Barefoot & On the Mat 3/22-28: There's No Place Like Home!

[JustSandra]

Greetings and welcome to the weekly Barefoot & On The Mat check-in thread! This is a long-running VF check-in. We're a cozy, friendly group who enjoy a wide variety of workouts, but we have a special fondness for those traditionally done without shoes. If you enjoy yoga, pilates, barre, qi gong, Classical Stretch/Essentrics, Ellen Barrett, etc. (or even if you simply prefer doing traditional workouts without shoes!) you'll feel right at home.

Please feel free to join in. We love hearing from new, returning and guest Mat Mavens. Our welcome mat is always out!

Back in a moment....

[JustSandra]

There is indeed No Place Like Home right now. Either you are holed up there, or you are at work performing an essential job (for which we thank you!) and you *wish* you were holed up at home.

I'm continuing to hunker down myself, but am taking regular outdoor walks. However, I am also trying to support my niece and grandniece, and this morning spent a few hours with them. The three of us made a brief stop at Walmart, and the store was almost deserted. After we got home I read several books to my grandniece (with no social distancing ).

Will be working this week to improve my consistency of home workouts, especially since rainy weather is set to return starting tomorrow.

Please -- everyone keep checking in! My Barefoot Buddies are one of my people lifelines right now.

Waving to all -- be back later!

[toaster]

Sandra, no place like home is a perfect theme for this week! I envy your walk; after warmer weather at the end of last week, it's barely above 30 here today. However, DH & I have agreed to get out for walks as soon as we can.

I had to go pick up a prescription today, so I was at the grocery store. I was gratified to see that virtually everything was back in stock, including bread and meats (I didn't check the toilet paper ). I think we just need to "hunker down" as Sandra suggested and ride this out.

We were able to access MOD last night and watched Jojo Rabbit. Both DH and I loved it--I think we have liked everything that Sam Rockwell has ever been in!

Here was my week.

Monday
SarahBeth Yoga (YT) - 10m Restorative
Ekhart Yoga (online) - Meditation for Worry

Tuesday
off (meditated)

Wednesday
Yoga Upload w/Maris (YT) - Gentle Yoga at the Wall

Thursday
TAUGHT yoga at studio
Thomas Somerville (YT) - Yoga for Low Back

Friday
Lee Holden (free online) - Wei Qi (protective energy), shorter
Kathryn Bruni-Young (YT) - Mindful Strength Practice for Triangle Prep
Yoga Ranger (YT) - Yin Yoga for Upper Body

Saturday
Charisma Yoga Bar (YT) - 20m Active Flow with Carol (my friend; would recommend!)

Sunday
SuperSister Fitness (YT) - Best Shoulder Workout for Women
YogaVibe 585 (YT) - Vinyasa Flow Mini Class with Jesse (teacher I've practice with at local studio; also recommended!)

I did some sort of meditation every day but Wed.

Now that I'm going to be working from home, I hope to structure my days more, including getting back to more structured workouts!

Hope everyone else is well.

[Paine]

Cathe Muscle Max Upper Only Premix plus Stretch
5 Exercises For A Flat Stomach | Amazing Workout For Six Pack Abs YouTube with Erin Stern (I only did The Vacuum; Reverse Crunches and Plank exercises)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TOdX_WNs6w
Beth's 30-Minute Gentle Active Practice Focused on Hips and Back

I hadn't done a Cathe workout since July of last year so it was nice to do Muscle Max today.
I did only a few of the Erin Stern ab exercises from her YouTube above (the vacuum, reverse crunches and Plank series). I had never done the vacuum exercise before.

Sandra, thank you for starting our week! I totally agree that there is no place like home!

Beth, your 30-Minute Hips and Back practice is my favorite of all you've done so far! It felt great, thanks!
It's sunny, 68 F and feels very comfortable outside. I'm so glad I'm away from snow!
How nice that your market was fully stocked. I hope I have better luck the next time I go to the market. It was awful to see nearly empty shelves.
I will have to add Jojo Rabbit to our list of movies to see--thanks for telling us about it.
I think cherry trees grow better in cooler areas (like northern/central CA).

Anny, I'm hoping with all my heart that my daughter's family will be able to fly here on the 27th as they have scheduled. She is concerned that flights out of and into her state might be cancelled due to the coronavirus.

[toaster]

Paine, I'm so glad you liked it since I pretty much did for you! I borrowed from these 2 practices that you might also like:
For the standing block work - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFjqMXlqui4
For the floor stuff - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Lezmxxw0c&t=461s

Speaking of the weather, at least we haven't had any snow this March! It can be a very snowy month here; I guess this year Mother Nature was busy with other things.

