Alright, I feel much better now. I was just so frustrated earlier by the fact that it is October and it is still soooo hot that I cannot even go for an autumn walk. I want fuzzy sweaters, beautiful foliage, crunchy leaves, crisp air! We've been breaking all kinds of record high temperatures! But relief is in site for the weekend:
I cannot wait! I plan on taking a nice, long walk.
After my little meltdown, I did about 20 minutes of yoga, followed by 5 of savasana and then a 15 minute guided meditation from Living Joy.
I forgot I bought this cd over a year ago and it occured to me during savasna, so I jumped up and put on "Living Acceptance," since clearly I need to accept the fact that I live here! haha
Max participated:
hmmmmmmm? I was probably thinking about dinner...
My best attempt at a dancer pose. I don't know how people get their legs practically over their heads and torso up, but...you know...this is me!
I can go forward, but not up!
Balance is not an issue for me, but apparently flexibility is!:)
Made some homemade chocolate chip waffles for dinner...
Pretty new pictures in honor of the 31-Day Yoga Challenge:
To put it nicely, I AM SICK OF FREAKIN' LIVING HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is hot, miserable; I'm sick of going outside and seeing nothing but CEMENT, BUILDINGS; dealing with pissed off and rude road-ragers, red-necks, crack heads, even old people running me off the road. I'm sick of not having nature.
Everyone always says the same thing when I mention these things: oh, but Nicole, no where else can you go to the beach in October! Florida is SOOOO NICE!!
Really? I would like for someone to list me some great things about living in Florida that do not include THE BEACH. I'm pretty sure no one can think of anything else. And yes, the beach...it is nice, but seriously? Is that ALL Florida has to offer?? There's Disney world...ooooo wooopdeeedoo!!!
ANYWAY, I'm feeling bitter and annoyed today with the heat. It should be getting cooler in the week and then maybe I will be a little happier about being here. It isn't like I can just get up and leave. You don't just leave your relationship of almost 7 years to move to another state. I don't, anyway. So, I am stuck here, for now.
What can I do about it? YOGA. Will be doing a nice home practice.
This morning I wanted to go to a studio class, but decided to save money since there was a 10:30 class at my gym. Today's practice was refreshing; it felt like we held the poses for an eternity! Sometimes I love that and sometimes not...I did today!
I spent the rest of the day finishing up my GI/Heme CCIP modules and then decided to go shopping! I bought a pair of yoga pants from Old Navy and some shorts, too. I also stopped by Borders and almost bought this book.
But decided to wait and read reviews online first. Has anyone read it? Worth buying?
Dinner was Apple-Squash Soup from Clean Food. I highly recommend this book. My CSA begins in one month and I know it will definitely come in handy.
As far as the soup? It was delicious!! Had an apple-sauce kind of feel, but the flavors were all over the place good. UNFORTUNATELY, my camera is still at Mirza's and I have yet to retrieve it, so no pictures:(
For the recipe, it called for a hand held blender and I bought one for $20 at Walmart. Call me weird, but it was fun to use! I'm going to be finding more recipes to incorporate it.
I'd really like to hear how everyone's yoga practice is going, especially if you're doing the 31-Yoga Challenge. Please comment with any stories, inspirational thoughts, anything!
Today was all about de-cluttering! I took everything out of my closet (not clothes, I don't have a lot and got rid of stuff I don't wear awhile ago) and threw away a ton of papers. I had sooooo much stuff from high school and college and just weird things I've hung onto. I am not afraid to throw things away. I used to be, but realize they are just things and toss them. I was holding onto approximately 12 binders of work from college and realized: Okay, I haven't even LOOKED at this stuff in a year, so I don't think I ever will again. I went through and saved papers that I had written (the ones worth keeping) and everything else went into the garbage. I kept a few blank binders (the good/clean ones), but the rest are going to Goodwill or Salvation Army tomorrow. I also had a ton of papers from high school and the Poynter Institute (I was in the high school journalism program). I ended up with about 5 categories of STUFF: -Photos that don't belong in an album (ie-loose) -Writings (papers, newspaper articles I had written, anything) -Journals (I've been journaling non-stop my whole life) -Love (Letters and notes from Mirza!! I have A LOT!! They are so wonderful). -Junk drawer kind of stuff (ie--things I need or want that don't have a place)
I decided I wanted square boxes with lids and a place to write what's in the box, you know, a simple organizational system. Kind of like those photo boxes, but bigger... You'd think this would be easy to find, no? Well, I went to: Target, Michael's, Marshall's, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Jo-Ann fabrics, Home-goods, Walmart, and finally Ross.
