I gotta tell you… someone has been trying to bother me. Just between you and me in the privacy of my home and ahem also here… it was not a pleasant experience for me to say the least mainly because it was out of the blue. Quelle surprise!
However, I took the time to reflect on how I wanted to respond outwardly and I decided that my response will be nothing. Message not received. I told myself no I won’t be angry, I’m not drinking this cup of poison over the behaviour of someone else.
I was pretty peeved though… and boy is it tempting to throw down!
You know what I find hard to comprehend and maybe it’s not understandable is how someone could form this type of mal intention to inflict pain and suffering on someone else. Someone that they don’t know and never met. I don’t expect people to just wish me blessings all day long but WHO goes out of their way to try to victimise someone and ruin their peace?! Just bizarre…
WHO do they think they are? And WHO did they think I am?
Various memes floating around on the internet with this theme as you can see.
I love memes so much…
Let’s try to be classy about things before I get carried away! If not classy, then just make good choices!
Don’t throw down Dom…
In an overly simplistic explanation, my mum has a technique of checking feelings. Who does this belong to? Yours? No, not yours. Sometimes she will say yes it is yours. She does it in a flash.
I slept badly anyway after my experience and had a terrible dream. In it I was defending myself but I woke up shaken. It was as if I was under psychic attack. How so? Well, was I feeling at peace? Well, no, I was obviously bothering myself by holding on to thoughts instead of letting them pass me by. This is no longer about that person, this is about my reaction. What is my reaction? I said I won’t react but my mind is chattering away. There is a disconnection going on here.
So again I made an effort to distance myself not just by refraining to respond but to really not receive the message. I choose peace.
Mine? No, not mine.
Return to sender.
May I be conscious.
May you be conscious.
May we all be conscious.
Here is a Zen story I came across a long time ago.
There once lived a great warrior. Though quite old, he still was able to defeat any challenger. His reputation extended far and wide throughout the land and many students gathered to study under him.
One day an infamous young warrior arrived at the village. He was determined to be the first man to defeat the great master. Along with his strength, he had an uncanny ability to spot and exploit any weakness in an opponent. He would wait for his opponent to make the first move, thus revealing a weakness, and then would strike with merciless force and lightning speed. No one had ever lasted with him in a match beyond the first move.
Much against the advice of his concerned students, the old master gladly accepted the young warrior's challenge. As the two squared off for battle, the young warrior began to hurl insults at the old master. He threw dirt and spit in his face. For hours he verbally assaulted him with every curse and insult known to mankind. But the old warrior merely stood there motionless and calm. Finally, the young warrior exhausted himself. Knowing he was defeated, he left feeling shamed.
Somewhat disappointed that he did not fight the insolent youth, the students gathered around the old master and questioned him. "How could you endure such an indignity? How did you drive him away?"
"If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive it," the master replied, "to whom does the gift belong?"
John Suler’s Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbours.
I may not be the great warrior but I can do my best to remain calm and immoveable under pressure.
*Just a word now about bullying and being bullied. It’s unacceptable behaviour and is usually never about the person targeted. In a lot of instances we can choose to remain calm and continue to live our lives peacefully and that’s all that needs to be done. You may or may not want to also inform this person that oi, you need to wake up, cut that behaviour out and pull yourself together and have some dignity ffs. Every situation is different. IF YOU ARE IN DANGER YOU NEED TO CONTACT AUTHORITIES, YOU NEED TO TELL PEOPLE WHAT IS HAPPENING AND YOU NEED TO MOVE YOURSELF TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.
March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life’s path.
Khalil Gibran
It’s been an interesting beginning to March. I came across an expression that is very comforting: “When March comes in like a lion, it leaves like a lamb.” Another comfort to me is my yoga practice, so much so that I found it really difficult to decline teaching requests as if the more yoga we get out into the atmosphere the more peaceful moments we’ll have. I’ve come to my yoga mat upset or angry many times, but I have never left it the same way. Not once!
This sunset came after a very stormy and stressful day, a real tonic for the spirits. The next day the clouds cleared and I could see as far as the mountains.
This is a quiet week which is why I am finally uploading the calendar, and I’ll also use this chance to finish editing at least two yoga videos – one is for depression and one is for backbending. My main intention for the month will be to continue working on myself and all the ways yoga can serve as a tool for self help. And I will ask myself how I can stay focused and resilient, no matter what?
I hope that this month brings you blessings and strength.
Phew! January went fast and looking back now on my January intentions I got through most of it but three quarters of the way through my intention to walk a good distance everyday faltered. I tried my best to do little bursts of walking and those days I felt markedly better than on days I didn’t.
I’m off to a good start though with the calendar for February ready earlier hehe.
What are your intentions for this month?
I’m going to stick to my walking and switching out coffee for tea. A few other work things as well but these are the main ones for me.
As I say in the video, this is a run through of the first practice given in the book The Heart of Yoga.
You’re invited to go through it with me and give it a whirl.
I wish you a peaceful day and evening.
Thank you for joining me and thank you for bringing some yoga into your life.
Namaste.
DISCLAIMER: Please consult your doctor or health care professional before starting this workout. If you experience pain or discomfort at any time during this workout, you should stop immediately. By performing these exercises, you do so at your own risk. By using this video, you understand and agree that the creator of this video will not be held responsible or liable for any injury or loss you may suffer as a result of this workout video.
Edit: it is now TWO WEEKS LATER AHHH but let me just post this and you can tell me has January flown past you as well having fun or is it dragging along for you.
To be perfectly frank, I have been STRUGGLING to wake up at my usual 5.30 or 6 am time. More amazingly my alarm clock i.e. my 5 year old has not been waking me!
Not newsworthy for some but everyday is a slow news day in this household thank goodness hehe.
But with waking up late at 8 or 9 has left me without the extra hour in the morning I usually rely on. It makes a difference for me even if it is a weekend. I have been meaning to finish up designing a few things (including a calendar) and without those morning hours I have struggled. And in a chicken and the egg kind of story I felt like I could not plan out things I wanted to work on in January (it’s almost a third of the way through the month) and January is just flashing past. You would think it would wait for me but nope hehe.
This morning in an astounding (I told you this is a slow news household) turn of events, we are up at 7. Oh my goshness, what a thrill. Made coffees for Mum and I, brought it over to her she was in the middle of a web meditation event (I didn’t realise she was so quiet, understandably as she was meditating), prepared food for little one in case it felt hungry (fruit salad left from yesterday and a babycino, took seconds) and got on with the calendar designing.
I’ve decided on a minimalist design, well, minimalist for me… featuring things I saw that stopped me in my tracks on my walks. There is a space on the side to record intentions for the month.
There is a moving version of it and the variations of light and colours was lovely. I’m looking forward to looking back at the end of the month where I got to with my intentions.
Hello! What a rush the last few weeks have been. I’m back in Sydney and we need to head over to a cousin’s house for Christmas lunch. It’s a potluck lunch and I thought lawd… what can I make that will travel well and be you know, nice to look at? Luckily I’m doing dessert which is easier than say, a whopping great big turkey which is certainly impressive but you probably want to make that inhouse.
A cake would be nice although, by the time you eat a huge meal, how much cake does one need? More pleasant might be a small nibble with a coffee.
I’ve been seeing these very fanciful platters but until now I have always felt timid and unsure how to do one. For my kid’s birthday I had my friend make one. She’s veryyyyyy good at it. We both wept a little that we didn’t take photos of that one haha.
