Beach Yoga

Beach yoga. Sounds wonderful, right? Combine the peace and beauty of the ocean waves crashing with the calm that comes in yoga. Couldn't be more perfect...until you add sand.

When we went to the beach last month, I was determined to try beach yoga. I mean, what could be more perfect? I made Sean bring our travel mats (his is the Prana Ashtanga Rug and mine is the lululemon unMat). The first morning we had free, I grabbed my mat and headed down to the beach. It was early enough that not many people were out. Honestly, at Mexico Beach you rarely see any huge crowds even at peak beach times. I started with my usual sun salutations. The start was perfect. It was so serene...just like I had always imagined, but as I raised my hands over my head to conclude the first sun salutation it happened...the sand.

There is no way to keep the sand off of your mat. So as I made my way through the plank, up dog, and down dog, the sand made its way all over my clothes and hands. When I lifted my hands and brought them together over my head, the sand fell - it fell off of my hands and into my face, eyes, cleavage, and hair. Any peace acquired in that first sun salutation was immediately lost. I struggled through the rest of my practice that day, and ended it after only 20 minutes. While the unMat is an excellent travel mat for studio practice, it does not perform well when covered in sand (probably not a surprising fact when you really think about it, but I was blinded by the dream of perfect beach yoga). My feet and hands couldn't grip enough to comfortably do some of the simplest poses, let alone some of my favorites.

Although my first attempt was a failure, I decided to get back out there the next day. This time I decided to use Sean's Ashtanga Rug. Significant improvement! While there was still sand everywhere my hands and feet were solid. It wasn't perfect, and it certainly wasn't glamorous, but it was awesome. The moral of the story...don't treat beach yoga differently than regular yoga...go in without expectations. Yoga is just yoga. It is what it is. If you have expectations going into yoga, you will almost always be disappointed.

Chair Yoga

Since I currently have an injured knee and the physical therapist said no yoga, I decided to cheat a little. I went to a Chair Yoga class with India Henson at Villager Yoga. I figured with Chair Yoga I wouldn't risk putting additional stress on my knee. My physical therapist actually laughed at me when I told her, but she said it was ok for me to go. I think for most people, Chair Yoga sounds like a how-to video by Britney Spears, similar to the video above. Luckily, it was nothing like that...  Contrary to popular belief, it is very accessible for people of all ages.

Excuses, Excuses

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. In a period of just over a month we started looking at houses, picked our dream home, closed on said dream home, and moved. We have been a bit busy to say the least. Unfortunately, yoga has taken a backseat. I haven’t been to a yoga class in almost two months, and every fiber of my being misses it. I’d love to say that I’ve improved my home practice, but it would be a lie. The only yoga I’ve really done has been a quick 10 minute routine I do when I can’t sleep.

Around the time that life started to slow down enough to get back into the habit of going to yoga, I strained my knee. It’s nothing serious, but it has put me in physical therapy for the next month. Of course, now that I am dying to do yoga, the physical therapist won’t let me until the swelling goes down.

It’s amazing to see the difference in life with yoga and life without yoga. I have gotten plenty of exercise, mind you, just not in the form of yoga. We took a kayaking trip, traveled to Las Vegas (where I walked miles and miles), and we moved. By the way, if you ever want a good full body work out, help someone move that has 3 sets of stairs between the old apartment and the new home (and I wonder how I strained my knee). Life without yoga has left me with familiar aches and pains returning to my body that I haven’t had in months. I’ve noticed a change in my mental state, as well. I have difficulty concentrating, and I’ve generally been in a funk the last few weeks. Oh, and remember the insomnia I mentioned earlier, it has definitely increased.

Even with all of these reasons for me to return to yoga, I still find it difficult. Yoga still gets pushed to the bottom of my “to do” list. A wise man once told me, “Yoga makes time for yoga.” It sounds bstrange, but it really makes sense once you have seen it in practice. I’ve found that once I make yoga a priority, my body starts to function the way it should, and I can complete more stuff in less time. The hurdle I have to overcome now is, “Danielle makes time for yoga.”

Anyone else have trouble getting back into the yoga habit?

Sunset Namaste 2012

We attended Sunset Namaste (put on by TONS of great people) last Sunday at Birmingham’s beautiful Railroad Park. Local yogis gathered to complete (or attempted to complete in my case) 108 Moon Salutations. If you are curious about what a moon salutation consists of watch the extremely boring (but informative!) video below. It is the closest version I could find for what we did.

