Exercise: 5 miles alone! 8:50 avg pace and my 5 mile pr! Woot woot. Yesterday was a great elliptical, strength, yoga combo.
Yoga has become an integral component of my workouts as of late. I've been having some lower back pain so I'm trying to stay away from my normal crunches and extensions and focusing on more core stabilizing moves and poses. I stopped doing yoga in favor of more intense weight workouts and I've really missed it. Thankfully, I've already noticed my back feeling better. Score for yoga.
When practicing yoga in a studio the session usually ends with a few minutes of meditation which is not something I normally work into my practice. But I've decided to do it for 5 minutes following my workout the past few days and I've really enjoyed it. I haven't found enlightenment after 2 days but I have found that I really enjoy a few minutes of absolute peace and quiet.
Having 5 minutes of peace and quiet has been great this past weekend because with the boys being sick all week and then getting sick myself, I feel like I've been much busier. I make all the meals, clean, and then run errands throughout the day and make it to the events and appointments I can. After Little Man is in bed I put in the last loads of laundry, fold what's in the dryer, do moms' club stuff and then it's 9:50. Yay, 10 minutes of relaxation before it's time to prepare for bed. But don't take that as a complaint, it's just been busy and it's been amazing to have a 5 minute respite midday to rest and recharge. For me, the 5 minutes of meditation is akin to a nap. I highly recommend it for new moms and moms of young children.
The meditation I do is an easy one I learned about 8 years ago when I was living in the OC. My friend and I would drive up to LA to take these awesome and challenging meditation classes in Brentwood, not far from UCLA. Challenging and meditation seem to be somewhat polar but going from never meditating to 90 minutes of it can be difficult, especially on your rear. So they teach this technique prior to the class so if you ever need to get centered during that 90 minutes, you have a means of doing so. These days I often go through it when I have a hard time getting to sleep. It usually works like a charm.
Chakra Meditation- Relaxing the Chakras
1. root/ base of spine
2. navel
3. solar plexus/ chest
4. heart
5. throat
6. third eye/ brow
7. crown/ top of the head
I do this in corpse pose but you can also do it in seated lotus pose or some variation of it.
1. relax each body part starting at the toes and ending at the crown; drop your shoulders, relax your face and brow, breathe from your diaphragm.
2. starting at the crown imagine warmth drawing through your body going through and warming each chakra, stopping at the base of your spine. Feel the energy and warmth there and take 5 deep breaths
3. move the light and warmth up to your navel, feel the energy and take five breaths.
4. continue through the remaining chakras ending with the crown, take 5 breaths and then let the warmth spill over the rest of your body.
I set a timer for 5 minutes and do it until my time is up. Yesterday I actually set my timer for another 2 minutes because it felt so amazing. I'm liking this meditation stuff ;)
Hope you guys enjoy this!
And here's a photo of Little Man with his new obsession courtesy of Daddy. He woke up this morning and from the monitor I heard a rustling of sheets and then " Tane, tane!" (Train, train).
Music Man couldn't resist getting this set yesterday and Little Man is absolutely smitten.
Yoga has become an integral component of my workouts as of late. I've been having some lower back pain so I'm trying to stay away from my normal crunches and extensions and focusing on more core stabilizing moves and poses. I stopped doing yoga in favor of more intense weight workouts and I've really missed it. Thankfully, I've already noticed my back feeling better. Score for yoga.
When practicing yoga in a studio the session usually ends with a few minutes of meditation which is not something I normally work into my practice. But I've decided to do it for 5 minutes following my workout the past few days and I've really enjoyed it. I haven't found enlightenment after 2 days but I have found that I really enjoy a few minutes of absolute peace and quiet.
Having 5 minutes of peace and quiet has been great this past weekend because with the boys being sick all week and then getting sick myself, I feel like I've been much busier. I make all the meals, clean, and then run errands throughout the day and make it to the events and appointments I can. After Little Man is in bed I put in the last loads of laundry, fold what's in the dryer, do moms' club stuff and then it's 9:50. Yay, 10 minutes of relaxation before it's time to prepare for bed. But don't take that as a complaint, it's just been busy and it's been amazing to have a 5 minute respite midday to rest and recharge. For me, the 5 minutes of meditation is akin to a nap. I highly recommend it for new moms and moms of young children.
The meditation I do is an easy one I learned about 8 years ago when I was living in the OC. My friend and I would drive up to LA to take these awesome and challenging meditation classes in Brentwood, not far from UCLA. Challenging and meditation seem to be somewhat polar but going from never meditating to 90 minutes of it can be difficult, especially on your rear. So they teach this technique prior to the class so if you ever need to get centered during that 90 minutes, you have a means of doing so. These days I often go through it when I have a hard time getting to sleep. It usually works like a charm.
Chakra Meditation- Relaxing the Chakras
1. root/ base of spine
2. navel
3. solar plexus/ chest
4. heart
5. throat
6. third eye/ brow
7. crown/ top of the head
I do this in corpse pose but you can also do it in seated lotus pose or some variation of it.
1. relax each body part starting at the toes and ending at the crown; drop your shoulders, relax your face and brow, breathe from your diaphragm.
2. starting at the crown imagine warmth drawing through your body going through and warming each chakra, stopping at the base of your spine. Feel the energy and warmth there and take 5 deep breaths
3. move the light and warmth up to your navel, feel the energy and take five breaths.
4. continue through the remaining chakras ending with the crown, take 5 breaths and then let the warmth spill over the rest of your body.
I set a timer for 5 minutes and do it until my time is up. Yesterday I actually set my timer for another 2 minutes because it felt so amazing. I'm liking this meditation stuff ;)
Hope you guys enjoy this!
And here's a photo of Little Man with his new obsession courtesy of Daddy. He woke up this morning and from the monitor I heard a rustling of sheets and then " Tane, tane!" (Train, train).
Music Man couldn't resist getting this set yesterday and Little Man is absolutely smitten.
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