First Person Friday (Lotus Pad giveaway post).

by

rsz_1yoga-1

Im so glad it is finally FRIDAY.

I cant even say my week was busier than usual as,  if anything , it was *easier*  and s-l-o-w-e-r than last week.

We threw the Tornado an early Im 4, People! Check me out! birthday party last Saturday and it was PINKtastic but the planning was also PINKhectic.

(My apologies if you follow me on Twitter.  I should be shedding followers for the amount Ive lamented as of late.  Our heat broke. Our a/c broke. My phone completely died. Yada yada yada Ive been a tremendous Tweetwhiner.)

As a result today’s post is short and sweet.

It all boiled down to a choice between you and me and, to no one’s surprise, I chose me.

I borrowed the time I might have spent mulling, writing, thinking, rewriting, and editing this entry & used it in the manner pictured above.

Repeatedly.

A few moments in the morning & a few moments at night.

Eyes closed.

Mind cleared.

Battery recharging.

Silent.

In fact, Im off to do that again this morning so I leave you with a generous freebie & some tips for those of us just starting a yoga/meditation practice.

Ive met some cool Tweeple recently and LotusPad is one of them.

She owns Lotus Pad Yoga Mats a very hip, very ECOFRIENDLY site which sells everything from mats & carriers to yoga themed jewelry (I really want that lotus necklace, Ren Man).

Not only did she provide a treat—she took the time to share her top three tips for those of us just launching our collective yoga practices.

1. Remember: yoga is a practice not a perfect.
2. Flexibility has nothing to do with yoga. Breath has everything to do with it.
3. Over time, if you devote your time to even a modest yoga practice, you will find that your body needs it as much as your lungs need air.

And that, People, is where I leave you today.

Three tips for starting what I am heading off to do & a chance to win the 72 inch eco-friendly yoga mat pictured below.

You may be entered to be matted for the lowlow price of a comment about anything yoga or meditation.

Share a tip.

Share a reason why you havent started yet.

Share a silly story about a yoga/meditation session run a’muck.

Simply share.

earth-mat-new400-300x180

Winner announced 11.23.09 USA only

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Comments

  1. Oh, yoga. There was a great studio by my parent’s that did hot/power yoga, and I miss it so. The studio nearest me where I am now is fine, except that the instructor does the same routine every time. If I wanted that, I’d buy a good video!

    I used to do Yoga Today with the free online videos, but now they charge, so I don’t anymore. But I think Netflix has some good ones, if I put in the effort to look.

  2. i love yoga! i’m about 100 pounds overweight and never thought i could do it, until i found an amazing teacher that helps me with modifications so i can get the most out of each pose. yay for yoga!

  3. Om really hoping I win this as for now I am taking yoga classes at the gym and use their mats (icky)!

    Om going to do yoga this weekend…

  4. Love love love the picture of you.

    Canada in the house so I can’t win but I took hot yoga for the first time this summer and was a slippery FOOL!!

    I kept sweating and sliding out of the poses.

    I laughed a lot but none of the other people found it remotely funny.

    I left class early 🙂

    happy weekend, Miz

  5. Congratulations on choosing your practice!
    I take five minutes for myself most morning before I even get out of bed – five me-first minutes of stretching and meditation as I ‘wake up’ my body. Sometimes it can’t be first thing – I have a 15 y.o. dog who some days needs to get outside right NOW! 😉 But after I get him settled, I take my me-time.
    I’d just add one more to your tips:
    Just do it. Don’t put yourself on a schedule or think you need to go to a gym – one pose each morning, one pose each evening, five minutes of time for yourself will pay off right away in gentler days. So don’t wait for the right time; the right time is now.
    Be well!

  6. You look so serene.

    I both love and loathe when you pick YOU over us LOL

    Mainly love it as I am so typeA (I saw your tweet about that) it is a challenge for me to ever stop and chill.

  9. I started taking yoga classes about three months before my father died. Yes, I knew he was dying. He was dying at home with me as his caregiver. Yoga helped tremendously through that time and I have maintained my home pracctice in the four years after my father’s death. I am now going through the alost identical situation with m 92 year old mother. The deep breathing and sense of internal balance is critical to survival.

