Eat, Live, Run » yoga

baptiste power flow immersion

jenna — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:12:21 +0000

Whew! I made it!

When I think about recapping the past week, I honestly don’t even know where to start. I could tell you that it was amazing, that it powerful, even that it was life changing but putting words to such an experience almost seems impossible. Bear with me.

From the moment I got off the plane on Sunday, it was go go go go go. I met up with my roomies at the Denver airport and together we made the trek to Estes Park. It was my first visit to Colorado and I am….SMITTEN! Colorado friends, can I come live with you? I am thoroughly obsessed with your beautiful state, even though I didn’t see an elk, which was my goal for the entire week.

That night, we had a welcome session with Baron and he introduced the staff of senior Baptiste teachers that would be leading sessions during the week. Not really knowing what I was getting myself into then, I realize now what an amazing opportunity it was to practice with these awesome teachers from all over the country. On top of getting to practice with Baron for four hours each day (not as scary as it sounds–promise!), I took two amazing breakout sessions—-Yoga of Service in Action with Paige and Inversions with Kelly. We also watched the premiere of The Africa Yoga Project documentary, which was a whole other experience in itself.

The first day when Baron posed the question “why are you here?”, I really didn’t have a good response. Because I’ve practiced yoga for eight years? Because I want to be a yoga teacher someday? Because it’s a trip to the Rocky Mountains? However, my class with Paige really changed that.

I know, without a doubt, I was there to take that class and connect more with The Africa Yoga Project (AYP). In her class, we discussed how take yoga off the mat and into real life and serving others. Hearing Paige’s story about how she moved from New York to the slums of Kenya to start this life-changing project was, quite simply, transformational. Since AYP’s beginning a few years ago, she has helped to provide hundreds of Kenyans with yoga teacher jobs as well as build schools, community centers and spread the love of yoga in a poverty stricken area. It spoke straight my heart and gave my personal practice a whole other (much) larger purpose. I am so excited for October 2nd!

My time in Estes Park really transformed me as a yogi and a person. As a natural introvert, I was “forced” to get out of my box a little bit and connect with others who I might normally not have gotten a chance to connect with. As much as the week was about the physical yoga practice, it was also about life in general. I really think that going to this was one of the best thing things I’ve ever done for myself in terms of personal growth and awareness. I was able to push myself to new limits both mentally and physically (hellooooo handstands!), and connect with so many amazing people. I learned that the answer to how is YES and I was ready right where I was….no waiting around, just do it!

I really look look forward to attending more Baptiste events in the future and if you guys ever get a chance to go to one….DO IT. I promise you won’t regret it. Practicing yoga in a room of 500 people was almost electrifying, and the breakout sessions and discussions were thought provoking and authentic. It’s funny to me how many people consider yoga to just be a way to work their abs. To me, yoga is what happens when we take what we learn on the mat and use it to empower ourselves and the people around us.

It also really works your abs.

(someday I’ll be able to laugh again…someday)

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2011. | Permalink | 56 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: behind the butter, Travel, yoga

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africa yoga project

jenna — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:34:39 +0000

So, today while I’m away training with Baron in Colorado, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share with y’all a special project that is very near and dear to my heart: The Africa Yoga Project.

The Africa Yoga Project is a charity dedicated to training Kenyan yoga teachers to go out in the slums of Nairobi and teach power yoga to men, women and children. In an area where many are affected by HIV/AIDS and live on less than two dollars a day ,this empowering practice, quite simply, gives them something to live for. It brings unity, possibility, leadership and empowerment to people that need it most and might not normally have access to such a gift.

And……on October 2nd, my studio is hosting a very special two hour practice with a live skype-in from Francis (that’s him in the Facebook profile photo!), our yoga mentee, from Kenya! All proceeds from the event go straight to the Yoga Aid Challenge as we’re trying to raise enough money to train and hire four new Kenyan instructors that will further spread the love and make a huge difference in people’s lives.

So, if you live somewhere in Northern California…come out, play with us and help us support such an amazing cause! And if you don’t, I would really appreciate any donations that may be on your heart. Every little bit makes a difference and from watching the above video you know how many lives are impacted by this program! It’s truly amazing.

Thank you for being awesome!! You can make donations by clicking here or by clicking the super cool widget I’ve got goin’ on my sidebar right now.

Namaste.

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thoughts from the mat

jenna — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:30:56 +0000

All my bags are packed I’m ready to go….I’m leavin’ on a jet plane…don’t know when I’ll be back again….

just kidding! I’m coming back Wednesday night. I could never leave you guys forever.

