Yoga with Adrienne – Life of the Rookie Teacher

Deep Breaths and Namaste

March 22, 2019July 5, 2019Posted in Education, UncategorizedTagged Find What Feels Good, FWFG, Love, Migraine Relief, School Life, School Stress, Spring, Teacher Life, Yoga with Adrienne, YogaWithAdrienne, YWADedicate1 Comment

Today was another one of those days. You know what I mean, the days when nothing goes right and your kids are OFF THEIR ROCKERS! Happy full moon right?

The day started when my severe ADHD boy told me that 1. he forgot to take his medication at home and 2. the school had run out of his supply of the medication that is stored in the nurse’s office. When he told me this, I was terrified because he is a handful on his meds.

Within 30 minutes, I had to have him go take “a break” in our movement room to release his excess energy (something he does in the middle of the day.) Needless to say, it was one of those days.

To add to the fun, I started to get a horrible migraine. I’ve never had a migraine before last year. (AKA My first year teaching….) What I’ve noticed is that when I’m super stressed, overwhelmed, or tired they come on fast and last for multiple days. My head had been hurting for the past few days but today it hit me in full at school. It was so bad that I couldn’t even do a read aloud for my class. I took a “mini nap” (or whatever laying your head down on your desk but not actually falling asleep is) during my prep and then put on a magic school bus on for my kids to end the day. I was trying my hardest to make it through. At the end of the day when my head was ready to burst, my lovely little boy decided he was going to yell at the top of his lungs while wrestling with his best friend in the back of the room. Yeah. I was done.

So pretty much I left school on the break of crying my eyes out and ready to take a 24 hour nap. When I got home, instead of laying down, I decided that I would try a more holistic remedy to my migraine by doing some slow de-stressing yoga. You guys, this was the BEST thing in the world!

I started Yoga with Adrienne‘s 2019 30 day challenge, Dedicate and it was the best decision I have ever made. (Yes that is a bit dramatic but when you have such a bad migraine you can’t even open your eyes, relief is everything!)

I started with day 1 which is all about discern. It was all about recognizing your body and mind. The first and last few minutes of the practice was all about focusing on your breath. It was exactly what I needed. I’m not joking, by the end of the 50 minute practice, my migraine had gotten SO MUCH BETTER!! My head still hurts but I can at least keep my eyes open without major pain.

Oh man what a week. It was such a good week so I’m so sad it had to end like this. Next week will be better, I know it! Happy weekend!!!!

Blogging from the Tundra

January 30, 2019January 30, 2019Posted in Education, UncategorizedTagged Cat Mom, Cold, Cold Day, January, Minnesota, Teacher Life, Winter, Yoga with Adrienne2 Comments

Oh my goodness. If you haven’t heard, the midwest is currently experiencing record breaking temperatures and Minnesota is in the heart of that cold and wind. I mean, yes I know the stigma about Minnesota, “it’s always cold there.” In reality it’s not that bad! Yes, from mid November to about March the temperature can literally range from -10 degrees to 50 but in the spring and summer our temperatures can range from 50 degrees to over 100. We’re used to living in colder temps this time of the year but it is SO cold that the weathermen have commented on how they don’t have a color on their maps to represent how cold it will be.

Today’s high HIGH was -10 degrees and the low was -23 degrees (these don’t include the windchill…with windchill it felt like -40 degrees.) Tomorrow the high is -14 degrees and the low is supposed to be -31 degrees. WITH WINDCHILL IT’S SUPPOSED TO FEEL LIKE -60 DEGREES PEOPLE!! THS IS NOT A DRILL!!

The entire state is under a windchill warning which means that you can get frostbite in under 5-10 minutes. It is SO cold that yesterday at about 1:30 in the afternoon, my entire district got an email saying that they were going to close school for today and tomorrow. That’s right, we had a literal “cold” day today and a “cold” day tomorrow! It’s so dangerous to be out in this weather most districts completely cancelled EVERYTHING for these 2 days to keep people indoors. It takes a lot to close schools because of the cold in Minnesota, especially in January when negative temps are normal, but that’s just how frigid it is!

My day today was so nice and relaxing (for the most part)! I woke up and got to lay on the couch snuggled in my blanket with my cat drinking coffee and watching New Girl. I lounged around for awhile and then ventured out into the tundra to head to the bank and to Target.

