InstaFriday

We all slept in on Saturday morning and it was soooo nice!  Then for breakfast we shared a plate of the kids' favorite:  cottage cheese pancakes.

Does this look like a woman who's ready for some serious power walking?  Not kidding, this is how she looked when we met up between our houses!  Who brings a cup of tea on a walk???  And she has a book for Sophie too.  But mom obliged me and took those things back home to accommodate some proper exercise.  Haha!

Back from our walk.  The sun was misleading on Saturday!  It was chilly out there!  Still nice to get some fresh air though and walk the dog.  Followed up by a little crane pose in the yard.

First attempt at "fallen angel pose".  This was actually very easy!  Starting in side crow and then tipping down to "use your head like a kickstand" before twisting legs upward and straightening one to the ceiling.

Family outing:  riding bikes and playing on the elementary school playground.

Dinner tonight:  coconut Panko chicken with apricot and red pepper flake dipping sauce and a tossed salad. Smelled so good!!

Working on Janu Sirsasana for another weekly yoga challenge on Instagram.  Sheesh!  To look at this, I didn't think it would be that hard.  But keeping in mind all of the focus points, I learned I needed to back off from my previous pulling on my foot to get my torso down and work instead on putting forth all the effort from my core and back.  Trying hard to get my stomach to touch my thigh with just hands/forearms on the ground.  The full expression of Janu A involves bringing the chin to the shin and grasping one hand to the opposite wrist beyond the foot.  What??  Will that ever happen for me??

A couple of bridge variations with hands clasped and hips propped.  From the bottom pic, I tried extending my legs out straighter.  Yaaaa, about that... not happening for awhile.  ;-)  Working on back flexibility.

Essie Coat Azure.  It's actually paler than this appears.  

Side plank or Vasisthasana variation.

Another variation of Vasisthasana with half lotus and a bind.  My first time trying this!  Need to get my left side body up a little straighter but pretty excited about it!

Many Makings chicken enchiladas for dinner. 

Homework time with my Kindergartener.  Reviewed skip counting by 2's, 5's and 10's, wrote sentences using this week's words, practiced his 4th grade sight words list, read this week's poem and brainstormed rhyming words within the same "word family".

First time trying this one.  Not really sure what it's called, but you start in wheel pose and walk your toes up the wall.  I crossed my left ankle over my right.  It's a wee bit scary but also super fun and a hell of a back stretch!

Wide legged forearm headstand with piked legs.  An awesome core workout.

Borrowed a friend's Zoya Miranda pixie dust this week.  Love the textured polishes and this color is so pretty with a top coat!  Got suckered into another polish purchase with Zoya's amazing Earth Day deal this week.  Half price!!  Did you know that all of their polishes are "Big 5 Free" of harmful chemicals?

I've been feeling pretty crummy this week with sore throat, cough and mild sinus infection.  Spring colds stink!  So my practice has been lighter but still makes me feel better in small amounts.  Cobra pose in the top pic and upward facing dog in the bottom pic.

Been meaning to try this for so long!  A forearm headstand with eagle legs.  Easy peasy!  Oh, why can't I be as comfortable in forward folds as I am in headstand?

Really didn't think this was going to work for me since I haven't gotten that good at a seated mermaid pose, but standing was actually easier in my opinion.  This was another challenge pose.

Sangria and girl talk with my mom, aunt & cousin while we whip up some bridal shower invites for my cousins wedding.  We finished!  They're super cute!  "Jars of hearts" - Brittany's Pinterest idea.