She’s not here with me in Sydney so I’m on my own. Here is what I came up with. I had to go to the supermarket but you might have things in your cupboard you can use?
from this to this and just go from there
If you have anything last minute coming up give it a go. Even if all you have is a box of chocolates, with some fruit sprinkled around, it’s pretty to look at whilst you sit around having a chat (or putting your feet up). Also I’ll paste my recipe for egg nog. If I remember rightly, it’s vegan… it’s one of my most popular posts (?!?!!!!) but here it is again in case you would enjoy ithttps://ourzenaissance.com/2016/12/24/nog-vegan-egg-nog-in-less-time-than-it-takes-to-say-bah-humbug-a-christmas-miracle-recipe/
If you have some remember to drink loads of water! Hehe… and I wish you a beautiful day everyday xox
Here is a short sequence that will be good to do if you have been having a rough time. We’ll start in standing tall like a tree and then come down to the ground for some heart opening moves so you feel grounded yet flexible.
Bend don’t break.
I wish you a peaceful day and evening.
Thank you for joining me. Namaste.
DISCLAIMER: Please consult your doctor or health care professional before starting this workout. If you experience pain or discomfort at any time during this workout, you should stop immediately. By performing these exercises, you do so at your own risk. By using this video, you understand and agree that the creator of this video will not be held responsible or liable for any injury or loss you may suffer as a result of this workout video.
This is a 75 minute yoga workout I filmed especially for a friend of mine. You are welcome to try this out.
If you are after a yoga workout or WORKIN covering a bit of everything (core, leg strengthening, balance and arm balance) this will be nice for you to do. It’s challenging but not impossible, I give alternatives and options so it is a good one for beginners and if you are a pro, well it will feel like a refreshing bit of movement.
Equipment: If you can have a large towel or blanket handy, that will be helpful. I hope you enjoy.
(I’m sorry about the sound, I don’t have a microphone at the moment but will work on sorting sound out for the next video)
DISCLAIMER: Please consult your doctor or health care professional before starting this workout. If you experience pain or discomfort at any time during this workout, you should stop immediately. By performing these exercises, you do so at your own risk. By using this video, you understand and agree that the creator of this video will not be held responsible or liable for any injury or loss you may suffer as a result of this workout video.
This is a 40 minute Pilates workout I filmed for a friend of mine.
If you are after a Pilates workout covering a bit of everything (arms, back, legs, glutes and core) this will be nice for you to do. It’s not too hard so it is a good one for beginners and if you are a pro, well it will feel like a refreshing bit of movement.
I hope you enjoy.
DISCLAIMER: Please consult your doctor or health care professional before starting this workout. If you experience pain or discomfort at any time during this workout, you should stop immediately. By performing these exercises, you do so at your own risk. By using this video, you understand and agree that the creator of this video will not be held responsible or liable for any injury or loss you may suffer as a result of this workout video.
Here is the video I mentioned earlier. You will need a block, or a thick book (do they still make telephone books? I miss them. I used to browse them casually haha.) or a sturdy cushion. If you have none of those then a couple of folded towels/blankets will do the trick.
Remember it is okay to use props in fact using props can help you deepen your experience so don’t feel like you’re going backwards in your practice if you use one.
Sometimes I’ll be meditating or you know doing something super ascendant (you know I’m kidding right) and someone will rock over already talking to me.
“Oh, were you meditating (or insert some other high minded activity I might possibly be doing)?“
“Yes I was” spiritually patient tone (ha, not really)
“Oh… ok” reluctant tone
“No it’s alright what were you saying?“
“Ok just quickly then…” and insert important (to them) information.
I wonder if it was really that important.
And in that same way I am rocking up to just quickly tell you just quickly that I will upload another yoga tip video sometime later today, or tomorrow, but maybe today.
Now you can wonder was this really that important.
It’s weird, over time, a lot of time, the less I minded those “just quickly” interruptions the less they happened?
Whilst teaching yesterday a student asked me “did you do yoga on the weekend?” and as a matter of fact I did. But with multiple interruptions so a 45 minute session ended up taking 2 and a bit hours because someone wanted breakfast, then someone was hungry again and wanted lunch, and also I had to help someone open a water bottle also where was that book they were reading and I did not even mind.
So maybe the interruptions do continue but I just don’t mind as much. Is this… ascension?!
This is a ten minute sequence I filmed (awkwardly!) on my Instagram so that my overseas client would be able to do it whilst we figure out the time zones to schedule our next session together.
Do you feel like practice has to be a certain length or else it’s not really a practice? If you don’t have an hour you feel as though you’ll just have to wait until a later time? If you had the choice between
One hour of practice a week, or
Ten minutes a day everyday
What would you go for?
That full hour still looks appealing haha but you’re left with six days a week without that mindful movement.
When you are in the early days of setting up your practice, try adding these small habits of moving consistently and regularly, however briefly. It’s only a suggestion and if you find it turns out you have more time, add on. If you don’t have more than ten minutes, no big deal, you’ve already done something and you can go back out in the world.
Clutter is a real mind messer arounder. I get it now. It is so easy to fall into a trap thinking you need a bigger space for all your stuff. To some extent yes, of course we need a cupboard to put things into but a penthouse? A five bedroom house? Probably not.
One of the things about our living space is the lack of cabinetry, so I bought some to make up for the lack of storage space. But how about that, I still had a crap load of stuff all over the place that needed to be put away, yet there was no where to put it. What now mighty mind?!
Obviously it was a case of me not using the space I had intelligently and also there being WAY TOO MANY THINGS. It has been very obvious what needed to be done but it was a case of finding the time to do it and overcoming the sensation of overwhelm that left me feeling too exhausted to get started.
Over the last month something overcame me and it was a funny time that I suddenly felt this urge considering it was one of the busiest months in our life yet I was just brimming with energy ready to tackle things.
Today I tackled a small but pretty important space, the kitchen counter, specifically the space above my little toaster oven and just next to it, and the spice cabinet above it.
One of my goals is to clear the dining table and have enough counter space to do things on it. I don’t have a proper workspace so the dining table is my little art studio/office space. So every meal time we have to shovel everything off down one end so we have enough space for our elbows. Yeesh. B is very kind and doesn’t say a word about it but how much better would it be if we had a clear table. Also my altar faces our dining table so it would be good to clear the clutter.
Looking into the spice cabinet I can see I haven’t used the space properly, I tried with those little Ikea metal shelves but it wasn’t organised enough so I couldn’t fit alot of stuff in and things overflowed out onto the dining table and kitchen counter.
Let me show you, I hope you feel the same physical relief I felt after getting this done! It’s incredible how clearing clutter can affect your mental state. It felt so wonderful that now I might even bake some banana bread! (It felt like a pain in the arse to clear things out the way and get things out of the cabinet to do any baking. And I used to sell baked goods so how hilarious is that?)
I highly recommend it if you also have clutter hanging around that you have been meaning to get to.
I’ve seen a guy address his audience “Hi there friends and lovers”. Can I pull that off without people thinking I’m serious? Anyway, I missed being here! The last couple of years have been busy and the last year has been a lot of growth. Every year we grow but the last year I have done things like tidy up and organise stuff. I mean…. that’s GROWTH. Place still a mess though but there are spots of tidiness.
I’ve been teaching quite a bit too (for someone with no promotion and unattached to any studio), people have floated towards me and it has been such a blessing.
In fact, it is now almost 10am on a Monday and I just finished teaching someone. How good is it to be freshly showered after yoga?!
Sometimes it feels like the more I try to do “quickly” “out of the way” and then I can go do my morning routine the less I get done or at least not without a great deal of struggle. Face palms away!
If I just say you know, I’m going to go do my morning routine first and then everything else I feel much better, things get done very smoothly and well indeed and I don’t find myself wondering where did all the day gone and how did nothing get done at all?
Some snippets from the past few days and this morning.
Many years ago (many? errr it was long enough!), I accompanied some of the people I knew to a photo shoot for a book on yoga.
They needed some photos for back bends and asked me if I could do the modelling. I said sure! I thought I had a flexible back, (cue narrator voice, “she did not have that flexible a back“) no worries, what do you need. I thought I was helping. Helping who?
Can you guess how this ends?
I got into wheel pose, fresh, not very warmed up as practice was already a few hours ago. All fine, do this do that, ok we got the pictures. Man did I feel twingey that night! And I never had back problems so it was pretty alarming.
