October Challenge | Yoga & Meditation

October 2, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

My relationship with yoga and meditation is one that goes in waves. While I love both I often find a pile of excuses as to why I can’t make time to practice either. Excuses include:

I’m too tired.

I don’t have childcare and my kids are too wild to do it at home.

I have to work.

I can’t afford ($$) going to a studio.

I don’t have time.

The reality is everything in life is a choice and I am simply choosing not to practice. That being said I have made a choice to change my reality. I know that practicing yoga and meditation will….

… provide me with more energy throughout the day.

… allow me to be more mindful when I am with my crazy kids.

… help me to be more focused during my work time.

… make me healthier and happier because I am investing in my health.

… remind me that there is always time for myself.

Who else could use a little shift in their reality? How many of these excuses have you used?

So this month I am challenging myself to return to yoga and meditation for my health, my sense of self and my wellbeing. My goal being that I come out feeling more calm, peaceful, self aware and ideally more flexible.

Plans for the challenge:

Unlike previous yoga challenges that I have done this one isn’t about doing yoga everyday, however daily mediation is a significant part of the challenge.

Attend one yoga class per week. Before you protest this let’s all be honest with ourselves we get way more out of a yoga practice when it is done in a community setting. You do have the time and you can afford to do it. If you don’t have studio you love plan to try a few different ones out. If you want to save money look for free classes (often athletic apparel stores hold free classes) or sliding scale/donation classes.
Practice yoga at home for 15-30 (ore more) minutes 1-3x week. You can opt to take your practice to the studio if you’d like but for flexibility sake you are welcome to practice at home. You can follow a video or just simply do you own thing.
Meditate EVERYDAY. Yes I said it EVERYDAY. Now take a deep breath I’m not talking sitting for hours meditating. Start with 3-5 minutes and increase a minute or two until you get to 20 minutes (or more). You can use apps, practice repeating a mantra to yourself or simply sit and focus on your breath.

That is it.

So who is ready to commit with me?

Why I’m Quitting The Gym [and joining ClassPass]

May 11, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls 4 Comments

In January I joined the gym at Neil’s work. While not the most convenient gym for me to go to the facilities are top of the line and the cost for me to join was less than my monthly coffee habit. So I joined and I have been fairly dedicated to making it to the gym at least twice per week while supplementing with at home workouts.

The thing is I am only able to go gym when Neil gets out of work or on the weekends. For months we have been making it work but I’m going to be honest it’s not without it’s struggles. My gym time is right when I would normally be preparing our dinner so by the time I am done at the gym it is dinner time for our early birds. This means I either have to prepare a meal that can easily be eaten at the gym or we end up going out to dinner.

Sleep has also become a bit of an issue. Edith who is nearly four only naps [maybe] once per week and not for a lack of tiredness but for pure strong will that she doesn’t want to nap. That being saidcome 4pm I usually find her asleep in carseat on our way to the gym or both littles fall asleep on the way home from the gym which means bedtime is a struggle. Late bedtime means that often Neil and I have little time for each other and little time to work at night.

This weekend I was finally at my breaking point because we have been so behind on dishes, our organizing projects and oh the never ending laundry. To top things off because it’s a work gym most of the workout classes are during the day or just at a time that doesn’t work with our schedule so I haven’t been able to take advantage of them.

Since workout classes were a ‘no go’ for me I bought a personal training package assuming that I would be able to find a trainer that worked for my availability and not one was available. So since I usually just spend my time doing cardio while catching up on Pretty Little Liars I figured it was time to take the summer off from my gym membership. I can spend my time outside on walks and hikes with my family this summer and who knows maybe I’ll actually take up running again.

That all being said the decision to quit the gym was one that I was very conflicted about because I have fallen in love with routine and making that time for me. Unfortunately I just hate everything that comes along with it.

I thought about joining a gym closer to our house but it would still be a lot of the similar issues that I had with the work gym. I felt a bit at a loss but then I thought about ClassPass*. I had given it a try last May and while I loved the classes and the concept where we were living at the time just wasn’t ideal for me to keep with the pass after my trial month, but right now it seems perfect so I signed up. I have decided to go with the 5 classes for $45 option so I can see how much I will really use it. If I find that I am using it enough to get the the most out of the unlimited package I will bump it up.

With ClassPass* I can go to barre3, The Bar Method, a ton of yoga studios that I have had my eye on and a meditation studio that I am so excited to try. So my new workout plans include regular barre3 online at home, hikes and walks with my family [maybe some running?] and at least one workout class per week. It sounds pretty perfect, at least to me.

