Yoga

April 23: Tough ab workout and flexibility

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For today’s exercise, I thought I’d search for something different from somewhere different, but I knew it had to be stomach-centric. When I plank, I’m gobsmacked at the pudding that hangs from that area! When the fitness instructors plank, their bellies stay flat and taught. How is it so?! I can’t even ‘blame’ having kids on this excess! So that’s a new goal for the end of fitfor15in15 – to plank without the pudding.

Thanks to the Internet, ask and you generally shall receive. I liked the name of this – Get Fit Fast Ab Workout – 15 minutes of pain – and ignoring the physique of the totally ripped bloke without a shirt, thought I was up for it.

Ahh, no … nowhere near up for it. Apart from it feeling a bit militarised, with the host, Adam Harper, barking at his buddies, “Don’t you give up on me!” *cringe* it would be a brilliant workout for someone who has the fitness levels of, say, Adam Harper and his buddies.

Wowsers it was tough. I couldn’t do any of the exercises properly, or for the entire duration, apart from the side plank hip lower one. I’ve learnt some new exercises though and will try adding them into any homemade routines. The last one, touching your ankles through bent, spread legs, may become a regular. (I really had to giggle at the end of the show, when the host plugs his company’s t-shirts. If they’re so good, shouldn’t he be wearing one?!)

A lot of the raised-leg exercises hurt my lower back, so I did them with bent knees. I realise this made them much easier, but I’m not an advocate of pushing through the pain, yo. Especially when it’s yo back, yo. Overall, I’m not proud of my efforts in that workout, but it’s something to do again and refer back to, in order to keep improving. It’s motivation to plank without the pudding! Plank without the pudding! (A new mantra?!)

One thing I am proud of today is the realisation I’m becoming more flexible. Yesterday and this morning, I was able to touch my nose to my knees for the first time, albeit briefly, but that is a massive improvement from January. Sure it can be contributed to four months of moving, but I also think yoga is making a big difference. I’ve done two yoga classes, here and here, in the past week and I really think my hips are loosening up, which means I can bend further forward. Morning stretches, as part of my morning routine, will have also played a role.

Have you been doing something regularly and noticing an improvement? It’s such a nice boost, isn’t it?! Please, tell me about your successes.

  • Physically Fit: Get Fit Fast Ab Workout
  • Mentally Fit: Sitting in the sun for 10 minutes
  • Nutritionally Fit: Fourth day of fasting on the 5:2 Diet – 500 calories
  • Minimalism: Nothing today – other than minimal calorie intake 🙂

Wishing you a wonderful day. Here are some photos from my walk home yesterday evening after meeting Iva.

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The long way home

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The sun was a huge ball and created a wonderful sunset glow

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The sun sets on another day in Tulip Military School

April 22: Yoga and gardening

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Looks just as good today!

Outstanding weather again. Two loads of washing are drying quick smart on the line, and I’ve spent a few hours in the garden, taking some plants (with permission!) from Liliane’s perennial garden to add to mine. Her flower beds are cramped for space, they’re all thriving so well. Fingers crossed mine handle the transfer. Not feeling confident though, as I don’t think I took enough roots.

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White and purple-flowered perennials add a bit of colour to my garden, which flowers in summer, not spring

The neighbour Ahlem was outside with her children, aged three and two, so we played for a while. They watched me gardening and apart from standing on a few plants they were fun. Neither of them speak much but I had a chat with the daughter for quite a while. She’s a real chatterbox but neither her mum nor I knew what she was saying! Gobbeldy gook! And for the first time, the son, who is very shy, came over for a cuddle. He calls me Ani. So sweet. They go back to Tunisia next week for five months – will be strange without them around.

Exercise today was Dagmar’s yoga, which I mentioned on April 17. You can find the direct YouTube link here. As predicted, it was really soothing, and still a great workout. I didn’t have time to lie still at the end, so next time I’m prepared to be totally relaxed afterwards! Right now I feel relaxed but stressed about the time. Needless to say, I didn’t even attempt the headstand, and just did some wide leg stretches instead. My balance is still pretty horrid.