Pride comes before a fall but also before a backbend before you are properly warmed up. A little wordy but it gets the message across.
To this day, I don’t even know if the book ended up getting published and if the photos were really used.
I’ve learned since that jumping to attention and trying to people please is not the wisest move. You can pause and work up to it.
I burst out laughing yesterday afternoon when I saw my phone alert. I have a meditation app as do many of us these days (an app for everything, no?!) and on the dot at 3pm it pinged me.
There are two mistakes along the way to mastery: Not starting and not going all the way.
Buddha
I wasn’t laughing at the quote, more that I had just seen another video from Shaolin Temple about discipleship, quite a funny video in which the proposed disciple was constantly evading his master (Sifu) and his upcoming haircut. I had been thinking about how when it is time to practice, just practice don’t think about excuses and I had confirmed with myself that 3pm was afternoon practice time. That was when my phone pinged me and I saw the quote which is the same one used by Sifu too. It just all seemed very … oh never mind, stop thinking just go practice.
(Do you know what I mean though?)
Here is something I am working on in my yoga practice. Trying to improve my flexibility, if you intend to try, please warm up first with sun salutations or something similar. The aim in this is to keep the upper body in the middle, and to creep the hand holding the strap down the strap to the ankle. Honestly I find manouvering my hand down in this fashion quite confusing because up is down and left is right and where am I who am I hahaha. But it’s a pretty groovy experience all the same, I kind of… enjoyed the strangeness? Give it a try!
What are you doing this weekend? Something? Nothing? Everything? Haha, here are some suggestions, let me know what you enjoyed!
In my last two posts (here, here) I have been writing about my recent adoption of 气功 practice and I mentioned a video which was available, and then unavailable, now it is available again. Below is the updated link for the video.
I have been doing Qi Gong everyday following the videos uploaded on the channel I mentioned in the last post, by Master Shi Heng Yi. I noticed that the video I linked in my last post is not available now, hopefully not gone forever. In the meantime here is an alternative one you can use. I do this when I am very short on time many things to do, at least 20 minutes were for my practice, then I go take care of my tasks, practice some more later in the day and evening. There are many minutes in 24 hours!
Please try and let me know what you think. How wonderful if we are all practising qigong, yoga and meditation around the world.
The teacher appears when the student is ready. Or when the algorithm does a thingy.
I came across a video of a Shaolin master teaching qigong, 释恒義 (Shi HengYi). Hmm, I thought, always wanted to get into qigong but never really did fully. I do a bit here and there from time to time but not regularly. Then I came across a talk the Master gave. Some wheels turned and I went back to the qigong video.
The teaching was very clear, straightforward and simple to follow. It was a big yes for me.
I had been experiencing a great deal of anxiety and negative thought patterns but after this I felt calmer. In Chinese there is an expression “定心丸 (tranquil pill)” – it is not an actual tablet but just something that helps a person to feel settled. The words 定心 literally means to set (put into order) the heart. This practice seems to work like that for me. It has provided me so much relief.
I also felt my energy levels were replenished and my body more healthful. I don’t know that I looked any different but I felt like I should be practically glowing and shooting sparks afterwards (in a good way – I feel like I need to add this).
Over this weekend there were live sessions and the time difference was alright. The morning session worked out to be noon for me and the afternoon session was 9pm. I slept SOOOOOOO deeply and peacefully. After the morning/noon session I was tranquil and balanced. Hopefully there will be more live sessions to join, in the meantime I will practice from what is already available (there is plenty).
If you are worried about your fitness levels, the sessions from this weekend can even be done seated. In my experience, the energy cost was much lower than the benefit afterwards. A very fair exchange!
It is my goal to improve the atmosphere (vibe if you want to use that word) around my person so when you come near me or know me you can feel better. Obviously we are all responsible for our own selves so how much a person can benefit another in that way is ??? But I would like to try to improve myself in this manner, in the end it will only help even if it is just myself who gets the benefit.
All this is not to say oh, definitely, yes, you should or you must try this out or even try the teachings from this Master. There are other teachers who provide this teaching. I’ll just add that 释恒義 is the Headmaster of the Shaolin Temple in Europe. Just because someone is a Headmaster does not always mean they are a good teacher but in this instance, he is a great teacher. The main thing (for me) is the skill at transmitting the lesson.
In the end the aim is to take this practice and make it your own to continue. All I can say is, this is what I’m doing. I have been practising for a brief period and I will continue doing this practise as it has already been very beneficial to me. If you already practise a form of breath based movement like yoga or Pilates this may be of interest to you to include in your life.
This is not intended to be a long thing, I just wanted to share what I have been studying, this is available to everyone, this is free and here it is.
By the way, you will need to move the start time a bit further along until the session actually starts, around 20-30 minutes or so.
I wish you balance and harmony. Have a great day!
EDIT:
I have been doing Qi Gong everyday following the videos uploaded on the channel I mentioned in the last post, by Master Shi Heng Yi. I noticed that the video I linked in my last post is not available now, hopefully not gone forever. In the meantime here is an alternative one you can use. I do this when I am very short on time many things to do, at least 20 minutes were for my practice, then I go take care of my tasks, practice some more later in the day and evening. There are many minutes in 24 hours!
Did anyone else stock up on vitamins instead of toilet paper during the early days this past year?
It took me a week to work up the mental energy to head to the supermarket to do a shop. It felt dicey to go out during the early days of lockdown. We are in Indonesia, which is a super lovely place to live, but healthcare is not the same as it is in Australia, where we are from or Singapore where I grew up. There is (or was) an entire industry called medical tourism and people fly to places such as Malaysia, Thailand or Singapore. No one flew to Indonesia for a medical holiday, they flew from Indonesia so you get the idea. So we are happy to stay where we are and stay healthy. We were very lucky we didn’t need to go anywhere. So many people had no choice, stay home and pay the bills with what money? But what could they do, police would stop you if you were out and send you back.
So this supermarket shop. It needed to be done, I couldn’t get any online deliveries because they were booked out for days and days. We could have used a few rolls of toilet paper (I’m talking about 4 rolls not 40 rolls) and some rice, some fruit, so we didn’t sit around marinading in scurvy whilst chewing on the furniture. And I wanted to get some staples for some people we knew who did not have a lot of money. Not everyone can just work from home. So I headed off with my little face mask and at the time I thought gloves were a good idea. I wasn’t even the most wrapped up person there – there were people in HAZMAT type suits. Although how do you go about disinfecting those things? Don’t you need a special chamber? We had to queue for our turn to go in and people were jittery. We looked like we were waiting in an emergency room. Once we were released inside, everyone was back to normal, chatting to each other about this apple or that durian.
There are a few things that are considered staples here in Indonesia: flour, oil and rice. Another one is instant noodles. They don’t spoil easily which is important in a country that can be so hot and not everyone has a fridge. People in Australia were making the news for fighting over toilet paper meanwhile over here people were pushing trolleys stacked with cartons of instant noodles. You can’t eat toilet paper in a food shortage. So I got myself a few boxes of instant noodles, flour, oil and rice to give to people we knew who might appreciate some support. I didn’t go back to the supermarket for a long time after that. But I did get stocked up on vitamins and supplements. At first I tried to buy from local pharmacies which was hit or miss. Sometimes there was no stock, or they were expiring soon, or they were superrrrrrr expensive due to import taxes or when they arrived the glass was broken. So I got myself an iherb account and that has been pretty helpful.
I appreciate the range but at the same time it’s a bit exhausting to go through especially at first. Later during the course of the year I also had some health issues so I was really glad I could get some things from iherb to help me out.
I’m not sponsored by iherb but they give every person a rewards code that apparently gives users a discount? What I would do is CHECK if they have any promotions. Every time I go on the website they have “20% off homeopathy products” or “10% off vitamin d”, etc, really random things going on, so check first if there is a discount that you need and then type in my code CEI0659 and see if you get more money off. It works for me. This is the link you can try clicking on that or just manually enter the code.
