Pincha Mayurasana = Pinched Nerve

Is it me, or is the similarity between the two names a little too close?

Pincha Mayurasana, Feathered Peacock Pose, has been my everest for 7 years. A few weeks ago, I went to a class in San Luis Obispo. I've always been underwhelmed with SLO yoga. It was always a little too slow for me, too boring. But in January, I read a teacher's bio and was intrigued. I went to his class. And he was awesome. It was a slower paced class, but completely challenging. The peak pose that he chose happened to be my everest. I don't know if I fnaly reached a point in my practice where it made sense. But between the way that he described it (bring your shoulders into your back, then melt your heart down) and the fact that I had Ryan's voice in the back of my head a few days eariler ("you know, in handstand, you're not quite straight...I think you need to bring your legs further over") - well, it finally clicked. And I held it for 6.5 seconds. And a week later, at home, i did it for 13 seconds. I ran to the phone and squealed into it as Ryan picked up. He was a block away from home, so I made him count as soon as he got in the door. I held that sucker for 23 seconds! I was one excited girl.

I've been practicing it since then. This last Saturday, I got a little over-zealous in practicing. And I pinched a nerve. My shoulder, neck, and trapezious have been a wreck for the last two days. I find it soooooooo amusing that the sanskrit name sounds so close to "pinched."

And yet, through all this pain, I can't wait to start practicing it again.

A desciption of how to get into the pose, courtesy of Yoga Journal:
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/1711

I Need a Name

I've been a horrible blogger lately.  And since we don't yet have kids, I thought I'd try turning our blog into something that is consuming me right now.  Last weekend I finished up yoga teacher training!  Fully certified!  I started teaching two classes / week on February 1st.  Starting next week, I'm adding a third night / week.  All vinyasa flow classes right now.  In March and April I'll be getting my aerial teacher training certification.  It's an exciting new chapter in my life!

What's not exciting?  "Nikki's Yoga Blog."
I need ideas... :)

Mike & Natarajasana

My brother-in-law's first foray into yoga.

YTT...

I think I might have to officially change this to my yoga blog, because yoga is about to consume my life very quickly.  (Harr, harr, I hear ya...it already has!)  I've been assisting Tuesday night aerial classes since May.  I help do adjustments, massages, and all around assistance to students in class, while the yoga studio owner teaches.  It's given me a really good idea that I LOVE it.  I've been wrestling with a long time now on if I wanted to try to teach yoga.  This gave me the lightening bolt that I needed.

Last Friday, I signed up for a yoga teacher training certification, starting in September.  I go for a week in September, and then I go for long weekends once a month until February.  At the end of February, I'll be certified with my 200 hours of yoga teacher training.  Around March, I'll take a week of aerial yoga teacher training, and then I'll be good to go!

I feel like a weight has been lifted off me.  I suppose it's something that was weighing heavily on my mind.  I'm scared to freaking death about jumping out of my comfort zone.  I'm the wallflower who sits at the back of the class - not teaches it!  Going away for a week, staying at a yoga place, eating almost-vegan meals all week, starting the day at 6 am by meditating for almost 2 hours, ending at 8 pm...I kid you not, this is the schedule and information I got from my registration confirmation emails.  I keep thinking about that part in Eat Pray Love where Elizabeth Gilbert tries to meditate at the ashram, and what seems like an hour ends up only being one minute.

I'm relieved that a fellow yogi from the aerial yoga studio has signed up and will be going through this journey with me.  It will be so much easier to have a friend!

The yoga studio owner had me end last night's class, by leading the three ohm's at the end of class.  She gave me about 30 seconds prior notice (which I think is a really good thing).  It took me about 7 - 10 seconds too long to find my voice and get the words going.  But, for my first time doing it, it wasn't too painful. 

Beautiful

The hopeless romantic in me absolutely loves this picture, and the story that goes with it.

Exclusive new photos of Vancouver's 'riot couple' show what happened before the kiss

Aerial Photo Shoot

Well, the only people that follow my blog are also on Facebook.  So you all have seen this already.  But I thought I'd post anyways, for the future.  Last Sunday, June 12, I took part in a photo shoot for The Yoga Studio in Campbell.  It was normal yoga & aerial yoga postures.  These pictures will be used for The Yoga Studio's website, marketing materials, and a mural.

It took a lot of branching out for me...I had to crawl out of my-super-shy-in-large-situations and I-hate-pictures-of-me shell.  I ended up having a blast and enjoyed everyone that I met.  Here are some highlights from the shoot.  These pictures are raw/unedited.

I've started assisting the teacher with adjustments and massages on Tuesday nights at 7:30.  It's giving me a good idea that I think I may want to get my teaching certification.  Who wants to come play?

Two Adorable Kiddie Videos

Both make my heart smile in different ways.  The Star Wars one had me at "the shiny guy always worries" and "Obi Kanobi."  The French one had me at "crocodille."

Star Wars according to a 3 year old:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBM854BTGL0&feature=share

Babe Hippo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17tRz8XDmKM&feature=player_embedded

Epilating

Wowee.  My leg hair lately has been ca-raz-y.  I don't know what it is, but it is driving.me.nuts.  Waxing works really well, but waxing my legs is pretty much out of the question - there is absolutely no way I can let my leg hair grow out that long for that length of time.  I probably would get an eye twitch and an ulcer from it.  My 5-blade razor isn't up to snuff and I'm left wondering when I turned into an ape.  And then I learned about epilating.

My friend Wikipedia describes epilating as follows: An epilator is an electrical device used to remove hair by mechanically grasping multiple hairs simultaneously and pulling them out [at the roots]. The way in which epilators pull out hair is similar to waxing, although unlike waxing, they do not remove cells from the epithelium of the epidermis. 

What had me sold in my research was multiple reviews stating that it would work even if your leg hair was only a day long.  Fast forward to last Thursday, when my epilator came in the mail (by the way, I LOVE YOU Amazon.com...40% off, no taxes and free shipping).  Hearing that the first time is painful, especially if you have coarse hair (me = Italian), I took 2 shots of limoncello before trying it out.  Just enough to feel a little warm inside.  I found that it didn't hurt that much, but it sure as hell didn't feel good either.  Ultimately, completely bearable.

Round 2 was tonight (your hair apparently goes in 3 cycles, so the first few times you have to do it every few days, which eventually turns into weeks).  I decided that since it wasn't that bad, I'd brave it stone cold sober.  Arg.  2/3 of a leg later, and I was at the freezer pulling the limoncello out.  And let me tell you, it made a difference.

Hopefully, over the next few months, I can de-hair my legs without needing alcohol involved.  (For those of you that choose not to resort to alcohol to get rid of the hair on your legs, I read that taking two Advil also works nicely).  All that being said, my legs look so much better.