April Yoga Report

This blog is all about my journey of transitioning from a beginner yogi to an advanced yogi. And enjoying the journey!

Each month I am going to record some things about my journey. I’m going to do these posts for a couple of reasons; I want to keep a record of how I am progressing with my yoga, it will hold me accountable, and it gives you a very good look at what I am doing and how I am doing it.

Please feel free to join me! Comment below on your month. How are your goal poses going? What classes did you attend? What did your home practice look like this month?

This month I did a ton of yoga! In February and March, I was working on increasing my practice. This month, I got to the point that I want to stay at. I felt challenged, yet had enough recovery time.

Below you will find out the following things about the past month: goal poses that I am working on, what my home practice looked like, the yoga classes I attended, total time dedicated to fitness, and my healthy habit for the month.

Goal Poses: These are the poses that I am currently working on.

Crow: I practice crow every day. I started the month with being able to hold it for about 5-8 seconds, some of the time. I can now hold it for it for about 10-15, some of the time. I also started working on the side crow, but not on a consistent basis. I will continue to work on crow next month. I hope to be able to hold it for 30 seconds.

Headstand: I practice my headstand on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On 4/1, I went to a power yoga class. The guest instructor had us try the tripod headstand (with knees resting on forearms). I was really excited because I knew this was going to be a goal pose for me this month. I was able to do it on the first try! Next, I worked on raising my legs off of my knees to a tucked position. I can hold my legs in a tucked position for a few seconds now. I have gotten my legs straight in the air a couple of times, but freaked out and came back down right away. I always have my hubby spot for me. I’m just too nervous to try it when I am by myself. I will continue to work on my headstand next month. I hope to be able to do a pencil headstand in the middle of the room for 1 minute.

Flying Bird (Acro pose): My husband and I worked on this basic Acro pose quite a bit this month. We are finally feeling really secure in this pose. Next month, we will pick a new goal pose. (Want to learn more about Acro? Click here.)

Home Practice: This is what I am currently doing as my home practice.

My home practice was pretty nonexistent this month. I did a couple sun salutations in the morning on a few of the days. I also practice crow (almost every day) and headstand (a few times a week), but only for about 5-10 minutes at a time.

Total time spent on home practice: 2 hours

Yoga Classes Attended: These are the classes that I attended this month with a note or two about each one.

4/1: 1-hour Power Yoga

4/1: 1-hour Unwind

4/5: 1-hour Vinyasa

4/6: 1-hour Power Yoga (My teacher knew I was really excited about headstands, so she put in a mini workshop at the end of class to work on inversions. How cool is that?!)

4/9: 1-hour Pure Yoga II (traveling, used a Groupon)

4/9: 1-hour Soma Yoga (traveling, used a Groupon)

4/10: 2-hour Acro Yoga Workshop (traveling, free since it was my first time with them)

4/10: 1-hour Restorative Yoga (traveling, used a Groupon)

4/12: 1-hour Fit Yoga

4/13: 1-hour Power Yoga

4/15: 1-hour Hatha Yoga

4/16: 2-hour Aerial Fitness Workshop

4/17: 1/2-hour Bike ride

4/19: 1-hour Ashtanga Prep Class

4/20: 1-hour Power Yoga (We did a mini handstand workshop at the end. It was my first time doing some prep for handstand!)

4/21: 1-hour Fit Yoga

4/22: 3-mile walk

4/23: 1.5 hour Ashtanga Practice (My teacher let me tag along in her personal practice. It was a blast! I can hopefully get more into the Ashtanga practice. I loved it.)

4/23: 3 hour Acro Yoga Jam (free get together for people who want to work on their Acro)

4/24: 1.5 hour Acro Yoga Class

4/26: 1 hour Ashtanga Prep Class

4/27: 1 hour Power Yoga

4/28: 30 minutes on the glider

4/29: 1 hour Power Yoga

4/29: 1 hour Unwind

4/30: 1 hour Ashtanga Prep Class

Total time dedicated to fitness:

Total time in yoga classes this month: 19.5 hours

Total time doing Acro this month: 7 hours

Total time doing other exercises: 4 hours

Total time of home practice: 2 hours

Total time exercising: 32.5 hours

I am very happy with how many classes I was able to take this month.

Next month, I do want to add in more time doing other exercises (biking, hiking, swimming, etc.) and increase my home practice. I want to do my sun salutations every morning.

Healthy Habit:

Each month I will focus on a healthy habit. If I feel like it is second nature to me by the end of the month I will add in a new habit next month. If I ever feel like I get am not doing so well with a past habit I will make it my monthly focus again.

This month I started eating clean and using portion control. I have a big sweet tooth and love fast carbs. The first couple of days limiting these things I definitely had a headache. I still allow myself to have these things, it has just become the exception instead of the rule.

I feel like I have a good handle on this, so next month I am going to add a new healthy habit. I am going to focus on something that is pretty challenging for me, drinking enough water.

To continue following my journey check out my May Yoga Report.

There you have it! My month of April recapped. Comment below and tell me about your April!