Yoga Pose May
Hi guys! Hope your day is going well!
Mine has been pretty bueno- slowly but surely easing back into my routine and out of Island mode 😉
I snacked on some millet bread + Strawberry Meyer-lemon jam while I did computer work
and was scarily excited to bust out the TJs smoked salmon for lonchi.
(a “smoked salmon dance” ensued as I broke that bad Johnny out of the fridge)
I grabbed a TJs multigrain tortilla (why do I have to live without Trader Joe’s?? It’s a sad existence) and added a 2 egg white puff
and then the most decadent, soft, buttery smoked salmon….
rolled it up, and happily stuffed my face 😀
Afternoon snackage was horseradish hummus (I know, huh?! A tweep recommended this to me) and carrots
+ chocolate for hormones sanity
Since it’s Yoga Pose May, I thought I’d test out my new Thriv gear (a gifty from the Thriv fairy) for my pics and a short power yoga flow that I’m about to do:
I LOVE the fabric. It’s super lightweight, stretchy and offers sun protection. Baller. The clothes fit really well and the shorts are long enough to prevent downward-facing booty flashing 😉
Here’s some info on Yoga Pose May, which is being hosted by Tina and Kate
Everyday in May, a different blogger features a yoga pose on their blog. Each blogger was randomly assigned a date and yoga pose, so, on that specific day of the month, they share the pose with a photo and commentary with their readers. More than 100 bloggers are participating in Yoga Pose May!
My pose: Upward Facing Dog (Urdvah Mukha Svanasana)
-Palms of the hands and tops of the feet are the only things touching the floor
-Keep shoulders down and back, abs tucked in and booty squeezed
-Gaze straight ahead
-Keep your wrists directly under your shoulders, fingers pointing forward
Benefits of Upward Facing Dog (from this website):
- Strengthen the spine, arms and wrists
- Stimulate the organs of the abdomen
- Improve posture, by stretching anterior spine and strengthening posterior spine
- Stretch chest and lungs, shoulders and abdomen
- Help to relieve depression, fatigue and pain of sciatica
- Increase lung capacity to relieve the symptoms of asthma
Poses like this are critical for a healthy back, especially with so many of our daily postures and chores that induce the forward fold of the torso. When we are forward all day–whether sitting at our desks or driving for hours on end–we over-stretch our back muscles and weaken our abdominals.
So there ya have it! Have you been yoga-ing this month?! I’ve been lacking in the yoga department and am looking forward to some bending, twisting and stretching right about now 😀
Then it’s off to work and for dinner: SHRIMP CURRY time! We’re celebrating Indian Food Wednesday a day late 😉
Enjoy the rest of your day!
xoxo,
Gina
Upcoming: –Vacay video (it’s in the process but is taking 12 years to upload, so I’ll have it as a nice tropical distraction for your Friday morning)
– Reader’s request: Budgeting. I get SO many questions about budgeting (for life and for food) so tomorrow is the day! If you have any specific budgeting questions you’d like me to get to tomorrow, please hit me up in the comments 😀
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You look great!!
This may be a bit military-centric but how do you budget when shopping at the commissary? I try to buy a lot of stuff from there (organic canned lentil soup, almond milk, other staples) because of the no tax and I don’t know about yours but our commissary’s produce is less than fresh/appealing. My question is do you think it’s worth it to shop on post or is money better spent at Whole Foods, other grocery stores/farmers markets with better produce?
What brand of jam is that? Strawberry-meyer lemon sounds so good!
beth t got it for me: http://fitnessista.com/2010/05/pack-a-lackin/
Oh, I am quite looking forward to tomorrow’s budgeting post. Especially concerning food buying!
I love Bella, just sitting at your feet watching you do your yoga pose (my dog would literally be jumping on my back or in my face).
awesome!! i love the clothes. and im embarrassed to admit i don’t look like that in upward facing dog! now i know
oh those clothes look great!
Cute outfits!!! Is it sad that working out in cute clothes makes it even more fun for me? lol
I can’t wait for my half marathon to be over so I can focus more on yoga. I am a yoga newbie, but think that I could get addicted!
I’m loving the sideways facing Bella! My animals get way too excited to sit on my yoga mat when I roll it out!
Budgeting questions: What are the basic food items that you consider a must-have in your fridge? Do you set a dollar limit for food for each grocery store visit or month? Do you track your eating out spending?
Thanks!
I love that the pup is in the picture. About 90% of my Yoga Pose May pics had a cat or dog sneaking in. They are such attention whores, aren’t they?
Hi Gina,
I was wondering if you knew of a way to modify upward facing dog so as not to put soooo much pressure on the wrists.
I have a small but annoying repetitive stress injury in my right wrist, and when I forget to use my wrist stabilizer during yoga, it hurts like a biatch during upward facing dog/chataranga. Do you know if there are any variations to minimize the wrist stress during this pose? Thanks!
P.S. I love the new yoga clothes. I want some! 🙂
I love articles on budgeting. I’m working on getting my grocery budget down.
I love the yoga clothes! Super cute! As for budgeting, I was wondering if you budget for clothes monthly? It seems like you enjoy shopping for clothes, and I was wondering if you generally shop around sales?
I am excited to hear about your budgeting tips too. I can always use the advice! 🙂 Oh and your salmon looks delish. I really wish they had a trader joe’s here in idaho!!
I’m picking up that Smoked Salmon from TJ’s tomorrow – already have it on my weekly menu list! 😉
I DEF just did a double take on that hummus. Must go to Trader Joes NOW! Too bad I live 3 hours from one!! Boo!
Oh!!! FUN! Can I do Yoga pose May? Where do you go for it. I may just post some random yoga on my blog!!!
Smoked salmon is the BEST. TJ’s to the rescue!
