Spotted: Holiday Edition
I know I have been a little bit absent lately but I’ve been working hard on launching Running With Tongs and 12 Days of Giveaways both of which launch on December 1st. So until then head over to my recent guest posts:
Author: Lindsay Ingalls
{Guest Post} Fitness Friday: 30 Days of Yoga
Feeling the Benefits of a Daily Yoga Practice
Hi everyone, I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving! I’m Erin, the blogger over at Creative Soul in Motion! I am so excited to be guest posting for Cook. Vegan. Lover. and chatting with all of you about my wonderful experience with the 30 Days of Yoga Challenge.
I started practicing yoga a few years ago. At the time I was drowning in work and so stressed I was having problems sleeping and focusing. After months of literally holding my breath I started looking for ways to open up and breathe deeper. That’s when I found yoga.
Since then yoga has become part of my life, part of my entire being.
Even though I’ve been practicing for a few years now I have never had a daily practice. It’s always been a 3 – 4 day a week routine that came and went depending on my schedule and my mood that day. Having a bad day? Do yoga! Have time to make it to class? Great. But it’s never been something I’ve dedicated time to every single day. Until Lindsay posted the 30 Day Yoga Challenge.
At first when I read about the challenge I thought, “Oh, I don’t need to do that. I practice yoga already.” A few days later though the idea of signing up for the challenge called to me and I honestly figured there was no harm. I mean, I already signed up for the National Novel Writing Month for November which means I need to write 50,000 words in 30 days so why not balance it out by promising myself to dedicate 10 minutes to yoga everyday?
It seemed like a good plan: 2,000 words a day + 10 mins of yoga = a happy stress-free Erin!
For the last 24 days I have been writing like a crazy woman but finding peace and relaxation through my 10 minute yoga practice. Honestly, 10 minutes is the perfect amount of yoga for me – it’s enough time to get through a few sun salutations, focus on my breath and feel the stress and frustrations melt away.
Dedicating myself to at least 10 minutes of yoga everyday has…
Helped me find a new source of strength within myself
Given me the ability to slow down and focus on my breath
Helped me improve many of my poses and learn some new ones
Shown me how a daily practice can help me feel more calm throughout the day
Improved my general mood and attitude throughout the whole day
Led me to discover a new way of thinking about my day and schedule
Reminds me that I don’t have to rush around and life is better when you slow down
Now it’s Day 25 and I have to say that I’m SO happy I signed up for the challenge. It’s helped me adopt a daily yoga practice that makes my day so much better. I breathe easier and deeper, feel happier and calmer and live a more mindful life. And all it takes is 10 minutes (but more can be better).
So thank you Lindsay for providing me with the inspiration I needed to adopt a daily yoga practice!
And if you’d like to read more about my yoga practice and attempts at self-improvement come on over to my blog Creative Soul in Motion and say hello!
Please Excuse My Absence
As you read last week there are some big changes coming to CVL so over the next few days I am focusing all of my time on making sure the transition goes smoothly and we will be on track for a December 1st launch. In addition to the big changes at CVL don’t forget 12 Days of Giveaways starts on December 1st as well!
12 Days of Giveaways
The holidays are just around the corner and that means spending time with friends, family and eating way too much! This is my third annual 12 Days of Giveaways and this year I will be starting December 1st. A number of great companies that I love have generously decided to participate in spreading the holiday cheer and I will also be providing a few of the giveaway items myself. There will be a giveaway everyday for 12 day, so keep your eyes peeled for great giveaways you could win this holiday season.
Once a giveaway is posted you will have around 24 hours to enter. All winners will be chosen using the Random Integer Generator. Make sure to check back frequently for new giveaways!
Happy Holidays!
30 Days of Yoga Guest Post
Stress Less in Triangle
by Laura Kallen
www.laurakallen.com
It’s no secret that yoga is good for you for so many reasons. Research has shown that yoga can help manage stress, tension, anxiety, blood pressure, back pain, depression and fatigue. A consistent yoga practice can help to support the immune system and improve circulation, not to mention improving muscle tone, flexibility, balance and strength. And then there’s the good stuff– the sense of well being and chilled out vibe we create for ourselves.
