Yogi! Yoga!

Back in October I was really tired of the stress of I was feeling with trying to figure things out in my life so I turned to the internet. I searched stress relief on Youtube and the first thing I saw was a Yoga video that was stress relief. I have never done yoga before and never even considered it. The thought of it made me feel awkward and I just felt like all it was was stretching. Obviously at this point in my life I was ready to try just about anything to help me out. I decided to do a 30 days of yoga challenge on youtube. After the very first day of the challenge I just stayed there lying on the floor with a big smile on my face. I felt SO GOOD! Every day after that I faithfully did yoga and all my stress and emotionally pain just melted away. 

Overall, I was healed and a much happier person. The purpose of this blog is for me to hopefully convince you to give it a try. Especially if you are struggling with finding something to do for yourself. That is the great thing about yoga! Yoga is all about you! It is about loving yourself, accepting yourself, healing yourself physically and emotionally. 

This is me giving you some tips on getting the most out of your yoga practice, especially if you are a beginner. 

1. Yoga is a type of exercise. Some people will try to tell you it is not. All I have to say to them is give it a try and let's see what you have to say after. In yoga you are flexing and stretching some muscles you hardly use and it feels oh so yummy. Don't know what I mean? Try it!

2. Even though yoga is an exercise or as us yogis call it, a "practice". It is not a give it your until you can't handle any more. Listen to your body! This is what the Child's pose was created for. If a certain pose is too much for you and you can't keep track of your breathing get down into this pose and do what you need to do to get back in that meditation state of mind. 

3. Your body will slowly change. I did not lose all that much weight the first couple weeks of doing yoga. It maybe even took as long as a month. However, I did notice some great changes in my body! Just within a week I noticed my flexibility improve greatly and overall I just felt great. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat so take that into account when you think this practice isn't benefiting your weight. 

4. Whether you are doing your practice at home or in a studio with a yoga instructor don't worry about how you look. This was my biggest worry about ever doing yoga. What I noticed was that once we started I was so focused on my poses and doing my own thing I didn't have time to look around and notice anybody else. I am sure the same is true for the other yogis around you. 

5. There is a difference in having a cheap mat vs. an expensive one. At the beginning of my practice I used just a cheap mat to practice yoga and really didn't think it would make sense to get an expensive one. I didn't understand mats all that well. If anybody knows my husband they know that when it comes to buying stuff he does A LOT of research to make sure he gets the best quality item. For Christmas he surprised me with a Lululemon yoga mat. At first I wasn't all that excited that he spent so much money on me. Believe me now though, a great mat is worth the extra money! With my old mat if I was sweating even slightly I would slip around and had a hard time holding some poses. With my new mat I could be doing hot yoga and I won't budge. 

6. You will learn to crave being sore. I hope this makes sense to you beginners but nothing feels more good than practicing yoga when you are sore from your previous practice. There is something about stretching it out and breathing through the pain that is so satisfying and just feels extra yummy. 

7. Do this for you. Have fun. Never take yoga too seriously! If you fall laugh it off. If you fart in the middle of a pose, laugh it off. Smile when something feels good. Just remember to listen to your body and find what feels best for you. 

For those of you that don't know where to start and are not sure if you want to commit to paying for a class. Try these at home practices! I seriously love Yoga with Adriene. She is hilarious and keeps me wanting to come back for more. 

She currently has two free 30 day programs. I started with "30 Days of Yoga" and then did "30 Days of Yoga Camp" 

I would personally do it in that order just because she caters more to beginners in "30 days of Yoga"

Enjoy! Namaste.

Trials Make You Stronger

I started this blog a year and a half ago and then completely disappeared. I figured it was time to make a reappearance. You see this past year has been a rollercoaster for our little family. I usually never share anything personal about myself to anybody. I have rewritten this post a thousand times and then decided against posting because I am such a private person. Why have I decide to share then? Well you see I have come to accept my circumstances and have decided that I rather have people support me than not know what is going on and accidentally hurt my feelings.
So here it goes...

About a year ago Tysen and I decided it was time to bring a little Ficklin into our lives. It seemed like the perfect time! It seemed like the right step to take at this point in our marriage. Months and months went by and I still was not pregnant. That's okay though! We just kept trying because after all my twin sister got pregnant pretty quickly why wouldn't I be able to? Fast forward almost a year later and after a lot of tears, emotional rollercoasters, lab tests, and doctors appointments we got the news that getting pregnant was not going to be as easy or natural as we thought it would be.

I guess my point to this post is not just to let others know about the hard times we are facing but to let you all know that trials really do make you a stronger and better person. For the longest time I had a hard time sitting in church while others announced that they were pregnant. There were so many times when I felt like I was being judged for not having any kids yet. Totally not the case I just let myself feel that way. I also had a lot of days where I was angry at the world and at God for giving me this trial. One day while I was on a walk and a line from the Hymn "Be Still, My Soul" popped into my head. The line was, "Be still, my soul; your God will undertake To guide the future as he has the past." I have went through a couple trials in my life and after those trials when I have looked backed I have seen my Heavenly Father's hand throughout the entire process. At that moment I chose to love myself and just let things happen all while knowing that I was being guided to where I need to be. During this past year I have learnt to love myself and I have learnt who I really am. I know I still have a long road ahead before becoming a Mother is a reality but that's okay because I know there will be some great lessons I will learn along the way.

I really want to thank my supportive husband, he has been so beyond positive throughout this whole experience. I also want to thank those who have been aware of my situation and who have kept me positive along the way and have been such a support to me. You guys are what keep me going!