It has been such a busy month for me but I am excited to fill you all in on what is happening in my life right now. I truly apologize in my lack of posts. I try to get two posts up a week. I promise I will at least post once a week!

I am currently interning at a local yoga studio which is really helping me see the behind the scenes of how a yoga business works. I go to classes between 5 to 7 times each week and I truly see a big difference in my practice. I have been progressing more than I had ever imagined. I am truly focused on yoga and I am loving it!

Other than going to yoga, I started working at an after school program. We just finished summer session and school starts next week. It's keeping me very busy, I average around 24 hours each week. It's not too bad but since I walk everywhere, all my time is spent walking to and from work, work, and then to and from yoga, and then yoga. By the time I get home, I am exhausted and want to rest. I pretty much watch kids and play with them, LOTS of card games and rainbow loom. I love doing handstands with them outside. I cannot wait to see how the school year changes the routine because they were crazy this week!

I have been doing lots of thinking about what I want to do in the future. I might go back to school to get my teaching credential. I am really thinking about doing that so we will see! I have had a lot of encouragement from a friend's dad who is a teacher and I think I might go for it. I need to do a lot of research though. I will definitely be teaching yoga when I come back from yoga teacher training in February. Possibly start cutting back hours at work so I can substitute teach as well as teach yoga.

Today, I hosted my first yoga play time! A group of my friends and I went to the park and had some yoga fun. We started off with the sun salutation and then a few of them requested for some hip openers and abs. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of today!





Thank you for stopping by! I truly appreciate everyone's support and love. (: If you are local, like my Facebook page so you can join our future yoga parties!






All images are my own.

Sankrit: Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (aa-KAH pah-DAH rah-JAH-cop-poh-TAHS-anna)

This is a pose that many people absolutely despise because you really feel it in your hips. This used to be "my pose" because I hated it but knew I had to work on it. Over time, I learned to love pigeon. It is now one of my favorite poses because I feel so strong and flexible in it. Pigeon pose focuses on your thighs, knees, core, hips, groins, chest, and shoulders. It is a great all around pose.

Disclaimer: If you have an ankle or knee injury, or tight hips & thighs, be careful in this pose.

Start in Downward Dog. Bring your right foot into the air (this is your three-legged dog). Breathe.
Carefully and slowly swing your right leg towards your hands, placing your right thigh on the  floor parallel to your mat.
Your left toe should still be upright, use this to extend your left leg back a tad. Once your leg feels as extended as it can get (without pain!), place the top of your left foot on floor.
Sit into your hips, sliding your hands closer to your pelvis.
Now, extend your hand up to the sky and reach (extending your spine upwards). Slowly start to lower down to your right leg (keeping your spine as straight as you can).
Hang out in this position as long as you can. DO NOT FORGET TO BREATHE!!!
Many yoga teachers like to keep us here for long periods of time, up to 8 long breaths. It will feel uncomfortable. You will feel pinching in your right hip. Breathe into that spot.
Slowly (and I mean very slow), bring your hands under your shoulders and sit up. Press into your hands sliding your right leg back up into the air into three-legged dog.
Repeat with the left leg.

Three-Legged Dog before and after Pigeon pose feels great!

Moving on: Eventually, you want your front shins to be parallel to the front of your mat. This is a very advanced pose, do not worry about not getting it! I am not there yet, it's okay! But that is your goal.

Courtesy of: YogaJournal
Wearing: DIY Tie Dye tank top, Power Core leggings in black from Target, unknown pink top (bottom image), Nike Pros spandex in black,  Live Towards Love Crystal Yoga Bracelets,  and Manduka Mod Pro (Extra long, limited edition) 

This month is the first time I am hosting a yoga challenge. For those of you who do not know what a yoga challenge is, it is usually where you post a picture of a specific pose or theme (or whatever the hosts decide) for every single day for the month. I decided to ask four of my yoga friends to help host with me and we have gotten some great posts so far!  We are both on Tumblr and Instagram tracking the tag #yogapartypeople. Feel free to join in, it is never too late! Below are the posts. We decided to have a hashtag for each day and you are free to interpret the tag anyway you would like.


The following are my first 15 posts of the yoga challenge as well as my thoughts for each day. 

Day 1 - #heartopener

Day 2 - #favorite

1. #heartopener - I saw some great heart openers, from camel pose (what I did) to full wheel pose.

2. #favorite - I loved seeing everyone's favorite yoga poses. Each person had their own reason why their pose is their favorite and everyone was different! It was really cool to see. I chose to do mermaid pose, after all, it is my logo!

Day 3 - #outdooryoga

3. #outdooryoga - I went to yoga in the park

this day which was perfect! I went with some of my yoga friends and we did big toe pose and tree pose. Some people who are doing the challenge were not able to get outside and I love how creative people got with bringing plants in. It was very fun.

Day 4 - #yogaclothes

4. #yogaclothes - This is my favorite top ever! It is so light and flowy and I love the design on the back.