Trikonasana or Triangle pose is a posture when expressed thoughtfully and fully will stretch and open the hips, groin, hamstrings, calves, shoulders, chest and spine while strengthening the obliques, waist, thighs, knees and ankles. Triangle can reduce stress, anxiety, improve digestion and can alleviate back, neck and sciatica pain.
Here’s how to align yourself properly:
Start with your heels in alignment and step your left foot back roughly 3 feet, turning it out slightly. Feet should be close enough together to be able to straighten both legs. Raise your arms parallel to the floor and lengthen them out to the sides at shoulder height, actively reaching hands away from one another. Elongate up from the base of the spine through the crown of your head. Firm up the thighs. Exhaling, extend your torso forward over the right leg, hinging from the hip. Ground this movement by strengthening the back leg and pressing your heel into the floor. Bending from the hip joint bringing the right hand inside the right leg. Your right hand can either be on the floor or resting on the shin. Lengthen the tailbone toward the back heel, draw the shoulders away from the ears and look up, ahead or down, whatever feels best on your the neck at the time.
Try to stay in triangle for 30 seconds to 1 minute, being observant of your mind, body and breath. Do your best to stay in the moment and keep your mind in the present. Inhale to come up, firmly pressing the back heel into the floor and reaching the left arm toward the ceiling. Reverse the feet and repeat for the same length of time on the other side.
BIO
Laura Kallen has completed a nationally recognized 200-hour registered yoga teacher training and to date has taught over 3,000 hours of yoga. Through her yoga practice, Laura became even more in tune with her body and noticed how her nutrition played an integral role in her energy level, her mood, happiness and her overall sense of balance and well-being. She is a certified health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and helps provide individuals with support and the tools they need to help create more life balance, better health and a higher level of self-care.
As a yoga instructor and health counselor, Laura’s mission is to empower her clients to achieve their health and life goals so that they can reach their optimum potential and be their best selves.
Laura Kallen is the founder of Creative Wellness Products and her innovative DVD Balanced Yoga with Laura Kallen was released in 2009 to rave reviews. She offers weekly classes in the New York Metropolitan area. For more information or to contact please go to www.laurakallen.com
Fitness Friday: Journey to Ironman
Hi everyone! I’m Heather and I blog about food & fitness at Better With Veggies. When Lindsay asked for guest posts about fitness a few weeks ago, I jumped at the chance to share my journey to Ironman.
If you’re not familiar with Ironman, it’s a long-distance triathlon consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. Now before you say you could never do that, let me assure you that you could! It’s all about slowly working your way up to the distance. I firmly believe that anyone can do an Ironman, if they have the patience, dedication, and the will to train for it.
So how did I get here? It all started about a year and a half after college, after trying and failing to motivate myself to go to the gym regularly. I needed a goal – in my case a 5K – to keep me motivated. After 12 weeks of training, I completed my first 5K. Next, I slowly increased my running distances to a 10K, then a 1/2 marathon, then a marathon. I wasn’t fast, but races kept me moving and motivated! I also found that as I ran more, I slowly got a little faster.
After a few more marathons, I gave triathlons a try for more variety in my training. Over the course of 5 years, I tackled the Sprint, Olympic and Half Ironman distances – moving up slowly over time. I registered for Ironman Austria the night after watching my husband complete Ironman Germany, his first Ironman distance race.
Training for an Ironman is a big time commitment, but my goal was to have fun during training. I did a lot of my training with my husband and friends, joined a masters swimming group, and got up early for a lot of workouts! I’m not a morning person, but getting a workout out of the way before starting your day leaves time for a second workout or a little fun!
Race day was one of the most amazing experiences. I picked a scenic location to race my first Ironman – Klagenfurt, Austria. If you’re going to race for 10-17 hours, I think it should be in a beautiful place! My mental strategy for the race can be applied to any long distance event. I broke the day down into smaller sections, refusing to think too far ahead:
- First, I went for a “little” swim. I knew I would be in the water for a while, so I just enjoyed the scenery with each breath. I knew the distances between each turn buoy and focused on swimming to the next one.
