'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 10 & 11

Hello everybody! 

Day 10 of the challenge was Yoga for the side body. If I'm honest, this was pretty uneventful - the poses were good, yet I didn't enjoy them as much as some of the ones before.
(This is also why Day 10 just doesn't deserve a separate post)

Day 11, on the other hand, was INCREDIBLE. It was all about relaxation which felt amazing after a long day. I almost fell asleep, this is how relaxing it was. Yet, there were some exercises that I didn't like that much - mostly those where you have to lie on your back and then bring both knees to the left, and then the right. This was meant to be relaxing, but I just wasn't the biggest fan. 

Day 12 is going to be my last challenge day of 2014…wow. 

xx

'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 9

Good morning!

Today we did some balancing poses. Surprisingly, it went rather well on the balancing part even though the plank and downward dog were still quite difficult. 

Also, we had to touch the floor whilst standing up with our legs straight at some point which I couldn't do at all….so I just left that part out completely which was a bit discouraging.

Bring on Day 10! (even though I don't know how and when I'll be able to do yoga tomorrow…I'm going on a day trip so will have to get up at 3 and will only be back after midnight) We'll see :) xx

'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 8

Hey everyone!

Today was Day 8 of the Challenge and the focus was on Back flexibility. Now - I've always been a lot more flexible bending backwards than forwards and I was happy that I actually managed to do the full wheel pose. 

Tomorrow is going to focus on balance which I'm super excited about because it should be a lot of fun :)

The best thing about doing this challenge is that I can see some improvement already, after 8 days. Just imagining how much better I will be at doing those poses after 30 days makes me motivated to stick with it. 

I hope you had a great day xx

'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Challenge: Day 6 (and 7)

Hello everyone!

Just as a little preamble – what a fancy word for a blog post – I want to say that I did complete Day 6 yesterday and Day 7 today. I didn’t get lazy or forgot. But I didn’t have any Internet at my granddad’s house yesterday which is why I’m blogging about both days now.

Day 6

Today, the exercises focussed on the lower back. Compared to yesterday, it felt amazing to do something a bit more relaxing and a little less painful, even though I didn’t feel as proud.

I’m also not too sure if I have been doing the poses right because I did not feel very much of a stretch. So either I’m totally flexible in the shoulder area which would, to say the least, surprise me, OR I have just been doing something wrong. Of course, for the sake of my self esteem, I will go with the first option.

The absolute highlight was starting on the bridge pose. I have always loved to do the bridge – or an alike pose – when I was little and it made me happy that I could still do it quite well.

The only downside of today was the Happy Baby Pose – apparently everyone’s favourite. It certainly wasn’t mine because no matter how hard I tried, I just could not grab my feet.

Day 7

Because I only got the Internet back in the afternoon and still had family over, I didn’t get to do Day 7 of the challenge until the evening. Today the focus was on the crow pose. I had never heard of it before and once I saw what it was, I was quite impressed that I was supposed to be at such a level of yoga already.

I couldn’t quite do it yet, but the instructor said that this pose needs some practice and will eventually get better.

I can’t quite believe that I’ve already gone a week with this. All in all, it’s been a lot of fun so far :) xx

'Girl Online' - a thought

Merry Christmas everyone!

My friend got me Zoe Sugg’s ‘Girl Online’ for Christmas and as I love reading her blog and watching her youtube videos, I was over the moon to have a copy in my hands.

There has been a lot of discussion about her having some help writing her book and I do not want to share a full opinion on this because – frankly – I’m not informed enough to have one. 

All I want is to express a thought.

For me, the main message of ‘Girl Online’ is to take a step back and think: think about what you are about to say on the Internet, especially if you only know your tiny share about the issue.

I find it ironic that as soon as the book was published, there were comments and opinions floating around the Internet criticizing the process in which ‘Girl Online’ had been written, questioning Zoe’s role in it.

I am not going to take a stance on this. Again, I don’t consider myself as informed enough to be able to.

