Accepting Life on Life's Terms

Welcome to a new week. We have new opportunities. Let’s take advantage of them.

So what have I been up to?

Tuesday evening I had a birthday dinner with friends. There was twenty of us chatting, laughing and enjoying good food and drinks. It is my favorite restaurant and our waiter was blast. He knew how to handle a bunch of rowdy yogis and friends with humor and ribbing. Seriously, though, I’ve not had a bad dish there and look forward to my next meal there.

Wednesday, I woke up remembering why I don’t drink often or much. I had an appointment with a new doctor. We discussed where I was with my depression and anxiety and made a few adjustments. Then, I had lunch with my fiancé who then joined me for a shopping trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods. Got to pick up some new running clothes. I can feel all spiffy now. While we were there, the fiancé noticed a picture they had on their wall.

Aerial yoga went well. It was rather low key as I was still feeling my birthday drinks. I made sure that we stretched our necks and backs as it seemed we were all carrying some stress there. We chatted about life and what we had all been up to. I am happy that we have a free space to express our feelings as well as express ourselves thru asanas. I think it helps with the mind body connection.

I didn’t run on Thursday. New medicine made me a bit wobbly, but will help with both the autoimmune and depression. So sucking it up till the side effects past, but moving at a fast pace seemed like a bad idea.

Friday, I went to aerial yoga with SDTB. She really enjoys it. It’s always nice to see someone have such joy in the fabrics. Class stretched us out and challenged us. The leg series we do to warm up, I think, might be the hardest part of the class. I learned a new move called infinity and accidently found a way into a wrapped swing seat. Another fun part of aerial yoga is finding cool “mistakes.”

Saturday I was up for a run. I went to the gym early to get a head start on my fiancé and SDTB. It felt so good to run. I didn’t go for any records but tried to keep a steady pace. I averaged out at 12:34. There were a few sprints. I wore some of my new birthday running clothes. I know now where the Bodyglide is needed. I find each piece of clothing has different hot spots. Bodyglide is a runner’s best friend. It is better than Vaseline because it won’t stain clothes.

Did I learn anything over these past few days? I learned it’s ok to take it easy sometimes. I learned to be adaptable. I learned that I don’t have to break records every run. I learned that mistakes can lead to some fun discovery. 

I also learned Karn is rather photogenic

Introductions Are In Order

Twas a dark and stormy night....

Not really but it seemed like a good way to start my blog as it has served so many writers before me.

When I turned 30, I realized I didn't really know who I was. Somewhere along the way to adulthood, I lost myself. Friends helped me and supported me thru this process of feeling my emotions, not being a people pleaser, realizing I can't fix everything, and discovering myself. In Runaway Bride, Julia Roberts' character didn't know how she liked her eggs. I was the same way.

So this is what I've found:

I live with depression and anxiety. They live in my head and try to get me to be the old me. I won't say that I suffer with them. It gives them too much power, but the truth is that they are there. I don't talk about them much as I don't want to give them too much power over my life. One of the biggest and most important things I learned is that feelings are not facts. The other thing is that it is ok for me to have emotions, feel them and let them go.

I used to spin poi, sometimes I spun fire poi. I wasn't sure what to do with them after awhile and set them aside, but I told a friend at work about them. One day, she was on Living Social and found a special for aerial yoga. She told me I should try it. I was suspicious about this whole concept. It seemed a little crazy. And, of course, I fell in love with it and now teach it part-time. Aerial yoga uses a hammock of 40 tricot denier to assist in regular yoga poses. It acts like a partner and a bolster. It uses gravity to deepen some asanas and, at the same time, takes the pressure of gravity off of other asanas. Regular yoga was difficult for me due to a form of myalgia I live with, but aerial yoga was a blessing.

Here is an album of aerial yoga

And here is me in one of my favorite poses.

As I mentioned, I do have myalgia which takes many forms including burning skin and joint pain. Because of this, I moved less. And with the depression, I ate more food. My weight skyrocketed. I decided I needed to do something about it and I started walking. The dog and I would go for hour long walks. It didn't work. I was still gaining weight and I didn't know why. While reading an article on Buzzfeed, I came across MyFitnessPal. The website helps you reach your weight goals with calorie counting and exercise tracking. It also has an active forum that has a wealth of information. You can find me here. And I started to lose weight very slowly. Very slowly. Too slowly. So slow, I started to feel defeated. I asked myself what I could do to increase my exercise level. 

The answer was running. I rejected the idea. I was not a runner. I was not built for running. I have short stubby legs. Turtles passed me when I walked. But the calorie burn! I love food but food loves my waist line. So I tried it. It was not love at first jog. I despised it. I could barely jog a mile. Then, someone on the MFP forums suggested Couch to 5k by Zen Labs. You run in intervals, eventually running for a full 30 minutes. And I did it. And I enjoyed it. So I moved on to Bridge to 10k and I completed that too. I am now training for half marathon distances. I ran 9.56 miles without stopping on Saturday.

I am on Runkeeper. 

I know that this has all been a little dry but now you know a little bit about me. 

So a few quick things.

I have a fiance. I love him dearly and we both have grown so much together. I wouldn't be the me I am now if it hadn't been for him.

I have a corn snake. 

I have a livebearer freshwater tank, a cichlid tank with a killifish, a saltwater tank, and a betta in an awesome fish bowl with a koi carved bottom.

I have a rough coated/border collie mix. I love all things with fur but I love dogs the most

I also love the Bristol Renaissance Fair

Lastly, I enjoy shooting photography. I do it for fun. My Flickr