Unfortunately, I made the ill-fated decision to have fettuccine alfredo for lunch that day.  Between the heat and the multiple forward bends, I did not make it as far as I would have liked.  Sean really wants to try hot yoga in the near future, and I have already warned him that I will attempt it but make no promises.  I definitely will not have alfredo before we go though!  Sean made it a bit farther than I did, but neither of us did all 108.  Truthfully, not many people did.  One hundred and eight Moon Salutations is way harder than it sounds, and it sounds pretty hard.  Our friend Emily did it, though!  She was awesome!

So Sean and I sat on our mats, and took in the peaceful setting and relaxed.  It was one of the coolest things I have ever done in Birmingham.  As we sat there looking around, we saw several familiar faces, various people we have attended class with over the past few months.  Then something very interesting happened…  A lady we attended a Yoga Workshop with in April came up to us.  We quickly caught up with the “how have you been” and “where have you been practicing yoga” type conversations.  Then she thanked me.  She thanked me for sharing my perspective on meditation during the Yoga Workshop.  I was stunned. 

At the workshop, while discussing various types and uses of meditation, I shared with the group my view of meditation.  For me, prayer and meditation make up my conversation with God.  Prayer is when I speak to God.  Thank him for all of the blessings in my life, ask for guidance or peace, it’s my time to talk.  Meditation is when I listen.  I give God the opportunity to talk to me.  So often we focus on the prayer aspect…what we have to say, but we forget to listen. 

Don’t get me wrong, meditation is difficult for me.  It’s very hard for me to be quiet and control my racing mind, but it is so important.  As strange as it sounds, most of my meditation takes place either in the shower or during my moments of insomnia.  It is my time to be quiet and just listen. 

When we pray we ask for answers, but how can we hear the answers God has for us if we don’t take time from our busy lives to listen?

Let me reiterate, that I was stunned when she told me how much of an impression my statement made on her.  I have always thought of Sean as the teacher in our family.  It is his passion, not mine.  I hate public speaking.  It makes me all nervous and my chest gets splotchy and I just hate it, but I loved the feeling that I made a difference.  The only thoughts I have ever given to being a yoga teacher some day were so that I could safely teach my family members.  One on one training, I could do, but class training?  That terrifies me.  But having that moment where you know you have made an impact, even a small one, in someone’s life makes that overwhelming fear seem so insignificant.   

Yoga Dogs

In almost every article you read about the different types of yoga you will see the comment, “They even have yoga with dogs!”  I guess that would seem odd for non-dog owners, but for a long time, my biggest excuse for avoiding yoga classes was because my dogs, Casey and Remington, LOVED yoga time.  I get the yoga mat out, and they go crazy!  We all do downward facing dog together.  I used to ask myself, “How could I leave them for class when they love it so much?” until I tried the yoga classes, and I got hooked.  Before I knew it, I had gone six months without treating my pups to yoga.

Yoga on a Budget

The actual numbers

Now that we have finished our Ashtanga Workshop, we asked ourselves the question, “What’s next?”  Since we are in the process of house shopping and still trying to save money wherever possible, I wanted to get a good picture of exactly how much money we have spent on yoga in the past six months.  The picture was a little startling… 

...And Inhale

Right after publishing Introducing Guys to Yoga, I found a video (at Piggy Postings) that exemplified Rule #10, What to Eat (or Not Eat).

*Language Warning*

Introducing Guys to Yoga

Over the Memorial Day weekend, our friends Jonathon and Lance came into town from Dallas, and decided they would try out our favorite Power Yoga class with us.  After some strange looks and post-class stories, we realized that it was time to write this post.  These are the suggestions that we've come up with for guys that are new to yoga.  Share these with your friends if you're inviting them or listen up yourself if you're interested in going to your first class.

What NOT to Eat

The Personal Space Invader

Our youngest dog, Remington, is what I like to call a “Personal Space Invader.”  The pup has absolutely no concept of the appropriate amount of space to leave between himself and a person.  He is a 75 pound lap dog.  He wakes up my father in law when they puppy sit by sitting 2 inches from his face and quietly growling.  This weekend, while at the Alabama Symphony Orchestra’s concert at Railroad Park, he actually discretely crawled to a complete stranger and invited himself to sit in her lap.  I was mortified.  She thought it was hilarious.  Well, we all thought it was hilarious.  It’s just his personality.  He doesn’t know any different.  Remi just wants to be close to you because he loves you and wants to be petted.  While I am always up for puppy snuggles, it took a little getting used to with Remington.  He just gets SO close to you.  It has a tendency to become a bit claustrophobic. 

