very similar.

The day Gio and I started this program, we also started on a popular MMA fighter diet. Every morning we have delicious scrambled egg whites, while lunch and dinner both consist of the same ingredients, but we always switch up the way we prepare them.

                      

                   - 1/2 cup of egg whites                      - 4 ounces of chicken

                   - 1/2 of a tomato                               - 1/4 cup of shredded                                                                                                  mozzerella

                   - 1/4 of an onion                                - 2 handfuls of spinach

                   - 1 handful of spinach                       - 1/2 of a tomato

                   - 2 slices of turkey bacon                - 2 slices of dill pickle

                                                                                  - 1 apple

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Throughout this first 36 day cycle, I will be covering all of the following classes in detail by focusing on one for each blog post that I do. During this cycle, the workout schedule remains the same every week and all classes are over an hour:

1. CrossTrain and HardCORE
2. Cardio
3. Strength and HardCORE
4. Yin
5. Detox and HardCORE
6. Vitality
7. Mountain Pose Series

During these first two weeks, these classes unexpectedly kicked both of our butts and had us sweating like crazy which really gave us a reality check. Our balance was way off and our hip flexors were a lot tighter than we expected. There were many new poses that we were introduced to. Some I could do, some I couldn't. Some Gio could do, and some he couldn't. We were surprised to find that even some of the most basic poses were causing us some trouble. For example:

- Downward-Facing Dog, also known as Adho Mukha Svanasana, is a yoga pose where a lot is happening at once. Your arms are rotating, you're supporting and releasing your neck, shifting your weight back. Essentially, you are creating strength, flexibility, extension and stability all at the same time. This pose is sort of like the home base of all of these classes. It is where you check in with your body before and after each class, and is also incorporated into many sequences throughout the classes. Both of us could not believe how difficult it was to hold such a basic position for more than a minute.

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Here are some challenging yoga poses that we excelled and/or struggled with over the past two weeks:

- This is the Reclining Half Hero Pose, also known as Ardha Supta Virasana. This is a stretch that I love and was able to do right off the bat. You can see how I am able to lay my back completely on the floor while Gio is still a few inches off of the ground.  Gio had a more difficult time with it and realized just how tight his quads actually are.

- Here is a Side Plank Pose, also known as Vasisthasana, which is all about the obliques and core. This is a pose that Gio was able to do right away, but struggled somewhat with keeping his arms in line and straight. For me, I was able to keep my arms straight and in line, but holding myself up in this pose was extremely difficult. I had to stick to the alternative shown above by putting my knee down on the mat until build enough strength to do the pose correctly.

- The last comparison I will make is of the Backbend Pose, also known as Urdhva Dhanurasana. This pose is something I had no idea I could do. I just went for it and actually did it, even though I couldn't hold it for very long. This pose stretches the chest, lungs, and spine, strengthens the arms, and stimulates the thyroid gland. Gio could not yet get up there and opted for an alternative pose.


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Our Favorites

After getting through all of the classes twice in the past two weeks, we both agree that our favorite class by far is Yin yoga. Most of the other classes are much more intense so by the time we reached this class, it gave us the perfect, calm stretch for our recovering, sore and achey muscles. Here is a video which allows you to peak into what the Yin yoga class is like:

Instructor Travis Eliot likes to refer to this class as the fountain of youth. It targets the joints, ligaments, and connective tissues of the body. Distributed amongst the connective tissue of the body is hyaluronan. Increased hyularonan is scientifically proven to make a person more supple while also subjecting that person to less inflammation. This class offers the perfect complement to all of the physically challenging yoga classes we have been practicing all week, but still pushes you to your limits by holding long, deep, and sustained yoga poses anywhere from 3 - 6 minutes. As Travis says, "The longer you hold, the deeper you heal, and the better you're going to feel."


Our favorite yoga pose that we have experienced throughout these first two weeks is this amazing spinal twist:

- This yoga pose is called a Reclined Spinal Twist, also known as Supta Matsyendrasana. We do this stretch at the end of every class. Not only does this pose provide an incredible stretch, but it also cracks our spines which leaves us feeling great after class. There are endless benefits of this pose. It stretches your shoulders, spine, back muscles, and glutes, massages the back, hips, and abdominal organs, strengthens abs, tones the waistline, helps remove toxins and hydrate spinal disks, lengthens, relaxes, and realigns the spine, opens the hips and chest, relieves and strengthens the lower back, improves digestion and blood circulation, and much more. Doing this incredible pose at the end of a yoga class even helps to restore equilibrium in the nervous system.


All in all, these two weeks were filled with a lot of sweat, patience and dedication from the both of us. By doing The Ultimate Yogi workout and sticking as near to my diet as possible, I am proud to say I have lost some weight. After week one, I had lost 3 pounds and upon completion of week two, I had lost 2 more pounds totaling a weight loss of 5 pounds! We are just at the beginning of our journey, but we can't wait to reap all of the benefits that this program is providing for us. 

~ Who needs the gym when I have my body and my yoga mat? ~