Self love versus Selfies

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Today I had a thought (it is important to mention that this thought after spending way longer than I should have trying to get the “perfect” selfie for an Instagram story that only stays active 24 hours)….
I wondered what sort of world we might live in if we gave as much thought and spent as much time meditating, setting positive intentions, having loving kind thoughts as we did trying to take the perfect selfie??????
Seriously I feel the world has gone out of control with selfies and looking into the camera at themselves, rather than looking within themselves for answers.
I am aware of the irony and hypocrisy of this post – but I should also mention that after 3 failed attempts I just posted it anyway and went to meditate.
I just feel the world may be a little happier, calmer and more positive if we could all find and set aside a little bit of time to reflect, to breathe to switch off.
These are my thoughts for today!
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Holiday fitness

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I am currently in London where the sun has been shining, the weather is actually hot, and I have been having picnics and doing daily yoga and meditation in a beautiful rose filled garden.

It can be so easy on holidays to slip out of routine, to eat badly and to let yourself go.  Well I am here to tell you that with a little bit of effort this doesn’t need to be the case.

Quite often on holidays I try to “find” the time to practice yoga – this holiday I decided to “make” the time and everything changed.

I have made it a priority to wake up do 5 – 10 minutes of meditation, followed by a 10 minute yoga practice with my mother-in-law then make the time to do my own practice.

I am fortunate that I am staying in a house with a beautiful garden and more blessed that the weather has allowed me to be outdoors every single day.

However, even though it may not be an ideal workout in a small space – it’s a great chance to get creative with your workout.

Any little bit helps and honestly if you can only find 10 minutes then grab that 10 minutes and welcome it with open arms.

Your body, mind and energy levels will thank you.

Winter brrrrs

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While many may argue that Queensland doesn’t really get a winter – most of us here in Queensland would strongly disagree!

True, it may not (and does not) get nearly as cold as many other places in the world,but for us recently shit got real.

You know it’s cold outside when you go outside and it’s cold – haha – I saw this the other day and it just cracked me up.

With the coldness comes the lack of motivation and I get it, I really do!  Leaving a warm environment to go out and exercise can be less that ideal.

I sulked around yesterday – wondering if I could send everyone motivational quotes and just let them exercise themselves so I didn’t need to leave the house – I was only joking – sort of 🙂

However, think about this.  You exercise, you move, you warm up – madness I know….stay with me

Think about it from a mental point of view – how satisfying is it when against all odds, you don’t listen to that voice telling you to stay in bed/on the couch you – fight that voice and you win – you get out and you move that body.

Now you feel physically and mentally better, you are winning and you are getting fitter doing it.

You aren’t drinking enough water, because it’s winter and you just don’t think about it – you exercise, you drink more water.

Our bodies become stiffer in winter, we tense up and we do less exercise and we just feel worse for it – just a few stretches a day and a little bit of cardio or other exercise will make you feel amazing and help to get you out of the winter funk.

Still unconvinced – put on your big girl pants and my Nike yoga pants say – JUST DO IT!

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Less is more

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So I’m not talking about clothing – especially in Winter!  I’m talking about our lives, this constant state of busy we all seem to be exisiting in.

Sometimes in order to achieve more – we need to simply do less!

This week, my brain has been cluttered with all the many things I have had to plan and fit in.  My brain was so full that I just could not obtain clarity.

So in a bold move – in order to achieve all the many things I had to do, I did NOTHING!

I sat outside with a cup of coffee and the sun on my skin and I did nothing but sit, and think and breathe.

I sat still long enough to clear the clutter, to find the clarity I desperately needed to find, and like magic it felt as though gaps started appearing in my day.

They were of course always there, I was just too clouded to see them.

Being busy all the time isn’t productive, it isn’t something to feel proud of,  yet we all (myself included) seem to fall prey to the “How are you?” Busy! scenario.

Why?

I think somewhere along the way, being busy became a badge of honour.

Well I am here to tell you there is more to life.

We can achieve more by not being “busy” all of the time.

Take some time to think, to sit and just simply BE …..

…..and watch your life transform in the most positive and magical way.

I DARE YOU 🙂

 

High above the clouds 

This morning I awoke at 5am in London and as I typed this I was on a plane to Berlin, where I currently sit in the most amazing hotel (but that’s a story for another time).

The weather is a ridiculous -11 degrees Celsius.  The last few days in London have been cold and rainy, yet everyone keeps telling me that the 9-11 degree temperatures there are mild for this time of year and while that may be true – I am from Queensland, Australia I just left 30 degrees so let me tell you this is not mild to me.

Boring weather story I know  –  bear with me there is a point 🙂 
As I sat on the plane, high above the clouds, the sun on my face, I was filling in an intention journal for 2016.

I used the journey to complete the reflection part on 2015 and to keep up with my weather theme here if I had to pick a word or two to describe 2015 it would be cloudy with several storms.

Yet as I wrote I realised that the bad times have already started to fade in my mind, I struggled to remember the challenges with emotion and details attached and I can already start to really focus on the good memories.

