Hey guys!
Today has been a really good day, which started in a very special way! Courtney, of The Hungry Yogini, came over to give me a personal 60 minute yoga practice! Courtney babe, you were BORN to be a yoga teacher! She even brought her own sweet tunes and for a whole hour, we just flowed.
We talked about how I’m just now starting to get comfortable again in my practice and how yoga and the mental self are very much intertwined. When my brother died in April I physically could NOT practice for the first time in my life. Instead, I threw myself into high intensity exercises like spinning, where I could go and just drown out all my grief. If I didn’t have to think about it it wasn’t really real, and in spinning I could just drown everything out. Yoga is a bit different. In yoga we constantly open our hearts, which makes us incredibly vulnerable in more ways than one. After losing someone that I was so close to I was downright SCARED to open my heart to anything again! My body took a “fight or flight” mentality and I closed myself off, physically and mentally. It took me a solid three months to get back on my feet and open again to my mat, which has always been of constant comfort in the past.
This week I have learned that its OKAY to be scared, to be anxious, to be afraid…..you just have to let it all out on your mat. Bad things happen to good people but no matter what, we can’t close off our hearts because then, my friends, we aren’t truly living. And life is not a dress rehearsal. Did you know that the left side of a woman’s body is often much more tight than the right? This is because the left side is where we receive life. If we are closed off, we are tight in that area. I was so tight I could hardly rest in pigeon pose—it was a huge wake-up call. So thank you, Courtney, for sharing your “yoga wisdom” with me today and bringing back to my mat where I belong.
After our power yoga/life session I was starving! I made a killer sammie for lunch—
WOWZA was this good!!!! I had defrosted an organic freerange chicken breast that I had gotten from Whole Foods a few weeks ago and I heated it up with Wisconsin cheddar and sandwiched it on soft whole wheat Arnold bread with pickles, red onion, spinach and organic honey mustard. Freakin’ phenomenal.
Then I started to pack!!! I was admiring Kath’s neat, organizational way that she packs and clearly mine follows the same suit……
{ 73 comments… read them below or add one }
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Oh my gosh I’m having TOTAL sandwich envy right now! That. Looked. SO GOOD!
I love the motivation, that is great. Hopefully people will learn from you!
when are they going to invent smell-a-vision? that chocolate looked so yummy. i totally wanted to sniff my screen. have fun on your trip!
For all who are concerned about Mikey, please be assurred he has had the BEST of care, and is doing fine. I too am an animal LOVER and would protect my animals till I die. It was something that was necessary for us to do if we were going to be able to keep Mikey, and I would NEVER let Mikey live without us. It caused me great pain to realize that I had to make this decision, as we have had other cats (one living till he was 17) and never de-clawed. Tp put a smile on your faces, I was greeted by Mikey jumping on the bed and licking me on the mouth this morning(!) and he is presently chasing Mikan around the house trying to get his cat toy that is hanging off Mikan’s tooth! Quite the picture!
Hi Jenna, what an interesting post about yoga. I had never heard that the left side of a woman’s body is often tighter than the right…but this is SUCH an interesting concept to me, being that, for the past three years, I’ve been plagued by running-related issues and tightness in my left leg/hip, but never in my right. While I know there are discrete physical reasons for these issues, I can’t help but wonder if there is a mental component, too. I do love yoga because it makes me feel so much more open; I’m a very outgoing and friendly person, but I tend to keep my deepest feelings to myself, only sharing them with a small handful of my closest friends and loved ones. This is why writing has always been good catharsis for me too.
Thanks for your very thought-provoking post. All the best with your trip/interview preparations today–you will be wonderful!
Jenna & Mom,
You are two wonderful people! I’m so glad you were able to take Mikey in and give him a wonderful home, nothing is better than gettinig woken up by a happy kitty in the morning!
Jenna,
I can’t wait to hear about your trip! You are such an insightful person and so knowledgeable about food and wine, I can’t imagine there being a better choice for the position!
Thank you, Jenna’s mom, for your response to all the soap-boxers! All the comments about declawing just made me groan.