AARGHHH!!! Nothing! I finally had luck with Ross, but had to settle for boxes that had designs on them. I only wanted something plain. Geez!
I wish I had a before and after picture to post, but Mirza borrowed the camera last night and I forgot to get it back!! I feel clean and fuzzy inside now.
--- I did all of this organizing after my 11:30 Yoga class! It was intense. We had a sub who usually teaches kickboxing and martial arts. It was actually a great work out!! --
When I was at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I found two pieces of art that I could not resist... The weird thing is that I saw these photos just yesterday on a necklace from an Etsy.com page. You can see a small version of one of the pictures through the link. The other one is a woman sitting cross legged with hands in prayer position.
I'll post pictures tomorrow! They go perfect for the theme of the month.
In honor of declutter day, I leave you with George Carlin's take on STUFF:
Mirza played a show last night with some guys from school (Mirza is studying to be a music teacher, for those unsure) at the Pegasus lounge. It's an instrumental band with a progressive, funky, Indian/Egyptian sound. Really, no way to describe it, except to say that they only practiced together twice and it was complete improvisation. In other words, they rocked!!
My point is that I didn't get home until almost 1am, so I couldn't "document" my yoga.
Okay, so today is Day 10, but I wanted to do a recap of the first week.
Since Day 1, I've done approximately 525 minutes of yoga, or 8.75 hours. Not that the minutes or hours mean anything, I'm just trying to keep it in perspective for myself.
Favorite practice was on the roof, which was Day 7. There was just something about being in nature and literally being in front of the sun while doing sun salutations. I almost feel like all of yoga should be practiced outside.
I'm also quite surprised and proud of my home practice. Before this began, that is what I worried about the most. "Would I know what to do? Would I end up just giving up because it didn't feel like real yoga?" I had a lot of concerns, but the first night totally crushed those apprehensions.
I feel stronger physically and I'm noticing that some asanas are becoming easier (and that I am doing them the right way!). I can now successfully get my feet flat on the ground during down dog. Forward folds are still a challenge, but I feel my hamstrings and back loosening and slowly inching my way there. The most important part is that I am just doing, not trying. What I mean by that is if a pose is uncomfortable or I feel like I am not "doing it right," then I either don't do it or I modify and stay content. I realize that every moment and every practice is different.
Stay content...
Besides the physical aspect, since that is just one component of yoga, I have noticed a sense of calmness in my step. It could be intentional since I am trying to make this month all about positivity, but a lot of it does have to do with the yoga...especially the breathing. I'm not forgetting to breathe anymore! In fact, some days I walk a block to work from the parking lot (as opposed to taking the trolley) and during that walk, I do feel anxious: what is today going to bring? what preceptor will I be with today? how will I react during rounds??what if someone codes? And I feel my heart start to race and I begin to pick up my speed. And then, I am able to remind myself to breathe and remember that everything will be okay if I just slow down.
I asked earlier in the week everyone's favorite pose. Honestly, I'm still trying to figure mine out. Let's just say that I feel strong and powerful when going from chaturanga into upward facing dog and then down-dog. I like the fluidity in the movement and the way the breath follows.
Question of the day: Have you practiced yoga some place other than studio, gym, or home? Where was it and how did it make you feel? Or maybe your studio is so peaceful and calming that it feels like a new place or the outdoors...PLEASE SHARE!:) (photo sources: http://pranaflownz.com/, http://www.yogatic.com, http://www.yogatg.com/)
Day 9 of Yoga was a class at one my gyms. I like the instructor, but I'm getting kind of sick of how she follows a script of what she says EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. Seriously, it becomes fake and too rehearsed. Her class may be different each time, as far as asanas go, but she says everything the same. In fact, today when she ended the class, I was mouthing her words as she said them. Creativity, people!
ALSO, at the end of savasana, while lying on my side, I peeked and saw her looking at her cell phone. Granted, she may have been taking a look at the time, but seriously...c'mon!!
Besides that, it was a good practice.
But the real exciting news came during lunch/dinner!
We are one of the first Fresh Food Restaurants in Tampa Bay specializing in Raw Vegan delicacies from around the world.
Started with H20
Excited to EAT!!
I enjoyed the Zucchini spaghetti... From the menu: This is an extraordinary dish! We spiralize raw zucchini and cover it with fresh raw tomato sauce made from fresh and sun-dried tomatoes and then top this with a combination of fresh herbs, peppers, shallots, garlic, lemon juice, ginger, tomatoes and jalapeno peppers. If raw food is a new experience, this is one of the best ways of introduction to the wonderful dishes you can create!
