Bikram Yoga

I'm so behind in posts. I've been meaning to update for months, but work has been kicking my butt the past few weeks.

                 I.E. Today in one of my fifth grade classes I gave a speech on "legacy" (which I'm convinced fell on deaf ears..) Tried to explain that teachers feel things too! I said, "sometimes I think you guys forget we're human too and we get worn down too. The difference is teachers can't just decide we're not gonna do our work anymore, or we're gonna be rude or jerks because we didn't get our way- we have to keep up a positive attitude and push forward. You make it very difficult to do that sometimes. Just keep in mind, we get frustrated and hurt and tired too, and there is only so much disrespect a person can take before they start to lose all respect for you...." One of the girls started crying and ran up to me after class and said she thought I was talking about her and that she's sorry....so maybe one kid was listening. She said, "I want to be remembered for good things not for being disrespectful." One victory at a time...

That being said, I want to update on my Greensboro activities- like I said I would on this blog!

                                                                  Bikram Yoga. 

1. What:  26 postures that systematically work every part of the body, to give all the internal organs, all the veins, all the ligaments, and all the muscles everything they need to maintain optimum health and maximum function. 
1. Translation? You sweat all your toxins out of your body while balancing the heck out of your body!
2. What to Expect: You enter into a mirrored room and lay your mat on the floor. There can be anywhere from 25-55 people there. The heat is set to 106 degrees and you start sweating profusely about 3 minutes into your time int the room. The instructor will begin to call out the poses. It last 1.5 hours (which is incredibly long!) The hardest part about this type of yoga is the slipperiness of your skin- it was difficult to hold positions because my feet would roll off my soaking wet skin. 
3. Important facts: 
1. Seriously Hydrate for the the WHOLE DAY leading up to going. (The first time i went I made the mistake of hydrating only DURING instead of BEFORE and I got a stomach ache.)
2. They don't like you to leave to use the bathroom so make sure you pee before you go in...
3. Don't eat junk food or heavy foods before you go, it will weigh you down (i'm not kidding!!)
4. Bring your own mat if you can, because you sweat all over it and if you care about germs at all you won't want to use another person's mat
5. Don't wear any rings or jewelry! 
6. BRING WATER and a towel 
7. WEAR LITTLE CLOTHING you will not want layers, the bare min is best, most girls wear spandex shorts and sports bras (or a tank top in my case.)
4. Price: Grouponed this gem, the groupon reappears about four times a year and it's an unlimited month for $26 (though I think it's $36 now...)
5. Location: West Market right between the Sheetz and the Nazareth resteraunt (that I'm dying to try!)
6. Watch Kumare: This documentary is amazing and extremely entertaining.  This class will put you in an entirely different mindset if you watch that movie. HIGHLY reccommend.
   
Here's a Trailer- you can find it on Netflix.
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All in all it was a good workout, you burn a TON of calories and feel AMAZING the next day. During the actual class I felt kinda awful, the heat messed with my head and I didn't much care for the feeling. (Plus the girls in front of me were SICK at the poses and I felt completely ridiculous..ok not the one lady in the leopard print romper uni-tard, she was pretty terrible.I don't plan on ever going back (since that month) because the last time I went it gave me a migraine. The next day you feel like a whole new person! BUT it's not worth a migraine for me.

-Abigail

Maxi B's Vegan Cupcakes.

The Vegan Life: After six months of vegan ism (8 of vegetarian) I feel more energized and happier when I'm committed and strict about the lifestyle. Even with this knowledge I find myself fighting the (sometimes uncontrollable) desire for foods that I KNOW contain egg or cheese products.

I love cheesecake and I love soft pretzels. 

Ginny and I decided that Natty Greens has the best soft pretzels in Greensboro.

I have resigned to the fact that I can't eat cheese anymore, months of living without has almost killed my addiction (although I do sometimes look at Mexican food and think- if only....) I've found that if I avoid Mexican restaurants altogether, I more likely to avoid the trappings of cheese lust. I can go Tex/Mex (i.e. Chipotle) because they have so many vegetarian options. My SAVING GRACE is that I'm obsessed with Guacamole, so give me some warm tortilla chips and a well made guach and I'm a happy camper:)

Jules and I eating Vegan Pizza at Sticks and Stones, realized we dressed the same...

Over Christmas I aptly titled myself a "seasonal vegan." I eat baked good (eggs) on Christmas day, and I eat cheesecake (all KINDS of dairy) on my birthday. (Pretend you didn't read that confession all you die-hard-veganists out there, I am so faithful ALL other days of the year.) My ONLY other slip is...soft pretzels. I will, in fact, eat a Philly-doughy-delicious-twisted-little-piece-of-heaven and NOT feel guilty for the intake of egg....almost no guilt:)

Maxi B's with Jules.

There are, however, two saving graces in Greensboro for the baked goods craving vegan. Spring Garden Bakery and Maxi B's Bakery, (also They have a BLOG.)

1. Spring Garden Bakery: They literally have THE BEST pumpkin chocolate chip vegan muffins. They are so filling too, it serves as a lunch for me (along with a cup of coffee.) Their coffee isn't my favorite, but it's good enough that I'll couple it with a muffin and experience a little piece on heaven on earth (I much prefer the Green Bean's coffee flavor.) 
2. Maxi B's:  I ordered a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing... OH.MY.GERSH. It was Divine. haha. You laugh, I laugh, because it's true. I thought I died for a second and came back to life. So all you Vegans out there looking for an escape, order up a cupcake to savor in that sweet little inviting bakery on a cloud.

I'm in Charelston right now, but I'm going to try baking THESE VEGAN COOKIES when I get home, check out the link, because they look good. If any g-boro peeps want to join in this endeavor I'm thinking wednesday night.

Peace Out.

Zumba Night

After a full day of dancing at school, auditioning 73 kids for my dance company, I pumped my weary body up for a little zumba-ing at the Club Green Valley.

For those of you living in Greensboro, Ginny and I are going to try different organized social activities and review the experiences on the blog. Hopefully it will inspire you to try some new things in GSO as well. So, if you come across something interesting to do, post it and we will rise to the challenge- slaying apprehension in one fell swoop. (I will always take a dare, unless it's cray stupid..in which case I take a second to think about it before barrelling forward.)

Zumba with Braden Cook is so fun. When I lived in Charlotte I would take Zumba classes at the Siskey YMCA, and they were good, but this was better. Reasons why Braden was better:

1. The music. He doesn't just use Latin or techno-fused-African stuff, he plays main stream and pop music too.
2. The size. It's not so crazy crowded that you can't breathe, like other classes I've attended, everyone person has room to move.
3. Braden himself. He fuses real dance and aerobics together well so it doesn't feel like an 80s workout video but more like a dance class. The dancer in me is appeased and the fat girl in me is challenged, and the teenage-sleepover-let's-jump-on-the-bed-and-sing-into-our-hairbrushes side of me is DEF won over.
4. Body ached the next day. I know that it was beneficail because my butt, legs, and core hurt the next day.
5. I went with three of my dear friends and it was just as much a social activity as a workout

Well Done Zumba, you captured my heart once again.