yoga – kristilynk

You can’t really “make”time.

There are so many things we (humans) want or need to do. It’s said…a lot… you want it you have to MAKE the time to do it. There is no way to MAKE time. You have to change the way you use your time. This will take sacrifice or a game of if I do this I can’t do that. Example. I want to wake up an hour early to workout. I won’t because if I do, I can’t get that extra hour of sleep.

I’ve had a great day of “self care”. Yoga, manicure, putting around the house (ok really I was smudging the house with sage), took a stroll on the treadmill, did some journaling. It was lovely.

To do all of the things today, I had to sacrifice chilling at home with Jason and the muppet babies, my dogs for those of you who don’t know me. To write this random post, I’m sacrificing time. It means I’ll be late. We are having guests over and I still need to shower. I don’t want to so… here I am.

So I started this workbook called, “the artists way”. It told me to write three pages, long hand, each morning. It basically garbage. Not the idea, the idea is pretty cool especially because I’m writing about nothing. Only random thoughts, it’s pretty freeing, you wake up and write a few pages of all of the nonsense rolling around your brain first thing in the morning.

Some of the exercises are pretty intense if you want them to be. I don’t so I will cherry pick and sugar coat the things I don’t want to address in my mind. It’s week one. We’ll see how far I get. 😆

It’s a Girls Day Out…

Crap, I was supposed to wake up, at the latest, 0700. The plan was to hit the 0915 Power Yoga class at Sutra Midtown ~ the drive is a little over 15 miles.

Yea, well Kiah didn’t wake me up until after 0800..no way were we going to make it.. Instead we figured we could make it to the Basic Yoga class at 1045, be done in time for lunch! Perfecto!

We left in a timely manner but stupid construction put us a little bit behind schedule..that and the weirdos on the road doing like five miles UNDER the speed limit..Honestly..I really don’t understand..

I wanted to take some pictures of the place for the you all but we got there just in time to toss our belongings into a cubby and head to class!

From the spacious front room – decorated with super cute yoga apparel along with walls clad with amazing local art – the front desk attendant walked us through the clean hall and into the “dungeoneaque” practice space. The entry door was really neat..it was made of iron and had welding marks.. like it was a bunch of little iron piece welded together..and it was a sliding door.

The room was dimly lit and was full of aspiring yogis in savasana setting all intentions. Kiah and I followed suit.

Just like myself..my yoga practice has been random and inconsistent. With that said..My skill level is somewhere between a beginner and the intermediate level. These past few months have set me back so my STRENGTH is totally at a beginner level.. This class actually worked out pretty well.

The instructor reminded me of Seth Meyers a little (1st impression) as the class (slowly) progressed..I was beginning to work deeper into going back to the basics. Damn…that was tough. I forgot how much hard work it is to build strength. I was surprised my legs were so weak, my wrists had a hard time holding on and that I actually broke a sweat. 😉 Mr instructor did such a great job at reminding us to root ourselves and to keep breathing. Those who don’t yoga..yes…we doing yoga…must sometimes be reminded to BREATHE 😉

Although I would have much preferred an intermediate class (they flow faster and require less strength..in my opinion) it was great to get back to the basics and the instructor did a wonderful job at reeling me back in. I will definitely be back to see what else Midtown Sutra has to offer!

And…next time I go back…I will take pictures..the vibe of the place is excellent..you have to see it..

After class, we jumped into the ridiculously HOT car (thank you to the brilliant man who invented window coverings for cars!!!) and drove downtown for a little lunch.

Again..traffic was HORRIBLE..guess who forgot this weekend was Phoenix COMICON.?? Yep..me..bad decision but we stuck it out. I am pretty sure we drove around for like 25 minutes trying to fight traffic and figure out how to get to the restaurant before finding the parking garage adjacent to out destination.

Walking to the Pizzaria Bianco was like walking in an oven..People..it’s friggin HOT here.

I have been obsessing about this place for months having heard it was one of the best pizzas in the nation..naturally I was curious! Surprisingly, the wait was not too long and we were seated within two minutes of arriving. The inside is super small, the tables too close together and the acoustics are not that great..it was loud. We opted to dine outside. Thankfully, there was a little bit of a breeze, some shading and we had cold cold drinks..I prefer dining outdoors so I was completely OK with it.

The staff was wonderful. So attentive but not annoyingly so…and the lady who brought us our AH MA ZING pizza margarita even entertained us and took a picture of me and my lovely when I asked her to. 😉 Thanks lady!!

