Days 240-245: Moves Like Jagger

Day 240:  On Thursday my friend Emma from Pennsylvania was in town and we went for an hour-long walk in Washington Park before picking up four more friends at the airport.

Day 241:  Written by friends Stacy Kotorac and Julie Beltz:  

Packing for Betsy’s bachelorette party was a bit like packing for a boot camp taking place during spring break.  I found that the quantity of luon and workout clothes in my suitcase was equal to the quantity of “real clothes” but a girl’s gotta be prepared for whatever the bride-to-be had in store.

Thursday night’s marathon, always-happy-hour at the Ruby Tuesdays near the airport made me think that for a moment maybe, just maybe, Betsy would go for a weekend of full indulgence and count aggressive and enthusiastic eating as a workout.  She proved me wrong at 7 am Friday morning as us East-coasters were stirring from the jet lag and she was confirming our workout for the day.  We went to a class at Core Power yoga which, although not very strenuous, proved to be the perfect medicine to cure whatever altitude/jet lag struggles were underway. After the class we quickly plowed into our weekend! Little did we know that marathon walks, hiking, flips on a trampoline at 10,000 feet, laughing until our abs ached, and some very skilled (sarcasm) dancing would fill the rest of the weekend.  It was the perfect mix to celebrate Betsy!

Day 242:  Written by my best friend, Amber Sevitts:

I hate working out.  I know that, for a lot of people, it’s not the highlight of their day but those people say things like “I feel so good when I’m done” and “I have so much energy”….. not me.  Even on the way out of the gym, I’m just waiting for someone to make my day.

But, there are few things that I wouldn’t do for Betsy so I threw on my favorite TV watching, er, I mean workout pants, skipped the sunscreen (epic fail) and tried to chug water to balance the bottle of wine I drank the night before…. and the bottle of champagne.

This was the plan…. Walk to the gondola, take the gondola up, do a “20 min hike/walk” around at the top and then walk down.  I was looking forward to doing a nice tuck and roll down the mountain.

Here is what really happened:  We walked an hour to the gondola (I think this actually should have qualified as a workout but….), we did ride it up (although even sitting there got me winded… blame it on the altitude) and then we hiked at the top.  It wasn’t very far (maybe a mile round trip) but it was steep and the gaggle of gals I was with weighed in at about 500 pounds cumulatively and were all in great shape.  I mostly walked by myself so everyone couldn’t hear me hyperventilating and only stopped when there was so much dust blowing at me that I thought I was having an asthma attack (sidenote: I don’t have asthma).

After that Betsy did some serious trampoline jumping with a backflip or two included and, judging by her breathing, that was more of a workout than the hike.  I’d just eaten $21 worth of concessions food so I opted out of the trampoline for obvious reasons.

And, although not part of the official workout for the day, Betsy and I danced like we legit had the moves like Jagger for most of the night.  I know this because that is what I texted to my boyfriend at least 3 times that night.  He also got a picture of an elephant.  No pictures of that workout are allowed to be posted though.

Overall, I was definitely sweating and didn’t smell great so it counts as a successful workout!

Day 243:  After we all proved that we had moves like Jagger, surprisingly, I was not feeling too hot.  Seven of the thirteen girls left that day and the remaining six went to Washington Park for another hour-long stroll.

Day 244: Yesterday I squeezed in a quick 30 minute run after I dropped off my last few friends at the airport.  It took every ounce of energy in me to complete after the best (and the most inappropriate) weekend of my adult life.

Day 245: With my body still on the mend from dancing for two days straight with three-inch heels on, I decided to take it easy and do a home yoga flow.  Perhaps I’ll be healed by tomorrow.

Day 52 & 53: Dancing On My Mat

Day 52:   On day 52 I went to Bar Method in Cherry Creek.  This class is always hard on my tight hips, but it was especially hard to tackle after completing the yoga sculpt class the day before.  Walking today proved to be especially difficult.

Day 53:  Whenever I come home from Karma Yoga I feel rejuvenated and enlightened; tonight was no different.  I went to a 90 minute bhakti flow class with my friend Sangeeta.  The instructor, Katrina is quickly winning over my yoga heart.  She had us keep our eyes closed for the majority of the practice and it not only made the balance and poses more challenging, it also challenged the faith that I have in my own practice.

Katrina started class by asking us why people are so unhappy?  She said it baffles her how we can turn up our heat to 70 degrees, grab a Starbucks, head to our jobs, practice yoga, eat whatever food we want, talk to friends and family, buy lululemon clothing (she said that!) and still find reasons to be unhappy.  I felt like was staring into my soul with that question…primarily because I turned my heat up before I left the house, drank bucks this a.m., was sporting lululemon and was looking forward to my salmon burger when I came home from practice.  Things are good, but my heart was feeling extra heavy.  I decided to dedicate my practice to celebrating gratitude for how abundant my life actually is.

After a few flows we did something I have never done before….

The drummer from a previous class I had taken there was back again tonight and I can almost guarantee that his eyes were open over the next five minutes that we were asked to “free dance.”  Now, I actually cannot tell you anytime in my life that I a. danced soberly in public b. danced with my eyes closed c. danced to bongo drums and d. danced while confined to a yoga mat.  During my five minutes of dancing confusion I ran into a wall twice, chuckled to myself like a child, peaked at other practitioners to make sure I did not look like I was break dancing in comparison, snapped my fingers a few times for good measure and tried incredibly hard to channel a past viewing of Shiva Rea dancing on a sand dune.

After some of my embarrassment wore off (I wish I could say that stuff does not embarrass me, but I am not there just yet!) we headed into a prolonged savasana.  The instructor ended class with singing a bit of “what the world needs now, is love sweet love…” and with the quote “you’re heart doesn’t break, it just breaks open.”  It left my heart feeling gratuitous for the ups and downs, the dark parts of life and the light parts, for my awkward mat dancing and my sweet fishing pole move, the heartache and the beautiful parts of love.   It’s in the yin and yang in life that we find balance.  I hope you know a way to find yours.  Namaste.