Right now I'm listening to this video from Baxter Bell in which he describes home items to use for yoga props.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IIk...Dl-TYJSjyahoj0

[Paine]

Beth, I bookmarked those links--thank you for sharing them!

[toaster]

You are welcome, Paine! I've also been compiling helpful online practice resources on my web page here: http://yogibethc.simplesite.com/426654230

[Garrie A.]

Sandra, thanks for starting us off! Yes, there is no place like home. I, too, envy your walks.

Beth, glad that the market is stocked! I'm headed to the grocery store tomorrow and am hoping I can get what I need. I still need to try your YouTube videos!

Paine, Muscle Max is my favorite Cathe total body workout (with STS Total Body being a close second).

Last week I worked through Cathe's Slow & Heavy series for the first time, adding in two days of cardio (one day step, the other day spin bike). I loved it, although I can't see myself doing it for weeks at a time. I can, however, see myself doing the series once a month or so.

Today's workout was Cathe's Cycle Max. It was a challenging yet enjoyable ride, although Pedal Power remains my favorite. (I still need to get Cycle Sweat, and I see that Mary is having a sale. Hmmm.....) As with Xtrain Ride, Cycle Max had a lot of standing work early on. There was a hiccup towards the very end of my ride, however. My spin bike is in the large family room (which has a TV), while my parents were watching TV in the small family room (which also has a TV). My mom was changing the channel, and it changed the channel on mine, too. Luckily I was able to change it back and get back in the groove.

I'm off to try Beth's 30 minute Hips & Back practice. Waves and ((((((6-FOOT HUGS)))))) all around

[toaster]

Garrie, hope you enjoy!

So now that I'm working at home, filming yoga videos and meditations is actually part of my job description! Here is what I am thinking in terms of categories:

• 10-20 minute practices that combine breathwork with a single restorative pose and readings (like the ones I've done already)
• 20-30 minute mostly yoga asana practices around at theme (like the longer one Paine & Garrie tried)
• 5-10 minute guided meditations
• sleep stories? these would be 10-15 minute readings designed for bedtime; not sure about content though

Looking for suggestions for all of the above! I have some other ideas for readings I can use, but if anyone has any suggestions about what could be helpful to incorporate, let me know.

[cyana]

I really don't have much to report today either. Yeesh....must reverse this trend. Today I used music to soothe my soul. I made several batches of seed crackers and a batch of hummus for the week ahead.

I've been binge watching/listening to Leonid & Friends on You Tube. They're a group from Russia - and one member from Ukraine - who primarily do Chicago tributes. I loved the original Chicago (RIP Terry Kath) and saw them back in the 70's - when tickets were something like $4, 6 and 8 bucks!!! These guys are flipping amazing musicians - they are true to the original recordings and sound far more like Chicago that what's left of Chicago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kQ1llzPiB4 . If anyone is into album cuts, they do a killer version of Street Player. They've also done a couple of Earth, Wind & Fire Songs, some Blood, Sweat & Tears, and recently released their tribute of Vehicle - The Ides of March https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX8g_JEJol8 (OMG, that took me back many years!). The kicker - most of them don't speak English, or speak very little. There's also a Behind the Music episode on them and their back story is quite interesting. I'm so bummed - they have a US tour planned, and I'd love to get somewhere to see them, but who knows what coronavirus has planned for us. Speaking of tributes, I also came across this one of "I Feel For You" by the Mighty Untouchables - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMyHqip2wfo . They're a cover band based out of San Diego - I watched a couple of their demos and was impressed.

Back to fitness now (sorry - will get off my Music Magic Carpet now ).

Sandra - That was a great choice for the weekly thread name. Since I work from home, I'm pretty isolated, and I consider my mat friends to be part of my community. We have more rain in the forecast, too.

Paine - I sure hope your daughter and her family will get out on schedule - keeping my fingers crossed. So far the domestic flights seem to be running - although on a reduced schedule. I'm jealous of your sun and 68 today!

Garrie - I had to laugh at the channel changing during your work-out. One of those "what in the heck" moments! I'm glad you were able to get back to your work-out quickly.

Beth - There's something sort of like this: https://meditationmojo.com/61-points...tion-practice/ on MFML where Clive Fogelman tells you which point to focus on and does two passes through the points. I find that's a good one for me to do when I need help focusing.

I must get off line and wind down for the evening. Hope everyone's week gets off to a good start. Stay well!