Today I’m catching up with what’s been happening in my life during the last month.
Yoga classes
I’m currently in the midst of scheduling my yoga classes and workshops for 2020. So far I have an intro to yoga available to sign up for. I’ll be adding 3 more classes on Saturday or Sunday mornings starting in January as well, so be sure to sign up for my newsletter if you want to stay in the loop for those. I’ll also be sharing details here on the blog.
Intro to yoga will be a registered 6 week series on Wednesday evenings that will run from January 8 to February 12. No previous yoga experience is needed. I’ll be providing all of the mats and props for the class, so all you’ll need to bring is yourself! It’ll be a great way to get a good idea of what yoga is and what to expect from classes at studios. There will be a maximum of 5 students for this class so it won’t be intimidating in terms of class size.
I’m also meeting up with someone that I did yoga teacher training with last year to see if we’ll be collaborating on any workshops in 2020. I’m really looking forward to discussing ideas with her, so I’ll be sure to share on the blog if and when we have things figured out. I’m really looking forward to what 2020 has in store!
Celebrating my birthday
This year was particularly great when it came to my birthday. I was able to spend time with my favorite people (family and friends) and I felt very loved. I’m usually not a very big birthday person, but for some reason this year it was lots of fun to share my birthday with so many people.
Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of the celebrations, but I’m very glad that I got to spend time with the people that I care about the most – from my dad, brother, and boyfriend to my friends. I’m so grateful that I live in the same city as my immediate family so that I can spend time with them on birthdays and holidays – especially as Christmas and New Year’s is coming up.
Lifting heavier
I know I’ve mentioned it on the blog before, but this month I’ve really made an effort to lift heavier when I’m doing strength training workouts at the gym. It feels so good to be able to put in that extra effort and have it pay off. I’ve been able to use heavier plates on my barbell that I didn’t think I could do previously.
Was it scary to get out of my comfort zone and put some extra weight on for squats or chest press? Absolutely. Is it hard to actually do? Yep. Did I have to rest for one or two reps during my Group Power class instead of doing all of them? Yes, but after a quick rest I was right back at it.
Being willing to go the extra distance and lifting heavier has been a huge mental shift for me too, not just a physical change. There’s something about knowing that I was able to do something that was hard for me that gives me the motivation to go after other things that I think are hard. If I can increase 10% more weight on my hang clean then I can also put myself out there at networking events or anything else that I struggle with that isn’t fitness related.
If you’re considering getting out of your fitness comfort zone – whether that’s using heavier weights like me or increasing your 10K pace, do it! It’ll be well worth the work and it will give you more confidence and motivation in other areas of your life as well.
Embracing yoga philosophy
I’ve been attending yoga teacher training this year. Because I graduated back in March, I’m able to audit the course again and attend any of the sessions that I’m interested in and want to learn more about.
I’ve been to just about all of the anatomy and philosophy lessns so far. Although the content is the same as it was last year, for some reason I’m just absorbing more of the philosophy this time around. While I did go through a big loss just before Christmas last year, and I’m sure that that affected what and how I was able to learn, something is just different this time around.
The things that we’re talking about at teacher training that involve philosophy are just making more sense to me now. I remember asking the teacher last year after a particularly frustrating session why I just wasn’t “getting it”. I couldn’t figure out why I knew the content but it just wasn’t clicking for me.
I think part of it was because I had a background in anatomy from my personal trainer diploma. I had taken university level classes in anatomy, physiology, exercise physiology, and biomechanics. I had a good idea of how the body worked when it came to being active. But the yoga philosophy part of teacher training was brand new to me. Had I heard bits and pieces of it throughout the years in yoga classes? Definitely, but I had never pieced it all together and spent time really understanding it like I did with the anatomy part of teacher training.
Thankfully the philosophy part of yoga is finally starting to make sense to me. Maybe it’s because I’m in a different head space than last year. Maybe it’s because I had to hear about it more than once before I could start to make sense of it. Whatever it was though, I’m very grateful that it’s making more sense to me. I obviously still have a long ways to go in fully understanding yoga, but I’m definitely getting more of it now than I was and I’m feeling a lot less frustrated about it.
What’s been something big in your life in November? Share about it in the comments below.