Where do you do most of your workout classes (home, classes, gym, etc)? Have you tried ClassPass*? If you are local to Portland or are traveling through Portland and want to attend a fitness or meditation class together let me know! I love to go to classes with others – especially new-to-me classes!

*Affiliate Link.

Fitness Friday | Grokker

October 10, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Grokker.

So it’s no secret that I am really making an effort to get back to regular workouts. One thing that I am finding however is that getting out of the house to workout is a bit of a challenge to coordinate with two kids. That being said I have been trying to find ways to fit in a workout at home, even if that workout is only 20 minutes long. I mean a short workout is better than no workout, am I right?

Well that’s when the new health and wellness site, Grokker, comes into play. I tell you I have been hearing about this site for a few months now because Neil can’t stop talking about it. He asks me weekly if I have tried it out yet and every time my answer is not yet, until now that is.

When the opportunity to work with FitFluential and Grokker came my way I decided that this was the perfect time to finally check out what all the hype was about. To top it off Grokker is also hosting the October Fitfluential 4 Weeks to Wellness Challenge on their site so it provided me with even more incentive to get working out and participate.

The 4 Weeks to Wellness Challenge provides you with weekly workouts and healthy recipes to try. The one thing I appreciate is that they offer alternatives for the day as well because sometimes I just don’t want to yoga and would rather do a HIIT workout. Also to be honest the recipes videos just aren’t my thing so I’d rather sub a quick workout for one of the recipes and focus on my own recipes. Hey, I’m not saying the recipe videos aren’t well done, they just aren’t for me.

So far I have done the:

Yoga for Beginners – Sun Salutations (18 min)

Metabolic Meltdown (23:02)

and

Yoga for Kids: Beach Fun (18:53)

Edith has become so interested in yoga and has to get out her go-ga mat almost everyday. She has a toddler yoga book that goes through a variety of poses that she follows along with so I figured that she would love to do go-ga with mama (or dada). She went nuts for this video and I can see us doing this a few times per week.

While I might be short on time to go out to the gym or to a yoga class I can always find 20 or so minutes in the day to do a workout video even if that means doing yoga for kids with Edith. I currently am using the 14 day free trial of Grokker but I plan to buy a subscription after this time because I really do enjoy using it and find it helpful for me to keep up on my workouts. I have been slipping in a quick workout during naptimes or right after Edith goes down for bed. I need to get my butt up and out of bed in the morning and work on fitting in my workout then but for now this works. I like not having to fumble with a DVD I can just turn my computer on (I need to get this linked up to my ChromeCast which would make it even easier) and choose which workout I want to do. Easy peasy.

Have you tried Grokker? What to do you think?

For those of you who are still wondering what exactly Grokker is here is a little more info:

What is Grokker?

Grokker is the community driven content network offering high quality, expert-led
videos in three key wellness areas: yoga, fitness and cooking. Grokker makes it
easy and enjoyable for enthusiasts to discover valuable content and seamlessly
organize and share choice topics, experts and opinions with a larger like- minded
community.

How do they choose content?

Grokker offerings must pass strict editorial, quality, and taste standards, with
category managers actively curating a selection of the best tutorials on each
topic available from other Web sources. All content available on Grokker has
been viewed and vetted, as well as categorized and tagged by its editors.

I haven’t tried them yet but Grokker also offers group classes if you are the type of person who really thrives on a community centered workout this might be something for you:

What are Grokker Group Classes?
Grokker group classes are a new feature for the network, which promotes
community-driven wellness through a portfolio of high-quality, in-house produced
fitness, yoga and cooking videos. Grokker group classes allow fitness
enthusiasts to engage with each other and the trainers themselves via online
chat, bringing the group fitness experience right to the users’ living rooms.

The Group Class Experience
Group classes offer Grokker members a way to benefit from the social and
accountability elements of attending a live class, without any of the downsides of
commuting to a gym or studio. At the appointed time, Grokker members join the
class from the Grokker homepage. Upon entry, they are announced in the chat
window and can join in the pre-class chat with other Members. The video class
begins playing precisely at the stated time and after class is complete, members
may continue their chat discussion with fellow class-goers.

Guest Post: Yoga in the Office

July 19, 2012 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Yoga In the Office

This is a guest post from Erin at Creative Soul in Motion. Erin is a yoga-loving, whole-food eating Warrior Goddess empowering people of all ages to find growth + happiness through active living.