It truly had SO much flavor. And this was the "half" dish. I cannot even imagine the mountain of food that comes along with the "full."
Mirza went with the veggie burger... Menu: These are so good that we always have to make two batches; one for the staff and one for our guests! We serve this burger on lettuce with sliced tomato, sprouts, guacamole, sliced sweet peppers and raw ketchup. Our burgers are made of portobello mushrooms, walnuts, sunflower seeds flax, red onion and nama shoyu. All the trimmings are meant to be piled on top of the burger and enveloped in the lettuce. Yummy!
I was so proud of him because he was being very open-minded, even though he mentioned about 3 times that he was craving fried calamari;)
What did he think? I'll let this picture do the talking...
I took a few bites and it was amazing!!!!
We made sure to leave room for dessert: Raw carrot cake!!
Carrot pulp mixed with the best Medjool dates, spices, raisins, apricots and walnuts to make the most amazing piece of guilt-free cake! Topped with our sumptuous maple creme. WISH I HAD MORE NOW!!!
Mirza took his first bite and I couldn't tell if it was the look of, "mmmmm" or "blaaa, I'm going to vomit." And then he said, "oh my god..." me: "what, good, bad?!!" him: "amazzzzzing!" YES!
We also saw The Invention of Lying, which we both agreed was THE BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR. If you love people like Bill Maher (Religulous), and George Carlin, and Richard Dawkins...or how about I just come out and say it: if you're an atheist, you will die laughing at this movie.
I taught my first yoga "class." And by class, I mean MIRZA!! Yes!! I led him through a nice 45 minute sequence. It was fun and amusing and awesome!! I think this confirms that I definitely want to go through teacher training. I think I did quite well for my first time teaching, especially since it was spur of the moment. I did not have anything planned.
LOVED IT!!
It was also Mirza's first time EVER doing yoga. He thought it was super hard!
I treated myself today! I went to Mission, Aveda Salon and Spa and got a hair cut! When you walk in, it smells amazing!! I was offered tea and hot water! The entire place smelt like calming essential oils.
The stylist was so nice and patient. We went through some books together to find out what I was looking for and what would look good. She then proceeded to massage my scalp with this peppermint smelling oil, OH GEEZ! It was awesome!!!
Before:
And after:
It was difficult getting a good picture since I was alone. My hair feels so much less heavy and it bounces...weee
I'll try to get some better pictures this weekend. I also bought some new shampoo and conditioner. Totally suckered me in!:)
Lunch was half a hummus wrap and salad from an organic cafe downtown:
And now I am deciding on whether or not I want to go to a studio or do home Yoga practice
I was too exhausted to post my Day 7 yesterday. I had been sitting in class all day being lectured on stroke scales, neuromuscular blockade, neuro pharmacology, and ventriculostomies. I wasn't sure if the day would ever end! And they "made me" test my nerves with the train of four--pretty much a little "zap" along my ulnar nerve to make my fingers twitch. The best way I can describe it, was if someone hit my funny bone and that odd feeling you get as the pain travels up the arm and into the fingers. It wasn't a pain though, just a zap.
Thankfully, we left early (2pm) and I rushed home to pretty much nap. I slept for about an hour. And then reset the alarm for 30 minutes more...followed by 10 more minutes, until it was time to get ready for yoga!
I'm always exhausted the day after working 2- 12 hour shifts. I feel like a walking zombie! Not to mention the fact that it was HOT and disgusting yesterday. Autumn, where are you?! Mother nature teased us with about 2.5 days of "cooler" weather (ie--cooler=high in the 80's, as opposed to 90's and no humidity). I am so sick of the hot weather. I wish that Mirza would graduate soon and be forced to move out of state to find a position as a music instructor. I will gladly pick up and move...the Carolina's sound nice, Colorado, California, Mass...seriously! Let's get moving!!
Besides that fantasy, yesterday's yoga was more than I could have imagined. As previously blogged, it was on the rooftop of a restaurant overlooking downtown St. Petersburg (Florida), as the sun set and the stars made their way through!
To begin, I arrived with two other strangers about 5 minutes late as this place was impossible to find! It felt odd to walk through a restaurant with my yoga gear and mat, but... Once we made it to the roof, I immediately recognized the instructor as someone I have learned from at Living Room Yoga! YAY!! She welcomed us with a bright smile and we placed our mats among 10-12 other yogi's. This may sound odd, but I've never done yoga with a male in the "room" before! I go to an all-woman's gym and it has just been coincidence that no men have been at the studio on the day's I have arrived. I thought this would bother me for some odd reason, but I didn't think twice about it during my practice.