Right, now I’m off to the city to meet Iva for a German gasbag. Hope I don’t miss the bus!

  • Physically Fit: Yoga and gardening
  • Mentally Fit: Sunshine and gardening; meeting Iva this afternoon
  • Nutritionally Fit: More smoothies and salmon for lunch; no doubt a few beers to come
  • Minimalism: Taking plants from Liliane’s thriving flower bed to add some colour to mine – no charge!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 17: Morning yoga, new yoga and sounds against silence

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The day is so grey it’s felt like dusk all morning. If it wasn’t for the lawnmower noise from the neighbour’s property, my brain would be saying it’s time to get ready for bed.

So to wake myself up, I did my morning routine (yesterday was the first time I’d done the 15 minutes in two weeks. Two weeks! Holidays threw me out, and then I was out of the habit – back now) and went straight into Sadie Nardini’s 30 Min Morning Wake Up Yoga Flow, which I’ve done a few times before. You can find the video here.

I do enjoy Sadie’s workouts, but lately, I’ve really noticed how much she talks. She talks and talks and sometimes that’s great, but I find it frustrating when she says “Here we’ll take five breaths while we blah blah blah blah (30 seconds worth) … Ok now for the five breaths.” I’ve done 10 already. For me, this really interrupts the whole flow of the routine. Some poses we’re in for longer while things are explained and some poses are done quickly. I need to learn it off by heart so I don’t have to rely on the video.

With the idea of finding something with a better flow, I went searching and came across Dagmar Spremberg from Soft Music & Yoga – YogaYak. From just watching parts of it quickly (didn’t have time to do another routine!) it looks like a peaceful yet energetic yoga routine with just the right amount of talking and a constant, calming flow. Being on a beach with melodic music at the start and end also makes it appealing.

It’s a little longer than Sadie’s but that’s because you lie quietly at the end listening to the music. Ok! I think I may have found my new favourite yoga workout. Can’t wait to try it. There are others in the YogaYak series as well, including Hatha and Vinyasa routines. You could start with the beginners series and move through the routines. Here is the YogaYak website where they have plenty of options. As per usual, I have no affiliation with any of the links I post, just putting them out there for us all.

While searching their site, I found 11 hours of Tibetan bowl sounds for meditation purposes. What a resource! You could paint to this, or write, or read. It’s great for people with tinnitus because we focus on the ringing in our ears when there’s silence, and before too long that becomes overwhelming. This is ‘music’ without being a distraction. I might even start writing more (long-form stuff) thanks to this. I had no idea these videos were out there. Maybe you’d prefer to listen to the ocean? Or listen to birds in a garden? (I found one bird highly repetitive and irritating, so this is not the background noise for me!)

Using two tabs on my computer, I was able to play the Tibetan bowls with the ocean sounds at the same time. That’s also a lovely combination. I could write all day with that softly in the background. Hearing all these sounds makes me realise how much time I spend in silence. Not good. So … Yahoo! What a find!

  • Physically Fit: 30 Min Morning Yoga with Sadie
  • Mentally Fit: Finding the new sound recordings and yoga routine; meeting Pastora
  • Nutritionally Fit: A non-fasting day today but I’ll be good
  • Minimalism: Finally wearing the trench coat I hauled from storage at mum’s. Will I love it?

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 12: Lorena’s special day and bedtime yoga

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Lorena with her godparents

Today was Leo’s niece and goddaughter’s first communion (her name is Lorena), so we were near Zurich with his family. First up we had the service, then 23 of her nearest and dearest drove to Germany (doesn’t that sound hilarious?! We drove 40 minutes to Germany – still freaks me out) for lunch at an Italian restaurant in Erzingen.

