Day 16: Sunrise Hot Yoga & Green Juice

Day 16 - CHECK! 

This morning I woke up super early for the 6:45am class.  Let me tell you... this is a challenge in itself.  First of all, its really dark out.  Secondly, its really cold out!  Not a fun combination. But once I hit that hot yoga room... it all seemed okay.  Its really nice to do yoga while the sun is coming up...there seems to be something special about that.  Also, the company in the 6:45am class is so great.  Its always a bunch of hard core hotties, getting their practice in before the week gets crazy.  When class is over and its still so early, you really feel a big accomplishment.  I defintely reccomend it!  

It's a little more difficult on my body taking class that early.  I feel more stiff than normal but my mental clarity when I leave the room is so great.  Starting my week and Monday on a hot yoga high is something else. After class on Monday morning I go on to teach preschool age children.  They are professionals at trying my patience but this morning, they could do no wrong.  I think it had something to do with my euphoric yoga feeling! 

Right after class I had a huge jar of Chocolate Cherry Kale waiting for me.  For lunch I had a green juice!  A little something different today.  

Jaime :) 

Day 15: Class 14 & 15

PHEW!  15 classes in 15 days!  Man, am I glad to be over this hump.  4 classes in the last 2 days was definitely the biggest challenge I think I will ever have to face.  Given my mishap on Thursday and not being able to take class on Friday, I knew this weekend was going to be tough.  I just felt movtivated by this challenge though.  I did not want to get to Day 15 and be behind on a class.  I am so happy to report that I did it!  I made everything up and am right back on track. 

I felt great at the 8am class this morning. I defiitely had energy and my body did not feel as tight as I had expected considering I had taken two classes in a row the day before.  By the time 10:30am rolled around, I was tried.  I got into class though knowing in 90 minutes I would have my 15th class under my belt.  It was definite motivation.  The standing series wasn't terrible but by the time I got to the floor, I wanted to die.  I didn't want to move an inch from my savasana.  I wanted to lie there and take a nap.

In the last few minutes I really started to lose my gusto but then Zach said in a very energetic tone, "just one more pose left."  As soon as I heard that I pepped right up... just one more pose left? I can finish this! 

Its 6pm right now and I am pretty tired but at the same time, I am also very proud of myself.  Its time to rest my body until tomorrow at 6:45am.  That sounds like it is going to come very fast. 

My drink of choice today was Chocolate Almond Butter. I had it in between the two classes and it defintiely helped me through my practice.   

Until tomorrow.... 

Jaime :) 

Day 14: Class 12 & 13

Hey Hotties, 

Its been a couple days since my last blog post!  Day 12 & 13 went haywire!  This challenge has been going well until Thursday (Day 12) happened.  I got in my car 20 minutes before class started to come to the studio and heard a very loud thud as I drove down my street. I got out of the car and this happened: 

WAHHHH - Major flat tire.  Let's go on to say, I grew up on a farm.  I know how to change a tire BUT my cars spare is in the worst place ever.  Its really hard to get to and is not an easy task.  Its a job for the hubby and even he hates it when I get a flat.  It was the 6:45pm class (my last chance to practice for the day) so I was unable to practice on Day 12.  I was so upset about it!  

Day 13, Friday came and I was ready to take the 4:30pm class.  Allison called and said she was really sick (she sounded horrible) and there wasn't any other teacher around to help her out.  At Riverflow we are a little family so of course I was happy to help.  I ended up teaching the 4:30pm class and couldn't take it.  Oh well.  

Today is Saturday, Day 14.  I've got some classes to make up!!  So, I took and taught the 8am class (which ended up being my class 12) and took the 10:30am class right after (my class 13).  I am determined to get caught up and the only way to do it is to take 4 classes and 2 days.  I am halfway there!  Let me tell you, back-to-back classes is HARD!  In the first class, I felt great and was so happy to be back at my practice but by the floor series on my second class I was getting SO tired.  I made it through all 3 hours and only took the second set of Trikonasana off so I was really proud of myself.  I am halfway through my make-up classes.  Tomorrow I will be doing the same thing (YIKES) but will have 15 classes in 15 days by noon tomorrow.  WOW!  What an awesome challenge! 

