How Yoga is Slowly Changing My Life

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Happy Friday, beautiful people! I hope you all have had a beautiful week and that your weekend is off to a great start! Honestly, this week flew by for me and I feel like I’m just getting to catch my breath on the week. So, I’m pumped for this weekend to be able to slow down and head to a new pilates and yoga strengthening class on Saturday!

Speaking on working out, I’ve been slowly sharing my health/fitness journey with y’all through IG stories and SnapChat. A few months back, I was looking for a trainer and booked a start date ,based on my Instagram polls, with a local trainer. However, shortly after that I sprained my ankle and could barely walk without limping/my ankle swelling for weeks, so my trainer appointment was put on hold. As I was more comfortable with workout out on my ankle, I started looking for alternatives to running and BodyPump so my ankle could heal quicker. In the past, I’ve done yoga and pilates classes multiple times a week and even joined our local Pure Barre studio. As I was looking for places to take classes, I found that my current gym offered yoga or pilates at least once a day every day of the week and I immediately sign-up. Over the past few months, I have been dedicated to and loving these classes for conditioning and endurance training. Of course, the first thing I think about when it comes to fitness/working out is what am I going to eat when I’m done? My number one post-workout snack is Lorissa’s Kitchen meat snacks. The Original Beef Steak Strips are my fav but I have recently been loving Korean Barbeque Beef Steak Strips for a more savory treat!

One of the mistakes I’ve made in the past was attempting to cut out meat when I was trying to diet but never replacing the protein. I get about 1/3 to 1/2 of my daily suggested protein amount (average 46 grams for women) from one bag of snacks, making protein one less thing to worry about during my meals and they’re gluten-free! Plus, Lorissa’s Kitchen meat snacks are made with only the highest quality meats including 100% grass-fed beef and chicken raised without antibiotics!

Growing up and in college, dance and relaxation meditation were huge parts of my life and so I’m pumped to share with y’all 5 ways getting back into yoga is changing my life.

One | Relaxation Okay, this one may sound like a no brainer but if you’re Type A, over achiever, always running around like a crazy lady (like myself, oops), then you know how vital relaxation is. For the longest time, I thought relaxing just meant sitting on the couch watching TV but at some point, I would find myself doing work or taking 4 naps in a day. One days where I solely work from home, it is quite easy to say I’m going to “relax” for a crazy morning of work then end up 3 episodes deep in a Fixer Upper marathon. With yoga, I’m not only practicing how to relax when I’m in class but I’m always much more calm when I get home. The next day, I usually feel less pressure from the day before and have more of a fresh start.

Two | Sleep Y’all, sleep is like a foreign concept in my home. When I was in college, I would be up all hours of the night cramming to get papers and assignments done and unfortunately, that behavior has spilled over into my adult life. I love that I work better at night time because I can get more done, however, I always regret that decision when I have to teach early in the morning. Whenever I go to a yoga class in the early evening, my body gets tired earlier in the night and I can be in a bed at a more decent time. Lately, I have been practicng some of the laying down stretches and method while in bed and have been able to drift off quicker.

Three | Endure One of the best things I have learned in yoga is how to breath properly when working out. When I’m trying to stay centered and build endurance in my yoga positions, I have to practice a steady breathing pattern or I’ll fall out of the pose. Because I am so focused on my actually breathing, I stay in the poses longer and build up my endurance to be active for long. This skill has come in handy when trying to run because I am training my body to maintain that stready breathing pattern even when I’m getting tired.

Four | Flexibility As a past dancer, flexibility has always been important to me, especially when trying to lengthened my body as the shortest person on stage. One of the things I have missed being out of a traditional dance studio is being able to practice splits, back bends, jumps and basic tumbling. I love that yoga is helping me build strength back in flexibility and preparing me to get back in the traditional dance studio

Five | Wellness Yoga has become the perfect “down day” in my workout schedule for the week. Even though the class can be just as intense and burn just as many calories as some of my high impact classes, I love that I’m not being as hard on my body and can use yoga to decrease my chances of injury.

For my post-workout snack, Lorissa’s Kitchen Korean Barbeque Beef Steak Strips are my go-to! When I’m snacking throughout the day, especially on busy travel days, I have at least two bags of Original Beef Steak Strips in my purse knowing that I’ll eat one bag in the car on the way there. For my trip to NYC, I’m bringing along a few bags (Sorry, TSA) for the flight and a few more for hotel post-workouts. For me, after a hot yoga session or a pilates class followed by a run, I am ready for bed to reboost my energy. However, most of the time after my workouts, I am heading to work, church or out with friends. Lorissa’s Kitchen meat snacks come in handy the most now because I can eat a few and can hold over until my next meal. When I want to get in an early workout and don’t want to go on a completely empty stomach, I grab a few meat snacks to hold me over until the end of class. Lorissa’s Kitchen protein snacks make healthy eating on-the-go even more convenient for my busy lifestyle and are great for a full day of meetings, teaching, travel and more.

How do you keep yourself fueled? Let me know below! Learn more about Lorissa’s Kitchen and the power of protein here. Be sure to check out Lorissa’s Kitchen on Amazon, and use code 20OFFLK to get 20% off your order!

Thanks so much for reading y’all. Have a lovely weekend 🙂

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.