Okay so I'm not usually a complainer. As a matter of fact complaining is one of my major pet peeves, and my mentality towards complaining is usually if it bugs you then it's really going to bug the person you're complaining to, so just don't complain. I understand venting, getting things off your chest, working things out vocally, needing validation by having someone listen, but just straight up whining gets me.

(*Left - Jon took me out to Quintessence, a raw &vegan 
restaurant in the East Village, for my official birthday 
dinner on Tuesday night. We started with spicy cashew 
cream hand rolls then I got the Mexican platter, and he 
got the portabello burger. All incredible.)

That being said, it's been hot as hell this week, and a bunch of little things are really starting to ruffle my feathers. The heat definitely adds an extra layer of toughness to everything it seems. It's frustrating because I know that I'm just being obnoxious when I complain (my poooorrr boyfriend) but between hot yoga and the hot new york heat, the closest thing I have to a break during the week is the ice cold shower I take after class. So, in an attempt to get it all off my chest, I'm going to have a little bitch sesh about the things that have been bugging me in my yoga practice. I'm hoping that 1. it will help me let go of my slight irritations 2. it will help me to NOT complain about something I love soooo much and really is no cause for complaint… EVER. I'm bringing in a few pictures that are completely unrelated, but are the positive to balance out my whiny negative. So here we go.

1. Hot yoga really messes with my eating habits. If I go in the morning, I won't eat before class, but if I go at night I have to be super careful about what I eat during the day. I have a very sensitive stomach- something that runs in my family- and I would rather not have to leave the room to throw up or feel really uncomfortable while trying to meditate in motion. However, that means I'm usually starving until I get to the studio, and after class when you'd think I'd still be hungry I've suddenly lost my appetite! It really get's my goat because I want to eat, we all know how much I love to eat, but the exercise has got my metabolism going and eating is the last thing my body wants! It's a mental conflict more than anything.

(*Right - on the way back from dinner we found a turtle upside down on the sidewalk. Of course we had to take him in and claim him as ours. His name is Spike <3)


(*Left - kept the raw kick kicking [its the only food that makes sense in this oven of a city!] with an almond chia cream + date cashew walnut crumble + fruit bowl the next morning. Really loving my vitamix!!)

2. After class (especially these days) I won't stop sweating for a good hour. I know this is a good thing- my body is detoxifying, cleansing, getting all the old stuff out. But when I'm sitting in front of my computer trying to work, after having taken a shower, and I'm still dripping like I was in the studio I get a little peeved.

3. I really drives me bonkers when my body won't perform the way I want it to. This means in simple movements such as stepping through to lunge (I still can't get that down!) or when we're curled up in a ball on the floor (I can't pull my knees to my chest because of the tension in my hips), or when emotional stuff comes up in class (lately it's been constant for camel… ugh) and it effects the rest of my practice. These things get me started on this cycle of self criticism that sometimes won't stop until well after class. It would be much better for me to just meet myself where I'm at and work to let it go, but doing that is so much harder when my body temperature feels like it's at boiling all class and all day!

(*Right - still working on my inversion practice when it's not scorching. Practiced a little core strengthening and bandha activation in my supported and not supported headstand on Tuesday.)

4. I'm not super fond of how often I have to shampoo my hair- my hair is getting pretty dry and I have to use extra conditioner. But that could also just be the fact that it's been upwards of 95 degrees all week.

5. I really don't like slipping on my mat.

6. I really don't like how often I have to do laundry.

7. I really wish I had a bottle of water that would constantly refill itself on it's own, constantly.

And I really think that's it. I completely understand if no one reads this post because really, who wants to read about someone's yoga irritations? Not very many people I'm guessing.

But I do think this has helped, and hopefully when I wake up bright and early tomorrow, head to the studio without eating, sweat all over my mat, slip around a bit, maybe step through to a lunge a couple times, and inevitably drink all the water in my bottle, I'll be very okay with all of it. <3