Calling all London mermaids and mermen 🙂
Do you love yoga and love the beach?
Well this little bronzed Aussie girl is bringing a little bit of the Australian beach and yoga with me on the 12th of October for a 2 hour Escape.
I hope you can join me
For more info and to book your spot today – check out the events page
~ 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.
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?
**************************************************
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
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 ?
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?
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.
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.
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!
I am sitting outside by myself, rugged up in a warm wooly hoody and ugg boots.
I am trying to be still so as not to jolt my sensor light and destroy the magic of the night.
I gaze up at the stars not covered by clouds and I type quickly as a full, milky moon is rising, currently it is partially hidden my trees.
I am alone, I am happy, I am content!
My husband just left to play football and for a brief moment I was lost, until that is I came outside.
Now I am lost in the happiest, peaceful of ways.
There is something so incredible about being apart of something so large as the universe.
Watching a sunset, looking at the stars, witnessing a full, super, milky, rare moon is a gift that no technology, person or possession can ever provide.
When you can allow yourself to just simply be; to switch off, to just appreciate everything the world has to offer then I believe you can find true happiness anywhere.
As the moon now makes it way above the trees, I am signing off to appreciate this moment with a grateful heart and a happy soul.
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!
What if you turned yourself into a warrior and not a worrier.
This week I experienced self-doubt; it threw me off balance and left me quite off center.
Self-doubt once it takes hold, has the ability to bury itself deeply inside you.
Self-doubt can ruin you, if you allow it!
I am not going to lie, my self-doubt episode made me cry. My self-doubt caused me to lay awake that night, feeling inadequate and annoyed.
My self-doubt also allowed me to wake up the next morning, filled with positive determination to get rid of it.
Which is precisely what I did!
I did this, by focussing on positive things, people and comments. I did this by choosing not to dwell on my tiny mistake, but be proactive in finding ways to move forward, to improve, to grow.
I would love to say that my self-doubt will never come back, that I am stronger than that, but that would be a lie, for I am human, and as humans even the strongest of us, fall apart from time to time, and you know what I am ok with that.
Our minds are pretty darn amazing at turning negatives to positives if we keep training them to do so.
Life isn’t black and white.
I think problems in our minds, in our lives arise when the image of our perfect life fades, when we expected a black and white situation to play out a certain way….
Life is anything but black and white, expectations can lead to let downs and sometimes whilst waiting for your black and white situation to play out you are missing the rich vibrant colourful moments, people and events occurring all around you.
This week I went and got myself a cold; so I have spent my energy (when not resting) in between trying to stop my nose running in down dog and making healthy green concoctions.
I often get asked for recipes so here are a few jam packed with goodness from the last few days.
My get over a cold throw it all in a blender juice:
*orange juice
* handful of spinach
* little bit of ginger
* handful of berries
Delicious and filled with anti-oxidants and vitamin c.
Has to be good for you coz its green – green soup.
This I took from a recipe and as always I started with the recipe then ditched it and made it my own (no offense to all the fabulous people who contribute to recipe books)
This soup consisted of:
* 1 leek
* 2 cloves garlic
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
Heat all this up in a large pot until soft
Then add (I am being non descriptive with the quantities I say use what you have or as much as you like)
* broccoli
*kale
*spinach
*silver beet
* ginger
* 2 ltr vegetable stock
Bring all of this to the boil
Add in
*salt and pepper
* 2 teaspoons lemon rind (I added more and added some lemon juice as well
Cool this all down
The put into blender and add 300g silken tofu
I also added some lime juice and while it strongly resembles baby food in looks, the taste is quite delicious!
Please message me if you would like actual quantities as per the initial recipe:)
Another thing I have been eating lately is avocados on toasted sourdough with lemon, cracked pepper and snow pea sprouts.
All of these things are healthy and quick and easy to make.
Enjoy and please share any of your healthy favorite green tasty delights.
I deliberately used the word gorgeous in the title; as I am well aware those of you who have been consuming more delicious chocolate are probably now feeling guilty and anything but gorgeous.
So let’s put a stop to those thoughts right now!
Let’s be human and indulge every now and then.
Let’s enjoy Easter, enjoy a break from work (hopefully) enjoy your life each and every beautiful moment.
Find time after the break to get back to your healthy fitness routine, restore your balance.
Yesterday afternoon, as a full day of yoga training finished, a sea of smiling content faces were basked in an orange glow as the sun set behind us.
This morning I woke up filled with excitement for another day of training, I thought about the beautiful sunsets I have been lucky enough to view this week.
This morning I had a thought, maybe the sky gives us a sign that we are on the right life path. When the positive creative thoughts transpire from our heart and our soul and are mirrored into the universe as a beautiful vibrant sunset.
Each day I am fortunate to teach beautiful people; their drive, their motivation, their dedication inspires me each and every day.
Their energy feeds me, their smiles warm my heart and their struggles inspire me.
Now I have new teachers to inspire and motivate me, their beautiful energy flows through me, and I will pass this on to my class members, my friends and my family.
This beautiful flow on of positive energy is happening, and all the while the universe quietly sits by, watching and smiling.
Positivity is contagious, good energy is electric.
One good thought in the morning can really change your entire day.
As I think about the sunsets of late and have watched the skies become a rich tapestry of colour as the positive energy fills the universe and the cycle continues, I have never been more sure of this.
