yoga + walks

Posted: August 13, 2010 at 2:00 pm

Are you all out there? Are you getting my posts? Google Reader is irking me a bit right now. Normally, my posts would go straight through to Readers. Now, they disappear into la-la land and the abyss of cyberspace. Thankfully they are still posting here so those of you finding your way to the blog still have something new to read. I appreciate it! Just like I appreciate these ladies for sharing the 30 Days of Self Reflection on their blogs 🙂

Nab yourself a button, like you see to the left on my sidebar, to share on your blog or simply learn more about the 30 Days of Self Reflection coming in September HERE!

So, how are you all this fine Friday? I’m doing pretty well. Although I can barely believe Friday came so soon. Like I mentioned in last night’s post, I spent a lot of time working hard on preparing the 30 Days of Self Reflection for this week. I hoped to make it to yoga this week to stretch out some of the tension in my body from traveling, sitting at the computer, and the bundle of nerves and excitement coursing through me.

Low and behold, the husband had to use my car yesterday and today. Not a problem. It just meant it would the perfect time to break out a yoga DVD I picked up.

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The yoga schedule at the gym has been difficult for me to get to, so I wanted an at home option to get my stretch on. I decked myself out in stetchy gear. Then baby & I got to posing and stretching. Peter shot the following picture. He didn’t want to get the warrior pose I asked him to because me bending over is apparently more funny. Gotta love him!

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Was it a success?? You betcha! I still prefer the class at the gym, but the DVD provided a good workout and many of my favorite poses. I had to adapt a handful of the moves because a) I’m not insane flexible like the hosts and b) my belly gets in the way sometimes. The only complaint I have is that the dude’s voice and tone remind me of Hannibal Lector. Creepy.

Today called for a rest day from formal workouts. I’ve still had my fair share of activity though, including rotating out normal clothes for maternity ones in the closet. Ick. Anyways, this morning I craved some waffle + pb action like I had this past weekend. We don’t have a waffle maker, so I went for the next best thing. Whole wheat waffles dug out from the freezer. They still worked well for this delicious breakfast.

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Upon restocking my energy stores for the day, miss M and I headed out for a quick stroll around the hilly neighborhood. I always like to have a conversation with God during my walks. It’s so crazy to me how not that long ago I spent most of that time asking for strength or help related to what I faced at that time. Today I said some prayers for the 30 Days, for guidance on how to better handle the bad friend situation, and for a healthy pregnancy – but always “interrupted” myself by having to simply praise God. I can’t get over how much He does in our lives! On the walk I saw things that caused celebration for the beauty that surrounds us. For the freedoms we have. For the fabulous area in which I live. For simply everything.

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The other day, Mama Pea shared a post on how her being vegan, vegetarian, a stay-at-home mother, or any other label you can stick on her isn’t what makes her happy with her life. I related to it so much. We all have the opportunity to be so happy. It simply takes a choice to focus on the positives in our lives. For me, it also helps to not ever forget what God has done for me and the fact I know He will continue to bring great things. Even in crappy times, I can know life will just get bigger and better. That is what brings me joy! And I hope each of you feel it yourselves.

  • Have you ever felt that you have to reach a certain goal or become something in order to achieve happiness? I know I have! Namely, a belief that reaching a certain size brought happiness.
  • Do you have a favorite at home workout? I love all my DVDs. I will be breaking them out a lot more after the baby comes. Cathe, TurboJam, and hopefully Insanity & TurboFire by then too. 😀

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32 Comments to “yoga + walks”
  1. I struggle with these feelings often. For years I thought I’d be happy once these things happened:

    I lose 20+ lbs
    I meet a nice man
    I get a “dream job”
    I have X amount of dollars saved
    I have X type of car
    I have a house

    Why did *those* things need to happen in order for me to be happy? Right now, I only have the nice man 🙂 and I’m working on the rest. But you know what? I don’t need all that stuff to be happy. Why do I need to wait until our savings is X amount? I don’t. I have the choice to be happy RIGHT NOW.

    I choose to be happy today!

    *fave workout: TurboFire!!! (I also love 30 Day Shred, Jillian Michaels anything and Taebo).

    Thanks for posting about my blog — it means alot!

    • Tina says:

      Oh! You reminded me that I want to try some Jillian Michaels after the pregnancy too. I have such exercise ADD I can never have enough options.

