WHY YOGA // GARANCE DORE

Photo: Mark Metcalfe // Getty Images AsiaPac

I love Garance. She's funny, has great style and takes beautiful photos. AND, she clearly got the whole point of yoga (ie to get a smile on your face, essentially). What's not to love! 

You don't need to change one bit to do yoga. You don't need to be flexible. You don't need to become vegan overnight and you don't need to know sanskrit (the ancient indo-aryan language that yoga teachers like to throw in every now and then, some more, some less, whereas others prefer to stick with their local language, I know I do) --

ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS SHOW UP ON THE MAT! REALLY.

If you are a turned yoga sceptic, you'll love what Garance has to say about yoga, here and here. Even better, if you have any yoga sceptic friends that you would like to turn and who could do with a bit of a push and shove towards the mat, share this with them. They'll love what Garance has to say about yoga!

And hers is possibly my favourite reason to do yoga, ever: 

BECAUSE CHANCES ARE THAT AT THE END OF CLASS YOU WILL HAVE A GREAT BIG SMILE ON YOUR FACE.

^_^

YOGA AT HOME // PART 1

You've been going to yoga classes for a while, maybe even for years, but you haven't quite taken the practice home. You want to, but it hasn't really worked out.

You have tried. It feels weird, awkward. You can't remember the sequence. How long do you practice for? How long to hold the poses, are you going too slow, or are you going too fast? Do you practice in the morning or in the evening? There are so many distractions around... Is it wrong to do yoga whilst watching TV? And so it keeps going on around in your head... 

There's no doubt about it, a personal home yoga practice is quite different from going to class. Not better or worse, just different. There's no teacher to tell you what to do, there isn't the energy of a roomful of people practicing together at the same time. But, you can do it when you want, where you want, how you want to. And it's free!

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Like with anything new, the best way to begin is to keep it simple. And the most important part of a home yoga practice is so very simple: all you need to do is show up. Don't think about how long for and don't think too far into the future. Take it one day at a time. When you wake up in the morning, just commit to showing up on your mat at some point during the day. Start with a minute or two. Nothing more, nothing less.

THREE THINGS TO TRY:

♥ Keep your mat where you can see it (mine is permanently rolled out leaving me no room for excuses!)
♥ Sit down on the mat for a minute and see how it goes.
♥ Close your eyes and focus on your breath for another minute.

If you've done that, you can go ahead and pat yourself on the back -- you've done yoga today!

Do you have a personal practice? Or do you want to have one? What's your trick for showing up on the mat? What do you struggle with? Comment below or drop me an email -- I'd love to hear from you!

Get your mat out and have a great weekend!

^_^


P.S. If you made it all the way down here and liked what you read, why not sign up for my newsletter to get your weekly serendipity (and more) straight to your inbox!

WHAT THE MAY // MIXTAPE 05

After getting the sandals out for about five minutes, I am wearing my winter clothes again... and I am still cold! Dear weather, I am over you, grow up!!

To get over the misery this Spring has become, I am turning to music... and I hope you enjoy this mix as I much as I do!

^_^

1. "taro" - alt-j
2. "amber" - electric guest
3. "like the dawn" - the oh hello's
4. "crystalised" - the xx
5. "john the determinist" - jeremy messersmith
6. "similar but not the same" - the nervous wreckords
7. "near death experience experience" - andrew bird
8. "recipe for disaster" - morcheeba
9. "graveyard" - the devil makes three
10. "no church in the wild" - jay-z & kanye west

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