When I first sat down, the sun was glaring, BLINDING in my eyes! Directly in front of me. I just shut my eyes and knew it would be setting soon. Once we started our sun salutations, the sun was behind a building! Practicing yoga outside brought on a whole new experience. I'm used to looking up and seeing ceiling, but outside---all you see is blue sky. And there were absolutely no clouds yesterday evening. It was kind of difficult to focus since the eye could seemingly look on forever, getting lost in the blue. To start, this was an intense class. 90 minutes, vinyasa, many sun salutations, down dogs...I'm feeling it this morning (and love that)! Literally, sweat was dripping off my face onto my mat. As the class progressed, the sun drifted lower and lower dragging the night sky with stars overhead. I absolutely loved the atmosphere. My practice began with the blinding sun and ended in savasana staring up at the stars.
Today is day 8! Updates to follow...
Ps: Vote for Max in this photo contest! http://www.petcentric.com/Pics/Photo-Challenge.aspx
click on "view 16 results." His is titled "Yoga Max"
Work I feel like I am progressing well at work. I've been with this one preceptor about 4 times and I definitely like working with her the best. She's a wonderful teacher, and gives me just the right amount of freedom and space without leaving me alone to fend for myself. Right now, it is perfect. Just what I need! And she says I am smart and doing very well! She's been a nurse on the unit 16 years, is CCRN and knows her stuff. Definitely the kind of ICU nurse I strive to become.
Yoga
Did my 30 minutes of home-practice from 7:30-8:00 tonight! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Today was more difficult than yesterday since it was my second 12 hour shift and I am sleepy!! I'm also kind of hyped-up, so it was difficult to get my heart rate to my normal, calm rate. I managed though. Lit some candles, dimmed the lights, and played the relaxing music...
I must say, I think the yoga before bed truly helped me have a restful night sleep. I didn't wake up once during the duration and literally woke up minutes before my alarm feeling rested and ready to go!! I loved it.
After yoga, I took a nice, hot bath. When I came out, Max was just finishing up his yoga, apparently...
(that is my old yoga mat. My nicer one stays in my trunk. Probably not the best place for it, but it works for me)
Plans for tomorrow
8 hour neuro workshop *yawn*. I'm not a big neuro fan, but will be positive and enjoy the learning experience.
I'm going to try to make it to that rooftop yoga practice I spoke about a few days ago!
For tomorrow, look for: -1 week review of the 31-Day Challenge (day 7!) -thoughts on the experiment so far. -favorite poses -upcoming practices for the week
Long 12 and a half hour shift in the ICU, but I managed to complete a very satisfying 25 minute practice followed by 10 of savasana, ALL ON MY OWN. At first, I put on one of those "Namaste Yoga" shows from FitTv that I had DVR'd but they SUCK. Seriously, they go so fast, no time for actually breathing or anything. I do NOT recommend them. I did like 3 minutes and thought to myself: No, you are better than this. You can do this on your own! You're intelligent and quite capable!! So I dimmed down the lights, turned the air to 79 so it wouldn't turn on, and put on a Yoga Relaxation cd.
Honestly, everything flowed. I was focusing on my breath. I kept reminding myself that was the most important. And I think I did an excellent job considering it was the first time I tried to practice on my own without an instructor.
I've been to enough classes that I understand how to sequence together poses. And you know what I just kept telling myself? Do whatever feels right. Do not force anything. Just do! And breathe. I also let the music be my guide without putting too much thought into it. It helped to gauge my time and where I was without having to keep looking at the clock. I wasn't in a rush, but in the back of my head I know I need to get to bed soon, so that was one hindrance I think I overcame gracefully.
I feel proud and accomplished of everything I have done together...at work and at home.
Today was a wonderful Sunday, if I do say so myself!!
I started the day off with my usual oatmeal and peanut butter toast. I completed a few of my Neuro modules for CCIP, and around 8:30 decided to go for a walk on the beach.
Mirza is sitting next to me right now watching me blog. It feels weird since I'm usually alone when I blog! (random thought)
After the beach, I stopped by Target since it was on the way. I remembered that my nephew is turning 4 on the 7th, so I had to get him something! I bought him a big preschool workbook, and a dinosaur coloring book that comes with tiny dinosaur figurines and stickers. I think he'll like it!
