Category: Love & Life

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5 Ideas to Negate the Post-Weekend Blues

Monday Blues

Let’s face it, Monday has the tendency not to be a fun-day; but, it doesn’t have to be this way.  Gently taking what you need from these few simple points (tried and tested) can help you to feel somewhat lighter and brighter.

      1. Cleanse, inside and out.  Warm water (maybe add some lemon or lime), herbal tea; ensure you get a good dose of caffeine free rehydration to help flush the system.  Also, have a shower or at least wash your face to help remove accumulated and oozed toxins from your skin.
      2. Get Moving!  Anything from using a body brush, or rolling around and having a stretch on the floor to opening up with a few Sury Namaskara (sun salutations, we can never worship the sun too much); these babies activate all of your bodily systems and helps to shake out your s***
      3. Put on your favourite ambient but uplifting track, music is one of the easiest steps to help soothe the soul
      4. Wear something you feel good in, hopefully it can be warm and comfy but including an uplifting colour, or favourite item
      5. Go Easy on yourself and Smile.  You’re human, not robot; and smiles release endorphins (the happy hormone)

Much love.

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Yoga in the City

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Living in London this past few years has shown me many examples of how yoga can help ease the tensions typically associated with city living.  Generally, where there is an abundance of people, there can be an absence of caring.  Crowd psychology states, for example, it is easier to lose our sense of responsibility for ourselves as well as others (even those more vulnerable).  From dropping litter to elbowing a bystander out of the way so we can move forwards a moment quicker in the race to our jobs; a situation I’ve often experienced when commuting at rush hour!  That said, I am still amazed at the difference a little yoga can make to my daily living; helping me to get some head space and a fresh perspective, providing me with the opportunity to take a step back out of the crowd so I can rediscover my core values, reminding me to give up my seat for the old lady who looks like she really does need it.

If you live in a big city you’ll know how ‘busy’ we can all be; how little time there is and the busier we feel, the quicker we try to do things, and the quicker things are done, the less efficient we become.   So instead of slowing down, even in the low energy of the autumn and winter, we often try to do more to make up for what we may have missed and thus end up feeling burnt out, or wondering why we’re so tired!?  I can hear a few of you say “Pfffft yoga/meditation, I never have the time for that.  It can’t help me” but the truth is; we can make the time.  Time has become such a commodity that we’ve all ended up selling our time along with our peace of mind.

A trick that yoga can teach you about managing a hectic work/fun/love life is; take your time and do things properly.  It can help you understand that all of these things you have to do, don’t all need to be done right now.  Check in and see how important it is to your health whether you make that deadline or, give your evening to that one extra date (in case he’s serious this time).  By doing things properly (being mindful to notice if the OCD starts kicking in though!) you can better reap the rewards and achieve a greater sense of satisfaction from the simple things.  Give yourself the time to be fully present in whatever you are doing, working on a project, holding a conversation or attending a class.

This post is too short to tell you the mechanics of exactly HOW yoga helps you but why not go try a favorite or new teacher’s class?  Take a deep breath and give it a shot.  Aim to ensure you can be slow in moving back home or on to your next location, to help the ancient methods of yoga reach you a bit deeper.  If you consider yoga too slow paced for you, perhaps try a Vinyasa style or Ashtanga which will make you sweat but whilst integrating the all important point about taking time for you.  And if you’re open enough there’s a lot more you can learn other than patience e.g. the importance of peace of mind and taking care of your body.

5 Tips for practicing yoga in a city

  1. Find a teacher whose class you enjoy and where you feel good.  There are a lot of us teachers so have courage to try again if you’ve not experienced a class you like yet
  2. BREATHE
  3. Be kind to yourself, this also helps us learn how to be kind to others
  4. BREATHE
  5. Smile.  It releases endorphins and helps lower stress and wrinkles

😉

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I Must Do This Now

Must do it now

I Must do my best, I Must finish what I started, I Must say the right thing, I Must have the right clothes, I Must clean the flat, I Must take care of others, I Must pay my bills, I Must give all I can to those who need me/it, I Must look my best, I Must be a good person, I Must sort my hair out, I Must eat the right things, I Must have a good time, I Must quit XXX, I Must do my work, I Must do the shopping, I Must keep smiling, I Must make some dinner, I Must say thank you, I Must be healthy in body and mind, and I Must do it all NOW!

This is what occasionally runs through my head.  Well, when I say occasionally, I mean it used to be every 2 seconds, now, when I keep up regular yoga and meditation practices, it’s closer to every day or so.  My intention is to eventually let go of trying to hold everything together so rigidly; to relax, and respond to each situation as it happens (most of these Musts, seem pretty ridiculous when I see them all listed like that!).

The difficulty for me, is finding the balance between preparing for life and allowing life to happen.

Looking at and listening to people out there helps me to realise; it’s not just me who can get overwhelmed and sometimes missing the point about being alive.  Some people may call this depression, I call it learning how to live life to the fullest.  Something schools don’t have on their curriculum at present?

It’s the people I love (and who I probably hurt the most), whose reactions to me, allow me to see a mirror for where I keep tripping myself up; reminding my why I got into yoga so strongly, and why it’s so much more than just a physical strengthener.  Thank you all, I consider myself blessed.

In conclusion, my main hope by sharing my muddled head, is possibly to give confidence to any other fickle headed persons reading this, that there are things you can do to empower yourself, every day, and live your life – beyond getting through a mental to do list.