Instead, I think that – no matter whether you have an opinion on this or not – we should all remember the message of ‘Girl Online’. Take a good step back from the Internet, maybe even from yourself, and appreciate the irony of people immediately jumping to conclusions about a book, which tries to open our eyes to the danger of doing precisely that. I know that I’m not the first one to say this. I’m pretty sure that I won’t be the last one either. But I really, really wish that we could all take the message ‘Girl Online’ sends to heart and just think a bit more sometimes. Do not express an opinion until you are sure in yourself and confident that you are informed enough to really hold said opinion – ESPECIALLY online.

In terms of ‘Girl Online’ itself: Zoe, if you ever read this (which I’m 99% sure you won’t), I started reading your book as soon as I unwrapped it. I did not stop until I had finished it.

And also, I might now have a bit of a literary crush on Noah.

For those who haven’t read it yet: If you get the chance, try and get your hands on a copy of this book if you feel like spending a cosy evening with a feel good book that could also make you think and question some aspects of our lives, in particular those online.

Lots of love xx

'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 5

Hello and Merry Christmas Eve!

I honestly cannot believe that it's the 24th of December already and I am so so excited. This morning I completed Day 5 of the Challenge and I was really happy with it, actually. It probably helped that I found an old yoga mat in my house which made things easier (I had been doing yoga on my duvet that I put on the floor which maybe wasn't the best idea).

Today was a Core Strength Workout and after the difficulty of yesterday, I was a little scared that I wouldn't be able to follow at all. Surprisingly, I could! We learnt a new pose, the sphinx, and whilst it was exhausting, I could feel that it was truly training my core. Also, the downward dog felt almost relaxing in comparison, which I would never have thought before today. My heels are almost touching the floor as well, so all in all, it was a successful Yoga Challenge Day.

I'm going to my granddad's tomorrow for Christmas and I'm not sure how the Internet will be. Will update this blog as soon as I can :) 

xx

'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 4

Hey!

Today I had to get up early because I was working in the supermarket for a few hours. Well, I say early - I got up at about 8, which is earlier than usual at least. 

Day 4 of the Challenge was a Workout for Abs and it was the trickiest day so far. Because I was quite tired and had literally just got out of bed, as soon as I saw the title of the video I had a very strong urge to give up and sleep for another 20 minutes. But you know what, I didn't. (I did stop at some point and crawled back under the duvet, but then I felt guilty and continued the challenge, so that doesn't count, right).

So yes, doing an abs workout is not my forte. Tomorrow is Part 2, so I might improve a tiny bit. 

Have a great Christmas Eve Eve (ahhhh so excited!!)
xx

'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 3

Today was Day 3 and I'm still on (top of?) this challenge which makes me very proud. 

The exercises were all about posture and probably the nicest ones so far. 
My favourite pose was what I can only call the train pose (it probably has a proper name, so apologies if I'm offending anyone): You had to stretch out your right arm and your left leg, then bring them back to the center of your body, hold for a bit and stretch out again; repeating the process with your left arm and your right leg. Imagine one of those steam trains. Now imagine its wheels moving - yep, pretty much like that. 

It was A LOT of fun because it was something you would just never do in your day to day life. It also made me realise that whilst I am inflexible as anything (downward dog *ahem*, I will master you eventually), I have quite a good balance, surprisingly. 

Have a great day (and for those of you celebrating, it's nearly Christmas!!!) 
xx

'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 2

Good morning everyone!

This morning I completed Day 2 of the Yoga Challenge. 

The focus was on opening up the muscles in the chest and shoulders and I can tell you - it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be! 

The poses involving pulling back the shoulders were tricky, but came a lot more natural to me than the downward dog which we had to hold for quite some time. My heels are yet to touch the floor but at least I managed to fully straighten my legs whilst doing the pose today which was very painful and almost impossible yesterday!

I briefly stopped halfway through because I felt a bit silly, but I replayed the bit of the video I missed and then completed it. 

