'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 17

Hey everyone!

Day 17 of the challenge was an all-round yoga practice. It was one of my favourites so far, probably because it was diverse and the poses that I don't like were only a small part of it. 

Excited for tomorrow! xx

THE SPLITS - 'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 16

Hello!

As you can probably tell from the title, the yoga challenge today was about the splits.
Now for me, doing the splits is probably the last thing I ever thought I would be attempting to do because in my head, that was something I would categorically be unable to do.

In a way I was right - I was nowhere near doing the splits, but when I was doing the stretches, it actually felt as if I might be able to get there in the future.

Now that all the festivities are over - :( - and I'll have to really get going with doing uni work, I can totally feel how relaxed doing yoga makes me feel. When you are actually doing it, it often doesn't feel that way because the poses can be hard. But afterwards, I (almost) always feel proud of myself.

If I told my younger self this, she would most probably laugh at me because yoga was NEVER something I considered doing, ever. 
If this is you, then just try it. If I'm honest, I felt very silly for the first few days (and felt silly yesterday and the day before because I disliked the exercises!) but it does really help :)
xx

Review: The Q&A a day 5 Year Journal

Hey everyone!

For Christmas, I got the Q&A a day 5 Year Journal from my parents. I have always been terrible at keeping a diary, because I initially loved the idea of it (I think I have started about 4 in my life), but then very quickly got bored and years later wanted a new one. The concept of this one is pretty simple – Inside the book, there is a page for every day of the year with five columns and a question at the top. Every day you answer one question and after five years, you will have, hopefully, written down your thoughts on every page five times. You can then look back and see how much your answers have changed over time.

I absolutely love the idea of this, but what really fascinates me about the journal is its design. In real life, it’s A LOT smaller than you would think it is. (it’s definitely smaller than your average book!) Also, and I hope that you can see this on the picture, each page is gold-edged which looks super pretty. (It sparkles!!!)

Just to give you an example, yesterday’s question was “Can people change?” and today’s is “What are you reading right now?” This constant change between deep questions to really think about and answers that you can quickly jot down makes the journal a lot of fun, because you never know what to expect. I honestly look forward to writing in it every single evening.

Oh, and I think my parents got it off amazon and I don't think it was that expensive either so it's definitely worth having a look if you like the idea! xx

HALFWAY THERE - 'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 14 & 15

Hello :)

The last two days of the challenge were pretty much all about stretching the legs which was good, because that's what I find most difficult, but not very rewarding at the same time because I felt like I didn't really get anywhere. 
On the plus side, my downward dog is definitely getting a lot better! My heels are only a few centimeters away from touching the floor. 
Also, I've made it HALFWAY. 

That went quickly! xx

Hello 2015 - as inspired by Sprinkle of Glitter

Good morning everyone! 

The above picture is taken from sprinkleofglitter's new blog post. She wrote down her New Year's resolutions and encouraged her readers to post theirs, so here we go…

Before I start I just want to say that this is the first time ever that I make resolutions. I've always set myself little goals throughout the year instead (like the Yoga Challenge that I've been doing for a while now), but 2015 is a fresh start so I will brave making resolutions. 

1) Eat less chocolate - I am IN LOVE with chocolate and whilst I am lucky to have a fast metabolism which means that I barely put on weight, I know that I would feel much better if I just ate a little less chocolate. 

2) Do more exercise - Again, this is all about feeling healthier. I have started this resolution last year when starting the Yoga Challenge and I hope that I'll be able to stick with it. My whole family is very sporty, my mum always says that my grandma could still do a handstand when she was 75 and I want to be just a bit fitter myself. I'm not truly awful I don't think - I can run quite fast if I REALLY want to, but that's about it. (Also, I never feel like running so that just doesn't ever happen) Generally, my level of fitness is appalling, so I definitely want to improve.

3) Be more proactive - I like my routine and sometimes I get stuck in that routine quite happily but then feel like I've missed out on stuff afterwards. I want 2015 to be a more adventurous year, I want to take opportunities, say 'yes' to more things and step out of my comfort zone a bit more. That being said…

4) Work hard - …I really want to focus on my degree. As last year has been a struggle, I definitely want to work hard for the upcoming exams and do the best I possibly can. If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't. But I want to be able to say that I gave it everything I could.

5) Be kinder to myself - Lastly, I want to be a bit kinder to myself. Everyone has these days where they feel a bit rubbish and whiny about themselves. If you think about it, there really isn't much point in doing that, so I want to try and take a step back, be more positive and not beat myself up about tiny things that I can't change anyway. 

Those were my five New Year's resolutions. I am super excited to see how 2015 will pan out and how good I will be at achieving those resolutions. 

Let me know what yours are and thank you to Louise from sprinkleofglitter for letting me use the picture in my post xx

 

'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 13

Hello everybody!

Day 13 of the challenge was all about the lower back and the hip. It was, all in all, a good day with loads of different exercises. I have definitely started to feel the effect of all those stretches: my forearm hurt a bit today from yesterday's yoga which felt strange because I never truly acknowledged the muscles there! 

Anyway, I'm almost half way through this challenge which is incredible in itself. I have found the past days less enjoyable though and I have lost motivation a bit, so I hope that tomorrow's video will be more fun for me. 

Hope you had a great first day of 2015 xx 

Happy New Year and 'DoYouYoga' 30 Day Challenge: Day 12

Happy New Year!

I wish you all a wonderful and happy 2015 :) How crazy is it that it's January all over again??

I could not be happier to leave 2014 behind because it wasn't a very good year for me, and I'm super excited for what 2015 will bring. Well, for a few more days it will bring yoga, I guess haha. 

Today's - or yesterday's challenge, or last year's challenge, actually - focussed on the wrists and hands. As the instructor said, you never really think about those parts of your body that much and that is so true. I don't think that I ever had particularly tight hands or wrists but it definitely felt good to stretch them. Also, it wasn't a very difficult day of yoga which was quite nice. I feel like after the relaxation exercises yesterday and the hand stretches today, I am ready to start 2015 with some more exhausting poses!

If you're still up, hope you have a wonderful night. Oh and I also just realised that this post will come up under the new heading of '2015', so technically, I've been doing this blogging thing for 2 years now - kinda. How time flies  xx