If you would like to know what I tend to get from iherb I will be happy to share with you in another post. A few of my friends asked me about my shopping experience on iherb so I just thought on the off chance you were also going to buy something from iherb you would appreciate the discount code. x
It has been a long time and it shows. For one thing, what is grammar how does it work punctuation what is that.
A lot has happened for many of us. Some terrible and some wonderful and some terribly beautiful happenings. If you would ever like to share your past year with me, I’d love to hear from you. For now I will just leave a note on this concept about the relationship between motivation and dedication that was a moment of revelation for me.
You don’t have to be motivated but you do have to be dedicated.
In the midst of struggling with motivation to maintain healthy practices, do you ever find yourself searching for inspiration to stay motivated? Has anything been helpful in keeping you motivated for a sustained period of time? If you asked me that, I’d do the comme ci comme ça hand (or meh) gesture and shrug. Apparently Aussies are famous for habitually saying “yeah, nah“1 and I’m guessing it was probably in answer to this line of enquiry.
It makes sense that we run out of motivation but what does it matter if a person is unmotivated but remains dedicated. Committing to the doing of the thing will win out in the end. Yes, perhaps I won’t be enthusiastically throwing myself at the task at hand in the beginning but if I gave myself my word that this task would be done over time, like the way waves lap at the rocks near the edge of the water, the stone becomes polished. It may take a long time but it will be more progress than before.
The last few weeks I have made a commitment to be unrolling my yoga mat at 10am (this was the gap between online school for my 4 year old) and whilst the 4 year old pranced around me and performed rain dances or played with all my yoga props (I had to ask they please leave me my mat), I would do yoga, Pilates or some combination of both. At times because of distractions I would only end up doing 15 minutes but it was more minutes than none at all. Months before that I had been working out in a frenzy in my living room, leaping about to aerobics videos, hopping on the spot for HIIT, performing squat jumps oh the squat jumps, lunging this way and that, the burpees and the burping (sometimes).
Hand on my heart, I feel like I saw more results these last few weeks of plodding downstairs with the yoga mats (I bring one for each of us but somehow we wind up squished together on the one mat) for a bit of yoga and Pilates than I did with all the other things I was doing. I’m stronger, calmer and I’m happy. I have energy leftover for creative pursuits.
I’m no longer motivated to work on things, I’m dedicated.
Tell me, did you already know this little secret? x
“Most people have the feeling that something is wrong with them. And it is heartbreaking.
…
The most heartbreaking thing is that nothing could be farther from the truth. Nothing is wrong with us. We are whole, we are good-hearted, we are beautiful and full of love.”
I was feeling a little down today. Full moon vibes? Mebbe. Change is definitely afoot and with most shifts I think certain feelings can come up. A not enough feeling or uncertainty or lack of confidence. I was looking up materials because there really is no time like feeling a little meh to do some study and I came up this website I saved a long time ago. This was the first article that caught my eye and that last line WE ARE WHOLE WE ARE GOOD HEARTED WE ARE BEAUTIFUL AND FULL OF LOVE caught my eye. It is worth repeating:
WE ARE WHOLE WE ARE GOOD HEARTED WE ARE BEAUTIFUL AND FULL OF LOVE
I can feel my heart walls soften as I read the words out loud.
There are a few ways to work with feelings of not enoughness and one of the great suggestions here is to practice looking at yourself with gentleness and friendliness.
I do this sometimes but NOT ENOUGH. When I remember to, when I am already feeling cheerful, when I am not trying to do a dozen things at once, then yes, I smile at myself in the mirror. The rest of the time? I’m pleasant enough, I suppose. A sort of shrug, hey girl, doing ok? And take off without waiting to hear. Luckily I have been getting soooooo much better about a consistent yoga, meditation and Pilates practice. Imagine if I didn’t even do that?!
That reminds me of a conversation with my mum this afternoon when I said to her how I was waiting for my tea to brew because I wanted a boost to keep up with my little one. Are you taking your vitamins? Imagine if I haven’t been! I replied.
So even though I am reading through this article I came across very late, I am certain that the timing was perfect as everything so often is. Perhaps it is for you too. We could all use a friendly face, especially when we look at our reflection. I feel so much better sitting here tapping away and sensing the warmth I am directing toward myself.
The who how what and where of donating first came up in a discussion with my husband. Where would we donate to? There are many different organisations that could use assistance and many more we are not aware of. As I kept having conversations along these lines with more than one person, I decided I would do a list of the different areas I looked into for making a donation.
Nothing will compare to you making a choice about what you would like to contribute towards and then doing your own research but if you are feeling overwhelmed (as I have been) here is a start. It is not a thorough comprehensive list but it is what I have come up with. I am happy to receive more suggestions and details!
I hope it helps and thank you for wanting to help!
*When donating please check whether the organisation is a registered charity using the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission’s online register. It lists all charities registered in Australia, and details their operations, finance and governance.
I’ll cover three areas (firefighters, wildlife, and rebuilding) for you to consider.
Also a quick note to people from outside of Australia who want to help. Australia consists of several different states, each with its own organisations and big chunks of the country (just about) is on fire. Each state has its own fire service or authority, wildlife rescue so you can determine where to direct your donation. Typically the funds won’t cross state lines. If for instance you donate to NSW RFS, your funds won’t go towards providing assistance in Victoria. So bear that in mind.
You probably like to know where your money will go, well, as Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission puts it on their website (under costs), “It costs money to run a charity – large charities with complex structures and extensive programs cost more to operate than smaller charities run solely by volunteers.”
That may be of consideration to you. Also smaller charities may not have as big a reach and therefore get less attention/funds.
Some organisations are great at being clear that 100% of donations go towards the cause and they cover their own costs some other way.
Anyway, on to the list
FIREFIGHTERS (listed by state)
NSW
NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE
NSW RFS has created dedicated bank accounts to collect donations for the families of volunteer firefighters who have been tragically killed while on duty this fire season
They accept items, funds and services. You have to check what items are needed so it’s not a random dump your stuff on their doorstep situation. You can choose where the money goes to and 100% of funds received will be used to purchase essential items. GIVIT does not take administration fees from donations.
All operating costs are covered by government contracts and corporate partners.
Specifically for the 2020 bushfires, CFA promotes four options for you to donate, depending on how you would like your donation to be used. Affected families and communities; support the wellbeing of volunteer firefighters and their families; continued work to protect lives and property; and work in the community.
DFES is a Government authority that cannot donations from the public, it is best to contact your local volunteer fire or emergency service to see how you can help. If you wish to donate
I couldn’t find a clear donation page so have included the page listing contact details instead. You might be able to donate to a local brigade. If you happen to have any information on donating to the TFS please let me know so I can get this updated.
The updated estimate of animals wiped out is now over 1 billion. Animals need to be rescued, rehabilitated, fed, and released. Their habitat also needs to be rebuilt.
NSW
NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (WIRES)
A small non profit run by volunteers in Northern NSW. Unless otherwise indicated, donations to Friends of the Koala Inc. go directly towards the cost of koala rehabilitation. According to Friends of the Koala they rescue more koalas than any other rescue group in NSW. You can choose to make a donation, adopt a koala, or donate towards a koala hospital.
*Please check if it is a registered charity, I couldn’t see it but could just be my eyes.
Also, don’t forget there are other states this disaster is affecting. The WIRES campaign can legally only help shelters in NSW. It seems a lot of people gave to WIRES thinking that funds would be distributed everywhere. Without a doubt every dollar given was needed but please also consider:
After the bushfires are under control (soon, we all hope!!) media coverage tends to fade but people will still be picking up the pieces. It takes a long time and it will need alot of support.
Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal
You can donate to the Disaster Resilience and Recovery Fund. Donations up to $1 million will be matched by the asset manager. You can get very specific about which fund you would prefer to donate to or leave it generalised.
Buy from those business that are impacted. They’re going to need your support to get through things. I’m trying to track down businesses in those areas with the intention of compiling a list.
And please share this with those who wish to help but are not sure where to start.
Thank you so much xo
If I have made any errors please get in touch to let me know and if you have some suggestions I would love to hear from you too. For those that have already donated thank you!
There’s a storyline on F.R.I.E.N.D.S in which Ross has to do a crazy mad dash from one side of town to the other to teach. He runs there and has enough time to introduce himself, then faints. I was Ross the other day. It started off really organised – I was up early to get everything packed and get myself ready. Then I would get the child ready and off we would go in the pram for a brisk but pleasant 25 minute walk to class. Easy peasy. Except the child woke up and breastfed for ages and ages and ages and ages. At precisely 10 minutes before class started they said “Ready!” as in ready for class. Hurrrrr…..
I got us out the door and down the street. I was speed walking so hard whilst pushing that pram (THANK GOODNESS they were happy to sit in it) my hips were swinging side to side like I might get an Olympic medal out of the thing. Finally we were rushing down the last street which was slightly uphill and very long and very interesting for the child kept seeing things to point out to me. And wanted my comments on it too.
“Mama! BIRD! Mama?“
“Urghhhh!” I panted.
“Mama? Mama????????????”
“Burghhhhhhddddd!” I agreed.
But they wanted me to elaborate more on it.
“Mama? Mama????????????“
“Burghhhhhd! … Flaiiiiiiiii! Yes… yes… urghhhh”
I thought it was about time to find out if these Baby Joggers can be jogged with. So I very ungracefully loped and pushed the pram down the lane until we got to the sports class. This was thrilling and refreshing for the child. I could see her enjoying the breeze buffeting into their face as I huffed along. I paused outside the sports hall long enough for me to clutch at my chest to get my breath back, covertly sniff my armpits (still ok, phew!), pat my frizz down and then walk us into the last ten minutes of class on legs that felt like stilts.
As the child pranced about the class very happy to be there, I tried to stop my knees from knocking together. I was just happy to still be upright and there before the bell.
Also, by the way, the Babyjogger jogs fine. Me, not so much. (Not sponsored, obviously.)
Just like that another year is over. I made a lot of great lists and plans, very little of it has been ticked off. Some were very small things I wanted to do and others were ginormous whopping overwhelming ideas that were extremely vague. Surprisingly more of the huge vague ideas came to fruition than the small things like “print out photos for photo album” as opposed to “new home – bigger, nice space”.
*shrug*
Tell you what, I know I’m way more excited to be moving into our new place next year with an empty photo album than if it were the other way around. But it goes to show really amazing shifts can happen it just depends on your attitude going from an “I’m stuck” to “I dunno how but I’m excited about …”.
Here are some very vague ideas that I am excited about and going to try to flesh out in the new year:
as usual I have left gift wrapping to the last minute. and this year I had the gall to pick up a few bits and bobs for the stocking for the child. Fun! I thought. Sure it is, until it comes time to wrap them. Do we wrap stocking fillers? I scratched my head trying to remember as I wrestled with the scotch tape dispenser. I’m telling myself that tomorrow morning we shall have tea, eggnog (vegan!), meditate and then open presents. Unless my terribly wrapped presents unwrapped themselves in the night, oops.
I know I am not the only mother who tussles with the notion that she is not as calm as she would like to be. Frustrations arise and sleep is hard to come by. So are a few minutes alone to shower let alone meditate on our mental state. Meditate?! When? When there is laundry to put away or when our children need to be fed or when when when. Meanwhile it feels like the world keeps spinning for everyone else, off they go to the gym or to the shops or for a poo. Lucky.
Envy. Worry. Anger. It’s a yuck feeling to have come over you. And it hurts if you have always felt you are a naturally positive and strong person. Suddenly you feel weak and quite low. A few months ago I bought a book called Buddhism for Mothers by Sarah Napthali. I don’t have a lot of time to read it in one sitting but I keep it nearby and when The Child is happy to we dip into it and have a ponder together. I read a little more when TC sleeps.
(by the way I am not sponsored and anyway I bought my copy off Booktopia for the Qantas FF points)
More than anything I am searching for a way to navigate evolving into a Mother whilst still maintaining everything else that I am and can be. At the same time I want to be PRESENT, and here for my child. I discover every night how important it is to be present with my child. We have a more loving, peaceful and happy evening if the day was spent in a calm manner than not. Duh. On days I look at a page or two I seem to be able to maintain a sense of insight over my feelings and practice some semblance of mindfulness.
I felt the surge of jealousy the other day. It’s not a feeling I experience very often anymore but this time, oooooooh, I was so envious. I was jealous of a woman walking down the street hugging a yoga mat because she was off to a yoga class, I’m guessing. I managed to add a “Enjoy!” to the “Ahhhhh so lucky!” but there is no getting away from the fact I was jealous.
I haven’t been to a class since having my baby. I’ve done some home practice and teaching but I haven’t been to a class and felt that sensation of being surrounded with other people breathing, moving, sun saluting, chanting and so on in such a long time. The excitement of clutching your mat and padding over to the studio, flip flops slapping at the ground as you walked. Being tapped on the shoulder to be stronger in a posture. Being adjusted. I miss it a lot. Especially an adjustment. That would be so nice!
I’ve been teaching yoga for a few years but I still love going to class as a student. I think it’s really important.
I’m sure I am not the only parent who has missed something from before life changed for a long time. For the most part, I am fine with keeping up my yoga studies on my own but once in a while I feel off. Full moon, new moon, teething (the baby, not me), mercury retrograde, sleep schedule changes (everyone), jet-lag, any of the above could come into play and suddenly I find myself feeling out of sorts.
I think The Child sensed this because whenever we have been playing with our crystals I keep winding up with them being planted all over me hahaha.
Mama, check yo chakras.
Yoga, Pilates and meditation are what I always rely on to maintain myself and I loved attending a class when I needed an extra boost of encouragement so it’s tricky when I haven’t got the chance to go to a class. Most of the year we live overseas and there isn’t any kind of creche at the gym. Unless the gym has changed, I don’t know, I haven’t seen the inside of that place since having my baby hahaha.
BUT. This week I’m back in Sydney and my mum sweetly said she would take the baby whilst I ducked into class, tomorrow. I am SO EXCITED. And nervous. ???? Hahaha. Does it count as an opportunity I created? Well, I thought so hard about wanting to go experience being in a class that mum heard my brain. She’s a huge mind reader and the creator this time around. But I think the next opportunity will be created by my ASKING FOR HELP. I know I am not the only parent who has to practice that move more. Not everyone is a mind reader like my mum. We need to speak up!
I hope you give yourself the opportunity to realign when you need to. xx
How incredible is this? Ben Folds was given a key and told to make a new song in 10 minutes. I love the humour in the approach as he sang, “These new spaces are all designed to be…flexible.” And as the song progresses in its growth all the musicians watching and just absorbing the idea. Isn’t this synchronicity?
I hope you are having a great day and find yourself creating something to enjoy today.
So what is a good meditator? The one who meditates.” – Allan Lokos
Just start! Even one minute of meditation is better than nothing. If even one minute seems like forever start slow, try counting to ten, next time to twenty, slowly increasing the time you spend in meditation. You are a good meditator the moment you start to meditate!
The Child and I are both really digging this song at the moment. I was even more into this song after seeing all these wonderful women featured in the video. I like the original (do you?) but THIS VERSION IS SOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD. Definitely on repeat.
I think it even makes a good accompaniment to some of my Pilates videos. (Do you?)
My original title for this article was going to be, “How to Quickly Look Put Together, Even Expensive, but Without Feeling Really Awkward and Uncomfortable“.