Lorena’s extended family from her father’s side come from Sicily and all the relatives there today were Italian (and still are, surprise surprise!). Hence the choice of this restaurant because they know it has amazing food and brilliant red wine. I’d drive there regularly, too, if we lived so close.

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Lorena in her first communion dress. She looked like a princess

After four hours of eating, we drove home and made a beeline for the couch to watch four more episodes of “The Killing”. It’s now 10.22pm (22.22 for those who like numbers) and I am totally stuffed. Literally and figuratively.

It’s been a great week – I’ve consumed like a queen and been to France and Germany twice – but the time has come to say goodbye to eating whatever I feel like whenever I feel like it, in an attempt to shift a few pesky kilos and try a self experiment to see if food holds more sway than exercise.

Tomorrow I’ll do my first ‘Fast Day’ of the 5:2 Diet, which means I’ll eat 500 calories. Heaven knows what 500 calories looks like (I need to do more research on that) but I think a bowl of homemade natural muesli with seeds, nuts and natural yoghurt for breakfast will be a good start, and whatever lettuce leaves I can scrounge together might make a main meal. 🙂

Would it be superfluous to say I really, really … REALLY … don’t feel like exercising tonight? My body’s a lump of lead. So I’m going to do 15 minutes of bedtime yoga – again! – then send my weary lump to La La Land.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

April 2: A new yoga workout

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After doing a few HIIT days in a row, it was time for something a little less sweaty today and I immediately thought of yoga. When I saw a male yoga instructor pop up on YouTube, it was a pleasant surprise so I decided to go with Total Body Yoga Workout with Tim Senesi.

The 30 minutes were enjoyable and hard. He called it a beginners-to-intermediate class – I’d love to see any intermediate do those arm and head stands! They were advanced (and surprise surprise I didn’t even attempt them!). But the overall feeling of moving the body was really pleasant.

The voiceover isn’t exactly in time with what’s happening on the video, so perhaps focus on either one to avoid some confusion. If you have a yoga block, you can use it too.

I had planned to write about mindfulness and minimalism today, but I ended up spending a mindful afternoon with Pastora and Jaime at our favourite bar in Bern and the day just slipped away! So tomorrow it is!

Wishing you a wonderful Good Friday.

 

March 18: 30 minutes of “Badass” Yoga

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Local kids have turned a very dull grey wall ...

Local kids have turned a very dull grey wall …

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… into a lovely floral work of art …

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… but what a shame it’s all going to wash away when it rains! This is on my walk to the bus.

Exercising in the afternoon can be a good thing. Your body’s warmed up and you’ve moved around enough to feel a bit looser and ready. But it can also mean you get caught out by the afternoon slump, when the thought of a workout just seems like one step too far.

That’s how I felt when I came home from the city this afternoon. I’d already walked to and from the bus, then around the city, and I was struggling to get my brain into ‘exercise mode’. Who to turn to? Sadie Nardini of course! She’s becoming a go-to favourite. I found her Yoga Body Workout: Sadie’s Badass 30 Minute Yoga Flow: Energy and it sounded worth a shot.

This is one of at least three Badass workouts she’s posted on YouTube, and come on, with a name like that, who wouldn’t want to be a Badass and do some Badass yoga?! You can also try her Badass Detox and Weight Loss workouts, which also run for about 30 minutes. I might have a go at those two in the coming weeks.

For the Energy workout, you’ll need a yoga block or something to put under your back at the end. I dislike it when a workout suddenly uses a piece of equipment you haven’t been prepped about! I don’t own a block, but used a hardish cushion and, despite not being great, it was enough to prop up my back.

Finding my balance was a bit of an issue in this workout, which I think would be best suited to intermediate or advanced students. But don’t let that put you off! It’s still a great workout, especially if you have tight hips, as there are a few exercises which give them a deep stretch while sitting. I really enjoyed those exercises and hope the benefits are long-lasting.