  2. girl, i felt that way for so long. like if i was a certain size or a certain weight then i would be happy. it’s so sad that i bought into that lie for so long, but praise God that he brought me out of it! and my favorite at-home workout is called WillPower & Grace…it’s not really widely-sold, but you can find out where to get it at http://www.willpowerfit.com. it’s amazing!

  3. I think back in the day I thought a similar thought to many girls- if I only weighed x amount of pounds less that everything would be perfect… to think I wasted so much time stressing about that instead of just having fun and living my life!

  4. My Google Reader is being a pain in my side too. For some blogs, it doesn’t update for hours, others come in fairly quickly. Weird. I did see that yours is working (though not sure if it’s delayed).

    I’ve always (and still do sort of) feel that true happiness will come when I am able to build/buy a home of my own and we move back to the East Coast. I love CA, but my heart belongs over there. I’m trying to just appreciate all the blessings I currently have in CA and the opportunities that it provides me. My little apartment is not a house by any means, but its starting to feel like a HOME.

    No favorite home workouts, but I’ve been wanting to try Jillian 🙂

    • Tina says:

      That makes perfect sense. Not feeling like you have a place that is your HOME would be a huge damper for me too. Glad you are working to make the best of it though. You seem like a very happy, loving, wonderful person to me. 🙂

  5. I’ve definitely have been caught in the “If I’m just 1XX lbs I’ll be happy” delusional,sad little world. Honestly, I’ve still got one foot in that world,unfortunately, but that is because of my current fitness goals.

    I’m trying to be real with myself and remember that there WILL be life after competition and no size or weight will instantly make me”happy”. That is just a twisted lie that some of us gals believe. I may feel more *confident* and feel better in my own skin, but my main goal is health and wellness, which includes more than physical. My priority is spiritual health first and its interesting how much closer to God I feel through this competition prep, because I rely on Him even more for strength- both mental and physical.

  6. Nichole says:

    That pic is surely of a street in GA. Looks like a lovely walk.

    I love DVDs and YouTube workout vids. Great for when I’m cross training or don’t have a class planned. You’re doing the Downward Baby.

    • Tina says:

      Haha! Downward Baby! We should market that as an official yoga pose. I was supposed to be doing a triangle and Peter caught me in the middle of switching to the other side in a lunge. Haha!

  7. Yes, so many things…

    recently, it’s been…

    When me and sean move in together (yes I am happy about that–but it doesnt automatically make me happy). I realize just that situation doesnt fix everything I wanted, even though I feel like my life is much better now.

    I love at home DVDs now! I just rented Core Fusion from Netflix and I am excited to try it. Insanity is fun–Turbofire looks even more fun!

  8. Yes, I felt like most girls – I would be happier if I were skinnier. Blah! It’s not the case and it seems you really do grow wiser with age. 🙂

    I love my Jillian Michaels DVDs and of course, Exercise TV!

  9. I think that once upon a time it was about reaching a size for me in terms of achieving happiness, but I’ve fortunately moved past that. Unfortunately, I still find myself tying my idea of happiness to the achievement of other things – like I’ll be happy once… my husband has found a job, I finish my doctorate, I’m working for myself, I’m a mother… etc., etc. It’s sometimes difficult to focus on the happiness of today.

  10. I always feel like if I can reach X goal, I’ll be happier. it usually doesn’t work that way, though. Once i reach the goal, I feel the same or worse than I did before. I’m working on accepting my life as it is and embracing the present instead of worrying about tomorrow.

  11. The label thing really gets to me. I am about to address that on my blog soon. Someone asked me if I was a strict vegetarian the other day. No, I am not “strict” about vegetarianism. I feel like everyone needs to chose what is right for them at the time. I hate labels of any kind.

    Oh, I m getting your posts on my reader. I hope you got it fixed. Also, you need to get a waffle iron…they are so easy to use and waffles are so quick and easy to make! I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

    • Tina says:

      Yea, this morning the thought crossed my mind if I should have done a waffle iron from the CSN stores instead. I still love my vacuum though!

  12. Well, you know I’m a Cathe fan all the way. Yes, sometimes I feel like there has to be that certain something that signifies success or happiness. When I stop reaching for that “something” and reflect on the tiny details around me then everything seems suddenly better (mostly). Like the last race I did for example. Rather than shooting for that magic PR number, I picked my head up and looked around, soaked in my surroundings and what I was achieving. Oddly, that PR came that day and felt so much easier.

