Birthday Cake?! Peach Cobbler?! Strawberry Cheesecake?! Chai Latte?! Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter?! Oatmeal Raisin?!

I think Larabar seriously needs to hire all of you for their research and development department…because you guys know how to come up with some seriously delicious flavors! I would buy every single one of those.

Thanks for all the entries into my latest giveaway and for all the sweet comments on my vlog! I am always a little nervous putting those up because they can be a bit embarrassing….I mean let’s face it, we all act a little doofy on camera But you all are really sweet and I appreciate all the comments!

Before I get to the main focus of today’s post, let me get this out.

(Excuse my mom’s “yeaaaah” at the end…she didn’t know I was taking a video! HA!)

And just a short few hours later after taking that video…the snow began to stick.

Not right, Mother Nature…not right at all.

But I guess this is what we get for having such a nice winter!

——

Moving on from the sucky weather…I beat the cold by taking a hot power yoga class at my favorite studio this morning! It was awesome and very challenging! One of my favorite instructors taught and she really knows how to push you…I never thought I my heart rate could get up so high from practicing yoga.

Today she had us focus and hone in on our thoughts while holding some of the more challenging moves (she’s famous for 3 minute long chair holds….OUCH!). And something she said really resonated with me.

[killer thigh burner!!!]

We tend to constantly focus on the next thing…when the move will be over, what torture( )she’ll put us through next…when really all that is doing is using up more energy and making the pose that much harder! Instead she told us to try and be more in the moment and breath through whatever “drama” (as she calls it) our body is feeling at the moment and also to keep in mind the bliss we feel once we have pushed ourselves to our limits.

I admit I never really thought about it that way. But its true! The harder you push your body and the more you challenge it the bigger rush of endorphins, feeling of accomplishment, and all around happiness you feel afterwards. I know for me, savasana feels so much more rewarding after I know I have pushed myself to my limits (safely and within reason of course!).

And I think this notion can be applied to a lot of areas in life…not just yoga or exercise in general. We are so quick to be always looking ahead when really we should be living in the moment. The constant worrying about what’s next is very stress causing in my opinion…not to mention overwhelming!

I really think the instructors advice today is really going to help me in my practice. It even made me notice something today that I can work to improve on. I find when we are holding moves I am always waiting to hear a count down of when the pose will be over…and only focusing on that. Well at the end of class when we were holding our inversions, I kept waiting for that “one minute warning” or “ten second countdown”. I was focusing on that so much that I ended up falling our of my headstand. When I got back up into position I made a conscious effort to focus only on my breath and was able to hold the pose much more successfully and sturdily.

So next time you’re feeling stressed, out of sync, or just off…breath to your bliss. Because even focusing on your breath can be a way of challenging your body…and once you focus in, you’ll feel that release and rush of feel-good feelings.

Here’s to a stress-less Monday and a happy week!

Just a few quick questions for you all! More for my own curiosity than anything else…

Do you think I should change the name of my blog to reflect more of myself and the blog’s focus? Or should I stick with what people have come to know me by?

Anybody have a good recommendation for a yoga matt that is non-slip? Mine is reeeeeally cheap and I am always sliding around.

Make sure you enter to win some Cappuccino Larabars if you haven’t yet! Winner will be announced tomorrow night!!!

Kaila

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