Do you have a list of Musts?  If you do, maybe, try writing them down and seeing which are actually musts right Now?  If this seems to much, if you’ve been given the label of depressed and want help to shake it, maybe find out a local yoga or meditation teacher or a counsellor; these guys are worth their weight in gold, diamonds, and raw cacao.  An authentic yoga or meditation practice, in any form, enables you to see these Musts popping up in your head, and then, by breathing through it, can help you to maintain your position in the now.   Therefore, coming into your own realisation that, these musts don’t own you; they’re not important for your immediate survival.  Remembering, that you are capable of living better once you release what doesn’t serve you in this moment and relax into your own self and time.

 

Namaste

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Being comfortable this Autumn/Winter

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Autumn and winter are historically wet and cold, have a lower energy and is when the fluffy furry animals hibernate.  Also, at this time of year, warming root veggies from the Earth are a staple food whilst there’s a lot less sunlight bringing its energy into this part of the globe.  So as modern humans instead of slowing down, even in the weariness of the autumn and winter, we try to do more to make up for the shorter days – it’s OK everyone’s at it!  With Christmas (or other religious holidays) and the January sales around the corner the very thought of having a quiet 5 minutes seems months away for some.  It can be hard slowing down with nature when the rest of the population still seem to be running at 200MPH, how is it possible not to also be so busy?!

This answer lies with our ancestors and nature, our inner nature and nature in the wild as we know it, but it’s our negligence to our deep connection with this planet and its seasons which is why we must again pay attention more to the changing energy of the weather, the hibernating animals and the actual foods which grow; imagine how people lived 500 years ago in winter?  Slow down and take this time to restore yourself!  Following on from the highs of the summer, now is the time replenish our reserves so we can have a spring in our step next March.  Being generally conscious of this can be an asset, but Yoga is an excellent tool to help us to do this, not only does it turn our attention inside to our true nature but it also can be used as a gentle way to build heat and keep us from getting too cold or sluggish.   However, it is still very important we learn to slow down and generally take stock of our lives; live like the seasons with cooler but also sometimes, more extreme energies.

5 Tips to help transition into chilling:

  1. Eat warming and earthy foods, locally sourced where possible so you can really eat with the season of your dwelling
  2. Take the opportunity to sleep more with the earlier sunset and later sunrise, see what small changes you could make to your routine to allow this for a few months.
  3. Do some Yoga, Pilates or Tai Chi, keep the fire burning inside so you can keep warm.
  4. Move more towards mental tasks rather than physical ones to make the most of a clearer mind bought on by the cold weather.
  5. Appreciate the warmth of your home or your winter coat with the coolness of the air which helps to freshen things up after a sweaty summer!
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Giving of Your Present

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A Present for The Present.  What will you give or receive?

OK, I love word play, and festivities are coming, so let’s think about ‘Present’.

The present, as in right now, the present moment, or perhaps

To be present, to be present at a certain place, or

A present, a gift which you give to others or maybe yourself.

 

Why do we call a gift a present?  With the present moment being the gift of life, how can we translate that into what we give?

A Present (gift); to give to someone what they need in that point of time.

Value not being based on money but actual needs of the person receiving.

 

My moment of comprehension:

My husband is the greatest gift of love one could ever receive, I doubt it’s been easy loving a ‘lady’ like me, but he’s the gift which keeps on giving; and I think it’s finally working.  He was driving me crazy in the lead up to my birthday, I was curious to know what his gift to me would be.  When I returned home from work on the evening of my day,  he presented me with a lavish 3 course meal using my favourite ingredients, not only that but I received a symbolic plant, (pictured above) a constant, living reminder of life and love.  I must nurture and show it love, feelings that I’ve not felt so much in the past.  Afterwards, I realised my husband had not only given me a wonderful plant but the gift of this wonderful moment in time, with a constant memory through the plant.  That’s not to say I’m ungrateful for when I received my first laptop many years ago, as that was needed then but this year, love is what I need   🙂

 

In summary,

Share the love.  Always.

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Thank you!

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So much thanks to the people who have given me love and support over the last couple of years and helped me to realise and then continue to achieve my intention of further sharing Love and Happiness with the people I meet.  Yes I know – I’m a bit of a tree hugger but hay – we can’t all be tuned into the same frequency but I’m happy with that.  Who wants to be the same as everyone else!?  That’s why we’re all born different. EXPRESS YOURSELF 😉  Class is a great place to get expressing this through your interpretation of the yoga postures I’ll take you on a journey through during each lesson.

Thanks to Aneesh, Ahmid, Samantha and the wonderful crew at Brilliant Corners!

Now the hard work starts, promoting the classes and seeing who is in the right space and time to learn some tools for delving deeper into themselves and discovering the space where ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE 😉

Also, HUGE thanks also to Mr Kay Suzuki for helping me to make this all possible– producer, dj, promoter, marketing expert, chef, love bringing and entrepreneur.  Arigato Kay and big thanks to all reading this x

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Fail to Prepare and Prepare to Fail

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Fail to Prepare and Prepare to Fail

And that’s why at Core-Focus HQ work is still going into preparing class structures, chillax time tune(s) and all the little bits of detail which will no doubt be lost to improvisation when in the moment tomorrow night!

It’s always sods law – prepare a class plan and it wont get used – but I’d rather put my intention into action and have a variety of hot options to deliver tomorrow night, depending on who comes and steps on the mat

See you tomorrow!  x