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