Taking Yoga Principles off the Mat...

There's a sense of calm you take with you at the end of a yoga class.  Recent studies have shown that yoga helps to calm your nervous system, which is a much needed thing since we are always over stimulating ourselves with the electronic world around us.

This calm and connection gained through yoga has been following me as I leave the studio.  That's the great thing about yoga, all of the skills used in a successful yoga practice can be re-tapped into during our lives outside the studio.

I'm in a life transition right now, looking for postdoc positions and trying to finish my research project.  The hubs and pup might tell you I've been stressed, but it would be so much worse without yoga.  Deep breathing and a little patience has kept me from going a bit crazy.  I've also found that yoga has helped slow my mind so I can process thoughts and feelings better by tuning into how I feel, and how others feel resulting in more empathy.

Although it's a great work out, Yoga traditionally encompasses an expanse of spiritual principles. These small changes in my life only scratch the surface of what yoga can bring into someone's life.  I hope by sharing what yoga brings to my life in the day-to-day will inspire someone to give yoga a try and experience this therapeutic effect as well.

p.s. it's also not about being super flexible, it's about being where your body is and connecting in the moment, so don't let that hold you back.

Post Exercise Ice Bath ...

For the past few years, I've taken an ice bath after a long, hard run.  An ice bath consists of a bathtub filled with cold water and a varying amount of ice. They are taken immediately post exercise and it's recommended that you stay in them for 5-10 minutes.

Well, after hearing some controversy about whether an ice bath is actually beneficial, I decided to do a little investigating of my own.

Here's what I found out.  Taking an ice bath post intense workout will not make your muscle repair any faster from the tears created from the workout.  However,  an ice bath will reduce the physical pain created by DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).

The verdict:  I still take ice bathes so that it eases my pain and so I can get up and move around the following several days without wincing.  I took an "ice bath" after the 18 mile training run this past weekend (which felt really great, by the way).  My pseudo-ice bath was just a bath of cold water from the faucet, and it still did the job.

Don't be afraid to break the mold in sports and life...

Today I came across a commercial I had seen once or twice before, but today it really stuck with me.  Here are a few scenes from the commercial:

Courtesy of Nike

Courtesy of Nike

It's a nike commercial about women in sports.  It's hard to imagine that in my lifetime women have been kept from participating in certain sports.  

We are lucky to have a great women who pushed beyond the barriers to create the world we have now, full of potential for every little girl to do whatever she wants.  The reason this stuck with me so much today, is that I've been thinking about my career.  Women in science faced similar prejudices as women in sports.  My life would be so different if I lived in a culture where women can not participate in sports or science, since they take up the majority of my time.  

So, get out there and be happy that your life can break the mold and be an example of possibility for someone else.  

Fun in the sun ...

Good friends and good times sums up the weekend. We were able to have a lovely day on Lake Monroe with the same friends we went to the zoo with last weekend. Being around friends you've had for so long is comforting, especially since our lives are in such transition right now.

While on the lake, we tubed. I honestly have not tubed since I was a kid, an it was a blast. We were so lucky, since the weather was amazing. Even with SPF 50 I think I still got a heathy dose of vitamin D.

Then, Sunday morning I enjoyed watching the men's olympic marathon with momo and watched the closing ceremonies with Jonah in the pm.
(There's so many events I still need to watch, do its like the Olympics haven't ended yet.)

The adventures this weekend left us (including phil-dog) feeling loved by friends and exhausted from all the fun.

Using the Olympics as fitness motivation ...

As I was out doing a long run on Saturday morning in the oppressive humidity, my mind was grasping for some reason to keep going.  The thought I settled on was the Olympics, and all the incredible athletes who were competing for a once in a life time experience.  If those athletes can put themselves through a lifetime of grueling workouts, then I can make it a few more miles to complete a 15 mile marathon training run.  

From the Denver Post

Watching the fine tuned athletes compete in any olympic event has been very motivating.  Given, I'm no where near an olympic athlete, but I love being active.  Their performances make me want to be better and strive toward a greater goal.  Since I'm a runner the track and field athletes are by far my favorite of the summer games.  

Oscar Pistorius

This last Sunday was the women's marathon!  My friend Morgan did a nice summary on her blog.  We were fortunate, as friends who run marathons together, to watch two friends run a marathon together, Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan.  If the marathon isn't your event, don't worry there are tons of other runners to keep an eye out for motivation from a stunning performance.  

In the 10,000 meters there's Galen Rupp, who got the silver.  The inspirational story of Oscar Pistorius is all over the olympics as a 400 meter runner with prosthetics.  In the hurdles is the ever exciting Lolo Jones, and the decathlon is the world record holder Ashton Eaton.  

Tune into the olympics and get motivated to have a healthy, active life, and to experience some of the greatest competition in the world.