What I learned at the movies...

I woke up in the morning on Sunday and had a hankering for movie theater popcorn and declared, "I wanna go to the movies!" to JeremyCooksDinner. Luckily, he agreed and we went to see Django Unchained.

It was great! Really, it was the first movie I had seen in a long time that I absolutely loved from start to finish... Though I will admit I had a hard time laughing at a lot of the jokes.

Anyway, it was a good time. Fun was had by all and I got to have soda and popcorn and Sour Patch Kids.

*drooooool*

One thing: My "small" soda wasn't very small and it's really a small wonder that Mayor Bloomberg has decided to get rid of extra large drinks. Seriously, it's ridiculous.

But I digress...

...though I'm about to digress a little further and say something that most people who live in disgusting cities can understand.

Lesson three: Yoga makes it so you really don't have to touch a damn thing in the bathroom. Hovering is an art form improved only by high lunges and half moons. So, go forth and Warrior 3 because you shan't regret it in a movie theater's bathroom!

Amen.

Real post to come tomorrow. 

The New Face Plant

Ahhhh, the face plant. A regular occurrence in my daily life obtained by tripping up the stairs or on a crack in the sidewalk or as a result of absolutely nothing. Throughout the entirety of my life, I have become accustomed to tripping and falling, so why should yoga be any different?

In fact, my second lesson is: There is absolutely nothing wrong with falling... Flat on your face, flat on your ass, flat on your shoulder, or on any other part of you. Right?...(right?)

In all seriousness (the antithesis of this blog), you will fall in yoga. And you will fall often. So, get used to it. Think of it as learning to walk...just on your hands or your head.

Which brings me to Crow Pose.

This is what it looks like: http://yoga.about.com/od/yogaposes/a/crow.htm

Usually, when I do it, my face ends up on the floor, nose smushed, neck twisted oddly to the right. But today I was able
to hover for about half a second. A great feat if I do say so myself.

How did I do it? I took my time and stopped being afraid of falling over. So, instead of pushing off with my feet and 
being super tense about getting it right without falling, I was relaxed and focused. As a result, there was a result (any result)!

First squat with your knees splayed out, like you're about to bounce around like a cute little froggie.  Then, put your 
hands firmly on the floor in front of you, below your shoulders. 

Next, lift up a little onto the balls of your feet and rest your knees on the backs of your arms a little bit.

Finally, ROLL forward onto your hands. Do NOT push of with your feet, just roll. Seriously, it'll work.

But only after you can do several sets of push-ups. And fall over ten times. And have little knee shaped bruises on the backs of your arms. 

But have patience. And take a lot of breaks between attempts. You'll get it. I almost did. 

:)

The Origin of Yogurt

Hello world. If you're looking for a serious blog, you won't find it here. The purpose of this is to keep track and share what I have learned in my fairly new yoga practice. I am by no means an expert and actually enjoy yoga very much but will not allow this blog to be read in a serious tone. I love fun too much. And, hell, I think I'm funny. So, if you're still reading at this point you're probably of the same mind as me. And, so, welcome to my diary.

Yogurt?

Yes, yogurt. This is the name my boyfriend, JeremyCooksDinner, and I have fondly given to my yoga practice.  I may throw it in there every now and again, so I just wanted to ensure that you all were on board with my terminology.

So, my story, if you're interested:

I thought about doing yoga for years. I thought and thought and thought, and I never actually did it. That is until my friend, YumVeggieBurger, and her roommate told me about a local yoga studio that had some really easy, great, super awesome yoga classes. There was a LivingSocial Deal and the planets all aligned. This was in September of 2012.

I took my first class: a very gentle vinyasa flow and mostly restorative yoga class with a wonderful teacher. I was terrified going in. Coming out, I was a total addict. Seriously. Totally. Obsessed.

I started going 3-4 times a week and buying unlimited memberships and thinking about the lightness, the strength, and the utter elation I would feel after class all the freaking time. So, I started doing some at home and before I knew it, less than five months later I was almost doing head stands and crow poses.

So, with all that in mind, the purpose of this blog is to document this awesome new part of my life and share some of the things I'm learning as often as possible and as long as I can articulate everything properly.

My first lesson on yoga: It is impossible to know if you can do a yoga pose until you try it. And even more impossible to universally describe how to do it in a way that makes sense to everyone. So, stop being a baby and try a pose that you look at and think, "Oh, hell no. I could never do that." You might surprise yourself.

Enjoy!

Whoa... Did I get serious there?