Now..check out the goods:

Thin crust with just the right amount of crunch with every bite. The freshness of the tomatoes and sauce is well worth the 15.00 we paid for this little pizza. The mozzarella cheese was perfect and the basil…mon amie…I am not a pizza expert and have no idea what constitutes the best pizza in the nation but I would imagine this place deserves big props for what they create.

Here’s a tip thoug…if you are dining with a male…you’ll need to order two pizzas…Kiah and I could have probably eaten one per.. we are thanking ourselves for not because that would have been glutenous of us but..we totally could have..

We tossed around the idea of checking the menu again for maybe some dessert or a salad..luckily we just paid the check and left.

Half way home Kiah spotted a little cupcake shop she’s been wanting to try out so I swung around and we went in.

The Treehouse Bakery is a vegan bakery..

The selection was not big but they did have the vanilla, chocolate and an interesting combo of strawberry basil..I am curious about that one so I just might have to go back for that one.

The lady behind the counter amused me when I asked her to find the biggest one because Kiah and wanted to share one 🙂 and then she offered to us this cappuccino hazelnut delight!

I am not sure how, without butter, she made the frosting taste so buttery but it was super good!! Glad we stopped. 🙂

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has sprung! Not that we here in Arizona have any type of season other than summer and light summer but spring has sprung and its time for some springy things..

Of course there is the ever popular spring cleaning (which I really don’t think anyone ever really accomplishes but it’s a brilliant concept)

We have spring breaks but I am neither a college student nor do I have little kids in school so..no reason for me to take a week long vacation.

What else is a girl to do? AH! It is time to refreshen thyself! First thing to tackle on this wonderful Saturday..Nasty winter feet!
I am sorry, I know it’s disgusting but people lets face it we need to get the word out there.. Our feet need attention.

Starting out in fixed firm pose yesterday morning in yoga, I glanced down to make sure my hands in feet were in their proper position.

** This is not me..really? How am I supposed to take a picture of myself doing such things? 😉 I stole this from the internet…

I was appalled to find that my heels looked like the lady standing in front of me in the Walmart line (oh don’t you act like you don’t know who I’m talking about..mmhhmm).

Promptly, I sent message to a girlfriend (aka..my nut-ball friend who is currently training for a M-A-R-A-T-H-O-N) who I KNEW would benefit from a little foot and lower leg pampering..we were soon set!

We strayed a bit off the planned course of just a pedicure date and ended up starting with lunch at The Pita Jungle.
I don’t like to throw this out to the inter webs but I have to, …I have been to this Pita Jungle like four times. I think I love the Idea of the place more so than the actual place itself. They have a great menu, it’s fresh, vegan/vegetarian (not that I am either of those) friendly, they also support meat eaters..its a pretty nonjudgmental place. The only problem I have is…the acoustics of the space. Horribly loud..unbearably loud..they really should figure out how to fix this.
I was pretty excited to find they did have outdoor seating! It was a beautiful day and of course it had to be much more quiet outdoors so we scooped up the chance to dine outdoors!

And yes..it was nice and the food was great ~ I had the pesto pita pizza (so good)

Problem with the outside? It was a breezy day and our outdoor dining area was just downwind of the DUMPSTER.
No…bueno…

Sorry…three strikes..you’re out. I am done with the Pita Jungle.

Bellies full – because the only bad part of the Jungle experience was the environment – we headed off to the salon for the peak of our Saturday!

Shockingly, the wait was just long enough to allow us to select the color of the week. It took me some time by I finally chose the shimmering pinkish color on the thumb:

Yep..I left the place with all of my nail painted in this manner and I will leave them as such as long as I can 🙂

I will spare you the before picture of my walmart feet and cut straight to the pretty in pink end result.

If you have a foot aversion…keep scrolling down because I am going there..hah..

I really wanted to go home and nap afterwards, unfortunately.. my body has no idea how to do such things whilst the sun is up 😦

Some piddle “shopping” was done followed by a trip to Total Wine. Good lord..I love this store. Beth had n e v e r been to Total Wine..her words..”I have never seen this much wine in one place”. I found myself walking through the store and pointing out the highlights of each isle. I should really work here. 🙂

All in all it was really a great day..one, I think, needed on both our accounts.

Nap time?

NOPE! Plug along into the evening! Casual evening but evening non the less!

Time for dinner! Jason and I met up with our great great friends Amy and Dan and we were ready to have a Mexican dining extravaganza!

Margaritas, conversation and great food made for a fabu way to end a Saturday night~

I will leave you with my dinner choice ( Pollo Fundido — not very fun after the fact but completely fun while devouring!!)

