Sicko Niko

Don't get sick while pregnant.

Pregnancy comes with a crazy amount of mucus in your sinuses already (bleh), and bloody noses (because of all the increased blood flow in your body).  And your immune system is already comprimised.  So, getting a cold is awful.  Beyond the feeling of swallowing a thousand shards of glass, every time I blow my nose I gag (because of the mucus) to the point of throwing up half the time.  It's so glamourous.  All the while, you can't even take a ton of vitamins, cold medicine, and the thought of what they offer as relief (the neti pot) makes me cringe.

Not a happy camper.  This is why I hate the month of January.

But our baby's healthy, so that's the end of my whining.

Ryan's going through a really hard time at work right now.  The other night he was really pent up, and just kept repeating "I have a happy, healthy baby" as a mantra.  I need to take the advice of a wise husband!

We're Having a Girl

Ryan and I found out today that we're having a little girl!  Last summer, before I even got pregnant, I had a premonition that we were going to have a little girl next July.  Fast forward a few months, and we conceived in October, with a baby due in July.  My premonition was halfway there!  Needless to say, I've been pretty convinced the whole time that we would be having a girl. 

I'm tinkled pink (no pun intended).  I would have been happy with anything healthy, honestly.  But I adore little girl clothes, and the thought of having a girl so close to my niece Lena's age was almost too good to be true. 

For those of you (all three of you that may read this) wondering, Ryan REALLY didn't care what we had, so long as it was healthy.  He's been first and foremost concerned with the baby's health.  Our first ultrasound, he was pretty excited (excited by Ryan Menda standards, at least) to hear the heartbeat.  And each time, he really enjoys to see the heartbeat and hear it.  Today's ultrasound was particularly strong, and you could see it thumping.  He loved seeing that.

Our 12.5 week ultrasound in December showed that baby Menda has LONG legs.  Even the doctor made a comment.  Our ultrasound last week showed a HYPER baby Menda that doesn't stop moving it's hands.  In 3 out of 4 ultrasounds, baby Menda has waved at us.  It's super cute.  Today, while we were trying to find the gender (after last week's crossed-legged-umbilical-cord-in-the-way-unsuccessful attempt), little girl put her hand over her private parts.  She's going to be spunky.  I think it's the Sicilian in her.

I'm trying this blogging thing again.  We all know I suck at it.  We'll see how round 3 goes :)

Aerial Teacher Training Grad...Almost

This weekend was the second half of my aerial yoga teacher training.  I have to teach my community class in a couple weeks and I'll be good to go!  I'm insanely excited to be done with my yoga teacher training journey.  As my sister commented, 7 months ago, I wasn't certified to teach any class!  Now I'm almost certified to teach not only yoga, but aerial yoga as well.

Our group was a small group of 8 of the loveliest women you'll ever meet.  I'm so incredibly lucky to have these girls in my lives and to have trained with them.

I'm excited for this next chapter in my yoga journey.

My friend posted the below challenge pose on my Facebook wall (I really MUST start getting on Pinterest, where she finds these awesome poses for me).  I've already figured out a way to do with the aerial hammock ;oP

My New Everest

My old Everest conquered, it's time for a new Everest. Naturally, it should be an evolution of my old Everest right? Meet half Vrschikasana (scorpion pose) half something else...I have no idea what this pose is called!

I can't wait to get this one down....hopefully it doesn't take me 7 years like the last one!

Arm Balancing Workshops!

I'll be teaching two arm balancing workshops at Purple Monkey Yoga in Union City, in July!

July 7th: Beginners/Intermediate Arm Balances
Juky 28th: Intermediate/Advanced Arm Balances

Both Are Saturdays. Workshops will be about 2 - 3 hours long...I haven't decided yet! If you have always wanted to learn how to arm balance, but were too scared to do it, these are for you :)

Lost in Translation

Last night, I had a student who was brand new to yoga.  She was foreign, although I'm not sure where she was from (somewhere in Europe?).  After class, the receptionist asked her how it went:

Yogi: "Ughhh.  I feel really fat, ugly and out of shape."
Receptionist: "Ohhhh.  But did you at least enjoy yourself?"
Yogi: "Enjoy myself?!?!  NO, I did not enjoy myself.  But I did enjoy the teacher."

Sooooooo funny how we don't even realize how figures of speech may not make sense to other cultures.

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... :)