Y.B.I.T

A True Southerner’s Worst Nightmare: Consistent Cold Weather 

It’s winter time and if you are like me, you are hating it and currently sick. No, seriously, this extreme cold to hot back to cold weather has had your girl out for the count. I really haven’t been able to practice how I want to and it has been torture. My mind is moving a million miles per hour and trying to tell me ‘Hey, you aren’t that sick...go on and take a hot yoga class.’ Meanwhile, my body is saying ‘ Hold up, I’m not ready to do anything but sleep and recover.’

So what is a girl to do when she wants to practice yoga but needs to be gentle with her physical self? Two words: Yin Yoga. 

What is Yin Yoga?

Yin Yoga is a slower, gentler and relaxing practice that helps release your body into deeper stretches. The stretches usually focus on the hips, pelvis, lower spine and inner thighs. Poses are usually held for 10 minutes and props such as bolsters, blocks, and straps can be used (Props are life! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!). 

Yin yoga helps calm the mind down, improves joint flexibility and helps reduce stress/anxiety.  For those that know me, my jam is Vinyasa. I love moving fast and exploring my yang side (flowing, moving, connecting my breath) but when I need to slow down and re-center, my ying calls out. I practice Yin yoga when my energy levels need to be preserved and I need to take it down a few notches.

How can I start a Yin Yoga Practice?

Over the next few days, I will share my favorite poses and how to find some focus. I will admit, this practice is harder for me than Vinyasa because I have to force myself to slow down but once I am done, it feels so good.

Do you practice or workout when you are sick? If so let me know! 

* Dusting off the cobwebs* Well hello there! The Yogi Baddie In Training is back! Last time I posted it was around this time last year ( go figure...I bet I was on some new year, new me type stuff. Kind of like how I am now lol). As usual, I know my flaky self so when I say I’m going to try to do better and post consistently on here, there are no guarantees! I do have a lot to share though so maybe I will give it another go :)   

So what has been going on?

Anyways...a lot has happened since I last posted. One of the biggest things that happened in the past year was that I finally became a yoga instructor!! That’s right! I became a RYT-200 in December 2018. I have always wanted to become a teacher and now I am one. Initially, I wanted to blog/document the whole thing but 200-hour teaching training is no joke. Like I was living in No Time, Tx by way of Eat, Sleep, Breath Yoga, Tx.  My new goal for this year is to secure a steady studio class and dive deeper into my practice. More on that journey in future blog posts. 

Cool story...now what?

I have a lot of things to share with you guys. Everything from my yoga teacher training, to what I have learned to my thoughts as a fresh-eyed teacher and forever student. More than anything I want this page to be a resource to all and provide a transparent view of yoga. I’m not saying I know everything (trust me I don’t) but I do want to share what I know and how I feel. 

I have some great things floating around in my head and I’m eager to get them out. Stay tuned, yogis. 

Remember when I said I wasn’t the best at consistently writing on my blog? This is what I meant. I went from day 16 to day 22 on here! Luckily, I’ve been practicing yoga everyday (minus January 9th....dang you Phi Beta Sigma and y’all’s Founders’ Day fun! Lol). Like I said, I’m not going to promise I’ll be writing every day but I will be writing at least once a week.

I recently did a poll to see what type of content folks would like to read about or see on here and the results were pretty clear: More step by step poses and a beginner yoga series! I did a beginner yogi series called #WhereDoIBegin and I was thinking about doing a part 2. Now that my poll results are in, I’ll definitely focusing on those two projects once I’m done with my personal journey practice.

Can I be honest? When I first started my yoga journey I was deathly afraid about doing inversions. My first thought was “I’m not trying to break my neck!”

Fast forward to my current practice today and guess what?

I’m still deathly afraid of inversions! Lol

I think the only difference between then and now is that I’m willing to try. The fear of injuring myself kept me from trying out certain poses until one day I was like “Yolo” and tried to get into a tripod headstand.

Has fear ever held you back from something? A new job? A new love? A new adventure? Don’t let the fear of failing set you back from a new opportunity! This is something I have to remind myself constantly because I HATE the feeling of failure and defeat but in order to grow, you have to take that leap of faith. If you’re reading this now and you’re wondering whether you should go for “it”, you should go for it.

There is a type of strength one must posses when they do yoga. Not entirely all physical strength, but rather mental strength. Each day you attempt your practice, you are mentally preparing yourself for a journey and an adventure. Exploring your body one pose, one breath at a time. It takes a brave soul to leave all their troubles behind for a few minutes. Wherever you are in your practice, whether it be in a beginner state or advanced yogi, be strong. Be courageous. Be you.

