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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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.

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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I am a yoga instructor and here are my truths

Sometimes I awake at silly o’clock at times to teach a class, I boil the kettle and jump in a quick wake up shower.

Occasionally I internally battle with my NEED for morning coffee.

Occasionally hearing my yoga teacher in my head (let’s protect his identity and call him Mr M)  telling me how bad caffeine is, I have read the studies and he is an intelligent guy so I am pretty confident the studies and he is right.

Yet that voice is always quickly quieted by the louder “get out of the shower so you have time to slam that morning coffee down” voice screeching at me from under the soothing refreshing water pouring over my head, calming me from the evil alarm that made me want to forget about the Ahimsa Yama and instead of being a non violent person, sometimes I just want to punch that beeping alarm in its beeping face.

I lapse into a happy serene daydream under that shower, momentarily forgetting the world, blissfully euphoric under a cascade of soothing water, until the screeching coffee need inner voice returns with a jolt yelling “now you idiot- get out now!”

So I reluctantly get out of the shower I throw on my yoga gear, I almost never do my hair, yogis don’t do hair and makeup right – we are natural and beautiful and content with our natural beauty.

Riiiiiiight?

Hellllllooooo????

Anyone?????

Now don’t be too shocked I do smear a bit of moisturizer and sunscreen on my face –  I’m not an animal.

Anyway where was I?

Coffee/Yoga
Yoga/Yamas
Yoga/Coffee

Anyway coffee…..

That beautiful liquid that allows me to regularly practice Ahimsa and be non violent to myself or others 🙂

See I also practice Satya as you can see my the many truths revealed in this story.

Yes I slam my coffee down – I say slam as I couldn’t possibly set my alarm 5 minutes earlier to allow me to sip my morning coffee like a civilized human.

I eat a tiny bit of toast normally with peanut butter that nine times out of ten I am wiping off my pants during the journey to class – Don’t ask I am as baffled as you are!

I race to my class feeling tired and slightly disheveled.

I am sometimes still angry at my alarm for making me wake so early – I have forgotten all about the 4th Niyama – non judgement.

I arrive at class, I roll my mat out and a strange peaceful calm transcends over my body.

I step onto my yoga mat and sit peacefully awaiting (secretly hoping) (sometimes worrying) that someone will actually turn up at this ungdly hour.

The people file in they are subdued, undoubtedly as tired as me.

I smile at them knowingly, I smile at them compassionately.

I smile, as being a yoga instructor is the most rewarding fulfilling job I can have imagined myself living. It can also be a lonely world as a self-employed instructor so I smile for me, for the simple fact that I am sharing my space with another human.

I smile in appreciation that they too got up early for me or for themselves, they choose my class out of all the many classes and I feel honoured.

I smile as for that next hour my life exists purely for them – my thoughts are no longer my own, my being is a vehicle to inspire others, to motivate, to exist for them and them alone.

My thoughts, doubts, fears, insecurities, excitement, preoccupied dreams can be mine again maybe ten minutes after class but for that moment and for every class that I teach, my thoughts are not my own.  For during this time, I practice and I honour all the Yamas, the Niyamas, prana, I honour my teachers, I honour myself and I honour each and every person in that room.

I am an instructor I am watching people grow; mentally, physically and emotionally.

I momentarily feel silly for my alarm induced rage.

My feelings of tiredness have vanished.

I am ok with my decision to drink coffee (sorry Mr M) I don’t do drugs, I don’t drink excessively, I don’t even eat a lot of meat I am mostly a vegetarian without even being vegetarian.

I am kind to others and I try to always be kind to myself.

I believe in energy and I vow to beam all the positive energy I have inside out of my heart and into my students.

I am a coffee drinking yoga instructor I sometimes have crazy hair and I always have awesome yoga pants.

I am a loving yoga instructor who loves life, who loves to help others and chooses to hate nothing except for alarms.

I am a walking contradiction of mayhem and calm.

I am a yoga instructor and these are my truths.

 

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Breathe in, Breathe out and escape

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When life starts to become hectic, as it always will; sometimes we need to just stop!

Stop and find solitude.

Inhale  new peaceful calm energy.

Exhale the drama, the negativity, the pressure, the tension.

Sometimes you just need to let go and escape.

After what can only be described as a hectic crazy year, I am doing exactly that, I am escaping for 2 short weeks to London.

I am running an event there to help others escape so if you live in London and you need a little break, then check out the events page of this site and let me help you escape through yoga and mediation to relax, to take some time out for you.