(Side story: Yesterday I used my debit card at a local restaurant and it was declined, which made no sense but I let it slide. I went online this morning to order Girl Scout Cookies from one of my students and used the same card and it was denied again! I then called my card issuers and found out that my card number was stolen and had been used to make fraudulent chargers in Ohio. I had to venture into the cold to go sign papers at my bank saying it wasn’t me. So that was fun.)

After I took care of my little issue and got some groceries, I headed back to hunker down in my apartment! I spent the rest of the day bundled up on the couch getting caught up on different shows I haven’t watched in awhile, doing some yoga, and cleaning parts of my apartment I haven’t touched in some time. My plan is to finish the night off with some wine and a few romantic comedies I have been meaning to get to.

I’m ready for cold day number 2!

Gymnastics, Family, Yoga, and New Girl

January 13, 2019July 6, 2019Posted in Life Outside of School, UncategorizedTagged Family Love, Gymnastics, January, Jessica Day, Love Yourself, Mindfulness, Minnesota, New Girl, Saturday Vibes, Wine Night, Winter, Yoga with AdrienneLeave a comment

Today is was a nice and relaxing day. It was the perfect Saturday after a full week back.

I started the day with a nice cup of coffee while lying on the couch. There’s nothing better than waking up and not having to do anything for awhile so you can just relax on the couch in your pajamas.

I then went to judge a gymnastics tournament. I LOVE gymnastics. I did gymnastics, I coach gymnastics, and I also judge. Some tournaments can be super long (and I was not really excited to spend my Saturday working) but the meet was only 2 hours long! I was in and out of the gym and it was still the afternoon. It was also a fun meet to work and watch.

The rest of the day was pretty great as well. I went to hang out with my family for a couple hours. I feel like I haven’t seen my family since Christmas since things have been so busy lately and I only live 15 minutes away from them! I love catching up with them and just spending time all together.

My yoga with Adrienne for the day was all about ease and serenity. It was a 30 minute meditation practice. It was all centered on the floor and was about mindfulness and taking things easy. After a long week of teaching, it’s just what I needed. I love finding my center and creating those positive vibes throughout my body.

I then got some chores done around my apartment and now I’m ending the day watching some New Girl and drinking a glass of wine. Does anyone else love New Girl? Seriously, she is me to a tee. (I’ve always secretly wished I lived in an apartment with 3 guy roommates.)

I forget how much I love Saturdays when there’s nothing to worry about and no school work to get caught up on. Sorry this post was kind of random but it was such a nice day I needed to write about it.

Honoring Yourself

December 30, 2018December 30, 2018Posted in UncategorizedTagged Christmas Break, December, Honor, Love Yourself, Mindfulness, Minnesota, Teaching Life, Yoga with Adrienne2 Comments

My yoga practice today was pretty inspirational for me. As I have said in previous posts, I love to do Yoga with Adrienne videos on Youtube. I had planned to get way back into this during break, but with Christmas and seeing family it didn’t work out to be every day like I had planned. Today, however was a slow day so it was nice to be able to make the time to lay out my mat.

I love to do her series videos. Each of these videos has an overall theme. I am currently starting her 2017 30 day challenge series focusing on revolution. The video I did today was Day 3 – Honor. This video had a very special meaning to me because it was centered on being mindful to honoring yourself.

This is something I struggle with. I have struggled, and still struggle, with anxiety and depression. I tend to lose sight of loving and honoring myself. There are days that are very hard and others that are the best days ever. Either way, no matter if I’m super high or super low, I don’t honor myself.

The practice started in a comfortable seated position taking some mindful breaths. During this time, she encouraged the yogi to think about how they can honor themselves and honor their practice. During this time, I found my center of peace (my favorite part of yoga). In my mind, I thought about centering my practice around myself. As hard as some of the poses and positions may have been, I always went back to my thought that I was there to honor myself and it didn’t matter if I struggled or excelled.

It was a harder practice (partly because I’m not in daily yoga shape) than normal but I felt so rejuvenated and at peace afterwards. It was just what I needed. I have found that being mindful is just as calming for me as the yoga poses are. It’s the perfect mix. I highly recommend trying her out. Even if yoga isn’t your thing or you think you wouldn’t be good at it, try. Especially for a teacher, it is the stress reliever every educator needs after a long day.