Beautiful Ways to Start the Day

September is the time for new beginnings, and what better make to start afresh than...

... first thing in the morning!

So,  I just had to share this wonderful Tone It UP post with you...

Beautiful Ways to Start Your Day

I thoroughly agree with the message of this post: starting your morning in a positive way sets you up for the rest of the day. Continue this, day after day, and you create an affirmative action filled, positive life. And all you have to do is start your day in a beautiful way. Why wouldn't you want that?!

For me, there is a clear correlation for how good my day seems to go, with how/what I did first thing. My best days start with anything from 15 minutes (I aim for 30/35 minutes average) to an hour of yoga or other exercise (this also depends upon my work schedule), an 'I am Graceful Green Smoothie', and a satisfying oat breakfast while checking my emails and, ideally, writing on here.....

The beauty of having a morning routine, or pattern, is, according to Sarah Wilson, that you take the ambiguity out of your day, and as a consequence, achieve much more. For instance, instead of deciding whether or not you're going to make your bed each morning, if it becomes a habit, you just do it. No energy wasted on deciding. No days where you don't make it, come back later, and feel bad because your room looks like a tip. Same goes for exercise. Since transferring my exercise routine to the morning, I'm truly amazed at how much more time and space I have for the rest of the day. I don't need to schedule to make room for my exercise, worrying that I might miss it, or have to push something else important out the way - it's already done! My body feels longer and stronger the rest of the day; as I walk, my legs feel powerful and my core pulled in, lifting me higher, my mind calmer, clearer.

And that's a damn good feeling.

Bliss. For the whole day, everyday...

Just Like Riding a Bike

So, I've recently discovered a new freedom.

I'm a little late to this. Some of you will be pretty familiar with it, I know. But seriously. For the first time in ten years, I got my bike out and went for a good, long bike ride.

They say that you should do one thing a day that scares you. Well, I don't know if I can handle that, personally, but getting up on a bike and expecting to... balance... definitely sacred me! As an adult, these things can be more daunting. It's easier to fall over as a kid. It's never nice, but it's part of childhood. As an adult, however, we expect ourselves to be able to do everything. Because we have to. The stakes are so much higher. If we can't, if we fall over, the consequences as so much bigger.

But, then again, it's just a bike. And I did it - I did learn as a child, and as they say... it's just like riding a bike...

And oh wow... the speed, the freedom to zip past the ambling pedestrians that I used to be, the exercise - and cycling isn't just aerobic exercise, believe me (I think those who say it is live in flat country), I can definitely feel  my quads, glutes and, strangely, biceps (probably from lifting the huge metal frame), despite the fact that I am regular exerciser, whether power yoga, running, walking or (okay, light, but effective, think TIU) resistance training. I have a friend who cycles as her main mode of transport and I've always marvelled at how muscular she is for someone who does no other conscious exercise. Now I know.

I've cut my commute time in half, freed up time on days off instead of lengthily walking into town, and feel the freedom to take routes that, as a pedestrian, I probably wouldn't, given the extra speed (within limits, of course, I don't condone taking risks with personal safety).

And how did I get into this time saving, heart racing, muscle boosting form of transport?

Ever stylish and perceptually (and sometimes terrifyingly, in a sky diving, shark infested water swimming way) active Sarah Wilson, the Australian health queen of the moment:

You may have heard of her. If you haven't, you'll probably have heard of the health movement she's fore-fronting - I Quit Sugar.  While I don't altogether agree with the sugarless trend (processed and added sugars, NO, but fruit? One of the most wholesome things you can eat...), Sarah Wilson is definitely a role model of mine at the moment - healthy, compulsively active, stylish and also somewhat of a worrier (I can relate). An avid cycle enthusiast, she's even given up her car in favour of this healthier form of transport - and looks fabulous at it. What more inspiration do you need to dust the cobwebs off your bike?