And thank YOU, Jenna, for posting the picture of Mikey…yes, even with his hurt paw. What a beautiful cat! Seriously, he has one of the prettiest little kitty faces I have ever seen.
My mom and I just had to put down our family cat (that we’ve had for 13 years) this past weekend. It was brutal, but seeing Mikey’s face on your blog this morning was nice
Also, I know this topic has already been discussed, but I have had three cats during my life, and all have been de-clawed. My mom’s best friend, who gave us our cats, is a well-respected vet and one of the kindest, gentlest, most humane people I’ve ever known. While she readily acknowledges that de-clawing is not the most comfortable procedure, she supports it, and is upset about the rampant misinformation about the procedure. People are often made to feel very bad and cruel if they are in a position where they need to have their cats de-clawed. That’s just not fair.
haha jenna i am the same way with packing… sometimes i can’t even see my floor! I hope you have an amazing trip and I can’t wait to hear all about it! this was destiny for you
So great that Courtney came over and taught you! I have always done group yoga and wondered what a personal lesson would like. Best of luck tomorrow & the rest of this weekend… all you can do is enjoy it + be yourself!
Unusual that Mikey is the one getting the hate mail. Isn’t it usually Dexter?
Anyway, these people really need to get a life. You didn’t share the photo to get rude comments and don’t need them. You were trying to be sweet and share details of your life. Next thing you know, people will be commenting that you shouldn’t be applying for the Murphy-Goode job because planting vineyards modifies the natural habitats of mosquitoes or something. And you know what I think of yoga–the devil’s work, really, and your chicken sandwich should be faux chicken because killing a chicken to make your sandwich means you hate all animals.
The level of online hatin’ is ridic. I love you and your mom. Can’t wait for our Grassroots date when you are back in Tampa!
That picture of Mikey made me so sad … I have kitties and have never declawed. I couldn’t bear to cause them that kind of pain when they could simply be trained not to scratch anything they weren’t supposed to. However, it is clear that this cat is loved. I hope he is going to be purely an indoor cat though. Please post a picture when his paw is better – I hope soon!
Good luck with your interview!
You have some seriously nice abs!! love the thoughts on yoga. I have never practiced but want to, yet feel so initimidated to start. Not sure why…
Love your eats, such a great balanced diet. Something I see lacking on many of the food blogs.
Still can not find the Lindt salt bars in my area and dying to try them!
I love yoga !
Thanks “Mom” for your well written comment.
I think you sound like an amazing woman…..and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
Your daughter is a mature and sensitive woman for her young age. You two make quite a duo!!!
Someone else found that chocolate bar??? I can’t find it anywhere! Jenna where do you get them. I’m sad to say that it doesn’t come through my computer and I need to find it elsewhere.
I’ve never commented before, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your blog. Wishing you all the best this weekend. Sorry about all the negative responses on this thread. Ridiculous and unnecessary.
Have a fabulous time. Sending good thoughts and positive energy your way. Can’t wait to hear all about it!
I can’t find that chocolate bar either! I’m curious where others have found it. I guess I’ll “have” to take a trip to the Lindt store soooon!
Wishing you the BEST for this weekend!
I am obsessed with finding the chocolate bar!! I had a dark chocolate fleur du sel bar at a wine tasting in Napa, and I loved it. I sort of forgot about it since that vacation. Now I am hot on the trail. I can’t find the Lindt version, but……just now I found something similar at the Fresh Market. It’s a Vosges Haut Chocolat Goji Bar with Tibetan Goji berries, Pink Himalayan Salt and Deep Milk Chocolate. 45% cacao. It is FANTASTIC. (It should be for $6.99 for one bar!)
JENNA! you have such amazing abs! anyways dindin looked yuumm. good luck on everyhing this weekend. dont forget to just be yourself– believe in yourself. you have come so far, and frankly i dont see anything in your way. amen!
Hi jenna, besides yoga, do you do anything specific to focus on your abs? I run a lot, and do some crunches and things, but never seem to be able to tone them up!
What a great perspective on your yoga practice!
Oh my gosh! Mikey has gotten so big! Sending happy kitty thoughts his way so he’ll get better soon!
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