Yoga Love - Lauren Schwaiger

Hope everyone had a really wonderful weekend. Mine was pretty low key, just as I intended it to be. 🙂 Lots of sleep, pedicures with my sister on Saturday afternoon, quality time with family & friends and working out, naturally. Although, in my FitSpo Friday post, I said I’d be going to Yoga Fusion on Saturday morning…uhm, yeahhh, that did not happen. I woke up Saturday morning still feeling super sore from the combination of Weds workout & Thursday’s boxing sesh. So, I actually took 2 rest day’s back to back — I don’t remember that last time I needed 2 days off to recover from workouts. It sucked, and I’m sad I missed Yoga Fusion, as it’s something I look forward to taking every week but I believe in listening to what my body is telling me and it was telling me to R E S T.

Other than a quick trip to Trader Joe’s, the gym and yoga, I barely left the house (or my sweat pants) today and loved every minute of it. It rained nonstop, all. day. long. and I so completely loved it — it added to my Sunday laziness quiet perfectly. I did kick ass when it came time to get to the gym tho — I put myself thru a killer 50 minute spin workout at the Y (up on the blog for you guys tomorrow) + 1 hour of Hot Yoga from 7-8 tonight. Both felt equally amazing in different ways. I think this more than made up for my 2 days off from working out.

I pretty much collapsed into my yoga mat tonight. I mean this in the best way possible. I am always happy for my yoga practice and it always feels good. But there are just these days when it feels so incredibly sublime to be on my mat – moving. breathing. sweating. There is no workout in this world that is able to produce the same affects – physically, mentally, emotionally – that yoga can. Some days, I literally feel like my breath is stuck — my inhales are shallow and this physically effects my practice. Which is a true testament, that first and foremost, yoga is about the breath, prana – which literally means “life force”. When my breath is steady I move more fluidly thru the postures — for me personally, yoga has become this beautiful, magical dance all done on a 85″ x 26″ space. (give or take a few inches depending on your mat 😉 )

Balancing 3-Legged Down Dog
This is a really fun & playful variation of Down Dog. I posted this on my IG account after class and wrote about finding a lightness & playfulness in both your yoga practice and in life. This pose requires a focused mind and a stable body – sometimes I stick it and sometimes I fall out of it — and both are okay 🙂 I’m stronger when I’m supported by my right arm vs. my left due to breaking both my left wrist & elbow. I’ve learned to not be frustrated with the difference in strength from one side to the other. We all have our good & bad days, weak & strong — depending on what is going on in our lives.