28 Day Heart Opening Challenge | Yoga

As I mentioned in this post earlier in the week, I am participating in the 28 Day Heart Opening Yoga Project run by my favourite online Yogi Candace from Yoga by Candace.

Candace asked us to choose a pose to work on throughout the 28 days and post weekly check in photos to see how far we are progressing.

Here is my first check in photo for the project!

I have chosen pigeon pose and will be aiming to move into king pigeon by the end of the month. Pigeon pose is actually one of my favourites, but I can't say I find the full pigeon pose easy. 

Have you every participated in a yoga challenge / project? I love Candace's projects as they really help you to further your yoga, not just focus on a pose a day.

What I'm Wearing
Cotton On Body Sports Top (Cotton On - a few years ago) // Supre Shorts (Supre - a few years ago)

xx

 

Life Update and New Project Sneak Peek

image from pinterest

Thank god it's nearly the weekend! I have had a crazy few weeks back at work. You think your getting somewhere and then you turn around to find more piles of paper to deal with!

I thought I would check in and let you known what I have been up to recently and give you a sneak peek of an exciting new project I have coming up.

Etsy Resolution

I am currently involved in a project called Etsy Resolution run by Etsy Australia. It is a 4 week "course" to help you really establish your Etsy shop in the market. As you probably know, I have my own little shop on Etsy, Little Miss Lorraine, which I would really love to grow this year. The 4 week program runs through everything including setting up your Etsy shop, taking great photos, pricing items and how to utilise social media. If you have your own Etsy shop I highly recommend you sign up to this course!

Tailoring Course
I have also signed up for an online tailoring course run by the Burdastyle Academy. I really wanted to take my sewing to the next level this year, especially when it comes to making / refashioning clothes. This course teaches you how to make your own patterns, how to adjust patterns and a few basic repair techniques such as replacing a broken zipper. I am really looking forward to doing a few more sewing courses this year so watch this space to see my progress.

28 Day Yoga Project 

Candace from Yoga by Candace has just released a blog post detailing her new yoga project for February after the success of her strength project throughout January. I have to admit I haven't done very much yoga in the last 2 weeks of January which I am very disappointed about! I am hoping to be more proactive during February so I am looking forward to this next project. I will be posting pose updates here so keep an eye out!

Exciting New Project...

I have a very exciting project coming up very soon which I cannot wait to show you. It is something I have wanted to do for a while now and I've finally got my act together to make it happen. The picture above might give you a clue as to what the project is about...blog post up this weekend about it!!

I hope you have all had a wonderful start to 2015 x

xx

 

Positive Vibes | Welcome to 2015!

Welcome to 2015! You may remember from this post last year that I have decided not to make New Years Resolutions anymore. Mainly because there is so much pressure surrounding these resolutions that I never ever keep them!

Positive Mind, Positive Vibes, Positive Life is my new favourite quote and something I will be striving for this year. 

Positive Mind.

Yoga every damn day & more meditation. Life got so busy at the end of the year (a poor excuse - I know!) and my yoga really took a back seat. I am going to get back into doing Yoga every day - starting with this 31 day strength project by Candace from Yoga By Candace (my favourite online Yoga teacher and source of inspiration) I would also really love to incorporate more meditation into my day - even just 5 minutes - to help keep my mind clear and to stay focussed.

Positive Vibes.

I really want to surround myself with a lot of positive vibes this year. Having too many negative things in your life can really bring you down and start turning you into somebody you do not want to be! To receive positive vibes, you have to give positive vibes (think positive karma) so this is something I want to make a conscious effort to do this year.

Positive Life.
Having a positive mind & positive vibes will help be to have a more positive life. However, I would also like to include a few other things to help me reach my positivity goal! Although we eat pretty healthy I would like to incorporate more of it into my diet. More fruit and veg, less processed goods. I would also like to include more exercise into my daily routine. Lets face it, your not going to find me going for a run or in a gym anytime soon, but things like more walking, bike riding, weights & yoga should help me achieve this goal. I would also like to do more things that make me happy. This includes spending more time on my Etsy shop Little Miss Lorraine, going away on the weekends and spending time with those I love!

Are you creating any New Years resolutions this year? Or are you more into setting goals / aims for yourself?

I am so excited with what's to come this year - both for this blog and me in general!

xx

 

4 Tips For the Perfect Yoga Environment

After practicing yoga for over 3 years, I have learnt a lot about how setting up the right space for your yoga session can benefit your practice. Here are the 4 things I believe are the most important factors to creating the perfect yoga environment, especially if you do not have a set yoga space.

Natural Light

To me, natural light is much more calming than bright lights and so I prefer to practice yoga with natural lighting. Bright, flickering lights can be distracting and with all the time we spend on technology, I find it is a nice way to reconnect with the outdoors.

If there is no natural light available, I light a few candles as a more natural alternative to turning on the lights.

Appropriate Music

I know that some people would feel that music during yoga can be distracting and take away from the practice. I personally find that it helps me to keep focussed and also find a good rhythm. My current yoga "playlist" includes:

- Clair de lune - Flight Facilities
- Gold - Chet Faker
- Stay High - Tove Lo

- anything by Jack Johnson

As I mentioned above, playing music is a personal choice and what music you play also depends on  the type of yoga session you have planned. I like more upbeat songs when I am doing a faster, sweatier yoga practice and slower, chilled out songs for a gentler practice.

Choosing the right space

When choosing a space for your yoga practice, you should ensure it is somewhere where you will be less likely to get interrupted. There is nothing worse than when you get into a really good rhythm and someone or something comes and interrupts you. One other thing to keep in mind when choosing an appropriate space is the temperature. You want to be warm during your session, so keep away from cold draughts and turn the heater on if need be. Keeping warm will also minimise the risk of any injury.

Keeping Distractions at Bay

Following on from the above, it is really important to keep away from any distractions during your yoga practice. Turn your phone off or on silent and resist the urge to check your phone throughout the session. If you use your computer during your practice (I sometimes use mine to watch videos on YouTube) ensure nothing is open that could distract you (social media, emails etc.)


I would love to hear what your perfect yoga environment is. Do you have a set yoga space? 

Namaste.

xx