I love sharing about things that make me feel happy: yoga, Pilates, wellness, food, style and beauty (inside and out!). Follow me on my blog and Instagram @dominiquefrancesca
How was your weekend? We took it really easy, it’s my first weekend back in town so naturally we had loads of laundry and chores to catch up on. The last thing I want is to then have to drag myself out for dinner but I also don’t want to expend my remaining energy on making dinner but I want home food.
It’s all too “I know what I don’t want but I don’t know what I want but I know I want it now.” I KNOW! TIRESOME!
What then?
This Spicy Vegetarian Cous Cous Goreng has been a breakthrough over here. I always have a few random odds and ends hanging out in the veggie drawer of the fridge. When I make cous cous I can never make just the right amount there’s always an extra container of it. I keep a few spare packets of spice paste so all I do is just grab everything and throw it together and dinner is done! It’s so satisfying and warming, best of all you can just make it in the one pot and that’s as good as it gets, washing up wise.
So so easy! It’s my new favourite way to have cous cous. And you can sneak in all those vegetables.
Ingredients:
Your choice of cooked grains: rice, cous cous, quinoa, oats, barley etc
A packet of spice paste (don’t be afraid to try other flavours too! Great ones to use are green/red/yellow curry paste)
Chopped veg (the softer the vegetable, like leaves, the less time it needs to cook)
Bit of oil, I like coconut oil, but use whatever you like
Options: fried egg, shredded meat, or leave out to keep it vegetarian
And yes, I am using my rice cooker to cook dinner. There’s no gas for my stove but I will always find a way hahaha.
“Your strength is how calmly, quietly and peacefully you face life.”~ Yogi Bhajan
This year has blessed me with a rich bounty of joy, health, love, wealth, success, mistakes, pain, grief, change, challenges and many lessons; somethings I asked for and plenty that I did not. I learned a few things, promptly forgot my lessons, relearned them, forgot some, remembered some. Some challenges I faced calmly and many ungracefully. Some change I accepted and some I resented. This year has been like every other year but I turned to meditation more than ever to learn acceptance. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not at all. I learned just how highly I value peace. I am learning how to be strong enough to always remain at peace within myself and brave enough to trust what I cannot yet know. I am the only one truly responsible for my happiness. So much to learn! I will try harder next year to do better. I could not have wished for a better year.
And you, friend? How was your year? I hope you have a marvellous year in which you meet with unlimited joy.
So legend has it that when you can’t sleep at night it is because you are awake in someone else’s dream.
Please stop dreaming about me whoever you are.
Aaaaaaaahahahahaha allow me to cackle away merrily whilst you take the time to roll your eyes.
I’ve been struggling to sleep properly and it seems to be some sort of excess nervous energy from prepping to go home for the holidays. This time next week I will be back home and ohmigoshonlyafewmoresleepstogoooooooooooooosomanythingstodosolittletimetodoitin.
You know those jitters?
Verrrrrry similar to the kind a kid gets the night before Christmas. Who could possibly sleep?! It’s just all too exciting. TOO being the keyword. Too much going on. Around us and inside our heads. Without an outlet to channel all the excitement into, those sensations spill over everywhere and amplify existing feelings.
There is a lot happening during holiday season and all that change can be stressful on a body.
Resisting the change causes friction which leaves me restless and kinda twitchy. Then as I lose sleep I become tired and cranky. The cycle continues on a loop. When I was younger I couldn’t figure out how to settle myself down and found myself buffeted along by the things that kept happening TO me no matter how hard I tried to avoid them or take full control. I felt so resentful and frustrated. Did I have a target on my back?
Now I kind of understand it is up to me to decide if I want to struggle and kick my way along or flow through change. But the way is always THROUGH the obstacles or the change. And whilst I can control some aspects there are many others that I can’t. Discerning what I can and can’t change, much like the serenity prayer, are key to giving me the space I need to regain a sense of calm.
Try reading the next two paragraphs out loud slowly and with intent:
I remember that I can control my breathing. I can inhale fully and exhale completely. I can move my body as I breath slowly and deeply. I can give complete attention to moving my body with my breath.
