Try It Tuesday: Mindfulness Yoga

This morning I tried a new yoga class at a new studio: PD Yoga. The studio is across the street from our apartment community, in an area called Sea Taste, so super convenient. It's a small studio with three small rooms and a variety of class offerings. The studio is clean, offers lockers for storing belongings and a changing area. More importantly, for expats, everyone I've met so far speaks English.

Mindfulness Yoga was a hatha style class that focused on poses that will help improve posture. It was perfect for me. The instructor came around many times during class to assist, correct, or challenge us in our poses. I didn't exactly work up a big sweat, but I loved feeling looser and relaxed when I left.

mrC met me after yoga class at the studio and we took a walk to pay some bills. It was such a nice day that we decided to have lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant because we can sit outside. We always laugh at the portion size difference of the chips and salsa here versus the US.

Later in the afternoon after doing a little work around the apartment, we took our second walk of the day and picked up some clothes I had hemmed. The weather has really been perfect the last couple of days, so we have been taking advantage of it.

After our walk, I was hit with a wave of fitness ambition so I went to Booya Fitness for some more Pilates. One thing I love about the video selection is the variety. There are traditional classes like the one I did today, The Classic Pilates Body, where the workout format follows the time-honored routine (see Pilates 100 picture below). There are also classes that put a twist on tradition and create a high energy class like Cardio Pilates. 

Don't forget that you can try Booya Fitness classes free for 30-days (sign up here) Every workout you do until March 15, enters you into the Cardio Blast Challenge for a chance to win some great prizes!

What new fitness activity have you tried lately?

This is not a sponsored post, but Booya Fitness will compensate me for any referrals. So, if you signed up using my link, thanks!!

Monday Movers & Shakers {not really}

After the fireworks party (aka Lunar New Year's Eve) that literally went on all night long, we were slow movers today, but we did move.

To save time running errands, mrC and I hopped on the bikes and rode off to pay the rent and buy me a ferry ticket to the airport for Wednesday. I have a serious adventure coming up! Stay tuned!

After lunch we headed back out for a walk to the park. I took mrC on the same loop around the lake that I did the other day. It feels good to stick to my goal of taking more walks. The park was much more crowded with people enjoying their holiday off work and the views were as stunning as always. I love how you can see Nanshan Mountain in the distance. Yep, I climb that!

Our evening with friends was a blast and we even shook things up a little with some fireworks in their garden. Fireworks are a big part of the Chinese New Year celebration. I learned this from a friend: "The practice of setting off fireworks comes from an ancient myth about a monster named Nian, the same word for year. He came once a year and attacked and killed villagers and their livestock as the New Lunar year arrived. An old man supposedly figured out that Nian was afraid of loud noises, lights and the color red. So, each year, houses are decorated with red, and fireworks are set off to scare away the evil spirits." From what I heard last night, I think they were successful at scaring Nian away.

How are you moving and shaking things up today?