Saturday 31 January 2015

Day 7 - Bakasana Practice


So it is day 7 of the Bakasana (Crow pose) practice..

I hope you have been practising every day,

I managed to squeeze an extra 10 minutes of Yoga practice in my day to focus on my crow pose.

I know it still isn't there yet, but I have seen improvements in my posture and length of time I could hold this arm balance for.

The biggest thing I noticed was how important it is to engage you core, the more I did this the longer my posture could be stabilised.

So here is my day 7 photo's. Let's keep practising are foundations of Yoga and we will be ultimate Yogi's in no time!



Looking at these photos I can also see where I need to improve (note to self: KEEP FINGERS SPREAD AND FLAT)

But I have also come a long way, getting a better posture: more lifted, and showing more stability on my arms. Because I gained better balance I could hold the posture longer. This is just after a week of practice. I hope to perfect this one soon! 

Any suggestions for our next Yoga challenges? 

Thinking of keeping it simple with Tolasana or Vasisthasana.


Saturday 24 January 2015

Becoming a Yogi


It was on my New Years resolution post that I wanted to become a fully fledged Yogi..

Admittedly I am not practising Yoga as much as I hope to yet, however have been following Yoga with Adriene videos on YouTube, which I usually do on the weekends as my body is still feeling chronically fatigued during the week days, but thankfully I can slowly feel my self becoming more awake and self aware once again, when I feel comfortable with my body again I will hopefully start practising my Yogi moves during the week as well.

Ok so I have done the occasional Yoga class in the past, but never really ventured into all of the foundations of yoga, (WARNING: remove all rude thoughts now) of course I have done the occasional downward dog, it is pretty much the move you will be guaranteed to learn at any Yoga class.. but my interest is in the contortion of Yoga, therefore I embarked on learning my first more challenging move this morning, Crow Pose.

This move will strengthen your wrists, forearms and abdomen, while improving your balance.

It is my challenge to practise this move for 10 minutes every day for a week, taking a day 1 and day 7 photograph to see the progression.

Feel free to join along and post your photographs too, which you can do over on my Facebook page or tweet me at @SSC_x

Here is the video I learnt from today:



The Basics:

- Bring flat palms and feet close together, bending them, while keeping back and chest elevated.
- Place one knee on the upper arm, followed by the other.
- Press your weight into the heel of your hand.
- Lean slightly forward, keeping gaze forward as well.

Oh and remember, the falling crow is one of most important steps toward mastering your Crow Pose, you have to try to perfect.

Day 1 Photographs:






I think you can already see the development in these photographs after a few practices!

Excited for my Yogi adventure now!

Namaste
x

Sunday 18 January 2015

WILD THING


Good afternoon Sunday readers,

                                                     I have a quick update for you...

Started a new internship 2 weeks ago.. 

It is going well..

I only have 2 weeks left..

Then I am back to being the 'New Girl' again..

Another day, another internship..

Sending my anxiety through the roof of, will it be a good one? 

I hope so..

I am there for 5 months.

Anyway, all things aside, I met up with my favourite London gal pal yesterday to talk fashion, life, food and futures.

We decided to go for lunch to a place that has been on our foodies bucket list for a good long while now called Wild Food Cafe. 

The building was picturesque, with brick work that was so orderly you wouldn't believe, old fashioned and somewhat Parisian style blue window frames, surrounded by neat greenery and pretty florals. 



This beautiful building is in the perfect London location of the magical Neal's Yard in Covent Garden. 

The food is colourful, fresh, raw, vegan/vegetarian and created using playful innovation that will be sure to satisfy your hunger queues with not so guilty meals and puds!

There is no denying the menu had me wanting to go tapas and order everything.

I was initially drawn to the Ayervedic Salad of:

'organic lamb lettuce and wild rocket topped with amaranth, courghetti spaghetti, hijiki seaweed, slices of artichoke hearts & avocado, cucumber & red pepper cubes, finished off with coriander, rocket & parsely pesto, mango salsa, activated savory seeds flavoured with leafy greens and spices, and marinated shiitake mushrooms.'




However, I pretty much live for salads, therefore I thought trying something more unusual would be the best option.. as good as this looks and sounded.

My next temptations were the:

I Love Ewe:

'unpasteurised Neal’s Yard dairy sheep cheese, caramelized onions, Dijon mustard, gherkins & tomato sandwich.'

The Wild Pizza:

'raw, dairy-free young coconut cheeze, wild sea purslane & basil pesto, raw cultured tomato & goji berry marinara, Turkish olives, artichoke hearts, avocado.'

The Wild Burger:

'scrumtious shiitake, raw olive & dulse burger with in-house cultured Wild Sauce, tomatillo salsa verde, caramelised onions, baba ganoush & crispy gem lettuce in a wholemeal sprouted organic wheat bread.'