And with that I feel my heart rate calm down, my stomach ceases to twist into knots, my eyebrows unfurrow and my mind quietens and I move into stillness. Then I can sleep soundly and deeply. I wake up feeling joyful and excited about my days. I will nourish my body with fuel so I have energy to go about my day. I will move my body because it feels good to be active. I look forward to anything that comes my way. I feel content with the present moment because it is perfect.
I hope following along to this short video helps equip you with a sense of calm as you go about preparing yourself for this holiday season. Please practice safely and take good care of yourself.
Making happy faces at you from behind the screen. *Waves*
Currently editing a video which I described as for lazy bones (bonses?!) on my Instagram but maybe we should reframe that? What do you reckon? Lemme know?
Meanwhile this lazy bones hardworker is going to have some lunch (leftovers from a recipe I will also be sharing with you) and then will post those up.
How was your cyber weekend? I tried to get into the sale action but I found myself overwhelmed by all the sale windows popping up on my ‘puter. And also we had some major blackouts so that just felt like a sign from the universe.
“No shopping for you, specifically, you. You means Dominique.“
I didn’t have anything I needed or simply wanted but tried to pass of as needed anyway. And I found myself thinking why don’t we just have everything 20% or 30% or 35% or whatever% off year round and we will buy it when we want to. The sort of “I’ll call you” type of response to an invitation to tender. You too? Yeah.
A girlfriend and I were chatting and figured if groceries had a cyber Monday though, different story. But groceries being groceries and economics working the way they do, that didn’t happen. So instead I saved my pennies and worked on editing a video I filmed just before my trip to Bali.
Oh yeah, haha, I went to Bali for a few days. And all I came back with was a lovely time, great memories, a full tummy and a tan. Tell you all about it another time, I really want to post this video first, if it ever finishes uploading though. A little tricky with all the power blackouts we have been having.
Be with you in 142 minutes. I kid you not five minutes later the little bar said it would take another 183 minutes. What’s with the strange math? hahaha
So let’s chat a bit more about what we’re doing in today’s video whilst this baby loads.
This is a preparatory posture. Some people will know the full version of this pose as Flying Pigeon Pose or One Legged Pigeon Balance. In Sanskrit this pose is called Eka Pada Galavasana. People tend to drop the Eka Pada when referring to the posture and just say Galavasana although B.K.S. Iyengar listed Galavasana and Eka Pada Galavasana as two different postures with the latter being the one we will prep for here.
Gimme a second to squint and count, yep, got the right number of vowels in there. Sometimes one needs to check, you know?
Some Sanskrit here: Eka means one and Pada means leg… soo far so got it. Galavasana is the pose named after the sage Galava. The word for pigeon is Kapota. I know, I know, confusing! When I first started paying attention to the names of postures a lot of them just sounded like Something Something Blah Asana. I just couldn’t get a handle on the front part. And I got a whole lot worse before I got anywhere near better by the time I went for training.
Every second sentence out of me was, “Whaddjyamacallthis?” As soon as I managed to remember one name I’d promptly forget the previous one I had learned.
But a lot of people will know what you are talking about if you happen to mention flying pigeon. But you’d both need to be talking about yoga postures otherwise things just get really confusing obvs. The shape of that front bent leg leaning against your arms is the same as the one-legged version of the posture performed on the floor. Just know that the pose goes by more than one name.
I am calling this version we are attempting Itty Bitty Pigeon Pose because that back leg is not yet stretched out as in the full expression of the posture, it’s still tucked in close to the body. This makes it a little easier to focus on locating that exact tipping point you need to get the balance going. And here we thought we’d never see the likes of Physics again after high school.
The video is pretty straight forward, but make sure you are warmed up before you launch. For example you can go for a 20 minute march around the block, or you can do a few rounds of Sun Salutations, or a few cycles of my easy to do 2 minute yoga sequence (here).
Yoga is all about expressing curiosity and learning new things. So once you are up, try stretching out that floating leg and see what happens! Fly, birdie, fly!
[gasp] I’m flying, Jack!
C’mon, if I didn’t say it someone else would have. What a line. And they totally could have both fit on that door. Move over Rose, blimey.