As I’m scrolling through my yoga IG account, (@yogibaddieintraing #shamelessplug) I notice all of the people I follow. Since I just started the account it’s not too many folks on my tl but the ones I do follow either have an inspiring practice or have really amazing photos. Many of them are extremely advanced, doing poses I couldn’t even imagine my body getting into. While looking and scrolling down, it had me thinking:

If I was new to yoga this would be intimidating.

I remember at one point (hell some points recently) I began to compare my journey to others and often times get down. Thoughts like “I should be way more flexible by now” and “This person started earlier in yoga and he/she is already doing that intense pose!” would creep into my head. I had to close out the app and remind myself that yoga is much more that striking a pose. It’s a journey. A lifelong journey at that. I like to look at it as an adventure and each day I get on the mat, I plan on setting an intention and conquering it. Whatever that “it” may be.

Take a chill pill

At the end of the day, your practice is just that. YOURS! Don’t focus on anyone else’s but your own. The beauty of yoga is it’s so subjective. It’s up to you how you want your practice to turn out so make the best of it. The worst thing you can do is compare someone else’s path to yours. You have no idea how they got there or what it took to get there. Admire their practice but focus and grow into yours.

It’s January 1st so you know what that means? New Year, New Me! People get so worked up about that saying but I love it. Don’t let the naysayers get you down just because they are yelling “You’re still gonna be doing the same stuff you were last year” or “You aren’t going to change.” If change is on your heart, I’m rooting for you. Whatever you want to accomplish in the new year, go for it!

I have tons of things I want to accomplish but I’ll just share the yoga ones:

- Become a certified yoga instructor

- Learn how to do more advanced poses

- Master the forearm headstand (As basic as that pose is, I don’t know how to do it)

- Practice 3-4 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes

- Invest more time in my yoga blog and grow my follower account on here and my IG account.

- Become more health and body concious

- Set intentions before each practice so I can focus more

Welp, I made it a whole week and a day of consecutive yoga! Last night I got in late and went straight to sleep so I broke my streak. #BOOOOOOO

But hey, I at least I tried. And more importantly, I came back to my mat the next day so I’m moving on along just fine! I think Day 9’s theme is dust off and tonight’s theme is try again. Sometimes you are going to fail but it’s a matter of how you respond to your failure that shows your true character. You can either be defeated or determined. I will always choose the latter.

Each day that I do my yoga practice, I find myself getting back to where I once was. There was a period of time in my life when I would be practicing yoga 3-5 times a week! I genuinely miss those days. I guess the saying is true: You make time for what you want to make time for. In my case, I have not been making time for yoga like I did in the past. This 30-day challenge is motivating to get back to my old ways and something about this time is different. I want this to be a lifestyle change, not a temporary one. I want this to be engrained in me. Kind of like how you don’t skip out on eating, drinking, breathing...I don’t want to skip a beat with yoga. I want my practice to be second nature. 

Memory Lane

Sure yoga has been a part of my life since 2012 but it’s always on and off. For a few months, I’ll be on my A-Game and the next months after that, I revert back to a super novice yogi. It’s funny because I’ll look at old photos and videos from time to time just to see my progression and think “Wow, I’ve come a long way” but also think back to when the picture was taken. A lot of times I didn’t see the progress and thought I wasn’t getting any better. Sometimes you have to take a step back and give yourself some credit. When I was consistent, I could get into some serious yoga poses! That’s what I want to work back up to and I will soon. It’s coming.

My Practice Stabilizes Me 

I chose stability for today’s theme because that’s what yoga does for me. It relaxes me, it calms me, it refocuses my negative energy to positive energy. The workout component aside, yoga really does help me align with myself and gives me better clarity. Those few moments on the mat I tend to forget everything and just focus on my breath and body movements without being self-conscious. After my practice, I feel like I can take on the day!

What is your ‘stability’? - I’m curious to know.  

Oh y’all thought I skipped Day 4 huh? Nope! I just forgot to post but trust me, I got my yoga practice in on Friday.

Today (Day 5)

I did a five minute stretch/flow. I just came back from a pole class and I am beat! I had fun though. I don’t want to jinx myself and say “In 2018 I’m going to work out more” because I will say I plan on making a more concious effort to take better care of my body. After all, I am turning 30 and my metabolism isn’t going to stay in tact forever :(. I have to establish better workout and eating habits!

Anyways...here’s to more workout adventures and fun times.

Day 3: Fun 

I decided to set an intention going into the new year. I’ve decided to do 30 days of consecutive yoga. Now typically this is the part where I say “ I suck at doing challenges” and “I never get through these” but then I realized, why speak negativity into this? Instead of automatically feeling defeated before the fight begins, just try. 

So today, Day 1, that is simply what I did: TRY. 

Half of the battle is getting on the mat and being present in the moment. Once you get over that, letting go and doing your own thing gets easier as the days go by. So if you’re struggling to get on the mat or trying to regain your practice groove, just take your time and ease into it all.