As promised at the end of my last post about the Raw Sweet ‘N Tangy Chickenless Chicken Salad, this post is starting off with one of my favorites things…yoga. And more specifically, a new yoga mat!
Imagine my delight when The Bolder Mat Company sent me a new yoga mat! I was like a toddler on Christmas morning about to break into a new toy. What a beautiful mat! It’s definitely the prettiest mat I’ve ever had and I’ve had alot.
It’s nice-n-thick, making it perfect for me because I do ashtanga and do alot of jumpbacks, arm balances, and crazy stuff which is better suited to a thicker mat. Also, my mat has to be sticky. There is nothing worse than slippin’ and slidin’ around your mat. This one delivered on both thickness and stickiness. Yay, two thumbs up!
Please indulge me for a second before I give you pics of me doing yoga…
Destiny…a fluffy word that I believe is overused and certainly screams crystals and new age. Not a word I use often, but I am using it now. I believe that this yoga mat was destined to come into my life.
Why? Well for starters, my tattoos match the mat in 3 places, of course.
See the Om Tattoo on my foot matches the Om on the Mat. Please don’t hold the lack of a recent pedicure against me.
Sidebar time: Everyone asks me two questions about that tattoo. First, “Did it hurt?” Yes, but it was over in 15 minutes, really not a big deal. Secondly, I am asked, “Well what does it mean?” Depending on the person, I either tell them “Oh, nothing, I was drunk when I got it” OR “It’s just a yoga thing” OR “Peace and enlightenment”. Usually I feel the need to explain very little to random strangers who think it’s ok to suddenly become my BFF and ask me all kinds of nosey questions, so I just say it’s a peace symbol. But you can read all about Om here, or here, or here.
Moving right along, here Fishey fishey. Well I’ve got a fishey fishey tattoo on my stomach. Since my close-up self-portraits of my stomach were super blurry, I happily omited that tat pic.
Armband tattoo self-portrait was a little bettter.
But this is much prettier.
So now that you know I match the mat…ahhh, destiny… It’s back to your regularly scheduled yoga programming. On the new mat!
Standing Half-Bound Lotus. Left foot up in lotus, left arm wraps around your back and grabs your left foot, and then….
You fold over. This is Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana (Half Bound Lotus Standing Forward Bend). The new mat was nice-n-sticky. No slippage from my sweaty hand.
Another cool thing about it was the placement of the Om symbol and also the fish’es eyeball. Depending on what pose I was doing, those two landmarks provided nice Drishti‘s, aka gazing or focal points.
Here’s the Tip of the Day: When you’re doing any kind of balancing posture in yoga, quit lookin’ around to see what everyone else is doing! Well, you really shouldn’t ever be a lookey lou, but especially when you’re trying to balance. Pick a spot on the wall, a dot on the ceiling, the tag piece of lint on your neighbor’s shirt, whatever it is, find your spot, your drishti, gaze there, and hold. It will make finding and maintaining your balance a whole lot easier.
Marichyasana B
Urdhva Dhanurasana, aka Full BackBend. Couple things, try not to let your feet splay out like duck feet. And imagine that someone is pushing downward, from above, on your hips and stomach pelvic region. It will force you to keep opening up your heart and chest, while deepening your backbend. Always do a counter pose like child’s or a foward bend after any kind of backbend.
And with that, it’s time to go eat my friends!
But before I sign off, I’d love to hear what your most indispensible piece of workout equipment is? Mine is either my running shoes or my yoga mat. Toss up I think. What’s yours?
:)
Averie
Наверное, 1й увиденный мной блог, где в комментариях перевелись спама
I know this is an older post – but i just found your blog and really wanted to comment on the coffee topic! I didn't drink it at all while i was pregnant b/c i had no desire at all for it. but immediatley after giving birth, i wanted it badly… not only the taste (which i adore!) but the routine, the warm cup in the morning, the smell, everything about it. I tried to sub with hot tea – ekkk. i have never cared for hot tea and tried desperately to like it but after a few weeks still didn't. i went back to organic fair trade coffee sweetened with stevia or agave and cream w/ vanilla hemp milk. delish!
recently, i decided to try teeccino because it smelled amazing in the bag and i am hoping to reach a more alkaline state (but am now wondering about coffees effect since reading your post on this – yah!). Anyway – Oh my – i didn't like it… at all. i tried doing it for a week – it was a no go. I was disappointed! i wanted so badly to like it haha. When i make a larger pot of coffee on the weekends, I sub one scoop of coffee with teeccino in hopes that i will adjust (and maybe even start to like?) to the flavor slowly… well see (can you tell i'm having my doubts?). Until then, I'm still on coffee and try not to be too hard on myself for those two small cups each morning.
Glad you enjoyed your cookie ~ yum for the cinnamon addition!
I won't go over the coffee thing, because Kristen's said it all :) However I am one who likes the moment of drinking it, and I feel that the sitting down and taking a time out for myself to just be probably has just as many health benefits as just should-ing all over myself but not drinking coffee would have. I once read that part of the reason Europeans have good health is that they make time to sit for dinner and connect with friends and family over the table, and I like to imagine that my daily cup of joe is similar in effect!