For those of you that don’t know, I’m going to the Baron Baptiste Power Immersion at the Yoga Journal Conference in Colorado next week. This isn’t a “blog trip” or a paid-for company endorsement. This is me spending my own money to go get my butt thoroughly kicked by Baron along with 500 other yogis from around the country. I’ve never done anything like this before (did I really give up my free ACL ticket?) but am nervously excited. I haven’t mentioned it on the blog at all, but I’m thinking about getting my teacher certification this Spring so this trip is for me to really test out the waters.

Over the past couple years I’ve fallen desperately in love with Baptiste Power Yoga. I’ve been practicing yoga for eight years now and have done pretty much every style under the sun—and Baptiste Yoga just makes the most sense to me. The flow of the postures, the emphasis on alignment and the intense sweat that goes along with the Baptiste style has me hooked. It’s also the style of yoga that I feel most comfortable practicing (and maybe teaching someday!) as a Christian.

I mentioned last year that I quit the gym for good and I did! Finding this style of power yoga has completely changed my outlook on health and fitness. Now, I practice 4-5 times a week and relish every sweaty second of it. I’ve given up the treadmill for sun salutations and the free weights for handstands. It just works for me.

That all being said, I feel like the past two years have really brought me to the point of actually wanting to pay a ridiculous amount of money to deepen my practice, which is why I’m going to the Baptiste Power Flow. You can see the schedule online, but basically I’ll be in a 4-hour class with Baron in the morning followed by a “Breakout Session” (aka another butt kicking class) in the afternoon. Three vegan meals a day are provided by the YMCA. I think it will be a great time for growth, journaling and self reflection.

To battle the altitude and the heated classes, I’m bringing plenty of these:

And have already downloaded a new book on Kindle based on your recommendations!

I can’t wait to share my experience with you guys when I get home and have a fun lineup of surprises set for you while I’m gone.

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2011. | Permalink | 92 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: behind the butter, let's talk, yoga

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intention

jenna — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:24:35 +0000

How’s day 4 going? Are your thighs burning and your mind clear yet?

I had a great home practice yesterday morning doing this podcast on my living room floor. It was incredibly slow and intense and made me remember all the reasons why I love this healing practice so much. You could be having the most stressful crazy day ever, but the second you get on your mat in child’s pose, it’s like you have a clean slate. Lately, I’ve been rushing through my practice, flowing quickly from one warrior to the next and pushing myself to my limits every time. But yesterday, I really let myself sink into the poses, pause and breathe. And guess what? It hurt. A lot. I was way more sore doing that than rushing through my asana just trying to “get it done”.

After practice, when I lay drowning in a pool of my own sweat with Dexter sitting on the edge of my mat, I thought just how much yoga teaches us about life. Sure, you could rush through your days flowing from one activity to the next just to get it done, or you could really slow down and do everything with intention. Maybe all you could be doing that day is taking care of your three year old and running errands, but if you really focus on each individual activity at hand and give it your all, you’ll be getting a lot more out of your day than if you quickly hurry through it.

Today in your practice focus on intention. Are you a person that rushes from one thing to the next? Do you eat dinner standing up while catching up on your emails (hand raising high…again)? Take time to slow down and do every activity today with purpose and intention, whether that means writing a million office emails, making phone calls for work, cooking dinner or practicing your daily yoga.

I’m so proud of you for doing this challenge along with me! Every time I step on my mat I smile knowing you’re out there doing the same thing….

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21 days

jenna — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:18:26 +0000

Care to join in on a little challenge?

For the next 21 days, I’ll be practicing yoga every.single.day. Some days it may be for 90 minutes and some days it may only be for 10 minutes…as long as you’re on your mat for at least five minutes a day, it counts.

I got the idea from one of my old instructors at the lovely Blue Turtle Yoga in Charleston who is currently conducting a 21 day yoga challenge to anyone that wants to join in. Why 21, not 22? Because 21 days is the amount of time traditionally needed to break a habit. Do you have any habit in your life that needs breaking? Smoking, caffeine, soda? I know I have a few! Now’s the time. On the days you can’t get in to take a class, try a podcast (they’re free!) from your living room instead…or just sit in child’s pose for a few quiet breathes. Yoga makes us aware of not only ourselves, but also our surroundings and others. It helps us get through tough life situations (try thinking of warrior two next time you’re getting a cavity drilled) by teaching us to breathe.