I still have to constantly remind myself that it really doesn't matter that I'm not very good at the poses, but it's only Day 2 of the Challenge and I could already feel some improvement which is incredible. 

Have a good day xx

'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 1

Since going to university, I haven’t really exercised all that much. I like to think that this is fine due to all the walking up the stairs, running to and from lectures and generally being out and about. Now that I’ve come home for the holidays, I’m literally not moving though. And that doesn’t feel very good. It makes me feel guilty and sluggish, especially since so many people around me have started going to the gym regularly. I know that this kind of exercise is not for me: I used to play tennis when I was younger and I enjoyed it because I liked the rules and the logic behind playing it. For me, exercise was secondary to having fun which is why running on a treadmill for the sake of running does not appeal to me.

This is why last year, I started going to yoga classes. I did enjoy it, but I felt very embarrassed because I am not flexible at all. (Seriously, I can’t touch my toes, not even anywhere near) Everyone was so lovely and I’m sure that they weren’t judging me for not looking elegant or doing the poses very well, but I felt really self-conscious and just not comfortable doing yoga with loads of other people around me.

So I decided that I would try watching youtube yoga tutorials and do some exercise at home. I stumbled across the youtube channel 'Do You Yoga' and found a 30 day challenge that they uploaded.

So here we go – Every day,  I will write down my experience with this challenge. Let’s see how this goes...

Day 1

The challenge started off with the downward dog pose and some exercises for your lower back and hips.

I could immediately feel how inflexible I am; I could not do the exercises and poses very well and had to often find my own variation of them. However, the instructor seemed so lovely and explained very early on that everyone is going to feel these poses a little differently and there is no real ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.

It was nice to really stretch and do something different to my body and I like to think (or maybe imagine) that some poses already came a bit more naturally to me by the end of the video.

I definitely learnt that I have a long route ahead of me in terms of flexibility and maybe being able to reach my toes one day (ultimate life goal here haha).

It can only get better though and I’m looking forward to tomorrow :)

Have a good day xx

Last week blues

Hello and Happy December!!

I have been terrible at blogging, not so much because I have forgotten that I had a blog, but simply because I have been very busy: I hadn't quite realised how much more work the second year would be as opposed to the first year of university. Also, I don't think that I took last year serious enough in terms of studying, so I've really tried to make more of an effort lately. 

As I'm writing this, it's my last week of lectures for this term which feels absolutely crazy. 
My professor ended today's lecture with 'see you in 2015', which - frankly - blew my mind. Is it just me or does 2012 feel like yesterday?? As it is the last week of term, I think a lot of people are experience something like 'last week blues', a term which, yes, I totally just made up. It is true though, that everyone is tired and run down, just wanting the studying to end to fully indulge in the festive season. 
It is also the time of the year when a lot of people get ill. I have been very lucky this term, because I miraculously managed to avoid catching Freshers Flu (apart from three days of feeling a bit sniffly, but I don't count that), but for the past two days I've pretty much been in bed the entire time with a cold and a sore throat feeling sorry for myself and all the fun I am missing out on. That is probably the worst thing about being ill - knowing that you COULD do so much with your time. I could have gone to a christmas market today. But you know what, instead I'm in my room watching youtube all day and totally not doing anything productive with my life. Thrilling. What is even worse though is how dysfunctional I get. I had forced myself to go to a lecture this morning, because I did not want to have to catch up that much over Christmas and on my way back home I decided to do some food shopping. That really was not a brilliant idea. The supermarket was super busy, I could not open the plastic bag you get at the self-checkout because my fingers were too cold, so I tried to squeeze my entire food shop into my uni bag, making it very heavy so I could not carry it on my shoulder. I then had to carry it with both hands just in front of my body, which - probably - made me look a bit stupid. 
On a more serious note, I really dislike this tendency to feel sorry for myself when I have a cold. It is really not the end of the world. I know that. I know that in a few days, or a week (or however long it will take me to feel 100% fine again), I will look back at this post and frown upon how whiny I have been. 
Future me, if you're reading this: Stop being too vain/lazy to put a scarf on. Put it on properly as well, don't just decoratively let it hang around your neck, because that is not going to keep you very warm. Most importantly though, APPRECIATE that you are feeling good. 