I also guess when my body no longer needs or wants it, it'll let me know. We just have to check in with ourselves and listen every so often :)
Kristin keep the long comments comin', baby!
It's such a conundrum. I seriously don't know what to do because I do love the taste, feeling, warmth, and whole coffee experience. Tea…well, it's ok, but it's not my thang when I really want, well, coffee.
TeeCino..they use barley in all of their herbal coffees and I am gluten intolerant and am GF (barley is a gluten grain) so that's out. I soooo wished that Teecino would work for me. Sigh. Can't do gluten though. I can do oats b/c there is only trace gluten or I get GF oats but no way jose on barley :(
Anyway though, I have tried to cut back but just try to go with the "everything in moderation" vibe.
And yes, the brekky cookie with my Sun Warrior is so yummy! I just made it with chocolate Sun Warrior today, too. Also, delish.
Thanks for stopping by and becoming a follower!!!!
That cookie sounds interesting! I'm a fan of Sun Warrior's protein so it must be darn good! :)
Coffee… It's not a part of my life anymore, except for rare occasions that I have 1/2 cup or a few sips (from someone else's cup – regular or decaf). I try to keep it organic and fair trade. However, I usually stick to teeccino because it's not acidic, rather it's alkaline. So, the comment from that person is interesting about coffee and the acidity.
Here, from Teeccino's website, is a list of possible problems with coffee (reg and decaf) https://www.teeccino.com/caffeineeffects.aspx
I also found this on their website:
"What makes coffee and tea so acidic in the body?"
—–
Coffee is highly acidic to the body due to its content of over 208 acids. The acids in coffee, not all of which have even been identified, are highly irritating to the stomach and intestinal lining. Coffee stimulates an increased production of gastric acid leading to a variety of digestive ailments. Decaf has the same or even stronger effect because the beans used to produce decaf coffee are usually more highly acidic than regular coffee beans.
Caffeine is also a contributing factor to the reason why both coffee and tea have an acidic effect in the body. Caffeine belongs to a group of chemicals called xanthines. Caffeine has to be detoxified in the liver and its metabolites, methylxanthine, methyluric acid and uric acid, are excreted by the kidneys in the urine. If the diet is over-acidic and the kidneys are not able to keep up with processing acids, these acids can contribute to a build up of acidity in the body.
Studies have shown that coffee can reduce the pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter, which normally prevents the reflux of the acid contents of the stomach from going back up into the esophagus. Since this effect is produced by both coffee and decaf coffee, it is not just the caffeine in coffee that contributes to heartburn, acid reflux, and GERDS.
——-
I'm a woman who says that balance is important and there's no need to stress if you want a cup of coffee once in a while, eh? I'm not a fan of having it daily, but I sure would like to sometimes. haha! I do love the ritual, but teeccino has been good to my husband and me in that respect. And, I broke my addiction to caffeine and I don't ever want to go back. Those were rough times I tell ya! ;)
OK, this must be the longest comment I've ever left on someone's blog… my bad! ;) :)
XOXO,
Kristen
I'm envious of your backbend!
I have always been intimidated by Ashtanga, but maybe I'll give it a try.
I like coffee, but it doesn't like me:)
I just recently made a breakfast cookie using quinoa flakes and it was pretty tasty! Yours looks really good!
Cookie looks drool-worthy! Thanks!
Deb
Mmm That breakfast cookie looks delicious!
RAWsome! I'm SO glad you tried this and loved it, Averie! I just knew you would! It might not be green, but it's an overnight breakfast cookie and that's what counts! (And thanks so much for linking to me!!) :-)
Wow, those yoga poses you do are amazing! I'm gonna have to dig a little deeper to find my bandhas and be able to do that!
And… coffee? I've had a weird battle with coffee. Sometimes I want it; sometimes I don't. The kind I love most is organic and I can't afford to keep it on hand, really.
I love the info you added about the acidity. I think that confuses a lot of people and it's great that you clarified for them.
:-D
Michele
I found your blog through HEAB's and I'm so glad I did! You're incredibly fit – I would love to have the balance and core strength that you do. Is Ashtanga a form of power yoga? I've never taken a good yoga class before (the 2 I have taken we just sat there and meditated the whole time) but I'd love to get into it.
Your little girl is so cute!!
Diana, I'm gonna go trolling your blog for past cookie sensations and concoctions. Yum! And yeah as far as coffee goes, you only live once and since the coffee company man (totally unbiased source:)) said it's ok, let's just live ignorantly in our coffee bliss and enjoy the 'joe.
Gina, thank you for stoppin' by and thanks for always rockin out awesome eats on your bloggie! Woo hoo right on back to you chica!
whoo hoo!! i'm so glad you liked it! thanks for the shout out mama cita!
Thanks for the shout-out! Interesting comments from the coffee maker. ;) So I guess I can feel even less bad about drinking a little joe each day? Sounds good to me.
Oh and the Fitnessista b'fast cookie is a classic – I have so many variations on that which I sadly hardly ever make anymore, but I think the best combo I ever made was actually avocado-pumpkin! Sounds weird, tastes amazing. :)