Fierce Yoga

I love a good yogi, and right now, I'm super-inspired by Sadie Nardini.

She's also known as the 'fearless yogi'; her attitude to life is very different to the one I naturally take, and I find that inspiring. Check out her facebook feed for her inspiring updates, like these:

I've been doing Sadie's Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga on my days off from work... wow. For someone who loves exercise and enjoys a workout, I can honestly say this is a beautifully sculpting yoga programme, without losing the feel, integrity and serenity of a true practice. I can see muscles developing, whereas other workouts have had me at a plateau.

Sadie is a self-professed 'alignment geek': you won't injure yourself with her 'workouts', and you'll get even more than you bargained for from them. I can't stand a routine where the instructor doesn't guide you on alignment. I need the guidance, and frankly, I think everyone does, even if they haven't injured themselves in the past. After a strong practice with a focus on posture and strength building, you will float through the day, feeling tall and strong and flowing energy... and that's a beautiful thing. That's what I want, to feel, everyday.

Also, the woman isn't afraid to call bullshit on what she sees as unethical practices within the health and wellness sphere, as you can read here on Elephant Journal, re: wellness figures and the hidden commercial forces behind them (also including the ridiculous cost and mark up of programmes like teacher trainings).

Check out her amazing  'Detox and Core Strength' (isn't that something we can all benefit from?) two week plan on Udemy (it's transformative), and her wealth of YouTube workouts, including:

So if you're after a killer yoga routine with a fierce, kind-hearted role model, then go Sadie! 

A Different Perspective: the Anthropology of Sleep, or, "Sleep is for Dreaming".

Like the working day, the entertainment industry, and the economy, the need for eight hours of undisturbed sleep a night is a man-made construct; a force against which we cannot escape. In our modern lives, there's hardly a second to spare in the day; we must be working, getting organised, cleaning, exercising, socialising, caring for our families, commuting... we're cramming more minutes into 24 hours than rationally possible, and something has to give -

   - and more often than not, it's sleep. You try to get to bed at a reasonable hour, but it's just not happening. 

   And then we get stressed, because everybody knows that we need at least eight hours sleep a night, otherwise we're slashing our health, lifespan and mental/physical performance in half. Not to mention, they don't call it 'beauty sleep' for nothing.

   Okay. Let me stop you there. Calm down, and grab a cup of chamomile tea, breathe in some Origins Peace of Mind or Aveda's Stress Fix, or just old-fashioned lavender oil, and take a full, deep, cleansing breath. 

   We're made to feel bad by the health industry for all the things we're not doing right. It's a profitable industry to do so. And you know what? Sometimes they're right - sometimes, you need to shift your priorities, make some radical changes in your life. However, worrying about all the things you're not doing right is more harm than good. Focus, instead, on what you already are doing, on the changes you can fluidly put in place, and, here's the crucial one: shift your perspective.

   Less than eight hours sleep a night is fine. There will be days when you get more. There will be days where you get less. 

   Do you have trouble getting to sleep? Carve out calming, sleep inducing rituals. Drink sleep easy, surround yourself with aromatherapy. Watch these succinct videos:

Do you find that you wake in the middle of the night, worried, unhappy? Yeah, been there. But, regardless, a straight eight hours sleep a night - with no room for alternative - isn't a 'natural' and indisputably reality, or even a necessity.

We have the capacity to sleep in different ways; in the past, in our culture, and amongst some peoples today, sleep is segmented. Luhrman illustrates this in her recent NY Times article, 'To Dream in Different Cultures', where she describes how the inhabitants of Sulawesi, an Indonesian island, never sleep alone, and have 'punctuated' sleep. When a child calls, someone is sleepless, or people are shifting and turning, others wake, and chat, and attend. This is not a cause for concern: sleep is interrupted; this is how it is. When this happens, dreams are more likely to be remembered, and are remembered more vividly. 

Feverishly, deliriously, magically, dreams and wakefulness merge in a way our Western, time choked lives never allow. 

Let's stop looking at sleep as something to anxiously pencil into our day, to stop ourselves from falling to pieces. 

Shift your perspective:

Sleep is for dreaming.

Sleep opens up your world; it is an exploration of the possibilities from within you, that you never knew you had.

What do you dream about?

