I haven’t talked much about it here, (as opposed to my Facebook and Instagram accounts) but I’m on a serious handstand mission. I’ve never in my life been able to hold a handstand, but I’ve also never put any focus and work into it. I started about a month ago trying to understand what needs to happen in my body to be able to hold that ish for more than half a second. I’ve enlisted the help of several of my yogi/gymnast buds to give me some drills and tips and while those have certainly helped a ton, I’m also realizing that a big part of my problem is not having the shoulder strength and mobility necessary to stay up there. I’ve needed some “handstand cross-training” so I’ve been using my TRX Suspension Trainer to work on it. Check out the video of the exercises, then check out the rationale, volume suggestions, and notes for your own workout below: [Read more…]
Healthy Living Blog Tour of Cleveland: Day 1
Fitness + Travel… this is essentially my life.
It took me about 12 attempts to get this hotel window selfie… I hope you appreciate it.
I travel frequently all over the country for work, and probably go to Ohio every other month. I’d only been to Cleveland once before, but hadn’t really experienced much of the city. I was really excited when Positively Cleveland, the city’s visitor bureau, invited me up for a Healthy Living Tour, hosted by Cleveland health blogger, Alicia H., of Poise in Parma. It’s awesome that Positively Cleveland has a website that not only lists museums, restaurants, and the usual city guide info, but also lists its upcoming running and cycling race schedule, trail maps and national park information. They’re not just trying to “entertain” you while you’re in town. They’re trying to introduce you to all the ways the city can keep you active and outdoors, two things that are truly my jam.
Traveling all over has it’s obvious advantages, but one of the hardest things about being on the road frequently is keeping up healthy habits. When you’re out of town and off your normal routine, workouts tend to get pushed to the back burner and finding restaurants that offer healthy options can be hard to come by if you aren’t familiar with the area. There’s so much listed, it actually seemed like a daunting task to narrow it down. I’m so grateful Alicia put together such a kickass weekend for the two of us. Here’s what went down:
When I pulled into town last Friday night, I checked into my room at Aloft Cleveland Downtown. I’ve spent my fair share of nights in hotels all over the world and the things I love most, simplicity, comfort, and productive design, were all included in this stay. I had an awesome bed, a great view while working at the desk (complete with all the outlets I needed for my various electronics), and a great group fitness schedule in the hotel’s gym. While my schedule was too packed to take advantage of any classes there, I love any hotel that provides their visitors with several options to keep consistent with their workouts! Taking advantage of group classes is a great way to get your workout in without having to think about what you’re going to do, wonder if you’re doing it correctly, or being tempted to stop too early.
After freshening up in my room, I headed about 15 minutes southeast of downtown to meet up with Alicia and take her Friday evening Vinyasa yoga class at Evolution Yoga. After the 5 hour drive, my body was ready to loosen up and it felt great to keep things mellow in mood, but challenging, physically. Alicia taught a great flow and the hour flew by. We even got to rock out some fun inversions. I suck at inversions, but I’m trying to hold a handstand for more than .5 seconds so any practice helps…
Next on the schedule was dinner, as we were both ravenous by this point in the evening. The restaurant was located in Eton Chagrin, a boutique shopping center not far away that includes Apple, The North Face, Anthropologie, and Lululemon. Danger! I was able to keep myself out of Anthro, but we did make a quick pit stop at lululemon, because some things just can’t be helped…
Alicia raved about the gloriousness that was Paladar Latin Kitchen and Rum Bar, and so that was our destination for the evening. After having a delicious guacamole appetizer with chips of tortilla, yucca, plantain, and malanga, I ordered the Blackened Fish Tacos with a cilantro adobo sauce that made me completely thankful for my sense of taste. Overall it was a fabulous meal to share with a new friend. It was wonderful to share such an amazing meal and chat up another blogger, dog-lover, and fitness instructor. We could have sat there for far longer, but had a busy day lined up for Saturday… so we clinked our margarita and mojito glasses in toast to a great weekend kickoff and called it a night.
Me, taking a photo of Alicia (and our drinks), taking a photo of me and our drinks. #shitbloggersdo
If you’d like to check out any other part of our tour, search the hashtag #ThisIsCLE and you’ll see our other posts from the weekend on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram… if you didn’t already see us blowing up your feeds. Day 2 is coming soon!
{This post was sponsored by Positively Cleveland. All thoughts/opinions are my own!}
Road-side Yoga
When road tripping, you usually have at least one looooong-ass day where you’re in the car just trying to charge it. Monday was that day for us. We did 12 hours! After a while your ass hurts, your back gets stiff, and you get a little achy all over. We pulled over somewhere in Nebraska for a quick yoga session to get loosened up. Jenn led us through a little yoga flow (’cause besides being the ish, she’s also yoga instructor) and then we did a couple stretches.
Tango Friday
Salutation Nation!
I’m completely and utterly excited that a Lululemon is going to be opening in the Ville soon! Yesssss. Not only do they have amazingly flattering fitness clothing, but they do a ton in the community as well. The company hosts a variety of complimentary classes throughout the year, but they also do Salutation Nation, a once yearly, country-wide yoga class that happens on Saturday, at 9am. So people are gettin’ their down dogs on all over the place, simultaneously. I don’t mean that in the dirty way it sounded… or maybe I do…
Do It All: Hot Yoga
Yoga FAIL.
So I’m taking hot yoga the other day… I’m actually in the process of taking class because it has ALREADY STARTED. A few minutes go by and in walks this lady who I’ll refer to as Rudezilla. Rudy takes a look around the very crowded room to find a space for herself. Instead of taking the only OPEN space in the front of the classroom, right next to the door, she proceeds to walk all around the room looking for a space. A space big enough for her mat. A space that, when you come into hot yoga late, does not exist. Then she comes back over to where she walked in and starts eyeing the space between me and the wall. The three foot space where she’s imagining prying herself into so that she doesn’t have to be in the front row. I immediately cut off her train of thought and point to the HUGE open space in the front row. After she makes the ‘I don’t wanna go there‘ face, she gives in and heads up there. However, she stops short and unfolds her mat. Six INCHES caddy corner, away from mine (do you say caddy-corner or kitty corner?)!!! So not really between me and the side wall, but not in the front row either. She’s practically beside/in front of me. I stared, dumbfounded, for a moment, trying to figure out if she was serious and maybe playing a funny yoga joke on me (yoga people can be funny, right?). Maybe she’s unfolded her mat but hasn’t quite decided on where she wants it to go just yet? Either way, she did nothing else but lay down her 3 towels (3 towels?!), prop her water next to her, and hop into her sun salutations. Are you kidding me?! But I was there to mellow out, so I did my best to ignore her… except for when she almost kicked me during her 3 Legged Down Dog… twice. Whatev.
Doritos and Yoga?!
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