If you know your balance is a bit rubbish, you can keep a chair nearby to hold onto. Luckily, our ceiling in the lounge room (well, all over the house actually!) is very low, so when I felt wobbly I could grab a beam. There’s no shame in having to put your foot down, literally not metaphorically, when doing yoga. Hopefully, towards the end of the year, my balance will have improved (it can’t get much worse I don’t think!) and I can hold positions longer, without getting my wobble on.

It’s now a few hours after the workout, and I do feel better than I did when arriving home. Another case of a workout living up to its name! The backs of my legs feel tight, as if they’ve done something other than walking, and my arms feel energised too.

Speaking of legs, here’s a random thought I feel like throwing at you today … I have a dent on the side of my right leg, near the top of the calf on the outside, from crossing it over my left. It’s there all the time … this is not a good sign … time to stop crossing my legs!

Following the weekend in Strasbourg and the internet meltdown last Saturday night, I haven’t had the chance for a while to post a list of stories and links I’ve enjoyed, so today seems like as good a day as any to get these out there. I hope they are a cause for inspiration, motivation, consternation or celebration.

1. Every day, I read, and enjoy, a creative lifestyle blog called The Private Life of a Girl. The author, Sophie, recently shared an incredibly moving podcast she’d heard with her readers. If you have a spare 25 minutes and the chance to sit somewhere familiar, quiet and comfortable, I encourage you to listen to Diane’s secret.

2. A new study shows Mozart mends minds.

3. Can you imagine being this flexible and strong? These amazing urban gymnasts are incredibly fit, in a way I could never be (and I feel confident saying never in this case!)

4. Two women do an intense martial arts display. My jaw is still on the floor.

5. Here are some food myths that have been proved incorrect, such as eat small meals throughout the day, full-fat dairy products are bad for you and so on.

6. A wonderful story of community members who learned sign language to surprise a deaf resident. It’s a commercial, but a lovely true story!

7. An article about exercising at different times of the day and what to eat afterwards.

8. And last but not least, these two visual comedians gave me many large and hearty chuckles.

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The first tulip leaves are sprouting at the self-pick, honesty-box flower farm. It won’t be long before we have hand-picked flowers at home, yahoo!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

March 3: 30 minutes of Yoga Cross Training

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A few days ago, I did Sadie Nardini’s yoga cross training for arms, and this evening, after Leo banished me to the lounge room to prepare something secret upstairs, I thought I’d try her yoga cross training routine for legs.

I really like her style – she’s sassy, fun and a rock chick at heart. She also happens to be incredibly flexible! When she bends her leg out to the side it’s totally in line with her body. I look like a dog weeing on a tree – half cocked. But I just can’t get my leg any higher. Something to aim for (pardon the pun) for sure. It was an enjoyable workout and hopefully I’ll feel it tomorrow.

Leo needed more time to make or wrap whatever he was working on (it’s my birthday in two days and on Friday we’re driving three hours north to Strasbourg in France for a long weekend, yahoo!) so I figured why not sweat a bit more by doing Sadie’s core workout as well? She filmed all three videos (arms, legs, core) at the same time, so you could effectively combine them for a tough 50-55 minute full-body workout. For me, doing the two videos back to back was a great 30-minute diversion from trying to guess what Leo’s up to.

Yesterday, my sister called with the good news that she and mum will visit us in October for four days. It’s a long way to come from Brisbane for such a short time, but they have to be in Athens on October 31 to catch a cruise ship to Singapore! What a trip! I wonder … if I can be as flexible as Sadie in seven months, could I stowaway in a suitcase? Now that’s something to aim for!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

February 28: Yoga Cross Training arm workout

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My stomach muscles are sore today from the previous two days, so I switched focus to my other ‘problem’ area by giving my arms a solid workout with this video from yoga instructor Sadie Nardini. I’ve mentioned her a few times before and really enjoy her style. This is the first time I’ve done this video. She also has workouts for core and legs if you fancy having a look at those (I may end up linking to them next week, so if you’re patient, I’ll do the searching for you soon enough!).

