Currently; May 2018

Hi friends!!! I'm baaaack! (For now anyway) 

And I'm currently reading...

I went on an audiobook binge in April - I "read" Little Fires Everywhere, Ready Player One, The Language of Flowers, and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. They were all good. I enjoyed them tremendously, but the last one had something that the others did not. I can't quite explain it. I'm sure if Eleanor were real and I interacted with her in person I would not like her, but I felt very connected to her as I was reading the book. I started reading Kindred a little while back - actually reading it, not listening to it. I started it back up in Hawaii. Still enjoying it, but its hard to get down time with a little child around. Now that life has calmed down a bit (just a bit), I'd like to get back to it.

a day in the life... of a toddler toting working mom

I decided to document a Wednesday for this, which - along with with Tuesday - is one of our toughest days. Those are the days I teach yoga and then Joe comes to the office with me and I have no one to help me with him. Maybe next time I'll document one of our easier days.
Here goes...

from power to prenatal; transitioning my yoga practice

You guys know me a little bit, right?

I'm a fitness fanatic and I like to push myself to the limit. I think I've briefly mentioned this is some of my posts lately, but the transition from my former to current yoga practice has been tough - not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. It's hard to go from your personal limit - where the line is usually in your head because 9 times out of 10 you ARE strong enough to finish this set - to your pregnancy limit - where your body says "Nope, sorry dude." and you actually need to listen because otherwise your body will crap out and really, you don't want your body making that decision for you when you're 7 or 8 months pregnant.

Working out so hard that you pass out or throw up is not really an option at that point. Not that that's comfortable in any situation. I've only worked out that hard once and I immediately regretted it, but going from a super active and fit person to someone who goes on walks, gets winded walking up stairs, does prenatal yoga, and dances with an Xbox in her living room... has been a challenge.

Despite wanting to push myself to my former limits, my body just won't do that anymore. Now that my belly is actually starting to get in the way during yoga, I thought I'd take some time to document how my practice has changed and why...

Here are some of the ways I've had to adjust my yoga practice to accommodate for this little person.

Take a wide stance
...in everything.

Forward fold - I cannot fold forward with my feet together or even hip distance apart anymore. The belly will not allow, so I take my feet wide apart so there is room between my legs for my bump and I can still get a good stretch in my hammys.

Don't be afraid to step off the mat. I did this for the first time about two weeks ago. I've been doing this modified twist for months, but just recently I had to step my front foot off the mat so my belly didn't get squished by my thigh. I was surprised, but it happened and that was that. Now my front foot is nearly always off the mat in this pose.

No more headstands (at least until this extra weight stops throwing off my balance and compressing my spine). I've been doing handstands and supported shoulder stands when I feel like I need to invert. I can't do regular shoulder stand either because it's too difficult to breathe.