Tell me what sorts of shenanigans you are planning for Spring 2014?

Help!

I have no idea what is wrong with me! I have scheduled myself to a pretty good yoga schedule..Monday, Wednesday Saturday and Sunday. I’ve been doing pretty good with this until ohhhh yesterday..

On the way home I decided it would be brilliant to pickup some pork fried rice. Of course I needed egg rolls and crab puffs to accompany, right?

** Picture stolen from the internet but I had to give the visual…pork fried rice is delicious **

The idea was for me to go home, feed the family, change, go to yoga, come home and eat me a little bit of yum yums..

I’m sure you can guess what happens next…

It started out pretty innocently, I will just have one little teensy flavorful crab puff. I told the family, they need not wait for me to eat because I would not be home until after 20:00

I lost all self control once Jason started stirring hot mustard into the fried rice bowl… Quickly…I got my own empty dish and DUG IN!

Guilt set in after I swallowed the last bite of that SECOND egg roll and I rolled myself onto the couch with stuffed belly. Not only did I miss my ninety minutes of self torture but I ate entirely too much.

No longer guilt ridden but so confused. Today, for dinner….I want CUPCAKES.

Help!! What is wrong with me??? UGHHHHH..

This had to be documented…

Since the end of November 2013, I have been involved in some serious self torture. The people of Bikram say, we endure ninety minutes of torture so we do not have to spend ninety years in torture or something like that…basically suck it up for an hour and a half a few days a week..do the twenty six poses to the best of your ability – but with proper alignment – and the benefits you reap are endless.

I am not hear to preach or try to bring all of you to the “dark side” (Although..really…you should try it..I feel AMAZING..skin so soft, lungs are clear, I feel strong and tall even though I am only 5’3)…but again..I tell you..I promise I am not here for this..

I am here to say..OH..MY..GOODNESS.. I woke up at 430 this morning and made it to a hot yoga sesh at 530..IN THE MORNING…BEFORE work!!

For WEEKS now I have been hopeful and planning and setting alarm clocks only to shut them right off and go back to sleep.. On this day..I DID IT..

Admitting, I am pretty sure the only reason I was able to do so was because I stuffed my belly full of pasta, ice cream and honey fried bananas and fell asleep at 830 the night before…

None the less…I DID IT and I have not been able to wipe the grin off my face this entire day.

Bag packed with clothes for the day, mat, towel and water in tow I headed out at 0515!! Thankfully class is not too far from home: If you live in the area and you’re into self torture…come take a class with me!! The studio is new”ish” to our area, clean and the people are so friendly and encouraging!

http://www.bikramyogapeoria.com/

I don’t know if I will ever be able to make a 530 am class again but I’ll keep trying because this feeling of accomplishment is almost as good as the feeling I feel after I am done with class.

Namaste…bitches 😉

In the Beginning..Of February, that is….

Four days, ten hours and 30 minutes ago…I made a decision to quit smoking…again. I have quit before, it was about four or five years ago and I quit for a good two years. I am taking a few of the things that helped me last time and am hoping I can re-train myself.

The biggest help last time around was Bikram Yoga and I am giving it a whirl this time around. I found a studio super close to home so I signed up for a three day trial. I opened the door to the yoga room and was greeted with a not so pleasant smell. I honestly don’t even know how to describe it but it did make me scrunch my nose up.

I rolled out my mat and covered it with my beach towel, turned around and layed down in shavasana, you know, you have to mentally bring yourself to the room and into the moment. Shavasan is a great way to do this, you lay there, taking deep breathes and clearing your mind. This part used to be the most difficult for me, ADD and shavasana are a little contradictory BUT possible if you can learn to control your thoughts and controlling thoughts is an area of which I am very good! Here is a picture of an entire class in shavasana (relaxation and healing time) I snagged this picture from the internet 🙂

Check out how many people are in this class!! I bet it’s smelly in there!!

There were around 30 people in class last night which is not too crowded, I had a lot of space to myself which made me happy. I did feel like I was going to die. My heart was racing, sweat was pouring off of me and into my eyes which made them burn..note to self…wear a head band next time… my head was pounding as well. Another note to self, try to drink at least a gallon of water the day before class..I am pretty sure my head was pounding because I was dehydrated..

As sucky as it all seems (smelly, sweaty, headache) afterwards? I felt amazing. So cleansed, skin soft and I felt strong.

SO….I will go 4 days a week for 30 days and then switch back to regular yoga 🙂