  10. After the birth of my first, I thought I would try meditation for relaxation (note to others: any man who asks “when can we try again for my boy?” as they’re wheeling you into the recovery room after delivering a perfect little girl is NOT a keeper) and that’s when I discovered that being a sleep deprived new mom is not great when you’re meditating. I kept falling asleep. BAD. I haven’t gone back to meditation, although I want to. I have had sporadic yoga moments, which are gradually becoming more regular. 🙂

  11. I never tried yoga before because I was fat. There, I said it! I am slowly giving it a try now. I have tried two sessions so far (And I mean slowly!) I can get through about 5 or 6 moves until a better sense of balance is required…

    I realize that this will take time and effort on my part. I am utterly amazed how stiff and unmoveable my body has become over the years!

    I am sore at the end-but it also feels good!

    There you have it!
    What a well timed giveaway!

  12. om done.
    om feeling so very centered and ready for my Friday.

    *walks slowly quietly and uber PRESENTly away*

  14. I’ve never taken an actual yoga class, but I’ve had some Yoga DVDs that I’ve adored. I love how it makes my body feel!

  15. I used to do yoga….loved it. Loved the flexibility and the calm that it gave me.

    Now, I feel as if I don’t have time. I feel as if 30milliontrilliondifferentthings are always pulling me in different directions – which is probably an indication that I need yoga even more. I feel like I need to run away from it all…which is probably why all my workouts consist of movement (fast movement, preferably), so I can utilize that nervous tension.

    Hmm. Never realized that before till I wrote it.

    Anyway.

    Thinking maybe I should zone out and get into it again. This would definitely spark it (because if I have it, then I need to use it, right?).

    If not, maybe I’ll start again anyway. I should.

  16. Will yoga help me become more flexible though? I hope so. I don’t stretch nearly enough and knew yoga would be good for me. I started going once a week in about May and I am still at it. I am finally at the point where I enjoy it and it feels good. At least most of the time… But I still don’t know how much I am getting out of it. At least I am not watching the clock tick by now. Maybe I have to do it more to see the benefit. But to be honest, I would rather be running or lifting or spinning. But I am going to stick with my weekly class.

  17. Just wanted to jump in and say hi…no need to enter me…to let you know I did not realize you were whining…more like venting…which we all need from time to time. I am here if you need to vent. 🙂

  18. I have a mat I love so no need to enter me. Only wanted to say how it motivates me to selfcare when I see you make it a priority.

    Kim

  19. Loved that uberpresently. Nice werd.
    I have no funny yoga stories though I have started my own meditation practice through my further along the road of life studies. And what “they” say is right. Meditation does help get rid of a lot of fluffy thought.
    I don’t need to win a mat. The thing about meditation is you can do it anywhere. & 72 inches isn’t big enough for my butt. 😉

  22. Hehehe.

    In a candlelight yoga class we were nearing the end and had laid down into a final corpse pose. It was quiet except for some light music the instructor had playing. And then we heard someone in the room beneath us singing. Singing opera. It went away after a minute, but then it came back, and went away, and came back. Finally someone in the classed asked who it was. The reply was someone totally unexpected and giggles burst out. So we spent about ten minutes extra trying to get into a quiet corpse pose with giggles bursting out every couple of minutes.

  23. I think I can count the number of yoga classes I’ve taken on one hand. I just can’t seem to quiet myself that long. I’d rather be lifting weights. Someday I might see the light!

  24. Did you write that post for me? I SWEAR you just read my mind. I reallyreallyreally need to get back into the yoga, especially with all the crazy stuff going on in my life right now. Thing is, it feels like “one more thing to do” in a day when I already have TOO MUCH going on. I know it won’t feel that way AFTER I do it, but I haven’t thus far been able to drag myself back into doing it. It’s one of my projects for the weekend: find exercise time, and not just running on the t-mill as though I were being chased by a pack of wild dogs. *wrinkles nose*

  25. I desperately want to start yoga. But living in a tiny rural town in the deep south, means there are no yoga studios/classes offered near me. However, after today I am not going to use that as an excuse. I am going to see if I can find a video to use.