- Next up, time for a bike ride. I broke each loop (there were two) into three sections based on the 3 climbs I had to tackle. I focused on making it up each climb and celebrated my progress. If I started to think ahead, I stopped and redirected my thoughts to something else. No thoughts of running allowed!
- Finally, it’s time to run. I didn’t think of running a marathon, focused on one mile at a time. A trick I use on the run is to cheer on everyone around me, which shifts the focus off me and onto other people. For this race, I also tried to figure out what country everyone was from and how to cheer them on in their language. 🙂
Running down the finisher’s shoot is an incredible feeling! Can you see all the people in the picture below – all cheering for me like I’m a rockstar?!
Right in front of me at the finish line was a physically challenged athlete who did the entire race without his legs. He completed the swim with no kicking, hand cycled a challenging bike course, and then powered through the run course in a wheelchair. Simply amazing! As I said at the beginning – anyone can do an Ironman! You just need patience, dedication, and the will to train.
- Patience: Don’t sign up for an Ironman tomorrow, if you haven’t already completed a half ironman. It can be done, but you’ll be so much happier if you have patience and work up to the distance over time.
- Dedication: There is a lot of training, so you need to be dedicated and stick to your training schedule. You put in the time during training, so race day can be fun.
- Will: You have to want it. You won’t have the drive or motivation to keep going when things get tough if you don’t want it. Until you really want it for you, it’s not time to register.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed my story! If you are interested in the much longer version, check out my Couch to Ironman series. I hope you’ll dream big and go after your goals!
Dinner Was A Deal, But What An Expensive Nap
Yesterday afternoon the Hubz declared that last night would be date night, and who am I to pass up on date night. We decided to do dinner and a movie since we have been talking about going to the movies for weeks now and there was finally something that we both wanted to see.
How could I pass up a date with this hunk?
Since we are trying to be more frugal with our dining out we decided to use one of our Living Social deals to Asiana Noodle Shop, a favorite spot of ours where I usually get a giant bowl of noodle and vegetable soup that I could fit my whole head in. Last night neither of us were in the mood for noodles so we flipped to the back of their extensive menu and decided to both get sushi.
Neil got the
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Vegan Chirashi
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Shitake Mushroom, Sweet potato, Seaweed, Oshinko, Kampyo, Tofu, Yamagobo, Asparagus ,Wakame, Spinach, Avocado, Cucumber and Tofu skin
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It was so delicious and came with a bowl of miso soup that he kindly shared with me.
I ordered the Union Maki which was so delicious and MASSIVE but don’t worry I had no trouble eating the whole thing, I even ate the salad on the side. I was hoping that Asiana had a description of the roll on their online menu but they don’t seem to but basically it was filled with asparagus, fried tofu, cucumber and sesame peanut sauce rolled and topped with tofu skin and avocado- DELICIOUS!
After dinner we walked around, popped in Stone Soup for a vegan macaroon and then we were off to the movies to see Margin Call.
So this is when I proceeded to have the most expensive nap of my life. The movie cost $9.25 (remember the good ol’days when movies were like $5?) well I made it about half way through and I just couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. The movie wasn’t bad or boring so much as just really slow and not that exciting. I decided it just wasn’t a theater movie for me. I would have done so much better watching it at home while multitasking. The Hubz on the other hand really enjoyed the movie, he agreed that at times it was really slow moving but he really enjoyed all the character development.
Have you ever fallen asleep at the movies?
Half Way: 30 Days of Yoga
This month over 20 people have committed to participating in my 30 Days of Yoga Challenge and we have just passed the half way point. I hope that everyone is feeling more relaxed and limber. This is a big challenge for anyone to take on because 30 days of yoga even at 15-20 minutes per day is no small feat; it takes time dedication and commitment to your practice. Each day I practice I feel more calm, relaxed and centered. I find that it has improved my focus and attention on my work and keeps me in a much more calm and happy place.
Today I wanted to feature a few participants who have written some great pieces on their blog about their experiences so far:
SEO Runner- Changes Through Yoga
Better with Veggies- Yoga in My Pagamas
Have you been practicing yoga everyday this month? If yes send me your photos and/or stories and I’ll feature you next week (lindsay@runningwithtongs.com)