For most of us, our jobs require us to sit in front of a computer typing away all day. There’s no movement, no spontaneity, no openness in our work days and instead our bodies are wound up and stressed out.

Every email can make your shoulders scrunch up just a bit more

Every phone call can cause jaw muscles to tighten

Every request makes your breath shallow and fast

For many, work causes stress not only to the mind but to the body and the spirit, which is one reason why taking your yoga practice off of the mat and to your desk chair can be so rewarding and uplifting.

The foundation of yoga – connecting breath and movement – can help you de-stress, unwind and open up even during the most stressful days.

So here are 7 simple yoga moves that you can do at the office, next to your desk and without much fanfare. Move through this at your own pace. These poses can help you wake up your body, wring out tension, bring fresh oxygen into your body and organs, alleviate tightness and generate new energy!

Mountain Pose – Reconnects you to your breath and realigns your body and posture

This will help you line up your body from your toes to your head. First, step away from your desk and ground your feet into the floor creating a connection between you and the Earth. Inhale your shoulders up and back and roll your neck. Take a deep breath as you let your shoulders slide down your back and your hands gently shake out next to your sides. Take 3 more deep breaths.

Eagle Arms – Helps dissolve tension in your neck, shoulders and upper back area

Inhale your arms out to the side palms up, exhale and bring your right arm up top crossing your elbows. Inhale and bring the backs of the arms together bringing your arms up and shoulders down. Breathe into your upper back and exhale your arms back to your sides. Repeat with your left arm on the top.

Standing Thigh Stretch – Opens your hips and leg muscles which get tight from sitting all day

Hold the desk in front of you with your left hand and press your feet into the floor. Lift your right foot and hold your right foot while pulling your abdomen in. Inhale and gently guide your right heel and your right knee towards the floor. Try to keep your knees close together.

To take this a bit farther float your left hand up towards the sky and stretch your fingers towards the sun.

Forward Bend – Releases the spine and allows new energy move throughout your back and your hamstrings to lengthen

Ground your feet firmly into the floor, take a deep breath in and let your arms float above you. Bring your hands together and allow yourself to fold over at your hips slowly moving your hands down your body and onto the floor in front of you. Inhale and lengthen your body to stretch out your spine and then fold forward. Just let go of everything and breathe deeply.

If you can’t touch the floor simply let your hands fall towards the floor and maybe hold opposite elbows and sway a bit.

Sitting Cat and Cow Pose – Opens your shoulders, chest and back and can cleanse your body and your mind

Sit towards the front of your chair with your feet firmly planted on the ground and your knees at a 90 degree angle. Have your spine long and your shoulders soft. Inhale as you puff your chest out and roll your shoulders down and away from your ears. Exhale pull your stomach in and let your shoulders roll forward and your head drop down. Repeat at least 5 times moving slowly with your breath.

This short and simple series re-connects you with your breath, your core and your body. It helps awaken your senses, open your mind and lets your stress just melt away. It brings you back to the present and renews your energy and focus.

Try doing this everyday around 2 PM and I bet you’ll notice your days don’t feel as frantic and overwhelming. Just a few minutes of yoga is all it takes to connect and find clarity.

Namaste.

You can read more about Erin’s journey towards balance, joy and connection at Creative Soul in Motion.

Yoga For Beginngers: DVD Edition

May 23, 2012 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Getting Our Yoga on At Wanderlust Vermont

When I first started practicing yoga I did almost all of my practices at home through the guidance of a variety of yoga DVD’s. As I became more confident I finally signed up for a few different types of yoga for beginners series to allow me to try yoga in a real studio and with a real teacher, this is when my love for yoga really started to develop. There really is nothing that compares to practicing at a studio with others and a live teacher but sometimes there are just things that get in the way (lack of studios, cost, time, etc.) that result in home practice being the best (or only) option. Luckily, there are a number of really great DVD’s out there for beginners and beyond.

My personal recommendations:

Rodney Yee’s Abs Yoga for Beginners: If you haven’t picked up on the trend already- I LOVE Rodney Yee. I have around six (maybe more) of his yoga DVD’s and there isn’t one that I don’t like. This has really become one of my favorites and I have missed being able to do it since I became pregnant. I think this is a great beginners workout for the abs, however if you are a little more advanced I would direct you to his Core Cross Train yoga workout instead. This is a great and slightly challenging abs workout that is perfect for beginners.

