Yoga Ambassador

I am so excited to announce that I will be serving as a new yoga ambassador at Studio South!! I'm really thrilled about this opportunity to serve as a member of the team at Studio South and be the person who greets new yogis when they come in the door. This opportunity presented itself at the perfect time, since I am grappling with the decision of whether or not to pursue my yoga teacher certification over the course of this year. Both the yoga ambassadorship and the yoga teacher training are opportunities that Studio South has presented and I am hopeful that in addition to my new role, I can pursue the teacher training course, led by Yax Yoga Concepts. Unfortunately until my job situation is in a better state, teacher training cannot happen, but hopefully before the training starts on Oct. 4th, things will be sorted out and the path will be laid for me to be able to attend and work towards my certification! But as far as the ambassadorship goes, I get started this Friday and am SO PUMPED! Williamsburg area friends-I'll have some free class passes for you to take advantage of :) And everyone who lives in the area should check out this studio-their warmth and kindness and genuine love of helping people discover yoga, is absolutely incredible. I am so honored to get to serve with such a wonderful group of yogis!

10 Days

We are officially 10 days out from our first half marathon. How do I know? The prediction for September 1st showed up on my 10-day forecast today. Which is kind of scary. And nerve-wracking. And intimidating. Not the weather, but the race. I know I'm ready and I know I can run the distance, but I feel so unprepared. I have all the race information, where we're staying, how to get everywhere, etc. But I still feel completely unready. A 5K is one thing, but a half marathon? It's a much bigger deal. My running seems to have been suffering recently, both mentally and physically, I think because I'm afraid of messing up anything physically, before the big day. But every time, I also feel a mental anguish that I'm not doing enough/doing it right/training hard enough/etc.

As excited as I am for this race, I'm looking forward to being able to run and run whatever distance I want, for the fun of it again. I've enjoyed the challenge of training for this race, but man has it messed with my head! It's bad enough that I'm stressed about my (un)employment situation, but the pressure I'm putting on myself for training (or occasionally the lack thereof) is just getting to be too much. I stymied myself this morning and only ran two miles-argh! However, I have a long 9-10 mile to look forward to this weekend with Will, so hopefully that will help me land back in the correct mental state before the race next weekend. And I think I'll load up on lots of yoga this week too, just to help even more!

Barre Belle

I'm sure many of you have noticed that I am in LOVE with my new barre classes! Growing up, I did ballet for about 10 years, before foregoing it for music (and another type of dance-clogging). I knew I would never achieve the ideal dancer's body of tall stature and long, muscular legs. I had the leg "muscle" (jiggle jiggle), but that was about it. Even though I enjoyed it, it was time to move on because like many activities we participate in as kids, there's a point you get to when you either have to go all in or back out. Well, I've realized that as an adult, you can kind of get back into some of your childhood activities, without having to make any sort of commitment other than to yourself. It's actually pretty nice, you know, to be able to do something because you enjoy it and not have to worry about how "good" you are at it! What a concept!

I'd been seeing on some friends Facebooks about these classes called "barre," which got me intrigued. I didn't actively start looking for a place to try it, since I was still looking for a yoga studio, which was a higher priority. Then I got our free monthly paper, The Health Journal and as I perused it, found an article about barre classes. Since the journal covers all of Hampton Roads, most of it was about classes in VA Beach or other cities, but then there was a quote from an instructor of a studio in Williamsburg. So I googled up Studio South and discovered it was a yoga studio that taught a couple barre classes-the perfect combination! After reading through their whole website, I sent them an e-mail via the "contact us" page and landed myself a free class. So I figured, might as well try a barre class, because then if it didn't live up to my expectations, at least it was free.

Well, I went to the first class and was immediately hooked! My body somehow remembered after 10 years, how to do the ballet poses and postures accurately, yet it was a more fast-paced workout than I anticipated. I felt great that I had no problem keeping up with everything and doing most things in releve, and I left feeling wonderful! Best part? No pain the next day. I went back again for class this week and still love it. The combination of traditional ballet postures, combined with pilates-style exercises, and a little bit of yoga stretching, truly is ideal. It fulfills me on all levels of fitness, plus it's just really fun. It allows me to have a class that falls somewhere between the zen-like slower pace of yoga (my preferred way to practice) and the intensity of running, but without the responsibility of figuring out what new moves to try at the gym. I FREAKIN' LOVE IT.

And to make things even better, I've tried a couple yoga classes at Studio South, and enjoyed them, including a hot yoga class. The instructors are as nice as can be and the environment is calming. They have a super-fancy air filtration system that makes hot yoga bearable and not stuffy, and they provide everything else you need. They're also into essential oils, which I've not experienced before, but I have to say--my cool towel that was doused in lavender oil after hot yoga was amazing, as was having the instructor come and hold his hands over my face with more lavender oil in restorative yoga. Definitely a whole new aspect to my practice! Needless to say, I'm in love with this studio and am so excited to have a warm, welcoming place to do barre and practice yoga! As they say at Studio South, Namaste y'all!

