I’m settling down from the craziness of the weekend at 10 p.m. on Sunday night to finally tell you about it! We’re going to have to do this in two parts because it would probably be the longest post ever if I tried to cover it all in one.

Saturday was a special event that happens only once a year, the Dowd YMCA Group Exercise Expo. It’s a huge all-day training event where instructors and personal trainers can earn continuing education credits. The Y brings trainers in from all over the country.

I had to be there at 7:15 a.m. I knew it would be a long morning of activity so I made sure to have a breakfast that would stick with me. Cinnamon raisin English muffin with almond butter, honey and mashed banana. I also grabbed a Starbucks soy latte on the way.

I really enjoyed the three sessions I was scheduled for and learned so much to use in my classes. The first session was about overcoming plateaus and programming classes that offer challenging progressions for participants. I loved the presenter, Abbie Appel, and got some great ideas from her. Some I already used in yoga this morning!

My second session was with Leslee Bender and it was all about performing assessments to understand postural alignment issues that your class members or training clients have and corrective exercises. Super interesting stuff that I have much, much more to learn about!

I came home for lunch after my second session.

My body said give me green…so I did! Arugula, mixed greens, tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, cucumbers, tofu, dried cranberries, avocado and almonds. Lemon, honey, Dijon and olive oil vinaigrette.

And then it was back to the Y for an afternoon session.

My third and final session of the day was with Fred Hoffman and covered how to incorporate circuit training in our classes. After discussion, we went spent about 90 minutes going through 12 circuits twice. We performed a variety of exercises using lots of different equipment like stability balls, the bosu trainer, gliding disks, medicine balls and more. I was pretty done for the day after that!

I had to skip the fourth session to teach a yoga class at a special event. I made a quick stop at home to change clothes  and made a protein smoothie to refuel.

A purple monster! Vanilla protein powder, almond milk, blueberries, banana, ice.

I headed over to SouthPark Mall where Lululemon was hosting Breathe. Move. Sweat. to celebrate the grand opening of their new store. It was an all day event where fitness classes were held on the hour from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. in the center of the mall. I was scheduled to teach yoga at 4 p.m.

Yes, I taught yoga in the middle of the mall. It was fun! I especially enjoyed all of the people who just stopped and stared at us! 😉

I think my favorite moment came when I got to say, “and take a twist out the Neiman Marcus side of the mall.” 😛 One of the things that I love most about Lululemon is how involved they are in the community. They are always out and about attending classes and being active. Each month they feature a studio of the month and offer free yoga classes on Saturday mornings. Very cool!

I loved my fitness-focused Saturday!

Would you do yoga in the middle of the mall?