Words of wisdom I told myself and my mother whilst shopping one day, “If you got a pair of pants in a print or colour in a particular fabric and there is a matching top GET IT.” Straight up this could sound like a recipe for basically buying ridiculous head to toe outfits that one will never wear because one looks like one is in one’s pyjamas but not the fabulous striking pyjama look a la Gucci or Pucci or Celine but more like I haven’t got my crap together today and just left my house in my pyjamas because I am telling myself they totally look like a throwback to when velour tracksuits were so IN. No, not what I mean. Also, someone please bring back velour tracksuits. Sometimes, you get a pair of pants and they are FABULOUS and you just cannot wait to wear them, until, oh no, the heck do I wear with them up top. Get the set.When you wear head to toe of one print, fabric, colour, it is nearly always flattering. But sometimes sets can end up looking bulky because there is just too much fabric or they break the body up. When you get a jumpsuit that is all one colour, fabric, print the eye travels easily down the line and you end up looking elongated and better yet, you look put together.
I haven’t always worn jumpsuits, they can look quite overally and also depending on how they’re made, SUCH A PAIN to go to the loo. And then I remember I found this really slinky jersey jumpsuit in a deep dark navy. Two years ago (?) I wore that to a friend’s wedding with a pale blush blazer, 5 months pregnant. Soooooo comfortable and I peed twice easily, nobody guessed I was pregnant, it was THAT FLATTERING. I think depending on how it is cut and put together, the fabric finds your natural waist and then falls gently over your curves, swishing over everything. Last month I was in Singapore and I saw a girl wearing a crisp white jumpsuit that had embroidery all over the torso, it looked AMAZING on her. So crisp, breezy and fresh! The legs were almost like culottes. After that is when I turned to my mum and said, “I think jumpsuits are the way to go.” Hours after that we came across this Mango jumpsuit and it was love at first sight.
I was in desperate need for some quality sleep when I took this photo (I’ll get it when the baby goes to college, I know, it’s fine, momlife blah blah, I get it!) and I hadn’t done my hair or makeup but I felt sooooooooo comfy and happy. If only cameras could capture FEELINGS. We were rushing out to dinner in 15 minutes and I knew exactly what I would wear. If I really wanted to I could slick on some red lipstick. But I was pretty much DONE. For less than $100 I’m really happy with my Mango jumpsuit. The buttons don’t button anything but the fabric has a beautiful crepe like texture that is super comfortable and has enough give to make it breastfeeding friendly. I’m having a really silly issue at the moment though because it is over in Sydney and I’m in Jakarta. I have lost count the number of times I’ve considered getting another one so I can wear it NOW. Hahaha ugh. Is that stupid? Yes, ok, I know.
I have a lot of love to give when it comes to finding an easy to wear outfit so I found a few more options to love but they had to meet my list of requirements.
These are my requirements:
they need to be a comfortable fabric that is low maintenance (no steam cleaning or ironing)
they need to be good quality but reasonably priced (I went with nothing over $200 – there is a splurgey one but it’s SO AUDREY, but we will tell each other it is only to look at. I’m over buying something cheap that looks cheap after one wash cycle. It’s got to have staying power.)
wide straps and a clean neckline (you can wear a normal bra for better support if you want, but my main reason is this gives a cleaner look, easy to style and is universally flattering)
comfortable (NO CATSUITS! I basically want to be able to go to lunch and not feel like a button is going to pop . They also need to be easy to put on and off, you know, to pee or to breastfeed, hopefully not at the same time!)
easy style that won’t date (I do not want to come back to it next season and think “yikes, no thank youuuuuu!“. I’m after classic, everlasting, wardrobe staple type stuff which is why it can be a print but not a really crazy print.)
Some reviewers said that the strap came off really suddenly but the majority said nope nothing like that happened. I wonder if it might just be a matter of how you put it on?
This is EXPENSIVEEEEEE. Very Audrey Hepburn though! I think if you were doing a total overhaul of your closet and sticking to a very modest number of outfits only (for the rest of your life haha) then this is one to consider. If it’s good quality and you’ll wear it often for a long time, then I think it’s alright. (Do not quote me) A good quality bag, shoes, maybe a scarf and that’s it. Oh and the big black sunglasses, of course. Not convenient for breastfeeding but not everyone has that as a consideration! I’ve worn something similar recently but it was a two piece. I felt comfortable and elegant, really! I’m including this jumpsuit but we’ll probably just leave it as a look not buy for now.
I’m having a lovely morning and thought I would share! Baby is napping and I discovered this loungey bossa nova jazz music channel on Youtube. It is so upbeat but also relaxing at the same time. It’s so good to have a soundtrack for going around home getting things done. I’ve made a batch of porridge for our lunch and a great big pot of barley water for us to sip on throughout the day. And the dishes are done, hurray. A small thing but I love it when the kitchen sink is empty and gleaming. I remember the last time I made a batch of barley water and felt this productive, only, I forgot to scoop out the pearl barley afterwards and they soaked up all the water so there was about 10 ml of water and I swear, a KILO of barley hahaha. I felt so sheepish after offering barley water to B so loudly. Well fool me once and all that. Today I am prepared and now I can kick back and enjoy my hour or so of jazz.
My great pleasure during naptime for The Child is to watch videos on Youtube, in addition to quickly taking a shower, a stretch and also squeezing in a nap. I just came across this in my recommended page and the house in this video looks so organic and earthy.
I love the idea of a place designed around movement to encourage being active.
One of my dream goals is to have a space dedicated to Yoga and Pilates and Ballet. As the video progresses this house looks more like a jungle gym, fun!
I think my space would be a little more sparse but you know, different people find different things comforting. Who knows though? Perhaps by the time I came around to creating my space it would be just rainbow coloured everything!
In the meantime I’m happy with my little nooks of space here in our apartment. We got a carpet for our bedroom which I feel helps to mark out a space and then out in our living room we got rid of the very bulky (and sharp cornered!) coffee table. It was incredible how open the place felt after that table left. We lay down mats and wriggle around there as well. Ideally we’d have a little more greenery but I am very happy with my flowers.
The main thing is that you feel at ease wherever you have your movement practice and that you move a little everyday. I’m off now to quickly shower and then do a little stretching AND a nap. Going for the trilogy!
Coming off the back of the first day of my birthday weekend, read about the super low key day here.
I was so excited for my first birthday as a mother last year.
This is my second year as a mummy and the excitement hasn’t worn off at all. The bit when B told me how old I was turning was less exciting.
I had a semi sleep in (7:45am!) we woke up because I set the alarm thinking I would teach only to find I had a cancellation. All the more time for some anti ageing skincare so I applied a face mask.
Face masks are not my best look but it amuses The Child and I feel like I’m doing something nice for myself. I always yell out whenever I’m walking around to let B know I’m coming because truly it is a bit rough on the morale when you walk into the kitchen and your spouse leaps into the air with a start at the sight of you. So I like to make sure no one is surprised by my entrance.
I did a little yoga with TC. B then said he should do some yoga sometime and I asked him why not now? So the three of us did a little yoga together. That may be my favourite thing ever when my loves yoga with me.
We headed off for a fancy pants brunch and I wore my fancy pants. I had to unpop the button of my fancy pants because of the brunch by the end, more like the button gave up. TC obligingly helped cover this by demanding to be carried.
This message on the cake though, so sweet. But I asked B to take the rest of it into the office to share around or else I was going to do the old “cake for breakfast? great idea!“, “hey, how about another two slices of cake after lunch as a snack” etc for the next week or two days because sometimes I do things like that.
Keep the flowers and pass around the cake. Took my own advice for once, ahem.
Trousers Emporio Armani, sold out but these are cute. Or these or thesefor something plainer but still a pretty colour. I have no issues with clashing prints (clearly) so I might have also chosen something like this pair in a check print. Wait, hold the phone OMG THESE or HELLO! Could have used this pair with the elasticated waistband, amirite.