Rodney Yee’s A.M. P.M. Yoga: This is one my absolute favorite yoga DVD’s and I can’t wait to get back to doing it regularly. The A.M. Yoga with Rodney Yee is just what I need to jump start my day and is wonderful for those who are new to yoga, are looking for a short yoga session to start their day or those who are looking for a relaxed practice. To be honest I HATE the P.M. portion of the DVD that is with Patricia Walden, just a personal annoyance with her practice and her all white spandex body suit. That being said it I would recommend this even if all you use it for is the A.M. Yoga portion.

A.M. Yoga For Your Week: Another favorite DVD of mine is this A.M. Yoga for Your Week with Rodney Yee. It is very different from the first a.m. yoga one that I mentioned above. There are five 20-minute workouts that each focus on different types of poses including Standing Poses, Twists, Backbends, Forward Bends and Hip Openers. It is great for both beginners and intermediates. Although it is called “A.M. Yoga” I love to do this DVD at any time of the day. I really like to do the hip openers after a run, it gives me a great stretch.

Ashtanga Yoga Beginners Practice: I am not a lover of ashtanga yoga but I did find that this was a great introduction to the practice. I honestly don’t use this DVD any longer but I felt that it should be included in this list because even though I personally am not a fan of Ashtanga yoga, I did find that this was a really great beginners introduction to it. I used this DVD when Neil and I took a six-week beginners Ashtanga series a few years ago and it is right on track with what we learned. I have to say that the Nicki Doane has a bit of a monotone voice which can make it a little challenging to listen to but once you get over that it’s a good DVD.

What are you favorite yoga for beginners DVD’s?

Half Way: 30 Days of Yoga

November 16, 2011 by Lindsay Ingalls 1 Comment

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)

Lazy-Active Weekend

November 7, 2011 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

This weekend was one of those weekends where I just didn’t want to do anything but relax on the couch. Unfortunately I have responsibilities and a husband who gets stir crazy if he stays home for too long so only about 60% of my time was spent lounging.

On Saturday morning I made my first attempt at organizing our office/spare room which used to be my office/elliptical room. Now that we have (finally) gotten rid of the non-functioning elliptical we have tons of space to organize the office and make it into the perfect space for me to work and to practice yoga. I love having a little quiet hideaway to get my work done, I’m so much more productive. After a cleaning sesh Hubz convinced me to head downtown to look for new shoes and hit up the farmers market. Finding new shoes was a bust since nice vegan shoes and boots are very limited in Burlington, we’re hopping our trips to Philly and NYC will be more fruitful.

We stopped into the farmers market in search of a vegan cupcake however all they had this week was chocolate-mint, not quite what we were looking for so instead we headed to one of our favorite eateries Zabby & Elf’s Stone Soup. I was really in the mood for a nice cup of chili which came with two hunk of nice bread and the Hubz decided to go with the hot bar and a hunk of my bread. Everything was so warm and delicious, perfect for a fall day.

The remainder of Saturday was spent running errands and then home to do a short yoga session, lounge and catch up on Dexter.

Sunday came and along with it a time change, this totally screwed my day up. I was all ready to head out the door to pick up groceries when Neil pointed out at that it wasn’t 8am but rather 7am! We waited around for a bit and then headed out to pick up our groceries for the week which included lots of root veggies, squash, Brussels Sprouts and green beans. Any idea what I might be making this week??

After grocery shopping we headed home and I decided to just relax for awhile because I wasn’t feeling great, a little bit of an upset stomach- I blame all the gluten I ate on Saturday. I was supposed to do a 5-Miler yesterday but after waiting out to see how I was feeling I ultimately decided I just wasn’t up for it so the Hubz and I went for a 2.3 mile walk before dinner. When we got back he changed into his running gear and went for a run and I made dinner: Black Bean & Butternut Squash Burritos with Chipotle-Cashew Sauce and a green salad.

Chipotle-Cashew Sauce:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 dried chipotle pepper
1 15oz can whole tomatoes, with juices
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cumin powder
3 tablespoons cashew pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a small pan over med-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 3-5 minutes until translucent. Stir in the garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, water and chipotle pepper; bring to a simmer then cover and reduce heat. Cook for 10 minutes on low. Stir in the cumin and cashew pieces and cook uncovered for 5 minutes. Transfer everything to a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Return to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In other news I have temporarily givin up coffee and alcohol.

Naturally Lindsay

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