Yoga just makes everything better

Travis and I went on a wonderful tramp today to Maharahara Track. It was my day off and I had originally planned to workout/run and make a big pot of chili. I had already soaked the beans so I decided to cook them quickly this morning (I just threw them all into one big pot and cooked them about half their normal time.) I threw them in the crock pot with all the other chili ingredients and decided to just give it a go and see how it turned out. When we got back from our tramp (about 6.5 hours including travel time) our apartment smelled of delicious chili and the soup was perfect with the beans just tender enough but not overcooked. This is definitely the trick if you are going to leave the pot on all day!Anyway, the tramp was so fantastic. It was straight uphill for the first three hours so I think I definitely got my cardio in today. I was actually really surprised at how energetic I felt. This was, by far, the best I have felt tramping yet. I can definitely tell that all of my running is paying off. My legs felt a lot stronger doing all of that climbing. (And let me tell you, it was like doing the "mountain climber" quad workout on an incline!!) Coming down it was quite hard on my joints and I know my knees will be tired tomorrow. I just couldn't believe how much more enjoyable the hike was since I'm in better shape. Not only that, but I also got to wear my orange hiking shorts for the first time which is exciting because they are size 10 and I couldn't even get them on before. They are even a little baggy so they were super comfortable! Yeah!!Okay, so why I am writing this...I just had to comment on how much I love yoga. As I was hiking I was just thinking about how much yoga improves every aspect of your life. Whether it is a matter of making you better athletically (no matter what sport it is - running, swimming, tramping etc...) or whether it is a matter of making you a better person emotionally. My body was so much more flexible and my balance was so much greater on my hike today. This really made it feel so much easier.

I like to make up mantras that seem appropriate in the present moment. As I was tramping today this mantra came to me and I made that my focus throughout the hike: "I allow myself to take time today to find joy in the simple things." By focusing on this I became mindful of the birds singing as we were hiking, of the breeze, of the sunlight floating through the trees, of my wonderful husband whom I'm so blessed to have a relationship with etc....just thinking of all the little things that we take for granted every day.

"I allow myself to take time today to find joy in the simple things." ~ Namaste