So, are you in? Side effects may include trimmer thighs, better sleep, clearer mind and toned arms.

The decision is up to you.

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feelin’ fruity

jenna — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:59:55 +0000

For the past 55 hours, I have eaten nothing but fruit. Apples, pears, bananas, mangos, cherries, blueberries, coconut, avocado, peaches and zucchini. Holyyyyy.fruitcup.

Now before you go and freak out on me, let me explain. First of all, I’m already expecting for this post to raise some controversy. Doing any sort of “cleanse” is very controversial and I’m not here to tell you it’s the right thing for you. I’m only here to share with you my personal experience doing a three-day fruit “feast” cleanse (based on this book). The fruit feast is a cleanse traditionally part of Baron Baptiste’s 40 Days Program. Though I’ve completed the program before, I was always too scared to do the fruit feast at the end. It was daunting and scary and above all else, I HATE to be hungry. So, nope…the fruit feast was not for me.

But then when it was offered this time around, I said yes.

Partially because I like weird random challenges, but also because it seemed like a great way to jump-start summer. There was a whole group of us doing it at the studio, too, so I liked the automatic support system. Plus, I figure I could do just about anything for three days. What can I say? I like a challenge.

I told Anna (my instructor) that I would write a detailed post on the yoga blog about my experience going through the cleanse as part of our “Summer of Love” program to benefit the local food bank. Let me just say upfront that I’ve never done anything like this before and it definitely was not to lose any weight. Although detoxes are a great way to just wring out your system once in awhile (or so I’ve heard), many to most are not healthy at all and can do way more harm than good. The whole point wasn’t to cut any calories, either—it was just to replace everything you normally eat with fruit. Lots and lots of fruit.

That being said, I’m (again) not here to tell you to do this. I’m just sharing my experience because it was new and interesting . I went into this “thing” with a very open mind and an already healthy diet and lifestyle. I don’t have any previous eating disorder issues nor was looking to lose any weight at all.

The following is the journal I kept throughout the cleanse. I was going to edit it, but decided to leave it as is. At the end, you’ll find my final thoughts about the cleanse.

Day One:

Lightly strenuous activity—kayaking for an hour and a half.

Lunch:

1 avocado, mashed

1 small bowl cherries

1 yellow squash

snacks

super juicy peach from the farmer’s market

banana

pear

Dinner:

½ avocado mashed with lime juice and chopped yellow tomatoes

1 cucumber

½ carton raspberries

1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes

Snack:

Frozen banana “soft serve” with blueberries

more cherries

Drinks:

Lots of water and two cups of Rooibos tea

I was shocked at how much fruit I ate in only six hours! I felt like, on day one, I was starving all the time and actually started to get a headache around four o’clock when we were on the lake kayaking. Good thing I brought a pear! I know that I have a very high metabolism as is, but I wasn’t expecting to be this hungry all the time. Since I don’t drink much coffee I think I had that part of the detox easy….and also feel lucky that we have such an amazing farmer’s market here to stock up on fresh fruit. I’m typing this while I sip my tea after dinner and although I have a ton of energy (all that sugar!), I feel a little “empty”. I’m trying to focus on what Anna said about meditating and really trying to be good to my body right now above anything else. I definitely can’t see myself going for a hard long run tomorrow or a power yoga class, but maybe a short hike or more gentle kayaking would be nice. I went to bed early (around 9:15) feeling crappy with a headache.

I honestly want to quit, but have already promised a detailed blog post on the Three Dog Yoga blog about my experience.

What did I get myself into? I need cake.

Day Two:

Two hours of kayaking on the Russian River with Adam in our new kayaks! So fun.

Breakfast:

1 banana

1 peach

1 carton raspberries

Snacks:

apple

date stuffed with thai young coconut

Lunch:

1 banana

½ cup thai young coconut meat

1 mango

1 cup grape tomatoes

1 cucumber

Snacks:

1 apple

½ cup cherries

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 date stuffed with thai young coconut

Dinner:

1 mango

½ cucumber

3 slices watermelon

½ avocado

½ cup thai young coconut meat

Snack:

Frozen banana soft serve with ½ chopped date

Drinks:

TONS of coconut water

green tea

Chinese “detox” tea

Kombucha

Woke up early at 6:30 and felt a little better than I did when I went to bed. Every morning, the first thing I do is make a big bowl of oatmeal so I knew this morning would take some discipline.

