When I woke up this morning, the only thing I wanted to do was take a yoga class. I went on long run with my friend Merri on Saturday and something about running for more than an hour makes my body crave a good stretch.
Though I stretched when we were done with our run on Saturday, my body wanted a solid hour of yoga poses, hip openers and sweaty stretching this morning, so after breakfast I headed over to Power Yoga Ocala to take their morning power hour class.
The class was incredibly hot and sweaty. At the end of the class, when the instructor opened the door to let the outside air in, we all felt a cool breeze which is just crazy since outside air in Florida in August is anything but cool. Clearly the room was H-O-T!
We did a lot of different poses and the class incorporated a lot of core work. My favorite pose occurred during the last 15 minutes of class when were holding the high lunge pose.
The instructor had us drop the knee closest to our chest out, changing the pose slightly to what she called, a “modified pigeon pose.” Since the pigeon pose is my all-time favorite pose, I loved every minute of this! It stretched my hips in the most glorious way.
My hips are always the first thing to give me problems during a run, so I really try my best to go through lots of hip stretches, but there’s something about the hip openers and hip stretches that I go through during a yoga class that are the absolute best!
After class, I walked to my new favorite local coffee shop to grab a cappuccino and set up camp to type up this blog post and catch up on some work on the computer.
Hooray for almond milk cappuccinos!
Check out that foam! The kind woman who made my coffee initially apologized for the excessive foam, but I assured her that the foam is always my favorite part of a cappuccino. Extra foam is always appreciated by this girl! Mmm!
I hope your Monday is off to a good start. I’ll see ya after lunch!
Question of the Morning
- If you are a fan of yoga, what is your all-time favorite yoga pose?
My favorite is the pigeon pose, but I also love plow. Sometimes I’ll stretch while Ryan and I are watching TV at night and go into the plow pose and Sadie just about loses her mind. Apparently the plow pose is way too exciting for her and she always ends up running over to me and wiggling her little face in so she can lick my nose.
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i’m with ya – yoga and running are like peanut butter and jelly. i’ve been hopping back on the foam rolling bandwagon lately and it HURTS but i know that means i need it. my new favorite yoga pose is crow. i just recently mastered it (after about nine million faceplants in the name of practice), and now i can’t stop doing it 🙂
Are those Sadie love bites on your yoga mat?? Love it!:) I am a pigeon fan too but lately I have been trying to master the frog and doing the foam roller both are killer right now but hopefully practice makes perfect.
Hip opening stretches are amazing! It just feels like your whole body is being somewhat “reset”, you know? 😉 And ummm you can never have too much coffee foam, haha.
A power yoga class sounds great right now!! One of my favorite poses is bridge pose. I love the stretch my back and chest gets.
I lovveee pigeon, I never even realize how tight my hips get until we get there and it feels fantastic.
I do some yoga at dance usually, and I totally love hip opening stretches too. Pigeon pose is awesome! I’ve been into trying some arm balances now too, which are challenging but so fun!
There is a Power Yoga studio near my office and I love going! There are days that I look forward to class all day long and I feel so much better after I go. I love pigeon and tree. I’m still pretty new to yoga and I can’t wait to learn even more poses.
In my perfect world, I’d begin every morning with a hot yoga class. Since that isn’t really an option for me, I definitely try to get in at least one class a week, especially when I’ve been running a lot. Stretching and going through the poses works wonders after a long run.
I haven’t done yoga in a long time, but I love dancer or any of the warrior poses. Anything that opens up my incredibly tight hips is a winner in my book!
Ahhh yoga! I miss it. I really like plow as well, just because my body rarely ever gets into that position. I also like all the twisting poses, for what they do for my back. I’m planning on taking 30 days of yoga in a row at some point and I almost can’t wait!!
Pigeon pose is my favorite too! This past weekend I got up into wheel for the first time with an assist from the instructor. My entire spine cracked- it was awesome. Wheel might become a new favorite if I can get into it myself at some point.
Pigeon is definitely my favorite pose. I love the end of class which is always really stretching-heavy. And I’m with you on the milk foam-bring it on! The more the better!
I wish I was a yoga fan. My body enjoys vigorous activities like running/cycling. I do like the benefits of stretching tho. My views about yoga will probably change has time goes on.
I love the feeling of a yoga class when you KNOW that’s what you’re body is craving!
I need to do yoga again. My favorite pose is Proud Warrior. Not because it easy, because it’s a challenge. I like challenges.
Thanks for the link to your post on hip stretches. My hips always get tight from running and I’m always looking for additional ways to stretch them. Thank you!
I’ve just recently realized the awesomeness of yoga while running. PERFECT way to get those leg and core muscles a good stretch. I really like happy baby pose 🙂 It makes me laugh a little
OBSESSED with hot yoga! Have only been practicing for about 2 months now and I LOVE what it has done for my hips! I can get in full fixed firm position AND wheel! I do love dancers pose tho, love seeing my foot so high above my head!!
Pigeon! Absolutely.
I like hip openers, and my latest favorite is lizard. For a relaxing pose, happy baby for sure!
Thanks for the inspiration! Just got out of an amazing yoga class after doing a long run this weekend- just what the doctor ordered!
My all-time favorite yoga pose is crow pose. I don’t know why but I always love the balancing ones the best!
I always crave yoga after a long run! I love the warrior poses because of how powerful they feel. Tree pose is also such a centering pose, and I also love pigeon. Fantastic hip stretch!
Pigeon pose is deff my favorite! I love how much it opens up the hips. It feels amazing
I’ve only been to a handful of yoga classes but they always seem like a great way to work out!
The more I’m exposed to it, the more I love yoga. I love that it has so much stretching while increasing strength. On days that I’m lacking motivation to workout, I turn to yoga and am always surprised at how great of a strength training workout it is.
I absolutely love pigeon pose. It always feels like my entire body is stretching and relaxing all at once, especially when I lower my torso to the floor. So rejuvenating 🙂