I rushed home to get in a snack before Yoga! I cut up an organic honeycrisp apple, a few slices of aged Vermont white cheddar cheese, a handful of pita chips with sea salt, and sun-dried tomato hummus! This was surprisingly a very satisfying snack. The perfect combo of sweetness and salty to balance out. Sorry, no picture!
11:30 was Yoga! The new instructor (who I think is fabulous) is off for two weeks because she's at a yoga philosophy class (jealous), but the instructor today was awesome, too. We did a lot of sun salutations and down-dogs.
I spent the rest of my day cleaning, shopping, and finishing my modules. I cannot believe CCIP is going to end at the end of the month. I'm nervous!
Dinner was a lemon pepper chicken, spinach/carrot salad, and spiced sweet potato fries, recipe courtesy of Terry Walters from "Clean Food." They were absolutely delicious and the star of the meal.
And for dessert: double chocolate banana bread. The recipe came from the magazine, "Cooking pleasures." There is pretty much nothing healthy about this recipe, but that's okay!! My mom gave it to me a few weeks ago because right now she is without an oven and thought it would be good. It was! Plus, I had a lot of too-ripe for eating bananas to get rid of.
The next two days I'll be working, so my updates may be short, but I will definitely be letting everyone know how my home practice goes!
Yoga Question: Do you have a favorite Asana (pose)? Tell me why! I'll reveal mine later in the week...
This will be a brief post... I just wanted to document Day 3! I did an 1130 class at my gym. Very relaxing. Learned that once a month this teacher has a free class on the beach and anyone can come, so I'll be looking into that! Off to bed. Bigger update in the morning...
Day 2 of yoga was a vinyasa type flow class at my gym from 1030-1130! There were a lot of down dogs and forward folding and bending. I find it so difficult to forward fold when you're sitting with your legs straight out in front of you. And with legs spread, forget it. I barely fold at all. I find this position completely uncomfortable and I'm making it one of my missions to understand why. The instructor was completed folded in half with chest to ground or legs. I don't think that is physically possible for me! The whole time I am putting all of my breath and focus into "folding at the hip," but it isn't happening!! haha. oh well.
Yesterday at work the newspaper in a patient's room caught my eye. Front and center was a photograph of someone standing with the orange/pink night sky stretching their arms high in the air. The words: Vibrant Relaxation across the top. Immediately I grabbed it since it had a yoga-vibe. Turns out they have a hot yoga class on top of the roof of a place called "Push Ultra Lounge" in downtown St. Pete. Wednesday from 6:30-7:45. I LOVE THIS!! On top of the roof, in the hot sun, OUTDOORS. Can anyone guess where I'll be on Wednesday?;)
I'm off for a bubble bath and then more reading of the yoga book. I would love to hear how your month is going, so please continue to comment and post in your blogs.
I came home about a half hour ago from my first Yoga class of the challenge and it was definitely the perfect start.
As I mentioned, I went to Living Room Yoga in St. Pete, which is awesome! Everyone is so nice and welcoming and the atmosphere is calming! I took a picture of our room before we started. The studio is arranged with a beautiful office upon entering and then I believe 3 rooms (could be 2, I am drawing a blank here from lack of sleep). I couldn't exactly going around taking pictures because I'm sure I'd look like a weirdo. This obviously does not do it justice.Plus there was someone in the corner, so I didn't want to disturb her!:):)
On the other wall is a mirror and to the left is a little closet with supplies, and also a bathroom.
The class was calming, but not enough that it was boring or anything. The instructor's name was Gail and she was wonderful!! Her energy was just smooth and tranquil. There were only 3 of us total in the class and you could feel a great mood in the room. I did not feel self-conscious or worried about others. I loved it! 90 minutes of pure bliss.
I'm a little pooped right now, so I will have a more thorough account of the class tomorrow morning.
What did everyone do for their first day?
I want to leave you with a beautiful picture of the sky that I took last night outside my apartment...
I'm Nicole, a 28 year old Registered Nurse, BSN with a passion for all things health and balance. This blog has gone through many transformations and I have now accepted it as a hodge-podge of my life, consisting of food, fitness, nursing life, and a place to share. This journal was created a few years back to chronicle my journey through nursing school. I have since graduated and now work in the ICU. Currently, I am in the process of earning my Master's degree to become a Family Nurse Practitioner.
Enjoying a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle, although difficult at times, is my on-going and ultimate goal!
As a side note, all stories are composites of different patients, doctors, nurses, and situations. Details about stories have been changed to protect patient and healthcare worker identities. If any story sounds familiar to you, it is simply coincidence. Stories are fabricated for entertainment.
