Fitness Archives - Strength and Sunshine

How To Create A Sustainable Yoga Practice (No Matter Who Or Where You Are!)

November 19, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 32 Comments

This post was sponsored MyYogaWorks as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. All opinions expressed in my post are my own.

No matter who you are or where you are, you can start, grow, and transform your yoga practice. You don’t have to start and stop because of life’s busyness! Here’s how to create a sustainable yoga practice no matter who or where you are!

Hello! Do you remember I used to blog about yoga every so often? Ever since the Strength and Sunshine shift, recipes and food allergy topics are what we’ve all come to expect. That doesn’t mean I still don’t have a strong and dedicated yoga practice! You know I’m a firm believer in creating and sustaining a home practice. It’s more affordable, always accessible, doesn’t rely on specific class times/types/teachers. You create your own routine and yoga vibes. When you aren’t relying on a studio and you take responsibility for your own practice, it becomes much more sustainable in the long term. Seven years later and I am still a home-yogi!Read More

The Awakening Of Yoga

August 4, 2015 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 78 Comments

There’s something to be said about having a morning routine. We keep hearing how important it is to start your day on the right foot, with a calming routine that will lead us into a much less “stressed-out” day. We won’t be waking up with an alarm blaring, telling us we have 5 minutes to jump out of bed, throw on clothes, maybe have time to grab a “breakfast”, and get in the car so we won’t be late for work, school, etc. Just the thought of waking up to that routine everyday makes me shiver. I have a pat-down morning routine that I won’t be changing anytime soon. However, over the last year, I have adapted that routine to where I no longer practice yoga later in the day, but very early, in the morning.

I’ll tell you right now, I don’t (and never have) practiced yoga everyday. But the days of the week that I do practice (which are always the same), I have switched the time which I got on my mat, from the afternoon, to the wee hours of the morning while the sun is still just rising. I incorporated it into my morning routine. But this post isn’t about creating a morning routine, it’s about something I’ve started to notice and become tuned in on with my practice recently.Read More

To Be An Empowered Woman

May 12, 2015 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 62 Comments

Empower: To give power or influence, to promote self-actualization. To make strong and confident in one’s life and in claiming their rights.

Do you know how much I love this word? Well I do, a lot! Its definition includes 3 of my absolute favorite words and ones I live by and say every day. Power. Strength. Confidence. Empowerment puts the strength in Strength and Sunshine. Empowerment is something we all hold within us, but sometimes it lies hidden until we realize just how to claim our empowerment and let it guide us in our every day lives.

To women, empowerment may not feel as innate and accessible at first. Women have been seen as weak, timid, submissive, and easily taken advantage of. Women are portrayed all to often as powerless and without the confidence to stand up for themselves or even independent enough to take care and provide for themselves. To me, that’s just unacceptable and needs to change. Women can and ARE empowered, they just need to discover it within themselves and encourage their fellow females to do the same.

Today I’m excited to be partnering with Swoob to promote their empowered women campaign with SABRE and how an active lifestyle can help empower women and increase their safety. You already know that I am a huge advocate for women’s fitness and not being scared to lift heavy, find release, or go the distance. To be empowered you need the confidence that you can take care of yourself and be safe. Fitness can give you all of that and more. In the form of strengthening the muscles, stretching the body, preventing injury, learning how to fuel and nourish yourself, how to establish mental toughness, break barriers, and give the greatest most everlasting confidence possible.Read More

Dear Slow Runners

March 24, 2015 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 120 Comments

Dear Slow Runners,

Let me start this off by letting you know just how awesome I think you are. We (yes, I’m a slow runner too) are part of an exclusive pact which I’m very proud to be a part of. The thing is, we have major badass status.

People think that slow runners are new runners and that new runners are slow runners, but that isn’t always true. You can be a new runner and be super fast. You can be a slow runner and not be a newbie. I fall into that category. I’ve been running since November now, so I don’t think I’m a total newbie anymore. In terms of miles, yea, I’m still newish since I only run once a week. I don’t do speed workouts (unless my HIIT sessions on the bike count), I just have that one long run. Maybe I could be fast, but maybe not.Read More

A Passion For Power And Strength

February 17, 2015 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 60 Comments

I talk so much about yoga and now running, but I don’t give anywhere near the amount of written love as I should (and owe), to strength training. So today, I wanted to talk about my love for weights, plates, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, and everything in between. I owe strength training my life. May sound dramatic, but it’s not. I’ve spoken about it before when I started this blog, but I’ll talk about why it holds such a special place in my life (just look at my blog’s name!).

I was always that little girl who wanted to be older and do all the cool things. I would dream about things like playing hockey like my older brother, football, and of course lifting weights in the “big-bad” gym. I didn’t have time for trying many sports as a child. My life consisted of school and the world of competitive dance. Meaning, when I wasn’t at school, I was at dance…everyday. I can’t (and won’t for now), even begin to hash out my feelings and thoughts about those 13 years as a dancer. At times it was fulfilling and others that was the furthest thing from the truth.

Once I stopped in high school, I had nothing. I had no other “sport” to do and I was to “old” to try taking up something new. But my body craved fitness. Being active had been my way of life since before I could even say the word fitness. So what’s a girl to do? Finally follow that passion of wanting to do a “non-girly” grown-up sport. Thus, my mom signed me up at the local YMCA where I could try some group classes first and maybe even meander to the open gym.Read More