  26. I used to do “chair yoga” now I feel I’ve graduated from that, but still feel too weak and fat to do “regular yoga” I’ve seen dvds for yoga “at any size” and I want that, but the move and the docent training and the health issues and so on have taken priority.

    That said, maybe I’d feel better (and less frantic) if I were taking time out for yoga.

  27. kimberly, I do a lot of exercise videos as rentals initially from netflix. Also from the library!
    Perhaps try taping every yoga workout show you can find on tv till you discover on you love.

    There are also free yoga videos online. Ill link em when I’m at the computer.

    You can do this!

    EDITED: GOOGLE THE WORDS: free yoga workout online
    youll find LOTS of options!

  28. Am I the only person who has tried yoga and just can’t get into it. I get bored to tears. My mind wanders – I can’t get centered. If I have time on my hands, I like to think and that means my mind wanders in yoga. I gotta have music blaring, body sweating workouts. That said, I want to try hot yoga thanks to all the bloggies who rave about it 🙂

  29. TO be honest I’m not really sure why I haven’t tried yoga…I guess it scares me? I am the least flexible person there and at 6′ feet tall I am pretty gangly and awkward 🙂

    What’s the best way to get started?

  31. Been doing some Tibetan Rites/Yoga and they are the best. I can get up and move properly right away after spending top quality time with the television and I can reach stuff on high shelves without straining or standing on tiptoe.
    I have mat already so even if I were eligible I’d take myself out of the running.
    As for meditation, I do it/self-hypnosis almost every day. It forces one to look inside and helps one get used to what one finds there.

  32. I need to get back to practicing…. I’ve been neglectful of making time for yoga. I am so focus on intense cardio and weights that I forget just how beneficial yoga can be for my body and my mind. This weekend I WILL take a class or do some home practice with a DVD.

  33. I took yoga for a while when my gym featured a great instructor. Now, I’m not so happy with the class they feature, so I’ve been skipping it. I’d love to join a yoga studio, but those prices are outrageous! I guess I’ll have to start doing it at home soon. I love the way my body feels when I’m doing yoga.

  34. I urge everyone to give yoga a try. Or six. I think it actually takes a few tries to get it to “stick”. Getting over our notions of what a class should be.

    I am the poster child for the tips you gave. I am the most unflexible person in the history of people. There are telephone poles that are more flexible than I. And that has absolutely nothing to do with my ability to gain some peace of mind through my yoga practice.

  36. Tanya, I have to say you are NOT ALONE AT ALL.

    That was entirely me until I … got old.

    I honestly felt yoga was a waste of a workout (and the HOT YOGA is just too long for me. Id love it at even 60 min—but 90 is more time than I wanna spend working out) and scoffed at it entirely.

    until I didnt.

  37. Hmm…the yoga class I take doesn’t focus much on deep breathing…hmm! I feel like I’m missing out Miz.
    Good for you for taking the time out – such wisdom!

    I’ve read a few parenting books where they suggest giving your kids “time-outs” for notty behaviour or just for “quiet” time purposes but I really feel strongly that every one of us would benefit from that “time-out/quiet time!”

    Cheers from Canada

  38. I’ve got two tips:
    1 – If you live anywhere near a lululemon store, check out their website because they probably offer free yoga classes on Sundays.
    2 – If you are heavier and worried that you can’t go yoga, check out the book Mega Yoga by Megan Garcia. She’s patient and compassionate.

  39. I like I like I like.

    My nutritionist (whom I affectionately refer to as my food therapist) was SHOCKED when I admitted I don’t do deep breathing. I *can’t be bothered* to do it. But now I’m trying to make a point of doing it when I wake up in the morning and when I go to sleep at night, and it is fantastically amazing. I really enjoy it. Somehow it soothes the soul!