So as I sat on the plane lapping up the warmth of the sun on my face, I can hand on my heart tell you all, that even though it may be cloudy to you right now, even though you may not be able to see the sun – it is there patiently waiting for you – high above the clouds.

I can tell you that no matter what is going on in your life right now – the sun will most certainly come out again.

So hang in there my friends – you got this! 

11 things you may not know about me (does the 11 not 10 indicate my randomness)

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  1. I am a sponge for people’s energy – I feel this is both a blessing and curse.  It is both a weakness and a strength.  At times I absorb too much, I allow other peoples energy to weigh me down, yet this is also a blessing when I surround myself around positive like-minded people I can feed off their energy, as I know people feed off mine.
  2. I am a walking contradiction – I love to find moments of calmness, yet I attract crazy; crazy situations, people and moments and I also thrive on the randomness of this and the good crazy that I and my life is. I teach body balance, I have excellent balance, yet I am ridiculously clumsy and trip over nothing several times a day. I don’t spend a lot of time doing my hair and I rarely wear makeup or do other “girly” things, yet look out world if my nail polish is chipped on my toes it seriously distresses me to epic proportions.
  3. I am a great cook but terrible at baking. I heard once that cooking is an art and baking is a science and if that is true then it makes perfect sense to me.  I love to throw things together and create. I hate having to have exact measurement s and stir for the exact time I am told to.  I love the challenge of having a few random edible items at home and making them into something amazing.
  4. I am messy, no really I am for a tiny little person I can create mess of cyclonic proportions in about two minutes – I truly don’t know how I do it, it’s quite amazing.  My house can go from spotless to war zone in about 5 minutes.  I don’t know what I do but man I do it well.
  5. I sometimes feel like a yogi imposter – #secretnownotsosecretconfessionsofayogi – I do yoga and I eat meat, drink coffee and drink alcohol – there I said it – I do it all!
  6. I love to write, but I hate punctuation; I just finished a job in communications and marketing and don’t get me wrong I understand the importance of punctuation but I love to just let my fingers fly across a keyboard and unleash an unconscious stream of thoughts onto my laptop and see what appears (kind of like I am doing right now).
  7. I have an irrational fear of bees and birds.  Birds make me nervous – seriously I just do not trust them and always feel like they are plotting against me.
  8. I try really hard to like olives – I really dislike them – but feel like it’s something I should love, so keep trying them with not much success so far.
  9. I love it when people are kind and authentic – no really I looooove it. The world needs more of it and when I see it my heart swells open like you would not believe.
  10. I am a witch – a good witch not an evil one – I see things coming an hour, a day, a week before things happen, I sense it, I feel it, I predict it.  I don’t try to do it – it just happens.  Sometimes I wonder if I am just one of those in-tune people, other times I wonder if I am from the future – true story! I can’t switch it on or off, it is just on the whole time.
  11. I love the beach, sunsets, full moons, rainbows and anything beautiful that comes from nature – this is probably something most of you would already know – but the energy and excitement I get is something that only a few of you really would understand.  Those friends who I have literally yelled at to get ready faster as the sun is setting, my poor husband who has been bitten by mosquitos on numerous occasions as I race out for just one last look at the full moon. The work that I left in my inbox as I just knew a rainbow would appear and I had to leave the office immediately. People think I am weird but I don’t care – and something that makes me more happy than any of you would ever know is the people who send me a pic of any of these things, who know I would appreciate it, who now appreciate these things because of me, who have just stopped for a moment to appreciate – that to me is the most amazing thing.

Follow your dreams

Live the life you always imagined.  If something in your life doesn’t feel right, then it probably isn’t.

If you are questioning your job then it may not be the right job for you.

If your relationship doesn’t feel right then it probably is not.

Don’t let fear stop you from living the life you dreamt for yourself.

We were born to dream and be courageous.

The only thing stopping you is you!

Dream big friends!

 

Capture the daylight – find the magic

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The last few months I have been juggling a communications job, while still teaching yoga, pilates and body balance.  It has been hectic and I have felt tired and stressed.

Finding the time to write with a clear mind has been challenging to say the least.

My communications job and teaching job could not be two worlds further apart.

Instead of writing (even though it pains me to have put it on hold) I have been focussing on finding beautiful moments in the edges of my days.

Capturing moments of fresh air and daylight.

 

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I have discovered that when I can live outside these two worlds, when I can sit and enjoy the edges of the day, that is when the magic really happens.

Where possible I will get ready for work even three minutes earlier and using those three minutes to sit outside and just breathe.

What has been getting me through is taking a ten minute walk at lunch time, or leaving the office in time to see the last fifteen minutes of a sunset.

In the edges of the day, surrounded by nature, my brain is momentarily clear and focussed.

I can write my class plans, I can reflect and I can re-energise.

In the edges of the day that is where all the magic happens.

To those of you who have been reading my blog when I have not been updating nearly as frequently as I should, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

x

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