For those not in London, I hope you can find some time in your busy lives to find some inner peace, to find solitude and happiness.

You owe it to yourselves.

x

 

The storm before the calm

~ excerpt from a journal written last month on a 4 day yoga retreat~

I am currently into day 4 of a 4 day yoga retreat. I am currently into 2 or so hours of a 4 hour requested silence.

It is morning, it is cold in the shade, so I sit in silence with the sun warming my skin.

All around me are tired little yogi’s reflecting, struggling to be quiet, loving the silence; I don’t know.

All I know is how I feel, and how I feel is emotional.

What I can’t figure out is why.

Being alone is nothing new, being silent and alone with my thoughts is a frequent and welcomed practice for me.

Yet being amongst 50 other people moving about not saying a word is definitely something new for me.

These past 4 days have pushed me mentally, physically and emotionally – I can’t even say why, but I can say that I feel we all need to step outside of our comfort zones several times in life, in order to feel more, be more and achieve more.

We NEED to experience some storms before the calm, the storms help us to appreciate the calm times in life.

We need to push the outer limits of our learnt and habitual behaviors.

As one of my teachers said (and is a favorite quote of mine) ‘if we keep doing what we have always done, we will keep getting what we have always got’.

I believe that nothing great was ever achieved by sitting comfortably, and not stepping outside your comfort zone.

After every storm the dust settles, the rain clears and new life is felt. You can literally feel it in the air, that change,that freshness, that vitality.

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Could we perhaps not say the same of ourselves; we go through hardships, the dust clears, the metaphorical storm clouds disappear and we survive and feel re-born, re-awakened.

We emerge stronger, more resilient.

If we are constantly surrounded by chatter, can we ever find our own words?

If we are constantly filling the silences with noise, will the noise in our heads continue to grow?

If we don’t embrace the storms, will we ever be able to appreciate the calm?

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As I said, this was written in my journal over a month ago now, and without really knowing why, I opened my retreat journal this afternoon, and as I read over my words I am amazing at the timing.

Last week was a bit intense and emotional for me, and it would appear I was not alone.

Sometimes we really do receive and read things at the exact time we are meant to, and even though these words came from me, they have helped me by re-reading them today, and my heartfelt wish for anyone reading this who is also in the midst of a storm is to trust that this will pass, the calmness will re-appear and know that you will emerge stronger than ever before.

Xxx

Who am I?

Today; in between getting up at 5am teaching two morning fitness classes, doing remedial work with a lady at a nursing home, learning choreography, doing my invoices, meditating for 20 minutes and mentally preparing for the next two classes of the evening, I caught my reflection in my blender and wondered who the frick am I ?

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I mean seriously, look at this blender filled with green goodness, when did I turn from the KFC eating high school punk to the exercising, spiritual, kale drinking smoothie I have become?

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Who is this fit, flexible girl I see staring back at me from the pictures, this same girl who used to hate the gym who now teaches at them promoting fitness on a regular basis.

This small framed girl who is suddenly (without warning it feels ) is covered on muscles.

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This girl who is still me, who is still the same but is also completely different.

This girl who just went to Perth with her girlfriends and ate her body weight in cheese, bread, chocolate, coffee and wine~
~ and would do that every weekend if she could 🙂

This girl who teaches yoga to people to relax, then blurts out words excitedly, quickly in an anything but relaxed manner.

This girl who teaches body balance, then trips over nothing on the way out of class.

This pilates trainer who has a strong core but can not do a handstand.

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This girl who lives life with reckless abandon who craves adventure yet yearns for serenity.

This girl who feels so young at heart, yet knows she is growing older.

Who am I ?

A walking contradiction, or simply a girl wanting to experience everything, to be everything, to feel everything.

To be the best person I can be inside and out.

To be who I am without even really knowing who I am myself!
So my advice to you all, should you find yourself staring at your reflection through a green mush of kale, don’t question, don’t stress, don’t judge – just be!

What if……..

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How often have you had a terrible class, your mind is unfocused and cluttered, and everything you seem to try fails.

So often it is the thoughts we have before even stepping foot on our mat that have the greatest impact on how our class will play out.

Those thoughts of what if I am not good enough, fit enough, flexible enough.

What if everyone in the room is better than me….

Those negatives ‘what if’s’ will break you.

What if:

As you picked up your yoga mat you thought whatever happens in this next hour is ok;

What if :

As you rolled out your mat you thought, I am here, I am trying, I am exactly where I am meant to be in my practice and my life and I am perfectly happy with that;

What if:

At the end of the class whatever the outcome you felt proud of everything you just achieved, rather than berating yourself for the things you didn’t!