  40. TIP- Yoga can be done anywhere, by anyone, with any fitness level. 🙂

    I use to see some of those poses and laugh! No way my body could bend like that! However, if you do what you can, stretch as far as your body allows comfortably, you can make it work for you. 🙂

  41. Wait…yoga helps with your breathing? I really should look into this, because honestly, that’s where I have trouble when I run – I can’t get the “breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth” to go smoothly, and as a result, end up panting and gasping at times.

  43. As a homeschooling mom of four rambunctious children (one of them smack dab in the thoes of puberty. Ack!) trying to hold down a job and keep her sanity, I don’t know what I would do without my yoga practice. I can honestly tell when I miss a day. It’s like I’m holding my breath. So I can totally relate to #3 “Over time, if you devote your time to even a modest yoga practice, you will find that your body needs it as much as your lungs need air.”

  44. The only “class” I’ve truly enjoyed is “Inhale” on Oxygen network. But I’m seldom awake and functioning at 6 am when it’s broadcast. (they used to reshow it at 8 am. better time for me).

    Need to tivo that show and do it more often.

    But me trying to hold some of his balance poses even alone in my family room is hysterical. Even the dogs clear out of the way in case I fall on them.

  45. You’ll get no tips from me! I’m still reeling from the news that you chose your own mental health and well-being over entertaining me. Um, us. 🙂

    Here’s wishing you a peaceful and joyous weekend!

  46. Oh, yoga – yes, yes, yes. For a long time I was in the rut of thinking “if it isn’t cardio, I don’t have time for it.” After all, it’s all about losing weight, right? Well, uhm no. I finally realized that it’s all about making healthy choices and feeling good in your skin. I don’t get to yoga class as often as I like, but here’s what works for me: kids driving you nuts, work is crazy and the stupid dog won’t stop barking? Dont’ go for the cookies. Instead, find a room as far away from the chaos as possible and do the following:
    shut off the lights
    sit in a comfortable, balanced position
    breath slowly and deeply, letting yourself melt.
    If you feel like it, do a few up/down dogs.
    If you don’t, don’t.

    It really works!

  47. Seriously? Girl, how do you know? Cause these were my exact thoughts as me and my bad ‘tude were driving to work this morning: “I need to take a frickin yoga class or something. I need just one small chunk of time where I’m not doing something for someone else! Is that too much to ask??? Yeah, I need to do some yoga and just make it a rule that NO ONE is allowed to bother me during that time!!! I NEED SOME FRICKIN YOGA!!!”

    Totally not kidding. That was the convo I had with myself this morning. 🙁

  48. I have to join up on Twitter just to see you in action whining!

    I can’t imagine it.

    My yoga tips would be the same as the ones in your post.

    and a big JUST DO IT. JUST START.

  49. Miz, there is never any shame at all in choosing YOU! We all need to. It’s so good to recognize when you need to just take care of yourself and shut some things off now and then. I think it makes you stronger in the long run.

    As for yoga, I do it on and off. I wish I could be more consistent with my practice but, I don’t know, I’m just not. I’m so consistent with my running that I guess inconsistency reigns with everything else!

    Have a great weekend!

  50. I so love that you took you time! With all you are doing, that is most important & all that happened too per your tweets, which I don’t read cause I am one of the last few holdouts not doing Twitter! :-O

    I have not done yoga & keep saying I want to… why, cause I love my crazy early/middle of the night workouts & I love my weights & don’t want to give them up for anything…. I see more & more that I should do yoga for the calming & mental part of it. I let my brain & those crazy thoughts take hold of me way too much. I see your pic & think, I should be there.. it looks so friggin calming & then I say.. I should not use friggin & yoga in the same sentence!!!! 🙂

    Would love to win this mat to not only spur me on BUT I could use it in so many other ways!!!

    Have a great weekend & relax!

  51. I have to be sneaky when I meditate at home. If my cat catches me sitting still, she will climb into my lap (all 15 pounds of her) and kneed her paws on my stomach and purr! If I want to grab some inner peace I have to do it while she is prowling around the back yard or playing with my hubby.

  54. Yay for putting yourself first!

    Oh and I follow you on twitter and I don’t mind the whining at all…kinda reminds me to be thankful that things are going well for me. But that isn’t to say I don’t hope things don’t start to get better for you.

