This is going to be a nuts and bolts post. In other words, just the stuff that makes it all fit together for me.
Some of you have asked if I “do” anything other than yoga. The answer? Yes. As of about two months ago, that is. And I have to be honest, this “other stuff” that I’m doing? It’s saved my yoga practice.
But I’d like to back up a little bit before I explain that last sentence.
During my last pregnancy (just a year and a half ago), I began having some painful things happen in my lower back and hips. Pretty normal, really, for pregnancy, but long lasting. Post-pregnancy, I began chiropractic care, which helped a lot. But honestly, I felt as though I was really relying on those appointments in order to live with pain. So a couple of months ago, I changed my diet. And it helped immensely. I’ve always had a love affair with nutrition, but these last several weeks have brought that up to a whole new level.
And in addition to my back pain disappearing completely (I have waited so long to say that), my physical recovery time when I work hard in yoga or in other activities has improved vastly.
Jeez. I sound like an infomercial. What a cheeseball. Sorry. I’m just so incredibly grateful and happy and relieved to be able to play with my boys, every day, without having to be so careful about how I pick them up or yell in alarm when I see my Kindergartener running at me to jump on my back.
My health is everything. To me, to my marriage, and to my children.
Before making some changes to support my health, my yoga practice was suffering greatly, and I noticed that I avoided teaching several poses because there was no way to demonstrate them if needed. If I practiced too aggressively or even tried to push the boundaries of where I knew I was, boy did I pay for it. It would take a lot of rest, many trips to the chiropractor, and a lot of Advil.
I started working out at butt-early in the morning at a place called Conviction CrossFit. Let me warn you, I’ve never been an athlete. I didn’t grow up playing organized sports of any kind. I’ve never been coached. And this is soooo opposite of my yoga practice that I was really scared at first. I feel very comfortable and feminine in my yoga practice and in my teaching, but there is a strength and warrior-ness in Crossfit training that I’ve never experienced…and I am loving it.
I encourage you to seek out that “thing” that will enhance your health. Whether it’s diet, or running, or hiking, or being on the water, whatever it is. For my husband for so many years, it was cycling. For another friend, it’s triathlons. For yet another, it’s moving back and forth between different styles of yoga.
For me now, it’s CrossFit.
And I can almost do an unassisted pullup.
It’s going to make my chataranga dandasana rock this world.
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Now that’s motivating! great post. What are your meals like? So is crossfit like stregth training?
Kristin,
Meals are pretty easy and simple. For breakfast: eggs, avocado, tomatoes, and a fruit smoothie. Lunch: salad with lean meat and a boiled egg and fruit. Dinner: we grill out a lot in the summer, so fish or chicken or steak with either grilled squash, onions, and peppers or lately, a sliced zucchini “lasagna” with garlic and homemade pasta sauce. There are tons of resources for meals, such as paleomama.com, jensgonepaleo.com, and marksdailyapple.com.
And Crossfit is better summed up as training for life. It runs off of basic movements (push ups, pull ups, sit ups, back extensions, squats), but is different every day. You warm up and go practice skills for about 30 minutes, and then the actual workout is anywhere from 5-20 minutes long. It’s intense, for sure, but really fun. Here’s a good summary of what Crossfit is: http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/what-crossfit.html
Where does one do cross fit? Love to talk with you about the diet component- I was having significant back pain until I removed gluten- now so much better!
Angie,
I go to Conviction Crossfit, which is in the Erie Airpark. They have a class at 6:30 a.m. that I make, but others throughout the day. I’d love to talk to you more about it, or take you with me! It’s changed so many things for me.
And yes, the diet! We’ve removed grains and dairy and that’s the key. Sugars and starches are huge contributors to inflammation, which exacerbated that back pain for me. Other people I’ve talked to about it have said it’s helped with so many things: rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, joint pain, etc. Two great reads along that line are “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food.” I’ve also been eating lots of fat: coconut oil, avocados, etc., and a good (but taxing) read on that is “Eat Fat to Lose Fat.” Diet is 80% of your health. And by changing a few things, 10 pounds are gone. And I eat ALL of the time.
Hey Mary, thank you so much for the kind words. I have “Yoga Girl Mary” linked up to our site now! Thanks again and I’ll see you at 6:30am.
Hey Justin! Thanks for the link; you guys are AWESOME. I heart CrossFit.
And YAY! I’m on the “those who don’t suck” list!!