Super cute workout clothes! It’s funny that you are posting about budgeting because I literally have a post-it note with my monthly budget freshly written out and stuck to my laptop right now. I would love to know how you figure out how much to save each month. Thanks for all the fun posts!
I love how the dog snuck into the upward facing dog pic 🙂
you’re so pretty miss Gina! i can’t wait for the vacay video…maybe i’ll sip a rum drink and pretend i’m there with ya… 😉
Yoga pose of yesterday was the headstand! Only my second yoga class ever and starting to like it. I’m an apparatus pilates junkie, though!
My budgeting question is which kind of goat cheese you buy so not to break the bank?
Budget question:
Are there any ideas you have for shopping in season when stuff is cheaper? I don’t always have recipes, ideas on what to do with some of the seasonal produce. Also, what do you do about berries, they seem to be expensive fresh unless they are in season, do you buy them frozen, and if so where?
those clothes DO look comfy. Can I Has? lol
Ooo yum shrimp, i am craving shrimpies now.
Strawberry + lemon are an amazing combo. I love upward dog, it makes me feel so strong! I cant wait to read about your budget tips tomorrow.
I am SO happy you posted about Thriv! I am on a budget when it comes to workout gear, and though I loove lucy activewear, it is a bit above my price range.
Oh and upward facing dog = love.
I can’t live without Trader Joes either! I am hoping that wherever I go to grad school has a trader joes, otherwise I don’t know what I’d eat. its a sad sad dependency 🙂
I’m not sure how I would survive without Trader Joe’s. And I hear you on the salmon!
Bella looks so cute just sitting there at your feet!
wow, you look amazing! I love TJ’s! they have the best dried fruit.
I love your little yoga instructor. 🙂 My cat is also a trainer – he jumps up on my stomach when I am trying to do crunches on my exercise ball. Welcome back and I’m glad you had a great trip!
Love the pose!
they sent those yoga clothes to the right person to review -their sales are going to triple with all the people buying them hoping to look half as good as you!
Yes! Looking forward to the budget tips!!
Ohh I need some budgeting tips lol
I just bought those TJs multigrain wraps and they’re awesome! I like when wraps and nice and softtt (*cough*not ezekiel*cough*)
What are your gotta-have finds from trader joes? i LOVE that place but sadly, none exist anywhere remotely close and i’m putting together a list of things i want(NEED)to give to a friend to bring back on his way back from a trip. the salmon is definitely going on the list! 🙂
wasabi peas
raw almond butter
superfood spread
sticks and twigs cereal
crispy green beans
smoked salmon
horseradish hummus
curry simmer sauce
🙂
Budget Questions: How do you budget so that you can buy designer clothes, go on many “very nice” vacations, and be able to afford to buy vegetarian foods!!
hi gina,
i want to ask the following Q’s, but i don’t see a place on your website – so here they are:
– can you talk a bit about millet bread? why do you eat it? i bought some @ WF the other day & it was very strange – kind of fell apart before i could get it in the toaster. it was good after it was darkly toasted, but wouldn’t hold together well.
-portion control! – do you measure out your almond butter? i looked @ the calorie count & was taken aback.
– you mentioned in a previous post that you have 3 jobs – what are they besides your personal training gig?
thanks & i know you must devote a lot of time & care to your website – b/c it’s GREAT!
y
hey kim!
thanks so much for reading!
-because it tastes wonderful and it’s whole grain- i keep it in the freezer and chisel off a piece when i want some and then heat it in the microwave
-no… i should though! sometimes i get a little almond butter happy 🙂 it is very calorie dense, though
-personal training, teaching aerobics + the blog
🙂
1. you look AMAZING!!!
2. I’m counting down until early July when I can go to TJ’s in Atlanta on route to NC. Will definitely be hitting it up on the way there and back. 🙂 Once time gets closer, you could always hit me up with a list and I can drop some stuff off for you on our way back down. 🙂
3. Bella is adorable – she looks like a little stuffed dog in that yoga pic!
thank you friend!
AHHH that would be wonderful! keep me updated 🙂
bella says thank you 😉
xoxo
LOVE LOVE the outfit!! i really like that yellow tank! where can we find those clothes? only online or is there a store??
o also.. whats this superfood spread from TJ’s? i have never seen it before.. and im a once a week shopper of TJ’s. THanKS!
i forgot which berries it has in it, but it’s by the jam. so good!
You look amazing Gina!! 🙂 I would love to wear shorts or something like that but my cellulite is killing me 🙁 I never had that…I don’t really know where it’s coming from 🙁 Any good advice on cellulite? I already tried several products, but I am not consistent enough I guess….ok, and exercise would be good too, I guess 😉 What would you do?
I’ve been reading your blog for months now, I love your recipes and workouts! I’m definitely getting Insanity over the summer!
Can you tell me where you buy millet bread? Maybe it’s just my college budget holding me back haha.
Oh & I’m looking at getting my personal trainer certification in a few years! I’ve read your posts on your job and it seems like something I’d love!
Hilarious!
Where can we find other Yoga Pose May blogs?
wow.. cool article and you look great.
Yoga can help anyone to look and feel great inside and out.
Ohh… so how was the horseradish hummus?? Intriguing!
I’m always interested in how others budget for eating healthy… I do pretty well with it, but all tips are welcome! 🙂
it was AMAZING! tangy- supergood
Gina:
I have studied yoga for 12 yrs. and just recently discovered a great core strengthing move …..start in downward facing dog and then move into upward facing dog…..move back and forth with the breath….try it!!
awesome, i will try it!
So glad you tried the horseradish hummus I recommended. It’s so good. But beware: It’s kind of addicting! 🙂
The adjustment from vacay to real life is always a bit difficult. Glad you’re chugging along 🙂
Nice Upward Dog! And sideways dog to Bella 🙂