Sandals Topshop, gone by now, but how about these , these or these.
Bag Celine, it’s called the vertical cabas.
(these are my own opinions and it would be nice if I got paid or something for my support or mention but no, I do not)
Oooh, if you know what that purple pom pom flower is called let me know! It’s just this round globe of tiny flowers. So so cute. TC was fascinated by it and kept reaching out to try to give it a squish every now and then for the TWO WEEKS that thing stayed blooming.
And that was the rest of my birthday weekend! Next year I will be wearing the elasticated pants because I will be that much wiser.
In the spirit of keeping the smoothie bowls coming, I chopped up loads of bananas, mango, papaya and red dragonfruit (even though I prefer the white flesh ones, the red ones give you this amazing pink colour so eh fine! and it is important to eat the rainbow so…. make mine a pink orange and yellow rainbow). Everything is sitting in my freezer ready to go into the blender with water and any supplements I feel like adding for an extra zing in my step. The Child keeps diving into these bowls and making squishy motions. It gets so messy but it’s a delicious mess and afterwards we just head to the bathtub and hose ourselves off, lol.
That’s what I told myself as I put away baskets and baskets of folded laundry that had been piled up on and around our sofa. There was so much of it that when I facetimed my mum, my brother caught a glimpse of it and said he wanted to cry.
I hear you brother. Everytime I looked at that ever growing pile I was overwhelmed with where to start.
Well now I was overwhelmed and constantly reminded of my brother.
So I pulled it together after teaching today’s yoga class and started putting away pile after pile. I winced a little at how things were not quite colour coordinated and exactly as I wanted but today, they just needed to be away.
Now we have the rest of our weekend to relax on our sofa!
What have you been putting off? Is there any way you can get it done quickly?
I love reading what this app tells me I am. Focussed! Alright! Yes! I’m ready! But also practical! I like that. Ambitious. Yes. Yup. I’m with you.
(I love that anyone anywhere in the world would likely read this description and think, yes this is soooooo me.)
Speaking of ambitious, are you a big list writer? I have huge lists of things I want to get done and buy and posts I would like to write. I have an embarrassingly long list of partially done drafts I need want to get through to finally post them. But as can happen wife gets in the way. That’s right, I get in my own way – I’m working on my follow through. One of my biggest stumbling blocks is those darn danging lists! They get longer and longer until I just feel totally overwhelmed. On other days I get in the “that’s it! today is the day I tackle everything I wanted done” mood and tadaaah 9.3/10 times* that is the very same day that nothing goes according to plan. Time to just breathe and go with the flow. Easier said than done when you’ve been looking forward to crossing things off a list.
As if I needed any more lists, I made a new list called My Contingency List. When it turns out nothing is going to plan I pull this out.
My Contingency List
Yoga – any kind, any duration
Meditation – any kind, any duration, with intention to remove obstacles and blocks
That is the list. I can add anything else to it but the only things I MUST MUST MUSTTTTTTT do is these two. Once I do the first two items I find I’m not so attached to anything else I previously thought had to be done. Life feels a whole lot easier and happier after that.
Even just thinking about a yoga posture can have a calming effect.
Something interesting often happens too – what I thought was stopping me from getting to whatever else I wanted to do suddenly dissolves. I end up getting more things done. For example, The Child (TC) usually has a nap around midday and I think of that time as my run around in a frenzy trying to tidy things away, shower, shave my legs, prepare lunch, prep dinner, read, relax and a million other things to be squeezed in if possible. All this requires the nap be LONGISH. But on a day like today I was out running errands and the nap was 30 minutes. Our window of time had closed for the day. Not the end of the world, I can do some things just not all the things and not to the extent I would if I were on my own. I think a lot of mums understand.
I was talking to my mum about this whole trying to let go of expectations business and THE LIST. What am I even doing? Living in the shadow of these things I need to get done or else I can’t be happy?! Again I totally think a lot of mums and just everyone in general understands this idea.
Out came the contingency list. I did some yoga for spine health with TC doing downward facing dogs that turned into roly-polys (I know, WHAT A SHOWOFF). I like this yoga set because I can do it seated haha. How quickly I go from a productive mood to lazy mood! If you have never done this set of exercises be warned, you can get a little sore afterwards!
Kundalini Yoga: Guidelines for Sadhana (Pomona, California: Kundalini Research Institute, 1974), p.45-6.
After that I did a short meditation to clear subconscious blocks. To do this, I pick a happy song, set my intention to clear any obstacles and infuse everything with positivity, and then I sit, smiling and clapping my hands to the song. The hand clapping is partly to keep TC engaged but also it feels hard not to be cheerful when you are clapping away. I also played this track I really like for humming Om to.
After this I just felt really good about going where the day took me.
The day took me on a walk to brunch.
And later it turned out TC wanted an afternoon nap so I even got to chop loads of veggies to stir fry when TC woke up. We make our dinner together as part of our evening routine. It is just as well because one evening I was so flat out trying to do everything that after washing the rice I was about to walk off without pushing the lever to start the rice cooker. If TC hadn’t been gesturing at the rice cooker we would have been riceless. Riceless! *shudder*
I tried out my Joseph Joseph noodle maker thingy again and again it was a just the most disappointing thing ever. Totally does not work for me. It’s just a really expensive container now.
I’ve been really into eating as many colour vegetables as possible. I keep calling my veggie stir fries “chakra stir fries”. Technically they are.
I’m pretty happy with how the day turned out.
* Not a real statistic but golly it feels that way
** Also: I did not get paid for my opinion on the Full Moon App or Joseph Joseph. I bought that noodle maker thingy with my own money and I downloaded the free version of the Full Moon App for my own use.
I had been trying to pack for our annual trip back to Sydney for Christmas for the past three days. Every single day came with its own obstacle course of reasons why I could not get everything done. Our flight was at 7 o’clock in the evening and as at noon I had:
sweated through one set of clothes;
got a sink full of things to wash up;
one toddler alternating between chasing me around the apartment and wrapping themself around my neck/leg;
suitcases open with the contents flung far and wide (thanks for the assistance UNPACKING, o child of mine).
My heart was pounding with adrenaline or angst. If you would only nap, I kept muttering to myself as I grimly dragged myself around the apartment trying to replace items back in the suitcase, child firmly wrapped around my left calf like a barnacle. IF ONLY.
Another hour went by and finally, finally, naptime. I retreated to the bedroom to lie down and regroup as well. I felt like I had ALREADY been on a redeye flight with a baby. Still needed to make lunch because feeding children is what we do. WOOSA.
In the back of my mind a soundtrack kept playing on a loop, “How the heck is this going to happen?”
I shook my head and thought well let’s just do our best and if anything gets let behind, as long as it’s not the baby that’s fine. As I walked to the kitchen to start making lunch, B said to me, “Hey, your flight has been delayed. By 3 hours.”
THANK YOU UNIVERSE. I bet no one ever appreciates a flight delay but this time I really needed it.
The child slept terribly on the flight as in not at all but was very happy just shimmying around our seats so it all came together.
Our jetlag lasted a week. But I’m still going to call it a win and I am GRATEFUL.
It’s Haute Couture week in Paris and I used to love buying magazines to ooh and aah over way back when. Then the internet happened so it became so much more instant. And now there’s Instagram. Soon I’ll be able to time travel and see the shows before they happen. Only a matter of time before someone makes an app for that.
I miss the pleasure of buying magazines! I’ll always have a soft spot for print.
Firstly, that colour. Or. La Couleur. Ooh la la. Me anytime I see a vibrantly coloured anything in silk: take my purse, help yourself. Once, and I’m not proud of it, I spent so much money on a pair of saffron coloured silk genie trousers from Scanlan & Theodore that I walked home in a daze and I don’t know what I ate that week. Lettuce, probably. I don’t regret getting them but I felt so silly afterwards for being so crazy with my money. It was a case of almost buyer’s remorse. More like spender’s folly. I was working really hard and suddenly all my cash was spent in seconds and I had to figure out how to get through the week. Love the trousers (I still have them!) but I learnt my lesson after that.