IMPORTANT: Please be aware that if you are not yet comfortable in a plank position, you may still need a little more time before you visit this. Don’t rush! In the Ashtanga practice for instance, this posture is in the third series. THIRD! There are people (cough, me included) who may or may not just stay in Primary for the rest of our lives. B.K.S. Iyengar rated the intensity of this posture as 21, the most difficult posture being 60. So take it easy, slow and steady. Taking the time now to develop a strong foundation, smelling the roses along the way, will save you the heartache of hurrying before you are ready and perhaps even hurting yourself. You need to be careful and practice safely. Be kind! Enjoy the scenic route! How often do we get the luxury of taking things slow?
Happy workshopping!
Questions? Holla! Feel free to discuss down below any of the following:
Who B.K.S. Iyengar?
What Ashtanga?
Kapota what?
Is this still yoga?
What does Galavasana look like then?
What does it take to rate a 60?
Who Jack? (Where have you been…)
What door? (See above re: Jack)
Does anyone else feel terrified when they see flying pigeons IRL?
if you follow me on Instagram and came here to check out my tutorial video on arm balancing, you have come to the right place.
The power is out at my place, it is that time of year over here. I’m typing this and rushing down to the coffee shop to finish this post.
Okay, not rushing because stairs. It will be ready in a jiffy, in the meantime please chat amongst yourselves. Have you all met?
BRB xx
Update: Ok the stairwell is pitch black with nary a creepy blinking exit sign therefore it is obviously filled with scary monsters that usually hide under the beds of children. Back inside folks. This will happen EVENTUALLY!
Actually I had a lovely time on Saturday as well so I’m in for a fortnight of wonderfulness. How grand would it be if each day we spent well gave us a credit for the week ahead? Like a sort of happiness coupon.
The more pragmatic of us would point out that we could alternatively just live each day well and forget the coupons already. Yes. Of course. That would be an easier way wouldn’t it? So how many of us do that?
Hmm.
If I had to say what exactly it was I did over the weekend that filled me with such bliss and contentment, I’d struggle to mention anything super exciting. It’s always been those tiny little moments that sort of creep up on me. Which is such a relief because that means during the weekdays I can just keep myself open to more of such treasures.
The heroine of a favourite book of mine had a ritual with her best friend called “White pebble or black pebble”. Each day they would fill an imaginary jar with white pebbles for anything wonderful that happened and black pebbles for anything not so. At the end of the day the women would ring each other and announce whether it was a white pebble type of day or a black pebble one. Ever since reading that book I keep a jar in my mind, a tad dusty as I don’t tend to it all the time, but I take it out more and more these days and check how many white pebbles I found during the day. The occasional black pebble shows up but I try to be less diligent with those.
Here are some of my white pebbles this weekend.
It’s important to be yourself!
Problem solved
Serving suggestions are not serving rules.
“What is up with your hot brother?”
Usually I teach during the weekends, which I adore, but it was nice for a change to have my entire morning to myself to awaken very lazily with a coffee. After a huge yawn whilst shuffling these cards I drew (I kid you not) the Awakening card. Do you believe in coincidences? Or destiny? Can we have both?
It’s important to be yourself!
I’ve gotten really fascinated with geometry, I’m always seeing these fancy circles and squares showing up on weheartit and so on. So I gave it a go this weekend. Let me tell you, there’s more than one way to join the dots. Like a zillion ways. Figuratively and literally. Aside from getting a little cross eyed at certain points it was really absorbing. An interesting way to meditate if you can’t stand not doing anything at all. I think there are still more dots to join.
The power went out in our building, so we were trapped for a while. Luckily I had already made a coffee so fine by me. No harm at all. Until I felt ready for a second coffee. But then we figured out that the power inside the bedroom worked. We’re problem solving people. Hehe.
No I did not care to check if the washing machine had any power. Priorities.
Problem solved
Would you believe I have not had rice crackers until now since I was at uni? The first time around? If you want the math for it, that would be almost 15 years ago. Far out. And after I merrily ignored the serving suggestion and made my way through just about the entire packet I realised why I didn’t buy rice crackers anymore when I wouldn’t stop bouncing off the walls afterwards. And then I was insanely thirsty for hours. No original flavour for me thank you very much. Gimme the BBQ. It weirded B out to see snacks in the house AND to see me eating them. I don’t buy snacks because that was how I was brought up. We only got them if we were having a party. I think I will revert to that rule. But it was a nice treat x 4 serving sizes.
Serving suggestions are not serving rules.