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What if you turned yourself into a warrior and not a worrier.

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Through the eyes of your Pilates instructor

How many of you have walked into a Pilates class and thought to yourself – well this is going to be lame?

Come on be honest, I know who you are! I can sniff out the non-believers a mile away 🙂

My husband calls me a sniffer dog; I see and hear everything. Let me tell you, it is a blessing and a curse!

How can such slow controlled movements actually tone my body, improve my flexibility and core strength I hear you say?

Well I am glad you asked!

While the non-believers are busy non-believing I am busy noticing (not in a creepy way) the bodies of many of the Pilates instructors they are lean, toned and healthy looking. That surely is a positive endorsement.

As I teach, I observe, not just to check that people are performing the exercises safely and correctly, but watching human behavior during exercise is fascinating.

I see some  high school girls rolling their eyes and their heads, giving me a little ‘ this is going to be totes lame look’.

I see you, I was that girl once!

I see you lifting your leg up and down, showing off your mad flexibility cheerleader like skills, I see you roll your eyes when I tell you that you don’t need to move that fast, or lift your leg so high.

I make you slow it down, then I smile as I see the effects of the workout done correctly.

Not so totes lame now is it?

I see you, shy girl in the back row, overweight girl in the corner and I smile at you, quietly plodding along, struggling to keep up but doing it correctly and refusing to give up, I see you shy girls, I see you overweight girls and I salute you!

I remember high school, the competitiveness, the need to fit in, the struggle to be part of a group, yet maintain a little piece of independence, to maintain a little piece of you. I remember the ups and down of teenage years.

I see the cool girl now struggling for composure and I feel for her too (I am a ridiculous softy), but at the end of the day, everyone is fighting their own battles, and sometimes that cool exterior is merely a front for some hidden away fears.

I see the older ladies attending week after week, with their dodgy knees, their bung hips and their sore necks. Their bodies may not be what they used to be, but their pelvic floor is strong and their mind power can blow my mind away.

Whether the occasional fart like sound during crunches is the rubber mat beneath them or an actual fart no body cares.

While they might need a little rest in-between exercises, they always give 100%, they are fit, they are slim and they are strong in body and mind, and I am in awe of each and every one of them.  Continuing to move your body as you age, is one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself.

I see you strong muscly six-foot tall guy being dragged in by your girlfriend, I see your cynical look even from my five foot small stance and I have to be honest, I see you and I think – game on!

I give you the hardest options, I know you think it won’t be strong enough for you when you look at my petite frame, but when you collapse on the floor and I am the last man (little tiny Pilates instructor with a core of steel standing) I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little smug.

I see my class of predominately non-English speaking people looking up at me, not understanding a word I say, returning week after week and I think how incredibly brave they are.

You see, I see everything and I love what I see.

Those smiling those frowning – smiling through the pain, frowning through the concentration, or frowning at my sometimes non funny – tumbleweed type moment jokes.

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I see you holding your breath in, I ask you if you are all breathing, you nod, I know that you’re not breathing properly. I remind you again to breathe, you smile as though as I am crazy – of course I am breathing you think.

Yet I see you concentrating and trying so hard that you hold your breath in, I know this as we finish and I hear the group exhale.

I know this as that large loud exhale fills the room and we all collapse on the floor and laugh.

I see the supersized bodies, the undersized bodies and everything in-between.

I see the looks on your faces as I have suddenly forgotten how to count, I see you leaving with a slight limp as I have got caught up in the moment and have done 12 reps on one side and 25 on the other. during glute exercises.

Joking, or am I?  hehe!

At the end of the day I am human, just like you, I have my good days and my bad days and my somewhat ridiculous days. I have days just like you when you just wake up feeling blah.  We are all human and we feel how we do and I am here to tell you that its ok.

I see those of you attending Pilates for rehab and I know how difficult it is for you. Those simple movements that are no longer so simple to you. The once effortless movements, requiring more effort than you ever dreamt possible. I see you and my heart swells with a mixture of pride and pain for you.

I see you for the simple fact that you are there. You could have given up, but you didn’t. I see you and I am so grateful to be a part of your healing journey.

I see you ALL, because you are there, you are trying, you are moving, you are trying something new or simply trying to improve, and for that alone you should feel as proud of yourself as I feel of you.

You turned up, you stayed to the end of the class, you stepped outside of your comfort zone for a whole hour and that is not an easy thing to do.

Whatever the end result is, hold on to that, remember that, use that to find the courage to do your next class.