This wasn’t a normal yoga routine, rather what Nardini calls yoga ‘crosstrain’, with the main difference being the moves were done a little faster than normal yoga. And I have a major announcement to make … drumroll … I’ve replaced my two chickpea tin cans (Shock! No way! “They’ve been with you from the start!” I hear you say!) with two 1.5 litre bottles of water. I’m half expecting them to explode over the top of the computer because I squeeze them so hard. Maybe they’re not the best workout equipment because they’re quite hard to hold, but I need to ‘up the weight’ to do some serious damage on the chub!

Overall, once again, this was a workout that did what I expected and taught me some new moves and stretches as well (the forward lunge on the knee with the foot turned out and leaning in was a great inner thigh and hamstring stretch). It runs for over 26 minutes, but the actual workout part is about 24 minutes long. As much as I enjoy doing the videos, I’m really looking forward to going for a run soon. Come back sunny weather, please? Soon? Have I caught the running bug? Could I become a runner? I do like the outdoors aspect of it, definitely. Only time will tell!

We had a great day today, with my first trip to a famous Swiss biscuit factory called Kambly. It took an hour to drive there and I was a bit surprised we couldn’t actually tour the factory – I was fully expecting to put on white coats, hair nets and plastic covers over our shoes so we could walk around the factory floor. Instead, we could only watch a video of the production process, a live macaroon maker and taste all their biscuits and buy them cheaper in the factory shop.

After we sampled ourselves sick, we decided on a few packets for us and some as gifts. Yummy, buttery, chocolatey biscuity goodness. They are not part of the nutritionally fit plan for 2015, I know, but as mentioned before, I haven’t changed my diet too much yet. Baby steps, baby steps. For now, I’ll continue to enjoy those naughty treats that come around once in a while …

Oh alright, alright … I have to confess I’ve been naughty two days in a row. Leo brought home custard doughnuts/donuts yesterday as a treat for doing all that cleaning and it was impossible to say no! So next week I have to be better. Damn, did we really buy all those biscuits? Did I mention they were yummy, buttery, chocolatey, biscuity goodness?

At home, we watched a replay of the Brit Music Awards and, boy, I felt for Madonna. What a professional, to get up and keep singing – she must have been in so much pain! I’m not going to put a link to it. She’s been all over the news. Poor Madge. On second throughts, I will add a link, because this lovely, funny story from The Guardian puts it all into a bit of perspective. She didn’t fall, she was pulled!

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the weekend.

And here are the links to some articles I found interesting this past week:

Bea from zerowastehome shared what’s in her wardrobe with us … now she’s a minimalist. Could you be like Bea? I’m trying to wheedle my stack down and would love to carry it all in a carry-on!

Someone made an amazing underground greenhouse to grow food all year round. Brilliant.

An article about foods that make us smarter … what? No doughnuts/donuts?

Do you have an anger issue? Here are some tips from a radio interview discussing how to react differently to stop a potential heart attack.

The gymnastic flips this guy can do are just amazing. What a skill. How fitfor15in15 fit must he be?!

February 26: 20 minutes of Pilates

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Well, I couldn’t really showcase yesterday’s yoga routine, in the yoga versus Pilates debate, without doing Pilates today, could I? And on the beach … I want to watch some lucky person doing a workout on a beach …

Voila! Jessica Smith TV (I’ve done videos of hers before here and here) came up with the goods. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many beach Pilates options to be found. Call me unpatriotic, but I couldn’t bring myself to listen to the Australian woman’s accent in this 15-minute video. You might like it!

Smith’s 20-minute Pilates workout requires just a mat and a towel. One of yesterday’s highlighted texts from an article said you don’t really sweat much with Pilates. Not true! I definitely worked up a little sweat doing all those core muscle exercises. Phew.

