I took a few days off of doing yoga again. I was EXHAUSTED after taking my son to his EEG appointment on Thursday last week and getting very little sleep, so I just rested on Friday, and then I had a super busy weekend. So now, it’s Monday, and I’m going to start Week 3 of Beachbody’s 3-Week Yoga Retreat today.
After taking those few days off, let me tell you… I can feel it in my back. My lower back has been killing me for the past 2 days and it hasn’t felt like this since before I started doing yoga. That’s some good motivation to make sure I’m doing yoga (or maybe even some other workouts) daily so that my back doesn’t tighten back up. So I’m looking forward to doing tonight’s video and hopefully I’ll feel better afterwards!
P.S. I also decided to skip Week 2, Day 7, because I just couldn’t make the 3 videos work today. It’s also my first day of school, so I’m getting to this pretty late as it is because I went through some of the orientation for my classes right after work. I’m excited to get back into that, too! 🙂
Before 3-Week Yoga Retreat, Day 1 – Core: It’s 8:55 p.m. I’m feeling pretty sleepy. I could really use some Energize (one of Beachbody’s Performance drinks), but I want to get to bed before 4 a.m. tonight, so probably a good idea to stay away from any energizing drinks since it’s already so late. As I said above, my lower back is really hurting. I’m already expecting that I’ll have to modify some of the moves, but I also expect that some of the other moves will help. My back is just so tight right now! I’m also feeling sort of an anxious energy at the moment, so I’m ready to not sit in this chair anymore. haha.
WORKOUT TOOLS:
1. Yoga mat. Yoga is really, really difficult to do without a mat because it’s much harder to stabilize yourself and hold the poses without one. If you don’t have one, I really recommend getting one.
2. Optional yoga block. This is handy to have if you aren’t flexible or have poor balance and could use the extra support. I don’t have one and it’s definitely not required.
3. Towel or resistance band. You only need this if your upper body is tight and you are unable to clasp your hands behind or above you. The band or towel just gives you some extra room while still allowing you to get a good stretch!
After 3-Week Yoga Retreat, Day 1 – Core: That was like the most perfect video I could’ve done tonight, and as I suspected, it did help my back. It feels better. We did some different moves today than we’ve done in the past, and as we went through them, I could feel my hips and back “pop.” Doing this video definitely helped to loosen them up. I still feel some pain but it’s much more dull and my back doesn’t feel like it’s pinching me now.
What I will say though, is that we did a lot of very shoulder-intense moves, so I’m probably going to have some shoulder pain tomorrow and/or the day after, but hopefully the moves will end up strengthening the muscles in that area, too. I also modified most of the moves due to my back pain, so that helped my shoulders a bit, too.
Each week, I’ve been using a different photo for the featured image. The other two have been about breathing, which is super important when it comes to yoga (remembering to breathe throughout each pose). One of the things I’ve loved most about yoga is it has trained me to be able to breathe more deeply, more regularly. The final week’s image is mindfulness, which is one of the other things I love most about yoga. Part of the experience is to go within yourself and be in the moment and mindful of how your body and mind are feeling, where you are with your emotions, if there’s anything you need to let go of that’s holding you back, etc. Doing this is particularly important if you’re going through a stressful time or feeling a lot of anxiety or sadness or anger or really any emotion that is difficult to feel. Letting yourself sit with those emotions and then freely let them go is how you move on from them, and yoga is something that really aids in being able to do that. So mindfulness is an important benefit of yoga.
I honestly wish I’d have time to still do yoga every day when I start the next program. After this week, I definitely need to do something a bit more intense for a while to tone and strengthen more quickly, but I’m going to miss it. The kids and I have just started school, so unfortunately, doing yoga on top of another program is unrealistic for my schedule. I’ll be coming back to it, though, once I reach my toning goals, and probably sometimes in between when I need a lighter workout. 🙂
With that said, I’ll definitely be making time to do yoga tomorrow, because I feel noticeably better afterward than I have during the last few days. My back feels better, my body feels great overall, and I just feel generally uplifted right now. I’m also still sleepy, which bodes well for me being able to get to sleep tonight!
Check back tomorrow if you’d like to read my thoughts on Day 2 – Stretch!
April Kolesar
Independent Beachbody Coach