“Pay” your savings first before you go shopping!
Come to think of it, Scanlan & Theodore got alot of my money any season when they seemed to make the whole line out of silk. Or chiffon. Or cotton. I learned that lesson about savings coming first a bit slow. Or I’d forget the minute I walked in there.
I’ve stopped walking in there. See no silk, buy no silk. Back to this Haute Couture gown I’m eyeballing.
I love that colour so much.
Secondly, those puffy sleeves! So flattering on everyone.
Does it have pockets? I can’t tell from this angle but it looks like it might. I love gowns with pockets.
And that neckline and that train! Perfect for breastfeeding and swanning around the house feeling very glamorous. Or for trailing along the edge of the ocean on a beach somewhere far far away as the sun sets. Or just wearing it anywhere. Brunch, I suppose. Is brunching still cool? Let me know.
Also very enamoured with how well behaved that child is sitting there on her mother’s lap. Although she is probably what, ten? – I’m terrible at guessing ages. I only know how old my baby is because I pushed (more like squeezed) my baby out myself. You remember days like that. – Still. So well behaved!
Filing this under: logical choices / daydream
Heh, funny story. Remember how I got those mules? Well…… I also got a pair of ‘mom jeans’ to go with them or with other things. I could wear them everywhere.
Great idea right?
RIGHT.
Although…. I can’t fit into them. I, a MOM, cannot fit into my MOM JEANS.
From the side, they don’t look that bad, right? A bit of a squeeze but totally fine.
Wait.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
“Can you get back into your jeans yet?“
“Sure. Just can’t do them up yet.“
I’m only posting this to share the humour and also to show that I am not a bounce right back after baby girl. It’s been three months. There is no bouncing. I lost weight after the birth and also from breastfeeding but I’m really, really soft in the middle, and even softer after a meal haha. But I’m not that worried because I know that with a little exercise, a decent amount of Pilates, continuing to eat healthfully and I’ll be in my jeans soon.
So here are the goals I have for myself:
30 min walk everyday
15-20 min Pilates everyday
Yoga
Drinking 3 litres of water a day
Incidental exercise like squatting whilst carrying the baby (who finds the up down motion extremely amusing)
Mostly these goals are just to make myself feel good. It feels amazing to move and any toning is a bonus! It’s important to me not to make the goal getting into a certain size otherwise I can get disappointed by how long things take whereas if my goal is just exercise for the pleasure of it, I find the process so much more enjoyable.
Oh, and the jeans are from Mink Pink, the material is super thick which I love and I got them for 15% off.
If you had a baby, tell me, did you fit back in your jeans right away? Or are you taking a while like me? What goals have you set for yourself? Let me know down below! xx
It’s been a while! I take it you know I recently had a baby? So we’re pretty much all caught up! I spend most of my time breastfeeding, then shoehorning into what remains of my time my yoga practice and trying to solve the mystery of why nappies leak sometimes – is it at all related to the phase the moon is in? Mercury? No?
Anyway, the other thing I do alot is look at what everybody is wearing. I’ve always loved people watching. One night I came across an image of Selena Gomez (she seems nice! I only know one song but man it is soooooo catchy!) in a pair of orange mules and mom jeans. And I was so taken by the look. I’ve always thought of mules as tricky because they can kind of look a bit ageing but she looked great IMHO.
I love that the heel is still low enough that you don’t end up wobbling around whenever the wind changes direction but you still get a little lift. And that colour is so vibrant.
Do you know how much those shoes are? $600. Ish.
I have $600 shoes. I love them. But I also have super cheapie shoes which I love too. It’s fun to mix and match things, instead of being head to toe designer. I had a browse around that bordered on obsessive and finally settled on some vegan suede ones from Therapy. I got two pairs for way, way less than a fraction so I could (in theory) pick up a pair of jeans if I wanted. I wanted! (I have a funny story about that)
These are the $600 ones from Mansur Gavriel. Mmmm, gorgeous aren’t they?
Here is what I ended up getting:
The black ones are a little higher than the red so I’ll wear those when I feel like I’d like a boost haha. They feel really comfy and I’m looking forward to getting out of this cold so I can put these babies to good use. Loving the sweater weather but I’m ready to emerge for some sunshine!
A few days after I got these I tried on a pair of boots I got last winter aaaaaaand they’re too small! Because pregnancy, oh my goodness. So I feel really justified about getting my new shoes.
What do you think of mules? Love ’em or leave ’em?
If you see any other cute ones, let me know!
P.S. Ohhhhhh the Mansur Gavriel ones come in the sweetest blush pink too. Soooooo pretty!
A few weeks ago I went to this really cute cafe that was essentially a WALKING VIDEO AD for a wholesome lifestyle. By this I mean every single person that hung out there was clear-skinned, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I was grabbing a coffee for my mum and I wanted something nice to drink for myself, but not coffee since I’ve been off that since my 40 day practice which was, gosh, ages ago!
Anyway, my beady eye spied the iced cacao drink on their menu and it turned out to taste exactly like Milo! I’m not going to lie, I have a soft spot for Milo where my childhood memories are. We don’t keep it in the house because we don’t keep sweets or snacks or any type of processed food. My Dad has a separate storage area for his snacks but that’s a different story. My Mum was always really strict about what I was allowed to eat when I was growing up and despite my Grandma’s best efforts to sneak junk food into me (like Swenson’s ice cream after ballet class!!!!!!!!!!) those habits are locked in. I’ll have the occasional sweet treat or fried food but I feel better when I’m eating nourishing foods. But MILO, yas, I remember the taste of Milo so when I had a sip of this cacao drink it blew my mind. BUT I was kind of weirded out by JUST HOW MUCH it tasted like Milo… how did it get to taste so sweet? Have you ever tried pure cacao? It’s BITTER. It does not tasteth like chocolate milk. Probably all those antioxidants in it. Methinks there was some form of sugar in it. I couldn’t tell from the menu. It’s like those chai lattes you get from some cafes. They’re made from a concentrate and have milk poured on top. So nice and easy to drink but I wasn’t going to regularly order something that was sweetened beyond my control.
Plus it cost a lot you guys! $5!!!
I did some mulling over and turns out, this is super easy to make and you can totally save your pennies. Buy me flowers to say thanks or something with the money you save haha.
And even though I didn’t use sugar or dairy, it kind of tastes like chocolate milk! Success!
Tip: This is a great go to if you’re trying to replace your coffee habits with something else. Just don’t go crazy and have 3 – 5 glasses a day ok! One a day is plenty!!
RECIPE
You’ll need:
Almond Milk – half a glass
Cacao Powder – 2 tablespoons
Honey – 1 tablespoon
Ice Cubes (unless you prefer a hot drink)
Boiling Water
*If it’s possible, use organic ingredients. Make sure the almond milk is UNSWEETENED, that’s kind of the whole point of doing this, right? If you don’t like to use honey, try maple syrup.
Method:
All you need to do is heap in the cacao powder into a heat proof glass with the honey. Once you add in a splash of boiling water and mix, you have your concentrate. Super easy! I don’t like to heat up honey but I make an exception in this case.
Top up with ice cubes, or if you want your drink to be hot then fill the glass up 3/4 with hot water – you’ll want to have warm almond milk to fill the glass the rest of the way up.
Pour almond milk over the ice and stir.
DONE!!! (Keep the change!)
P.S. I also like to add in supplements like magnesium oil. Since I’m drinking, right? Just do a quick scan of your supplements to see if they can be mixed beforehand, usually they just don’t mix well with dairy.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed that, if you tried it out, let me know what you think! x
Many years ago (many? errr it was long enough!), I accompanied some of the people I knew to a photo shoot for a book on yoga.
Image Source: 
Our Zenaissance 