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A New Exercise Equipment and My Morning in Photos

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Namaste,

sof lily1

many of you know that I love the absence of props in my classes at least for 80% of my classes. Often times I consider the excessive use of props such as blocks and yoga straps counter productive as they can further disable us from finding the genius of our own anatomy. That being said there is a time and a place for everything and variety as an exception is always great. One example that comes to mind is Barre Classes- I consider them a slightly dangerous form of fitness just by themselves but a fun thing for someone that is looking to do something new and interesting occasionally. You may ask why would Barre be so bad… well – as our only form of fitness it will greatly suppress our ability to find balance while exercising (unless we have a disability). These classes can help us look fit and thin but they can greatly suppress our real world functional strength and fitness. We all know that looking and being fit are not synonymous. As we get older we want to develop and maintain our balance and core strength so stepping away from that crutch (the bar) will kick our real muscles in gear and help us develop some important skills. So that’s what I do with my classes – I find the shortcuts to building functional strength and I find the combination of power, strength, balance, fluidity, flexibility and cardio in order to offer a full body system (mindfulness is an added bonus). And of course here and there I do like to sprinkle things with some props. So thanks to my pregnancy <3 I knew it is time for a new prop for our classes. This will give Interval Yoga another dimension. I chose the humble elastic bands as our next prop. They  are light and easy to pack and travel with plus they are affordable for practically everyone. I am sure I may add 2-3 more props during this pregnancy plus an intern or two but for now we have this to get excited over. I ordered a set on Amazon on Sunday and they just arrived at my house. I feel that they will help us sculpt a perkier booty and more toned legs. I  will be incorporating them soon so I figured I will announce them now so you have time to buy or order your set. The company I settled on is http://amzn.to/2c8ppnu -they come in 5 resistance levels. The price is $11 (but the original price tag is $45- hopefully this is a permanent sale on Amazon) and free shipping so I figured doable for most of you. (BTW the company didn’t sponsor this- I seriously did my research and purchased the ones that seemed to be the best value and quality as I am resistant to incorporating expensive or heavy props because I want everyone to feel included in my classes). That is the reason I still haven’t gotten a bosu ball but we might be exploring that at some point 😀

So now onto my morning. This fall and winterI am inspired to blog or vlog bits of my day and I will start with my morning today. I woke up at 5 am and went for a long boardwalk bike ride on the beach while my partner surfed with a buddy of his. Sorry no beach photos as I was not planning on blogging today. It is so worth the pain of waking up early because the mornings have a charge to them.  After that I got a cup of matcha at Urth cafe. (this is seriously my first week being able to have anything warm or with flavor to it – the first trimester kicked my butt for sure. I could not have any herbal tea, matcha, juice, warm water, etc for 3 months)

 

These are some of the goodies Urth cafe has to offer.  I DIDN’T try these babies but I did admire them lol

vegan chocopumpkin pie

After that I made a stop at my armenian grocery store (this is how often I go there – it has become “mine” 😛 )  and I bought some Tiger figs (figs with stripes), 6 pounds of ripening barhi dates and some jujubes. This is the reason why  I am super brave with ethnic stores- I always find fruits that are delicious and exotic in there.

barhi

BARHI DATES FRESH

These are seriously the biggest barhi dates i have ever seen!!! If you have never had a fresh date then plan a trip to Cali in September next year 😉 – they are that good!!! Well that and the ocean will make it worth it!
tiger figs

I am baby(doggy)sitting this angel of a girl who is also very tired today after the early morning  🙂

lilly

Well, I will get back to recording a Voice Over for a Groove Yoga Class.  Wishing you a gorgeous day. And I am excited for the band workouts. Hurry up and either order or find locally at least one band so we can hit those legs and buns.

om

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5 Comments

  1. Karlaart@comcast.net's Gravatar
    Karlaart@comcast.net 1st September 2016, 11:42 pm

    Hurray! I love my bands but haven’t used them as often in the last 2 1/2 years since I do exclusively Ali NRVL Yoga.
    I’m excited to see how you incorporate bands. I love the micro-adjustability which bands allow! Plus they feel easy on my joints. (But, NO joke on muscle burn!)

    I have a band system which can be anchored to a closed door, tho, I have fixed anchors to a wall in my exercise space. But I can use the bands freely as well. Pretty cool.

    Thanks for all you offer, Ali, you are awesome. I am so so grateful!!

    Glad to hear your taste buds are happier. ?

    • admin's Gravatar

      ah glad you will put your old equipment to use. i used to have the wall ones as well but i must have let them go while moving. we will have fun with the added resistance 😀

  2. Betty's Gravatar

    I LOVEEED my bands during both my pregnancies. I used them on days I needed lighter resistance and didn’t want to bother with weights 🙂

  3. Tina Redder's Gravatar

    Wonderful, thank you for sharing, love your gorgeous food pics and of course the doggies! I never used props, don’t have them but sounds very handy to build up strenght or space in the joints and muscles. Those dates, girl ….. when in cali I know what I will be buying lol! First months can be quiet a challenge, you must be over the moon to be done with that! Sending love and huggs Tina xo

  4. MichaelH's Gravatar

    I can’t wait to use my bands I will have them tomorrow 🙂 Thanks for the videos and for the new webpage and the recipes … You are the best

    Namasté

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