Meditation: Everything Already Is Okay.

I've simply got to share this with you. It's beautiful. It's out of this world. It'll keep you together, when life feels like it's getting in the way of everything.

Sit comfortably, take a deep breath, and delve into another world:

Thank you, Positive Magazine! Also check out their whole range of unbelievably good meditation videos -  they're all just ten minutes long! (C'mon, you have time for one). I've gotten into the habit of playing one or two every evening; a practice that is wholly centring and cleansing.

I've written about diet. I've written about exercise and body image. I've written about beauty. But wellness does not, by a very, very long shot, stop at the physical.

If there's one practice that the whole world can benefit from, it's meditation. And I get it - it's not easy to simply make yourself meditate; to decide to just sit there and clear your mind (or whatever your version of meditation is). A guided meditation, however, is pure bliss. Someone is taking care of your wayward thoughts for you, guiding you to pure peace. 

Everything already is okay. Practice as you will. Transform your being.

Beauty, naturally.

Dr. Hauschka, I have to say, is a god send.

If you're not familiar with that name, you may be picturing a greying German man in a white doctor's coat. But no.

This German brand delivers natural, effective skin care and beauty products. And by natural, I mean, the ingredients lists are BEAUTIFUL, yet the product itself resembles luxury, top quality brands, not a kitchen cupboard concoction, or, an 'I made this myself' Lush tub of something wittily named.

A fusion of plant science, raw materials from their own medicinal herb garden and a passion for natural beauty, let me tell you: I am in love. Honestly, for using their Quince Day Cream, my skin has never looked or felt better; this cream sinks in like a dream, and gives a smooth, clean appearance. And, with the most divine fragrances, every facet of their products will make you feel healthy, beautiful and amazing.

My recommendation for the summer: lighten up your chemical load, and look fabulous.

I'm a fanatic ingredient reader. Ever since I was a teenager and I made the connection between what I put in my body and how I felt/looked, I've been obsessed with knowing and understanding these sometimes scary and lengthy lists. If you want to be healthy, this is a must. Many people still overlook this, don't know or simply don't care, which is why so many products out there are still so full of artificial crap. This is not good for our bodies, ravaging our health and our looks.

This ingredient reading habit isn't so unusual in a supermarket. In a drug-store, however, you can get quite a few strange side eyes, or bewildered comments from friends, "what are you doing?" It's not always easy when society is rolling it's eyes at you, but read anything on this (for starters) and you'll wonder why these horrific concoctions, sold to us as health and beauty care, haven't been banned - or at least plastered with warning labels (I'll give you a hint, and it's to do with profit). Descriptions such as 'penetrates deep into the skin' should send chills of terror down your spine.

It ain't cheap living the natural life, however (unless you're not a compulsive beauty addict), so, if you can't afford to have a whole arsenal of quality, divine natural products (I have my fantasy bathroom all planned out in my head.... oh, one day...), I employ this rule: if it sinks into your skin, then invest!

Knowledge is power: moisturiser, foundation, liquid eye-liner... next time you're shopping for these, read their ingredients. How many of these ingredients do you recognise? How many don't you? Take three. Google them.

I dare you.

Magic Brew

Next time you're stressed, put the kettle on.

No, really! I'm not just saying this because I'm British.

If you're anything like me, then stress and anxiety are your go to emotions. They can be overcome, but it does take a fair bit of work and conscious thought/action, at times, to keep yourself together.

So, what if I told you that there are two drinks, in particular, you can sip on all day to get your zen on? Best of all, these drinks are proven to work by altering your biochemistry to fight stress and anxiety, demonstrated in scientific studies. There's (almost) nothing I like more than good, solid scientific proof that natural is not only healthier, but powerfully so.

So, what are these magic drinks? Rooibos and Camellia Sinensis, otherwise known as, tea.

Want the proof? Thanks to Dr Greger on NutritionFacts.org, you can find the information beautifully and succinctly presented, here:

Rooibos
Camellia Sinesis

In short, Rooibos, a deep, reddish and comforting tea, lowers the production of cortisol (produced by your adrenal glands; yes, you know, it's that stress hormone, that turns you into a wreck and makes you gain abdominal fat). Seriously, not a drug, but an herbal tea, significantly lowers cortisol production. Drinking this lessens the physical effect of stress on your body. Needless to say, I have been drinking this stuff constantly.