5. #animalasana - I love how creative people are. Some people chose to do an animal pose (like cat and cow), others did poses with their pets. I did eagle pose with my little Ziggy!

Day 5 - #animalasana

Day 6 - #stretchitout

6. #stretchitout - I love stretching. I love seeing other people's favorite stretches.

Day 7 - #workinprogress

7. #workinprogress - The pose I chose to do was King Cobra Pose. I can't believe how much progress I've had so far in only three months!

8. #yinspiration - This was my most favorite day of the challenge so far because I loved how people interpreted it. I chose to pick a phrase that inspired me in yoga which is "Namaste - My soul honors your soul. I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the light, love, truth, beauty, & peace within you, because it is also within me. In sharing these things we are united, we are the same. We are one." Other people chose their favorite yin poses or people that inspire them. This day was very inspiring. (:

Day 9 - #perspective

Day 10 - #yogahands

9. #perspective - This is actually an old photo in which you see what I see when I look down in Uttanasana (or forward fold).

10. #yogahands - There were a lot of mudras on this day and also close up pictures of hands. Loved it! I did a mudra.

Day 11 - #kitchenyoga

11. #kitchenyoga - This one was so much fun because everyone is doing yoga in their kitchens! I also love the creativity of those who did not have kitchens. Two of my favorites were from my fellow hosts! One of them took a picture of themselves drinking water and another posted a few pictures that she likes to do when feeling bloated and full.

Day 12 - #whenssavasana

Day 13 - #inversion

12. #when'ssavasana - I love savasana (corpse pose). Sometime I have a difficult time getting into it and clearing my mind but other times I absolutely love the feeling of just doing nothing and focusing on nothing.

13. #inversion - I decided to try one handed handstand (on a wall of course). It was a lot more difficult than I thought. I had to shift my weight on one side before lifting the other hand. It was a lot of fun though! I love pushing myself to my edge and trying new things.

14.  #yogitoes - I loved seeing everyone's posts with this one. I so lots of feeties! haha.

Day 14 - #yogitoes

15. #inversion (yeah, we didn't realize we had this twice, oops!) - This is an older picture but I decided to flip it because I love the different perspective of it. Tripod is an inversion I feel comfortable with but I still have things to work on!

Day 15 - #inversion

Thanks for checking in on Yoga with Karel! I am having such a fun time with the #yogapartypeople yoga challenge. Be sure to check us out on both Tumblr and Instagram.







All images are my own.
"Namaste" image is found on Tumblr.

I am introducing a new series for the lifestyle section of my blog. I have been wanting to do something like this since day one and I am now finally incorporating it! Link Lovin' will consists of a few links I find through other social media sources or while browsing and researching that I think is worth it to share with you all (plus a little commentary from me!). Here is the first edition of Link Lovin'!

Why You Should Love Your Yoga Teacher a Little More (DoYouYoga.com) - I thought this was a great read. I found this link through their Facebook and learned more about my yoga teachers. I also liked reading this because I will become a yoga teacher in the very near (5 months!) future and articles like this help me understand what I will be encountering.

Interview with MC Yogi (Seattle Yoga News) - I really enjoy reading other people's yoga stories - how they found yoga, how yoga changed their lives, etc. I loved hearing about MC Yogi's yoga story.

What Does Your Favorite Yoga Pose Say About You? (GaiamLife) - This month I am hosting a yoga challenge on Instagram and Tumblr [#yogapartypeople, check us out!]. A participant linked this to us on the day we were posting about our favorite yoga poses. I must say, mine is pretty spot on.

The Real You [Video - youtube] - Such a dramatic and eye opening video about "waking up" and life and the universe. I really love this video. "The real you is not a puppet which life pushes around. the real deep down you is the whole universe." It is difficult to explain, just watch it please.

See the Earth That Most People Don't Get to See [Video by Dustin Farrell] - just music and some amazing time lapse photos. It makes me want to drop everything and see the world! There is so much out there that our eyes haven't seen.






All sources used are linked within the post.

Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar
481 pages
Publisher: Schocken Books
Source: Bought through Amazon (link below)

Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar is considered to be the yoga textbook for many yoga teacher trainings (YTT). Almost every YTT I have looked at had this book on their required reading list. The book is broken down in three parts: intro, Yogasanas, Bandha & Kriya, and Pranayama. Iyengar writes about what yoga is, philosophy and goals. Majority of this book are the yoga poses (asanas), bandhas, and pranayama: how to do them, cautions, and effects.

My thoughts: I love this book. I am so happy I got a "like new" book because I know I will wear out this book in time. I highlighted and wrote important notes for myself already. I really like that there are pictures to show what the poses look like as well as steps on how to go into the pose. Iyengar even writes the level of difficulty and effects of each pose. I would consider this has my go-to yoga book. It has everything you need to know about yoga.








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