At about 9:00 I went to Whole Foods to stock up (again) and found one of my old loves, a thai green coconut. I used to buy them all the time in Florida and make raw ice cream with the flesh and frozen bananas. I got home, cracked it and drank the coconut water fresh and then started to feel really, really great. My energy had returned ten-fold and I felt highly caffeinated even though all I had to drink was a small cup of mint green tea. I really couldn’t believe that for the first time in twenty four hours, I didn’t feel hungry at all. I just felt great. I’m attributing it all to the coconut and also stuffed a large medjool date with some of the flesh—so delicious and cooling.

Now, as I type this its 8:30 almost and I just finished my frozen banana dessert. I have to say, all day long, I’ve felt pretty amazing. I’ve had tons of energy and even managed to kayak for two hours in the sun. Any food cravings I had yesterday (bread!) are now pretty much eliminated and my skin has started to glow a little, as cheesy as that may sound. The only other noticeable difference is that my palms are a little more wrinkled and dry—maybe I need more avocado tomorrow!

I’m so glad now that I didn’t cave last night even though I felt pretty awful. I guess that was just my body’s response to the detox and, really, there was only about four hours of feeling not-so-hot. I think since I already had a very clean diet and lifestyle, my body’s version of “detox” was a little more subdued than someone that is overweight and addicted to caffeine and nicotine, for example.

Day Three:

Breakfast:

1 banana

1 peach

1 slice watermelon

Snacks:

1 date stuffed with thai young coconut meat

blueberries

1 apple

Lunch:

1/4th of a watermelon

1 zucchini

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 avocado

Drinks:

Mint green tea

water

Chinese “detox” tea

coconut water

I woke up with boundless energy this morning! I was going to go to an early morning power yoga class but decided to get all my work done so I could go to a later afternoon class instead. Surprisingly, I didn’t wake up hungry at all like usual. It’s interesting that we’ve always brainwashed ourselves to think that if we don’t have any protein we will just keel over and die…but that’s clearly not the case! Obviously I’m not going to make a regular practice of “cleansing” like this (although I might do it again with the studio in the Fall!) but it really has made me aware of my body in whole new ways. For someone that seems to be always hungry, I just figured a cleanse was definitely not for me. But even though I was hungry all day on the first day, the benefits of the second and third day far outweigh the temporary discomfort I felt at that moment. It was like what Anna said about being in side angle pose….if it’s a good hurt, keep going. But if it’s a bad-I’m-about-to-pass-out hurt then stop! Looking back, I never felt truly awful enough to quit the cleanse although I was tempted on the first night just by my own mind and previous food addictions.

Again, I’m truly shocked at how great I feel….especially today. Adam and I were able to realize just how much of our weekend involved around food (not a bad thing since it’s what we love!) and instead of thinking about what restaurant to eat at, we spent our extra time planning a summer garden, kayaking and catching up on work. Coming to the end of the cleanse, I feel more grateful than ever for the food I eat and the hands that prepare it.

As much as I love fruit though, I am anxious for tomorrow morning when I can eat cake for breakfast again. I miss my favorite foods and baking most of all! Overall though, I’m very glad I did this. It was a great unique experience and I can now say I ate fruit for three days straight. Weird cocktail conversation, but true!

*note that I didn’t include dinner or more snacks today because I’m not there yet (duh). Not sure what it will be yet, but it will probably include fruit.

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2011. | Permalink | 122 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: behind the butter, health, life, yoga

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40 days

jenna — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:19:27 +0000

I wasn’t going to write a whole post about this but I’ve received more than a few comments and emails asking me to not only explain the yoga program I’m doing, but also document my journey!

Well, between cooking, writing, blogging and chaturunga-ing, I doubt I’ll have time to document my daily thoughts about the program, but I plan to check in a few times with y’all and let you know how it’s going.

The program I’m doing is called 40 Days to Personal Revolution, and it’s a Baptiste program offered by most Baptiste affiliated studios.

The program officially started Monday and involves doing Baptiste yoga 6x a week, meditating twice a day, journaling daily and attending a weekly meeting at the studio. My studio offered the program twice before but I never was able to completely commit because of time constraints. When you think about it, doing yoga six times a week is a HUGE commitment! Sometimes I feel like I live between my kitchen and the studio. But that’s how I like it.

Already, on the second day, I can tell it’s going to a big challenge for me! I can handle the physicality of the yoga itself, but the meditation part is so difficult for me.