  13. Ameena says:

    I try so hard not to label things in my life but I am almost always unsuccessful. I feel the need to have a grip on things that includes labeling thing. Bad habit!

    To answer your second question, I feel like as soon as I get my career back on track I will be happy and thus successful again. I’m working on it!!

  14. i forgot to tell you this earlier, but your arm looks great in the yoga shot!

  15. homecookedem says:

    Woah, mama! Look at those strong arms!! They look great!!

    I always used to think I had to be a certain size and have all the right clothes before a guy would fall in love with me. Andrew fell in love with me when I was still chubby and far from stylish. 😉

    I might sound like a grandma for saying this, but my favorite at-home workouts are my Walk Away the Pounds DVD’s by Leslie Sansone. They are perfect for me right now!!

  16. Who hasn’t thought happiness was something obtained when…..(fill in the blank!).

    Mine:
    When I lose the weight. (Lost a lot of the weight. Not necessarily happier, but I feel better.)
    When the kids move out and I have time to do what I want to do. (Now I have too much time.)
    When… the chores are done, I buy a new outfit…it’s nice outside…etc…

    I am trying to remember, I am ALREADY blessed.

    Favorite at home workout – P90X.

  17. andi says:

    your posts are showing up right away for me now! I checked when you tweeted this post earlier. 🙂

    by the way, your arms look amazing in that shot! way to go, mama! I have the Shred (obviously, hehe), Biggest Loser yoga, Kickboxing for Dummies, and a few Core Fusion videos. I haven’t tried the CF ones yet but I’m really excited to.

    and sadly, I still think … when I lose 40ish pounds, I’ll finally be happy. my weight can’t be what’s keeping me up at night, crying, but it seems to be a viable excuse.

    • Tina says:

      Thanks for letting me know on my posts!

      And from your other comment – I love when people share as much as they want to so “novel” comment away. 😉

  18. SheFit says:

    This Yoga DVD looks like a great workout. Perfect form in the yoga pose in your picture 🙂
    Currently my favorite workout DVD at home has to be the insanity workouts. They are Intense! Such a great workout.

  19. whoa girl for a pregnant lady especially your arms look insanely awesome!!! you have not lost a smidge of muscle…AMEN!! whatever you’re doing keep it up, you look awesome! and in that pose, if I think what youre’ doing is a wide legged forward bend, pigeon toe your toes in, you will have a way better “grip” that way and you will be able to get deeper into the pose without slipping…that’s the yoga teacher in me talking..can’t help myself… 🙂

    you look great!!!!!!

    • Tina says:

      Thanks for the tip. I need all the balance help I can get with the growing belly. I can’t remember exactly what I was doing there. I THINK I was in triangle pose and they had us transition to triangle on the other side…but I’m pretty sure we stopped in the middle as well for the post you mentioned.

  20. You have amazing arms! Stunning. Such a positive example for young women. Muscles are beautiful!!

    I don’t like labels at all. We all have different ways of life and should embrace and love one another for those differences. It’s the only way we can learn and grow as people. I have a very wide and varied circle of friends and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love my Republican, conservative bestie just as much as my liberal, lesbian bestie. We love each other, respect each other and *gasp* can even go out for drinks together and joke around. Who knew?! Labels are for the back of cereal boxes!!

    I love my Core Fusion dvds!!

  21. […] Tina posted a question yesterday that really hit home with me: […]

  22. I know I have struggled with many labels, most of them are ones I put on myself! A few times in my life I have “given up” certain labels that I thought defined me at one time or another, and the struggle to redefine myself has helped me realize that I can only go with the flow, adjust, and move on.

    Jillian’s DVDS are definitely my favorite!

  23. […] the article here: FAITH, FITNESS, FUN » Blog Archive » yoga + walks Click here to visit WP Robot. Click here to visit AutoBlogged. Share and Enjoy: Posted in Fun […]

  24. It is so difficult to focus on the positive when life seems to be crumbling around you….I am living it now. But so so true: just focus on the positive. Focus on the present moment and try to not get overwhelmed. I get so overwhelmed if I think too hard on it!
    Nice message.

  25. I love doing yoga at home too! have you tried yogadownload? if not, I recommend 🙂

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