Finding Balance with Yoga

As you may know from my earlier post, I've decided not to run the Windermere marathon this year. Recently it seemed like every minute of every day has been taken up with work and generally doing things that need to be done in the house while mum hasn't been well, and somehow into all of that I was trying to shoehorn 6+ hours of training a week.

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This week it all finally got too much. I got sick for the first time in ages and it put me out of action for a few days. To be totally honest it has done me the world of good! I took a day off both jobs and spent THE ENTIRE day on the sofa, no TV, just a lovely quiet day with my puppies and my kindle (and a box of chocolates). I've realised I need to find the balance in my life... and this is where yoga comes in.

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I started yoga last year when I was in Texas on my rest days from running in an attempt to gain more flexibility and overall strength. I started again a few weeks ago when I thought I was going to run the marathon as I needed to keep stretching and strengthening to keep injury free. But now it's finding a new place in my life other than just a support for running and the more I do the more I enjoy it.

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To start with I got into the habit of doing a little bit every day and I knew it I found myself standing at my mat almost every evening. Yoga is great as there are so many variations of practice to suit how you feel and how much time you have. Sometimes it's just a 15 minute stretch and relaxation and other times I try something more challenging during the day such as a cardio or core routine. I'm enjoying the physical challenge of stretching and body weight training (ouch core work) and hope that over time I'll improve my practice. One of the other elements of yoga that I'm finding beneficial is that it's about being present and focussed. It encourages you to forget about everything else that's going on and focus on my body, breath and movement.

The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind.

Rodney Yee

Focussing On Positives

Today has been an incredibly sad and emotional day as my gorgeous fiancé has flown back to Texas as his visit to England for the holidays has come to an end.

My instinct is to just sit. Alone. In silence. And feel sad. I feel incredibly empty when we're apart and I'm finding it hard to motivate. However I have a lot to be thankful for as we have so much to look forward to in the year ahead. I have to be strong through the next few weeks (and months) as we wait for my visa to be processed.
With that in mind I feel the need to focus my energy. I can't let sadness overwhelm me when in reality our futures look very bright. I am going to work hard on the things I enjoy and am committing myself by telling you, the blog fairies, what I plan to do!

Firstly I plan to blog regularly as well as reading other's people's blogs as I find I learn a lot in the process of both writing and reading them

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I love to crochet... I think I need to pick something challenging like a top to wear over vests in the summer which I'm sure will challenge my abilities and improve my pattern reading skills.... Something like this is what I'm fancying...

I have SO many cookery books it's redonkulous but I'm not going to be able to take them to America with me as they're not the best way to spend my baggage allowance. I have promised myself that I'll try to add as many recipes to my ipad as possible so that I have plenty of inspiration when I get there.

Reading is always important to me so I'll continue to try and read as much as possible. I'm determined to get though the backlog of books I appear to have collected on my kindle!

I need to take the time to focus on Yoga again. It was really helping my flexibility when I was doing it regularly and it helps me stay positive and balanced.

And last but not least... the runner in me is going crackers and can't wait to get going again. I've had a good rest and am raring to go!!