This was a great routine. Tough but not in an upside-down-with-one-hand-in-the-air-and-the-other-behind-your-knee kind of way. Just solid leg stretches and lifts with a lot of focus on engaging the stomach muscles. Using the towel also made the arms work as well.

I recommend this workout to people of all fitness levels. As a beginner, you can modify the moves by not dropping the legs as low. I couldn’t do certain sets of exercises for the duration she did them – they wear you out! I’ll definitely have a tummy ache of a good kind tomorrow.

So which workout is better? Yoga or Pilates? I think they’re both beneficial and can easily be included in a varied exercise program. It would be strange to dismiss one or the other outright as they provide different things – in yoga, the quiet time may help you slow down; in Pilates, the succinct simplicity may suit those with time constraints. Both will continue to be part of fitfor15in15!

And did you see yesterday’s guest contribution from knitter and spinner Peta Yaxley? What an inspiring and relaxing story. I was almost in a meditative state, thinking of her spinning on her property, hearing the wheel and the birds, feeling the sun and taking in the view. I hope you enjoy reading about Peta’s way of staying mentally fit, too.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

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The sun may be shining today, but it definitely isn’t beach or pool weather. The poor pool …

February 25: Yoga v Pilates

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Reading this article on the greatist website this morning got my mind working … (by the way, greatist.com is an exercise website with a catchy name, not my misspelled personal endorsement! If you want to find out more about their philosophy click here.)

What exactly is the difference between yoga and Pilates? Which one is better? Show me a novice exerciser who hasn’t asked these questions!

The article explains the origins of both formats, which is interesting in itself. Pilates uses a capital ‘P’ because it’s the founder’s surname. I didn’t know that. If I’ve written it with a lower case ‘p’ on this blog before I shall go through and amend all mentions … in another lifetime.

The crux of the ‘argument’ between yoga and Pilates basically boils down to personal preference and the article’s final sentence … “Yoga’s the go-to choice for stress relief and a mind-body workout … while Pilates is typically better for strictly strengthening muscle.”

Not one to count on a single story as a source of information, the search continued for my yoga versus Pilates debate. It’s endless!

From bodyandsoul.com.au this article concludes, “If recovery from injury or strengthening weak joints is a priority, Pilates is probably going to give you optimum benefits … If, however, your aim is to take a break from everyday stresses and refocus, yoga is probably more likely to be your activity of choice.”

From the Victorian Government’s website, this very in-depth comparison contained a lot of new and relevant information with handy bullet points: “In Pilates, your muscles are never worked to exhaustion, so there is no sweating or straining, just intense concentration … The health benefits of regular yoga practice may include lowering blood pressure, improved posture and circulation, and a sense of wellbeing.”

This article from active.com highlights five key differences and to finish off, this Oprah magazine article does a good comparison between heart health, weight loss, body strength and flexibility, and bonus benefits.

There’s so much more information out there, but if you’ve asked yourself ‘what’s the difference?’ before, hopefully you now have a better idea of which one you might prefer. But you don’t really have to choose between the two – mix them together, if you’re so inclined, for a healthy mind and body.

So, obviously, today I’ve either chosen to do a yoga workout or a Pilates workout, right?! (I wish I could be cheeky and say wrong!) Yes, I’ve gone with yoga. I need to calm the head a bit. My plan to include yoga on Mondays as part of my morning routine hasn’t quite happened yet. On the strength of the only other Sadie Nardini yoga workout I’ve done (I still love it; click here to read more and find that workout), I chose her 20 minute yoga workout for weight loss and fat burning.

It’s actually only about 17 minutes long, but she encourages you to lie on your back for a few minutes at the end, to centre yourself before you jump up and resume your day. This workout has similar moves to the previous one, but is shorter and not quite as tough, so if you’re looking for a gentle but still challenging routine, this could be the right one for you.

I do feel calmer … even if that DAMN CAT is still running around in our ROOF! Ahem … calm … calmer … calmest …

Wishing you a wonderful day.