Today I went to hot yoga again with my yoga friend. She's heading back to college on Sunday and we wanted to do some hanging out before the next 5-6 months of not seeing each other!
Today was one of my better yoga practices. I was not so into it before the class... but those kinds of days often lead to my best sessions! I felt really strong and confident in most of the poses...especially the ones in the first third of the class before the standing series. I left the class ready to get out of that room but feeling strong, cleansed, and like I'd had a proper workout.
Recently, I read a disturbing article on the creator of Bikram Hot Yoga (Bikram himself). All Bikram teachers must receive training from him through courses that are offered a couple times a year for about $10,000. Long story short, there have been many, many allegations that he is a racist, sexist, sex-offender. I did a lot of thinking about this and it kind of broke my heart because I love this yoga practice so much and I think my local studio is really great. As a self-proclaimed feminist, I obviously disagree with all of the things that Bikram has allegedly done but I plan to continue to practice locally because the studio I go to is full of really great instructors (all female) and fellow yoginis. I've dabbled in yoga for almost a decade through both video instruction and other classes (I started following my dad's Ashtanga video when I was only 8 years old!) and this is by far my favorite kind - at least currently. So that's where I stand on that!
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Let's take a look at my workouts for the last couple of days...
-Yesterday: 30-minute run, 8-minute abs
-Today: 25-minute spin, 8-minute abs, 90-minute hot yoga
Hydrating after my sweatastic yoga session.
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Running has been a real challenge lately. If you can stand the sub-zero biting cold, you probably have to deal with the intense leaping strides through a foot of snow. I've been lucky to find safe, cleared roads, but my runs are often shortened recently because my face simply can't stand the wind. My body and legs usually warm right up, but even with a hat and neck/face-warmer it's pretty brutal. I was quite pleased with my decision to stay indoors today.
Yesterday was the worst snowstorm I think I've seen here...at least in a long time! I noticed especially because this is the first really bad snowstorm I've ever had to drive in. Luckily I survived, and even made the most of it by doing some fun sledding last night.
Tried to take a pic of the storm...you can't see it here but it was coming down fairly hard at this time!
Apparently the holidays aren't over though...loved the holiday decorations that I still saw when we went suit-shopping on New Year's Day.
How my feet looked after running in the storm...love these cool sock but they got all icy!
Tomorrow I have a fun day planned catching up with girlfriends before we start to go our separate ways back to school. I still have a few weeks left but many people have to head back for classes on Monday. We're going to a breakfast place for brunch/lunch and I'm pumped because I love breakfast.
Should be okay to run tomorrow but take a look at the next few days...uh NO. Might be a good time to use my last yoga pass or work on some spinning (or erging - bleh!).
Time for an evening of a good shower and maybe some Parenthood watching...or maybe Reign (my super guilty pleasure...if you're a royal history enthusiast like me I'm embarrassed to admit that I like this very historically inaccurate yet oh-so-entertaining show about Mary, Queen of Scots).
Happy weekend, everyone!