Camellia Sinesis, on the other hand - the most popular drink in the world - (good old black tea, or green tea, to you and me) is number one for a reason: you are, essentially, drinking a big, relaxing cup of deep meditation. Deep meditation increases alpha wave production in your brain; that alert but intensely calm feeling. However, it increases alpha wave production only slightly. Tea, on the other hand, contains L-theanine, a chemical compound that enters your brain and floods it with the production of alpha waves. Hence the world's love affair with this wonderful drink. Need more proof? Try matcha green tea.

In the past, whenever I've drunk matcha (1/4 tea spoon of matcha being equivalent to 15 cups of green tea), I've been overcome with the most beautiful sense of tranquillity, my body and my mind instantaneously transforming into a clean, blissful calm... I put it down to some kind of intense superfood chlorophyll magic, but now I know better....

My current anti-anxiety, anti-stress motto?

Practice yoga. Eat well. Drink tea.

Trust me, it makes life sweet.

Sacred Moonchild Chic

I'd like to dedicate a post to the alternative.

I don't think of myself as alternative. I think of myself as healthy. I think of myself as reasonably stylish (to various degrees, depending on mood, occasion, states of readiness).

But then again. I like to take inspiration regarding health and wellness from online communities, usually from people who live in California, to which I've never been, but, from what I can tell, has a vastly different culture to the one I know, and is full of a lot more extreme lifestyles and habits. I love doing this, with a passion.

But, I can tell you now, it's not normal. Not here, in my hometown, at least.

I'm also a Social Anthropology graduate. That is, I studied the 'different'. Anthropology opens your eyes to the possibilities of living in the world... almost everything we think of as being innate to our being can pretty much be contested with an obscure example from an anthropological study.

Take your vision. We live in a world where aesthetics, whether we like it or not, are paramount. Whether we give a shit about the way we look, our surroundings, etc. - unless we have a disability - we consider vision to be our primary sense. It's how we connect with the world. It's how we make sense of it. Think about it.

I mean, how else, right?

Wrong.

Take the Onge people of South East Asia. They manoeuvre the world using their noses. Their sense of smell is their primary sense for connecting and understanding the world around them. Instead of saying "how are you today?", their equivalent is "how is your nose today?", and they describe things in terms of having a heavy or light smell.

Well, the first time I heard that, the world as I knew it turned upside down. Amazing. And, on a three year degree, it was one of many.

Yes, I like to consider the alternatives to the 'every day' life I'm confronted with in my hometown. And back to health: I do live an alternative lifestyle when it comes to my views and how I care for and nourish myself. Living away from the city, and meeting new people in a small town, I am reminded of just how unusual my habits and outlooks are (though, maybe it is different in California?)

And you know what? It can be pretty lonely. Not enough to make me move back to London, but still.

As a future Ethnobotany Msc student (the study of plants and human culture... I just received my acceptance today!) I am fascinated by plant use and properties. So, in a twist from academics to celebrity culture, I was thrilled to read about the actress, Shailene Woodley, in Gawkers 'Your Guide to Shailene Woodley, America's Sacred Moonchild'. (Yes, I did watch 'Secret Life' until it got too bad to continue, but I though she was awesome in it).



Here's someone, my age, firmly entrenched in Hollywood culture, yet who goes foraging for wild herbs and mushrooms, makes her own toothpaste, has a herbalist, talks about Gaia, the meaning of aloha, and feels connected to nature and, in particular, woods (I hear you, Shailene). She wears second hand clothing, rather than mindlessly consume. But, to me, critically, she still looks glamorous while being so ... alternative.

I love it. Embrace the earthly spiritual eco chic - and look red carpet hot while you're at it.

Yes, she sounds like a giant hippie. And I love it. As an introvert, I love to embrace nature. I love the natural, wholesome and 'different' to conventional society. Maybe because I've spent a lot of time around people like this at my hippie university. But maybe because it's a part of me, just not so obvious. But if Hollywood brings out more of this? I say bring it on. If there's one thing this earth needs, it's more tree hugging, Gaia-loving hippies.

Note to self: embrace the alternative.

So, thank you Shailene.

Aloha

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?