Even though I missed 2 days of classes, I did not miss my smoothies!  I have been loading up on Chocolate Almond Butter Shakeology and Frozen Pineapple Spinach!  Check back tomorrow to make sure I am still alive!  Haha! 

Jaime :)

Day 7: Hot & Healthy

Hey Hotties!  

Yesterday marked Day 7 of my 30 Day Challenge!  It was an awesome class!  I took and taught the 8am music class which was fun.  I felt really open everywhere.  No tight hamstrings, no tight hips, no pain in my shoulders.  I felt like I was able to go really deep in a lot of my poses.  I was feeling really good!  

Mentally, I felt really clear as well!  Day 7 of my challenge marked Day 1 of our Hot & Healthy Challenge and our kick-off event was happening at 3pm.  I was excited about this all day and maybe that added to the openess of my physical body.  The event was a major success and it was really a pleasure to meet all the participants.  I think we are all looking forward to the next 30 days!  Who knows, I might even take my own challenge to February 7th so I finish at the same time as them! 

As for smoothies... well, I had 3 different kinds today!  Part of the fun of the kick-off event was that I made a few different smoothies for our challengers to try.  I sipped on different ones throughout the day and that was basically my meal until dinner because I had a busy day.  It feels good to know that I am nourishing my body throughout the day even if I am not stopping for an actual meal.  For the challengers I made, Chocolate Cherry Kale, Chocolate Pineapple, and Simple Chocolate Banana.  

Oh, and of course... today was a milestone!  1 week down, 3 to go (if I don't decide to forge on... which I am contemplating).

Jaime :) 

Day 6: Finally Slowing It Down

Day 6 is complete!  Everyday I start to feel better and better.  Today I think I feel the most calm and at peace.  I had many things to accomplish today but never really felt overwhelmed.  Heading to the 4:30 class was a breeze! This challenge is really starting to feel like my lifestyle and not something I have to do.  

Physically, I felt tight in my hamstrings right away (day 2 and 3), then the tightness seemed to move to my hips (day 4 and 5), and today I felt it a bit in the back of my shoulders.  I like this feeling though and I defintely appreciate it.  It feels like the toxins are moving up and out of my body with each deep breath I take.

Mentally, I am really starting to find that clarity and realize that my life does not have to always go at an 100 mile an hour pace!  This was (and still is) a goal of mine to accomplish throughout this challenge.  In December, I was pulled over twice... once for speeding and the second time for careless driving - Yikes, sounds bad, right?  The careless driving was because I was sending an email for work from my iPhone while I was driving .  When I was pulled over the officer thought I was intoxicated.  Intoxicated with happiness maybe? I was on my way home from teaching my Monday night class.  I was honest with the officer and told him why I was swerving so much and I think he might have seen the awakening in my eyes because he let me off.  When I got home that night I had a reality check.  I do not need to multi-task at every second of my day and especially not while Im driving.  Moral of the story, I think I decided that night that I was doing this 30 day challenge. 

As I continue to move forward, I become happier and happier I decided to do this! 

Tomorrow marks Day 1 of the Hot & Healthy Challenge and I am excited to share the fun of a challenge with more people.  There are still spots left if you have been considering signing up!  I am looking forward to Day 7 for me and a kick off party for our challengers.  

I had my chocolate/cherry/kale smoothie for dinner tonight!  Sorry for not being so creative but I just can't get enough of this smoothie!  I want it for breakfast and dinner that is how good it is!  Also, see how often I repeat smoothies??  Less trips to the grocery story and less money out of your pocket if you plan your smoothies correctly.  Enjoy! 

Jaime :)