Brb, back to bed xx

Autumn Music - Songs I have been loving

Hey everyone!

Today is going to be a very quick, fun kind of post about the music I have been loving recently. I feel like because we are going into autumn, summer tunes will only leave me feel a bit nostalgic, so a bit of change is in order.
(The songs are in no particular order, I merely jotted down whatever came to mind)

Hozier - Take me to Church
No words needed. Just listen.

Fall Out Boy - Centuries
I am no full on FOB fan, but recently I have been listening to a few of their songs. This is their new one and it is rather challenging at first. There is so much going on that I still cannot make my mind up. Yet, I couldn't not mention it. Have a listen yourself.

Paramore - Still Into You
I do not usually listen to many Paramore songs, but I've truly fallen in love with this one. It is so cheerful, yet serious in a way. It makes me happy.

Ludovico Einaudi - Experience
This piece could be regarded as the odd one out, but I know that I will listen to it a lot. Einaudi's pieces have always been some of my favourite ones to play on the piano because you can really put your own thoughts and emotions into them.
'Experience' is simply beautiful - I don't have any more words for it. Please check it out if you're looking for something thoughtful and calming.

Sia - Chandelier
Still in love. Every single time I listen to it, I feel like there is something new about it that I hadn't noticed before. It is such a powerful song.
If you love Sia's voice and are looking for something a bit slower, then check out 'Big Girls Cry'. It is very sad, but perfect for when you are having a bit of a down day.

You me at Six - Room to Breathe
Great song for when you feel like you need a bit of rock in your life.

Dotan - Home
Wow. I don't know what I love about this - his voice, the lyrics, the melody? Probably a bit of everything. All I can say is that it has been stuck in my head for ages.

Alt-J - Every Other Freckle
Again, a bit unsure about this one. Ever since listening to Alt-J for the first time, the band has been growing on me. They are very unique and I am still getting used to their style.
I have kind of fallen in love.

So these were the songs that I have been loving recently and will definitely be part of my autumn playlist. Please leave any recommendations you have below. I would love to know what you have been loving xxx

"You can't start the new chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one."

Hey everyone!

It has been a while, but here I am, back with a short blog post J

A few days ago, whilst taking a break from my preliminary reading for the second year of university, I stumbled across this quote:

“You can’t start the new chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.”

Sadly, I have no idea who this is from, but I really like it.

Like a lot of people, I tend to reminisce quite a lot, alongside imagining comebacks (preferably when I’m under the shower) and over-analysing conversations which, in most cases, don’t need to be analysed at all. I blame this on the fact that I think too much  – my driving instructor once asked me what exactly was so complicated about turning the steering wheel because I kept thinking about the how and why and if instead of simply doing it. (One time, he also held his right arm out of the car window because I forgot to indicate. I definitely remembered afterwards!)

Anyways - because I reminisce that much, I am always in two minds about change. On the one hand, I get terribly excited about anything new, which is why I enjoy studying in London and its vibrant atmosphere that much. At the same time, I don’t like letting go of things – as much as I was looking forward to going to university, I had enjoyed my time in sixth form which left me feeling quite nostalgic for a good while.

Whenever I catch myself feeling down about things that have changed, I try to think about the alternative. Yes, school was nice, being around a set group of friends felt comforting and okay, there was not that much responsibility and independence to deal with. But would I like life to stay like that forever? Without moving on to many more, exciting things to come? Hell, no.

To put it in the words of the quote, re-reading the last chapter of one’s life is comforting and it feels secure. It can never get you anywhere new, though.

To remind me of that, I made the quote my phone and laptop background.

Fake it till you make it, eh?

Speak to you soon and I hope you have a wonderful week

xxx