Mayonnaise-Free Chicken Salad

In light of the Yoga Food Conundrum, we've been trying to keep our dining out expenses to a minimum (we've only slipped once, though!). You've seen Danielle's two favorite recipes, tabbouleh and pasta salad. The idea is that we'll have foods that are ready to go, served cold. A lot of this is so that we can come straight in from practice, scoop it out, and eat. No heating, no fuss, no muss. I like her dishes, but she's a vegetarian. It's not that I have anything against vegetarians, I just like meat. She doesn't mind cooking meat (just ask her how much she loves bacon!), but she's not as comfortable and starts doubting herself.

Enter my Mayonnaise-Free Chicken Salad!

Quick Update

Alright guys, sorry for the long delay between posts. Life has been quite hectic the past 2 weeks. We thought we would be able to catch up some, but it's taken us longer and longer to take the time to sit down and write. We've got several posts that we're currently working on, including more recipes. Hopefully we'll have some up tonight or tomorrow morning.

Thanks for checking in!

Feta Makes It Betta

This week I made my mom’s version of Tabbouleh.  It's a veggie-filled Mediterranean dish that is perfect for the sauna like summers in Birmingham.  I bought enough of the ingredients to make several batches so that we will have plenty of food for lunches and post-yoga meals, but the recipe included is for one batch (which still makes quite a bit).

We have done fairly well the past 3 classes about eating at home after yoga class during the week.  We did make one exception though…

You see, I have a small obsession with Groupons and Groupon-type sites.  I’m signed up for about 6 different deal sites.  We essentially use Groupons as our restaurant budget.  I’m only going to go to a restaurant if we have purchased a Groupon or if we are going with friends.  It means we miss out on a lot of our go-to favorites, but we get to try a lot of new places, and we are usually paying 50% of the cost…for at least a portion of the meal.  Paying so little for a meal really messes with how you view the money you spend on going out to eat.  It’s a neat little trick really.  Let’s say I purchase a deal for $12 and get a $25 certificate to a restaurant.  When I get to the restaurant, I pay the 2 dollars plus a tip on the full amount, and feel like I just got a huge meal for almost free.  You forget the amount you originally paid for the certificate because it was probably purchased several weeks, if not months, ago.  After a while you have to start looking at it as, “I paid 12 dollars for this meal 2 months ago,” or, “I saved 13 dollars on this meal,” otherwise the $4.30 meals will really go to your head.  Bottom line, it is still money saved, but you have to be careful because the cost of the Groupons will sneak up on you just as easily as the costs of going out to eat. 

That being said, I refuse to let a Groupon expire before I can use it.  Last week one of them snuck up on me.  We had a Groupon for PinchesTacos through Sharing Spree that was expiring on Tuesday, and I realized it Tuesday.  Needless to say, we went to Pinches after yoga that day, but Thursday we were back on track.  I made some more Greek Pasta Salad on Wednesday so it was ready for us when we got home from class Thursday.  Now on to this week and tabbouleh...

Tabbouleh

1-1 ½ bunch parsley, removed from stems, finely chopped

1-2 cucumbers, finely chopped (I do not recommend using a food processor for the cucumbers.  I may be doing it wrong, but they never come out at the right consistency for this dish.)

1-2 large tomatoes, seeded, finely chopped

1 bunch green onion, finely chopped

½ cup wheat germ

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice (or the juice of 2-3 lemons)

Garlic salt, to taste

Whole wheat pitas or lettuce leaves for serving (I like to make little pita pockets for my tabbouleh, but Sean prefers the lettuce leaves.  Romaine or iceburg lettuce works, but we prefer romaine.)

Just mix all of the ingredients together.  You may prefer to adjust the amount of oil, juice, or wheat germ depending on your preferences.  This dish is always better the second day once the veggies have all had some time to marinate.  It is also tasty with a little bit of feta on top, but I’m of the opinion that, in regards to everything, feta makes it betta.  It somehow ends up making an appearance in almost every recipe.

This recipe takes a little longer to prep if you don’t own a food processor.  We have a Cuisinart Prep 9.  If you are struggling with the idea of dropping $150 on a kitchen appliance, I can tell you that ours has been worth its weight in gold.  Last weekend we made homemade peanut butter as well (thanks to my friend, Becca).  If you have ever looked at your peanut butter jar, you will be surprised by how many non-peanut ingredients it contains.  All you really need for peanut butter is peanuts and a good food processor.  We added salt, honey and brown sugar to ours, and it was AMAZING.  