    So why haven’t I started yoga….well I don’t have a good answer for this. I have interest in it I just never seem to figure out the best way for me to start incorporating it in my fitness routine.

  56. Ugh, that’s the word that comes to mind when I think about yoga. I hate feeling like I’m the only one in class that can’t bend myself into a pretzel, I’m like the least stretchy person in the world. And worse, my boyfriend is a total pretzel, freakishly so if you ask me. He can also kick my ass on the treadmill after skipping the gym for weeks (but that’s a whole different story). I also don’t meditate well, breathe, blah blah, watch that girl over there, yada yada, ….etc. The only thing I really like about yoga is the idea of it, I would like to be thought of as a deep, yoga chick, oh and the balance thing, I’m alright with that. Sigh, maybe I need to try again.

  57. It has taken me a long time and a lot of years of yoga to come to understand the truth in the #2 point! Now the breathing is the most important part to me. It’s probably the most useful thing I’ve learned from yoga! Anyhow, I love the eco friendly mats. I have a regular mat that I rarely use because it stinks. Literally.

  59. Is that your personal bodi tree?

    it is my FAVE FAVE tree and outside our house. alas it faces the road so the neighbors think Im a nutjob…or more of a nutjob than they did before.

  60. I haven’t really gotten into it in a spiritual/meditation-y sense, but if I go a week without it, my muscles talk to me. With angry words. I do definitely feel very centered and calm after even 15 minutes before work.

  64. No silly story or tips, since I have just started with the relaxation methods, I’m a pre-learner. 🙂 I do know with all the stuff that goes on in our lives, it does help, and I’m ready to move forward to improve my life. Good thoughts and well wishes.

  65. I took a yoga class at my gym once, and thought it was very soothing, yet challenging. I’d like to do more, I just don’t know where to start.

  66. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Pat Steer (Gaelen) for the “permission” to take it one pose a day at a time. I love yoga, but can never find the time to do it. Just started working again after 5 years at home with the kids and really need to find a way to get just a little bit of me time. I will now head to my room (after greeting the kiddos and hubby) and instead of changing clothes and going back down to the chaos, will take a few minutes to breathe, to be, and to practice just one pose. Then on to the chaos!

  67. So I’ve taken yoga off and on… I love it to death, but it can be pricey at times…. and Im not dedicated enough to do it on my own as of yet! So… a friend of mine decided to have her yoga instructor come to her house and give classes… and she got people to come and pay $10 each…. it was really cool! So I dragged my husband one time. He did really well, but afterward he comes up to me and says “How do you do that twice a week?!” it cracked me up because to him yoga was not as strenuous– he’s in the military and all the guys “lift”… which I think is cool, too, but they tend to downplay anything else. I think at that moment he finally gained some respect for my exercise choices! It was a proud moment!

    Now I take jazz dance class… he would DIE during the 45 minute warmup for that class…

  68. I dabbled in yoga for a while when I had a GREAT instructor at a local studio. Then I couldn’t get to his classes and I didn’t like the other instructors at all so it slipped. I’m keen to get back into it though – it’s one of those things where you don’t see immediate results but it becomes an absolutely basic need eventually. I want to get back to that.

    And obviously me living in New Zealand means I’m not in for this prize but it reminds me to put it on the list of things to buy eventually!

  69. I can’t win because I’m in CANADA (why oh why can we never win?) yet I am off this morning to do yoga because of reading this post yesterday.

    Have a good day Miz!

  70. Yoga is something that I have always wanted to try. They offer classes at my gym but I am so clumsy I feel like I need to learn a bit before going public

  72. Yoga is my go-to activity after a run or on ‘rest from running’ days. I love hanging out in down dog, triangle, half moon, and warrior three. I haven’t master the art of head or hand stand, but one of these days 🙂

  73. I like doing yoga on the wii fit. but i only stuck to it for a month or two. i need to start going to classes and actually getting it done…to see if i like it or no

  74. i started doing yoga on a very regular basis when I started my marathon training last summer. My yoga teacher is an ex runner and I benefited from her past experiences. I finally convinced my running partner to join me in class and while he doesn’t love it, I know it’s good for him!