(It’s not like I’m a crazy type A or anything like that)

My strategy so far has been to combine my daily meditation time with my prayer time, but my mind always wanders into what’s for dinner or what I’ll be doing fifteen minutes from now. Reading the book helps and I just try to take one breath at a time. There’s no crazy diet that goes along with the program, but it’s recommended that you give something up while practicing. I chose to give up all alcohol just because I don’t need it. Plus, I thought it would save us a few bucks on our date nights.

So that’s about it so far! My arms are sore and my obliques are killing me. Practicing yoga so much definitely teaches you to listen to your body and gone are the days where I would power through a tough yoga class just to “do it”. Now, I take lots of rest and don’t hesitate before going down in child’s pose when I feel I need it. I also discovered you don’t have to do every single chaturunga! What an idea! Cobra is nice, as is just going down in child’s pose or straight back to downward facing dog. There’s no reward for the person with the strongest triceps or the person who is the most flexible.

Gosh, I could use a drink brownie.

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Sweat It Out

jenna — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:24:59 +0000

Hey hey!

Wow, I forgot how HOT Bikram is!!!! 105 degrees, thank you very much. I think I sweat out every toxin that has ever been in my body. It was awesome.

Before I practiced, I had this lovely bar:

And afterwards, in all my sweaty smelly glory, I had a big yogurt bowl with a Voskos, 1/4 cup Ezekiel cereal, 1/4 cup Udi’s granola, dried cherries and almond butter:

Yogurt. It’s whats for dinner. I may or may not have had a piece of organic dark chocolate for dessert that missed the camera’s eye

I love how CLEAN you feel after Bikram. I went in all stressed out and I left….still a little stressed, yes, but feeling like a whole new person. Maybe when I’m in Santa Rosa next week I can hit up the Santa Rosa Bikram College of India studio….that would be fun!

I’m off to read, pack and organize my life. See you in the morning!

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Circa 4th Grade

jenna — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:58:57 +0000

hi friends! Thank you all SO MUCH for all the sweet, encouraging and inspiring comments on my previous post. Y’all really know how to make me smile!

Sorry for the bit of blog headache this morning!! We’ve had some server issues but hopefully everything is back in the clear now. I feel like this little (big) blog is roaming around cyberspace looking for a home big enough for it.

Other than blog headaches, things are going well! Yoga was awesome…the music was amazinggggg this morning. I don’t know if y’all know this random fact about me, but I was a dancer for many, many years. Dance team at school…. pointe shoes, ballet and jazz on the side. Because of this, music totally moves me. Totally made the whole class. And I had a heart to heart with Jen, my instructor, as well. Yoga just moves us to open our hearts in more ways than one I suppose!

For lunch I had a turkey, hummus and provolone sandwich on a whole wheat Arnold sandwich thin with cucumber, carrots and a fruit strip. I felt like this was such an elementary school kid lunch with my “dessert”!

There may or may not have been a little bit of digging into the chip bag

Okay, I seriously cannot keep these in the house anymore…..they are SO addicting!!!!

***

Sarah and Jessica are picking me up in a little over an hour and we are heading to Orlando for the Deeper Still conference! I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I feel like Beth Moore played such a huge role in my faith last year and seeing her live with thousands of other strong Christian women is going to be amazing. Plus, it’s always nice to get out of town with your girlfriends….even for just a night.

Going to try to blog tonight from my hotel room….taking my airport card since we all remember how Jenna’s ethernet plug does not work after The Healthy Living Summit last month and I was forced to blog from the hotel lobby late at night. Hah

Enjoy your Friday!

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Dave Wins Again

jenna — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:42:14 +0000

Hello hello

Gosh darnit, every time I tell myself I’ll just “take it easy” and do a Dave Farmar power vinyasa podcast at home, it always ends up totally kicking my booty. Thanks for that, Dave! This morning I did his latest—a 60 minute flow. Threw some of my favorite sequence—warrior three to floating half moon to revolved half moon to dancer—in there as well so I guess it’s mainly my fault that my behind is so sore right now.

After yoga, I slammed down some greeeeens!

And had a few crackers with the most amazing cheese product ever!

A big thank you to Alouette for sending me some samples for the blog. This stuff rocks and we all know how much Jenna loves her brie

Lunch was random as usual but delicious nonetheless

A morningstar farms black bean burger on an Arnold sandwich thin with provolone, hummus and hot sauce….and a big mound of baby carrots with peanut butter. Hey, it works!

Gotta get back to work here and then heading to the studio from 4-8 again. Hope you have a marvelous Thursday!

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