Sweati Yogi

I sweat. A lot. I'm the guy that has to do full body wipe down with a towel after a practice. After talking to another guy after the Ashtanga class last Tuesday, I realized that I'm not the only guy with this problem. As a result, I thought I'd post up my solution to my sweaty mat problem.



Now, I think of it as a good thing (toxin flush), but it can be kinda dangerous when you're rocking a Wide-Legged Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana) and your foot slips. As a result of pulling a groin one particularly sweaty practice on my old mat, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge and bought myself (and my lovely wife/co-blogger) a Lululemon The Mat. It was an AMAZING purchase. It absorbed a ton of sweat, stuck to the floor AND my feet, and was generally one of the best purchases I've had in any hobby of mine to date. This set up worked well for about 2 or 3 months, until it started getting pretty warm outside, then I started to really really sweat. I started to sweat puddles. I literally soaked THROUGH the mat. It got to the point where I would soak through the mat and make the floor slick underneath the mat where it no longer had any traction. See what I mean when I say I sweat a lot?

Head over Heels for Yoga

Photo by valeyoshino

I love high heels.  I want nothing more than to one day own a pair of Christian Louboutin black leather pumps.  I even visited the store in Dallas a few years ago just to try them on and dream.  I have a closet full of high heels in a variety of colors: black, brown, nude, silver, and even purple (no Louboutins yet, though).  In my opinion, nothing completes an outfit like a great pair of heels.  I wore heels every chance I got…until yoga came into my life. 

Anger Management in Practice

“Come on, hurry up! (Clap, clap, clap) Move your ass bro, I’m in a hurry!” I can feel my face beginning to flush and my heart rate quicken. As I feel my body prepare for a fight, I make sure to take a few moments to breathe deep and hold it long enough until it causes my heart rate to slow. As I watch the pudgy, balding man with obvious issues wave his arms around like an idiot, I can tell that my body is amping up for a confrontation. However, my mind is calm, clear, and ever so slightly bored.

The Yoga-Food Conundrum

Today we start the Birmingham Yoga Beginner's Level 1 Ashtanga Workshop. It seems a bit intimidating, but, ultimately, I think we are ready. It will certainly be a challenge.

The physical aspect alone is daunting. The classes are scheduled for an hour and a half. We are used to mostly hour long classes... The biggest challenge, however, will be the time commitment. We both work full time and Sean is still in school. The classes are scheduled on the days that Sean is out of class, and neither of us should have much of an issue getting to the downtown studio after work. The real problem is what I like to call the Yoga-Food Conundrum. The more yoga classes we attend, the less likely we are to cook. We end up going to a restaurant because by the end of class it's 7:30 or 8:00 and we are exhausted and starving. Even if there is a full meal waiting on us at home, we are always drawn to restaurants. It is almost a hobby for us. I don't eat fast food, so our choices are semi-healthy, but I know that we can make healthier and cheaper meals at home. We have agreed to only go out to eat after class if it is with a group, but we will both have to resist the urge to be the cheerleaders for the restaurant crew.

A white boy's intro to yoga

Like Danielle said, she pretty much had to drag me to my first class. I did the typical newbie guy thing: wore basketball shorts and a cotton t-shirt, expected incense and chanting, and I got completely surprised by how tough it was, even though it was a "girl's exercise." I wasn't hooked, but I could see that it was a serious workout, even if I was the least flexible while also being the sweatiest.

On a related note: yoga is VERY intimidating for guys. Understand that going into a room full of ridiculously flexible and strong women, who are sporting nothing but Lululemon and rocking Manduka Pro mats, is like that dream where you're naked in front of a room of your peers while speaking in public. The biggest difference, however, is that the people are ridiculously better than you and appear to have neon signs that say "you're not from around here, are you?"


If you are a serious yoga girl, the best thing you can do is to introduce yourself and try to start up some light conversation like "what do you do for a living?" or "geez, it's hot outside." Avoid, especially with the uncomfortable new guys, the following: "my 4th chakra has a blockage that I'm working on," "my spirit animal is the chihuahua," "I studied at the Sri Sri Swami Baba Guru YogaDawg ashram in Punjab for 6 months," or anything the girl in this video says. We're trying to make the tent more inviting, not make it like a redux of the 1960's.

Old Purple Mats

When I forced Sean to go to his first yoga class in January, it was for entirely selfish reasons.  I had been practicing yoga at home with various DVDs off and on for about 10 years, but I had never been to a real class. A new studio opened just a few minutes from work and was offering free classes for their first week.