Oh, and I also had a visitor drop by during the afternoon to see how my drawing was going. Birds drop by from time to time and I always feel like it’s a good sign. My mood always lifts when I see the flutter of wings even for the briefest instant.
Eventually the power came back on and we watched a bit of The Other Woman. More than anything I think we like Leslie Mann’s voice. And I like the expressions Kate Upton makes, she seems so goofy. Oh and I felt really happy about the dinner I threw together. To counter ALL the rice crackers I ate. When everything is really fresh, not a lot needs to be done to make a delicious meal. And a cool salad is so good for balmy nights. And minimal clean up!
It’s pretty straightforward you just need to mix together a dressing, tear up some leaves, and add anything else you want to make it a filling meal.
“What is up with your hot brother?” Yeah, Leslie, tell us.
So how was your weekend? I hope you had a wonderful weekend and a week ahead filled with magical white pebbles. xx
I heard this song last night and I am loving it! It’s gotten me into such a great power mood to throw a load of clothes in the washing machine (I am ALWAYS doing laundry. It just seems to be some kind of destiny thing I have going on.) AND head down to the gym whilst the machine runs through its little cycle. And then I’ll do a tidy up and get some work done.
Phew!
THAT is a good song when it makes you REALLY WANT TO do stuff so I thought I would share. This baby is going on my playlist for when I need a boost. It’s going to be on repeat today.
And I’m getting through that pile of videos to edit. *pow pow* If you had read what I wrote last week about procrastinating you would nod and be like *high fives screen* and then I would high-five you back and be like, “Thanks!”.
So there is an old story about a rich man who goes to the zen master asking how to become enlightened. He’s got the money, no sum is too big, how much.
Hmm, free. Plus two years, if you meditate everyday for one hour so says the master.
Whuuuuuuuuuuuuut. Okay, okay. How about if I meditate everyday for five hours? How long then, huh?
Oh yes, that will be very good. Twenty years.
HUH!$*&%#@$?!
That isn’t exactly how the story goes, there are a few variations. That’s my take on it.
And how about this expression:
“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes each day. If you are too busy then sit for an hour.”
I love the humour in these stories and sayings. A person can interpret these stories in so many different ways. I’ll have to share with you some of the comments a few people made about one particular zen story I came across sometime, remind me?
In the meantime, I have a meditation video for you! It is thirteen minutes long but if you want you can skip through the introduction and chat straight into the practice portion. But it’ll take you twenty years.
Kidding!!!
I’m a big fan of the two minute format. Here’s the link to my two minute yoga video Hurrah for Yoga in Pyjamas. Big fan of anything I can do in pyjamas too.
If you’re all “Nah, I got time to hang” then stay tuned for the outtakes. There are many. I was waiting for my washing machine to finish before I started recording and it kept whirring promisingly as though it was wrapping up. And then I’d hit record and the washing machine was all “Haha no.” But it ended eventually.
Ready? Here we go:
Here is a quick starting point for people who want to get into meditation and have been meaning to but always say they don’t have enough time. One day, I will get around to meditating. Ha! Today is that day!! After my washing machine finished spinning hahaha.
If you’re anything like me, your daily to do list can stretch as long as your arm and then some. When it comes to actually tackling things you start to wonder where exactly to start. Too much happening so many feelings! This is the BEST time to meditate so that you can resume (or start) work feeling focused and calm.
A lot of us think we need hours set aside to get meditation right but sometimes a minute here a minute there and just quiet breathing is all we need to notice a huge difference. This is where we start today, the breathing, which is the most important part. If we can turn all our attention to our breathing, there is nothing else for our mind to do and everything becomes oh so still.
You can repeat this short breathing exercise as many times as you like, be sure to keep the body and face as relaxed and tension free as possible to really get the benefits. Anytime you feel as though things are getting too much during the course of your day, you can turn to this breathing exercise. I hope this makes a difference!
The exercise starts at 5:32 if you want to jump ahead, please do so. We finish with a very light bit of self massage to our brow area. When we first wake up the area can often feel quite heavy and puffy. This is also an area that often remains tense throughout the day without our realising. If you’ve been worrying about something this will be especially helpful in helping you to feel energised and ready to face the day.
Thanks so much for watching. Please let me know if you enjoyed that and if you have any special requests, comment down below. X
Friends,
Our Zenaissance 