The Wild Falafel:

'organic pistachio, olive & coriander superfood falafel balls, sprouted chickpea hummus, baba-ganoush, sprouted quinoa tabouleh, red pepper dressing, tahini sauce.'

In the end I opted for the Wild Falafel and Rosie chose the Wild Burger.



Of course I am going to be honest with you here, we don't know if we just made the wrong choices or  we would of thought this whatever the choice.. 

The food was delicious, but not worth the money with both our lunch orders coming to around £13 each. The portions were pretty small for the price, but I guess organic and healthy food like this generally tends to be more expensive. The food tasted great, but it wasn't mind blowing like you would hope for a £13 wrap. 

Either way the food was good but I don't think I would order the same thing, I would however definitely go again.. maybe when money isn't so tight. 

Feeling slightly disappointed by the lunch mains due to how much this place was hyped up, we decided to go all in and share a dessert as these looked doubtful to disappoint! 

We decided to ask which was the dessert that is most recommended to a newbie at Wild Food, we were told to go for the Raw Chocolate Tart:

'our most popular dessert. Creamy & smooth thick layer of chocolate superfood heaven on a firm crust of organic almonds, figs, dates and coconut chips.'



This was delicious. We had wished we had just visited indulging in an array of desserts. 

The mousey, chocolatey, gooeyness, just melted in your mouth and the base provided a filling soft but crunchy end to the delectable mouthful. 

Ok so if you are reading this and you haven't already cracked open your treat jar.. now is the time to run to the kitchen and satisfy your cravings, writing this post sure had my belly rumbling! 

Time for a Sunday of Homeland, lunch prepping, chocolate and church. 

See you next week, hope you have all had a lovely weekend. 

Oh and if you are in London be sure to go and treat yourself to some Wild Food! Nothing like guilt free cakes. 


Saturday 10 January 2015

WELCOME TO 2015


Sorry it has been awhile, I have been a busy bee, but no1 on this list will be to get back into the swing of things. Ironically in the past I would have made a list of 'New Years Resolutions', and yes like most people, this list would be made one day and forgotten the next. The ironic thing here, is that in 2014 I stuck to my New Years resolutions of working out more, eating healthy produce and drinking more water. My 2014 resolutions all sounded great but predictable, little did I know these resolutions that most of us admittedly make every year turned my life upside down, as you can probably gather from the last post I made. So before you make your list for 2015, really think about it. Yes, most people probably won't spiral into the whirlwind my mind created, but one thing 2015 should really be about is happiness, why feel guilty about not working out or eating that piece of cake, a healthy body isn't just a one man show, it needs a healthy mind to accompany it. 2015 is about balance, self love and acceptance for me. If you hate running, why put it on your New Years resolutions list to hit the treadmill 5 days a week, not only are you setting yourself up for a fail, you are not spending your time doing things you love. I found there was a lot of sadness in 2014, not just for myself, but for others, many deep and upsetting events in the world took place, it makes you realise that you only have that one life and doing little things everyday, like the passing smile to a stranger, ok might freak them out, but also might brighten their day, you never know what someone else could be going through. 2014's had many traumatic events for the world, and with the sadness that this week took place in France, we are not making a very good start, but its in times of trouble that you see how us as beings can really pull together and support one another. I am hoping 2015 is the year of conquering demons and overcoming hardships.

Anyway, in my list you won't see me striving to work out, cut out food types, and up my water intake any more (water is good, but if I drank anymore my whole day would be spent on the toilet, TMI?):

1. Consistant blogging.

2. Get more organised - make good use of my Filofax 2015 refills!

3. Work hard, making the most of my internships to hopefully startup a network of freelance work ready for graduation.

4. Explore more, I live in London right now and could only tell you about the tube stations I have been too.

5. Read more books. Kindle at the ready!

6. Become a Yogi. No, not Yogi the Bear, Yogi is the term used for "one who is adept in Yoga" (courtesy of The Free Dictionary .com). I have done the occasional bit of Yoga here and there, but I really want to pursue it further, I notice how Yoga makes my body feel relaxed and rejuvenated, it definitely makes a difference to my day.

7. Further my religious journey.

8. Keep in better contact with loved ones. I haven't been the easiest person to get in contact with since  becoming an unpaid working woman. I want to speak to my nearest and dearest (friends and family) more often now I am apart from everyone, even if its just a text.

9. Meditate. This goes hand in hand with me becoming a fully fledged Yogi. Whether it is on my walk to work or before I go to sleep, 10 minutes of Meditation a day has been proven to be a worthy source of medication and transform many peoples lives, while also being something many successful people do day-to-day, check out this article in the Huffington.

10. Aim for no less then 7 hours of sleep a day, strive for 8-9 hours. Sleep is a vital part of healthy living, I recommend listening to this - TED Talks video, it proposes some interesting facts and theories.

Let's hope I stick to these resolutions this year, I think they will be the secret for my happy 2015.