My yoga goal: inversions

This is my next fitness goal: being able to do such inversions. For now, I can only do the shoulderstand, but that's a good start.

[Picture credit]

Pose of the day: warrior 3

Time for a new "pose of the day": Warrior 3. I've forgotten this pose recently, but thanks to FitSugar for the reminder!

Two fab abs workouts

Finally, I'm updating!

The last few months have been very busy and I didn't have time to update this blog (sorry if I kept anyone waiting) nor search for any new exercice. I kept doing yoga, mainly the sun salutation, the boat pose, warriors and triangles. I got so bored of any ab workout that I practically stopped working it - that's not good.

I did a little bit of research today and really quickly found two short videos with some great and challenging ideas. Here they are:

Pose of the day: child

A relaxing and simple pose today: child's pose. Hold it 1 to 3 minutes.
Once again, the pose has a partnered version!
Credit: Yoga Journal, Fitsugar

Pose of the day: boat

This pose is harder, as it requires strong abs.
Fortunately, I have strong abs. Still, I can't hold this pose for more than a few seconds.
This pose also has a partnered version:
Credit: Yoga Journal, Fitsugar

Pose of the day: tree

The tree pose is a classic, looks pretty and I'm sure everyone knows it, even if they don't do yoga.
It's an easy pose to hold for me, but a hard one to get into. My balance has room for improvement.
The partnered version is much more fun (I have tried it with my boyfriend).Speaking of partnered yoga, great news: my friend asked me to teach her some yoga! We agreed to schedule a weekday during the next semester and practice every week.
Credit: Yoga Journal, Fitsugar.

Pose of the day: seated forward bend

Time to learn a new pose. This one is called "seated forward bend".
This pose is about stretching and relaxing at the end of the workout. Benefits include:

• Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression
• Soothes headache and anxiety and reduces fatigue
• Therapeutic for high blood pressure, infertility, insomnia, and sinusitis

Of course, no one's first time will look as on the picture above. Here's how it happens:

With each inhalation, lift and lengthen the front torso just slightly; with each exhalation release a little more fully into the forward bend. In this way the torso oscillates and lengthens almost imperceptibly with the breath. Eventually you may be able to stretch the arms out beyond the feet on the floor.

Stay in this pose from 1 to 3 minutes.
Credit: YogaJournal

Pose of the day: balancing table

This one is easy, even easier than the previous one. Still, it improves balance, memory, focus and coordination and also builds core body strength and lengthens the spine. We'll need a good balance for many poses to come, so this one is a great start.
Credit: Yoga Basics

Pose of the day: chair

This pose is a part of the Sun Salutation, so I knew it already, but recently I started doing it too fast and not really well, so I decided to get it straight. There's more than bending the knees here.

Exhale and bend your knees, trying to take the thighs as nearly parallel to the floor as possible.

And then:

Firm your shoulder blades against the back. Take your tailbone down toward the floor and in toward your pubis to keep the lower back long.

Done properly, the pose:

• Strengthens the ankles, thighs, calves, and spine
• Stretches shoulders and chest
• Stimulates the abdominal organs, diaphragm, and heart
• Reduces flat feet

Credit: YogaJournal

So where are we at?

Here's where I am at.
In march, I had to take a last P.E. class and after 5 semesters of aerobic, I decided it was time for a change. I picked "body art". Wikipedia claims that it's painting in the human body, but fortunately it wasn't: it was yoga, but without the whole philosophy.
I didn't love it. I was doing two semesters at once in college and was constantly tired (plus I have health issues that make me even more tired). I couldn't exercise a whole class through. I was always doing the easiest versions of the poses. The teacher was saying how much strength this workout gave her, but I didn't feel as empowered as her.
Then came the summer, with it's usual loosing weight and doing lots of cardio resolutions. I swam a lot and it felt great, but there were times when I couldn't for various reasons. I took my bike and that was a disaster - I'd ride 10-20 minutes and feel weak and exhausted, I could barely stand up. I got more aware of my health issues and understood I really had to manage my effort and not overdo it. Worse yet, overdo for me meant way less than overdo for a healthy person.
"Then how on earth did you swim so much?" would be the question to ask right now. Well, my swimming pool is 8 meters long and I'd make a short stop every time. On the bike, I'd just drive like crazy, since stopping isn't really an attractive option.
Shortly later, a friend gave me her old roller skates. That was fun, but then came the autumn. My immune system doesn't like me going out, especially when it's cold but I get hot because of the effort. I had to practice in and came back to yoga.
I took a magazine and reminded myself of the sun salutation. I started doing it on a regular basis, as it's a minute long and you can easily fit it into your day. I work at the computer a lot and need to take breaks from it and firmly believe that doing a few sun salutations is the best way of spending such a break. I started seeing the results after only a few weeks. I could do the harder versions of the warrior, my flexibility improved, I felt way way stronger. I even got a way flatter belly! (Which I wasted during the holidays, but I'll get it back. ) So right now, encouraged by all the progress, I'm learning new poses and doing yoga with a great enthusiasm.

Hello, World!

Welcome to my new blog!
Running my Math-Geek-Rock-Chick blog has been a really cool experience. Practicing yoga is an even better one.
I am still learning a lot about yoga, the different poses, the philosophy,... and I think I need a place to gather everything I learn, so what's better than a blog? On the other hand, I feel that such strictly yoga-oriented content doesn't fit into my good old blog. That one is intented for readers who are interested in what a geek girl does and thinks on a variety of subjects and might not feel much excitement about a new yoga pose.
So what can you expect here? I'll be tracking my progress mostly for me. If you can relate and learn with me, that's awesome! However, I won't be creating anything new, there are tons of great websites about yoga and my blog might be incomplete comparing to them.
So, for more yoga content, see fitsugar, Yoga Journal and iYogaLife.