Smoothie Cleanse

So I decided to do a smoothie cleanse, since cleansing seems to be a popular thing right now. Usually, I'm not one to follow what's "popular," but something about the concept of cleansing your body seemed intriguing to me. I decided to try a smoothie cleanse recommended by a friend, instead of shelling out the big bucks to do a juice cleanse, like Blueprint. I figured I could save a few $$ by DIY-ing the experiment, and if I ultimately had a positive reaction to the smoothie cleanse, I would look into investing in a juice cleanse.

Well, let me tell you folks-this has truly been an experiment! Here are the things I've learned from this experiment:

1. I actually have some semblance of self-control and rarely felt the need to snack during the cleanse. On day 2, I indulged in a bowl of plain brown rice, but that was mostly to balance the flavor of the smoothie. The rest of the cleanse was only supplemented by a couple bananas for breakfast (mostly because I didn't feel like tangling with my food processor/blender before having a full cup of coffee and on an empty stomach) and raw cashews. 
2. Straws are crucial elements of cleansing. We had to make an emergency straw trip on day 2 and are now well-stocked on straws for any future smoothie endeavors.
3. I really don't like drinking thick things, i.e. smoothies, soups, pulpy orange juice, etc. This relates to #2-the need for straws. Straws make it possible for me. A spoon is somewhat useful, but a straw is where it's at.
4. Raw cashews are the best snack discovery I have made in a long time. We loved our tamari almonds from EarthFare in Tallahassee, but raw cashews are my new best friend. They were my favorite snack during this process and even in their natural state, they have a buttery kind of flavor to them that is beyond delightful. Definitely a keeper.
5. Avocado's make everything better. I think I'm a Californian by nature. I would love to have an avocado tree in my backyard, like Will's grandmother does. I could literally eat avocado's at every meal. Every. Meal.
6. I don't really like beets as much as I thought I did. Borscht may be the only exception and led me astray thinking I actually enjoyed beets. Maybe I do. The juries still out on beets for me.
7. I really really don't like raspberries. Or at least I'm blaming them in some part, along with the beets, for the unpleasant taste of smoothie day 2. But I'm pretty sure I just don't like them.

After three days of giving this a go, would I recommend it? Sure, but I would definitely recommend eating foods you're unfamiliar with in a non-smoothie meal before diving in. I should've reminded myself what beets tasted like before cleansing, as well as tested raspberries, since I was pretty sure I didn't like them anyways. Otherwise, I found the Day 1 smoothie to be pretty good, but I know kale might not be everyone's favorite green-it can be bitter, but it didn't bother me (you know we cook a lot of it). Day 2 smoothie was horrendous, in my opinion. I suffered through many beet burps, had to get a straw to prevent myself from gagging, and ultimately threw some away (although I threw it away because I was so full and wasn't going to keep forcing myself to drink it, and I didn't exactly want leftovers). Day 3 smoothie was the nectar of life and perfect in every way. Even after getting full, I still wanted to keep drinking it. It was the only smoothie that also had the good fortune of straw-usage for the entire day, so that may have helped. But I would definitely make Day 3 smoothie again and it was the only one I looked forward to sipping on for a second time, during the day. I almost craved it.

My conclusions about the smoothie cleanse are that I feel fairly successful with it. I definitely dropped a few pounds, which was fun (check back in a few days to see if I've kept them off-pretty doubtful). I didn't feel super low on energy, although Will would argue that I got a little ornery at times. And while I can't tell if toxins have left my body or not, I feel lighter and I guess cleaner? I'm not really sure how you're supposed to determine that. Would I try it again? Maybe with some different smoothies. Would I try a juice cleanse? Definitely. Was it worth it? Sure, I have nothing else going on at the moment.

If you're interested, I've included the recipes below. Our blender is crap, so we prepped all ingredients in our food processor before doing a final blend in our blender. We had to do most of the food processing in groups, because we have a tiny food processor. If you want to see the original recipe, visit here.

Day 1 Smoothie-"Green Smoothie"
2 cups tuscan kale, packed
1 cup spinach leaves, packed
1 large handful parsley
1 frozen banana
2 cups green grapes
1 cup frozen blueberries
3 tablets TJ's spirulina
1/4 cup sliced raw almonds
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
5 ice cubes

(Finished smoothie pictured at the top of the post)






Day 2 Smoothie-"Red-ish Smoothie"
5 TJ's pre-cooked baby beets (I would recommend using less; the original recipe calls for 3 beets)
3 cups swiss chard, packed
1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen raspberries
1/4 cup flaxseed
1 tbsp raw cocoa powder
2 cups almond milk
5 ice cubes








Day 3 Smoothie-"Sweet Smoothie"
3 cups spinach leaves, packed
1/2 avocado, pitted
3 inches ginger, peeled
1 frozen banana
2 cups frozen mango
1/4 cup raw cashews
1 scoop TJ's vanilla protein powder
2 cups almond milk
5 ice cubes