  75. Ah, yoga! I do it to ease the tension in my shoulders, for the breathing, for the stretching. I don’t currently do it as much as I should/would like, though. I had a conference in Reno, NV this summer, and the hotel offered an early morning yoga class outside by the pool. I was the only person htere, so I got a great one-on-one class for an hour. Made all the sitting in the conference bearable. And the instructor taught me how to do the moves properly. I live in a tiny town with no yoga classes, which means I do them at home, so learning the proper moves was great. My husband can sometimes be induced to do them with me.

  76. I’ve never given yoga a fair chance, but someday I think I will.

    Meditation on the other hand I do daily and love it. I can get into a really deep place when I meditate and I am able to block out my surroundings which often include three or four kids, the phone, etc. Well, last summer during a day at the beach with about 20 close friends, it was meditation time and I wasn’t going to miss my daily retreat. I got comfy on my beach towel and got into my zone. I would say ten to fifteen minutes passed when I decided to return to the real world. I opened my eyes to find that my friends had picked up and moved- the tide was coming in quickly! I suppose they would have eventually alerted me, but I totally blocked out their conversation and the commotion!

  77. I really, really miss my yoga classes. I’ve tried doing it on my own, but I really prefer a class setting where I have someone to talk me through the poses and correct me when I’m not doing something quite right. I should start looking for a class…..

  78. Alright, Miz. When I was a freshman in college (I went to an acting conservatory) we had yoga every morning. We were doing headstands or handstands or something up against a wall. When I came down from the post and sat right side up again . . . I queefed.

    I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one. Several of us girls were red and shamefaced and looking around sheepishly. But we never spoke of it.

  79. I have tried yoga (online video) once. I enjoyed it, but felt a little disconnected because I was trying to watch the lady on the screen and do the poses at the same time. I think I would really love it if I took an actual class with a trainer.

  80. I’m not eligible for the giveaway BUT I have recently started doing yoga before bed. I found a book that has a series for stretching the feet. I bet I’m your only reader that does yoga to better her belly dance practice! Often in my belly dance routines I have to kneel and rest my weight on my feet – but my feet are too tight to do the move!!

  81. Hi Mizfit readers – I’m Katy, the lady who started and runs Lotuspad (wave, nice to meet you).

    I tried yoga on and off since college, but it never ‘stuck’ until I tried a heated flow class at the Baptiste Power Yoga studio. Since then I’ve been hooked – and honestly can’t go more than a few days without a practice. (This has been since 2001, so 8 years). Even though I can’t physically live comfortably without a yoga practice, I don’t consider myself a yogi in the truest sense of the word. In the spirit of unapologetically myself I say this: I have bad habits, I’m a bit overweight, I curse at bad drivers. I like beer. A lot. Quite honestly, I don’t have the time or funds to get to class as much as I used to (I have a 3 year old and work, a lot). My mat unrolled at home or in the office becomes my sacred space whenever I need it, even if it’s for 10 minutes.

    But here’s the thing – yoga can help sooth the rough edges of life like nothing else. It can actually improve whatever other fitness activities you are in love with. It helps your breathing, it expands you so that you can bring more of what you love into your body and your life. And once you practice a few poses and find the freedom within them, you will feel like you’ve arrived home whenever you are in them.

    So I hope that whoever wins a mat will find a little space, and a little more room for a practice, even if it’s a small one, because sometimes, that’s all you need.

  82. Ooohh! A free mat! Cool beans 🙂

    Personally… I’ve taken a few yoga classes. Some I enjoyed and others I didn’t. The ones that I’ve enjoyed have been the slower more relaxed classes. I had one instructor, a woman I actually knew through a co-worker, that really kicked my butt and also made me feel horrible. It was a beginner class that was not so beginner… or relaxing. Since that class I haven’t pulled out my mat but maybe I should put on some quiet music and go through some poses I like. I do enjoy it and most of the time I feel so good afterward.

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