The other side of your childhood favourites

I had a pretty typical childhood for a child of the 90s. I watched my share of Disney and more, and had the staple collection of Barbie dolls (sure, I didn't use them the conventional way... unless throwing them around the room at the ceiling fan was the conventional way...). Lately, there have been a few images making the usual social media rounds like this.

(Source)

(Source)

Excuse me, I watched a ton of Disney, and I think I turned out just fine. Ok, not entirely fine :P but no better or worse than any other regular Josephine who hadn't watched Disney. I'm going to be honest, I never once thought to define any man that I'm with now with any Disney prince. 

Disney gave me so much more than just entertainment. Disney spurred on my musical interest, my love of art, and made my childhood dreams real (Who didn't want to meet a talking meerkat? Be honest :P). Disney taught me to not worry way before Bobby McFerrin ever did, to whistle while I work, and that bookworms are cool. 

I have noticed that children nowadays don't really watch Disney much anymore, and that makes me slightly sad. My favourite songs from my childhood days were Disney songs, and I could recite lines from favourite Disney movies from start to end, almost the same way as I do with Les Miserables now. A skill I picked up from watching Disney, no less :P So if you are ever looking for a career as a thespian...

Most of those "lessons" above are way beyond a child's imagination anyway... Political worth? What child even understands what that means? I see those images as adults reading way too much into a children's movie, and giving it adult values, that might potentially affect an adult watching Disney, just as I am reading too much into a silly little graphic meant for comedy. That said, if you were fully grown, and felt that you could be dead and still get some princely action as long as you were pretty, you may have some other kinds of issues that you may need to deal with more urgently. 

The person who did the Disney Princes' image obviously didn't watch the movies anyway, because the whole point of Aladdin was to show that lying didn't work. Pft, he obviously needed to watch more Disney :P 

Another image that caught my eye today... 

(Source)

I don't really like Barbie very much, I don't agree for what Barbie stands for and I didn't like Barbie at all as a child. I could never work out what to do with her... This artist's impression of Barbie without makeup though definitely made me pause and reflect. He chose to portray her with braces and wrinkles... I do think that this is beyond just Barbie without makeup, this is Barbie before cosmetic surgery, unless Barbie's got access to some miraculous wonder wrinkle-filler that all of us need to get our hands on! 

What do you think about these images? Did you grow up with Disney and Barbies? 

Challenge: Yoga Journal Strong Core

The last few weeks have been tumultous trying to kick my over-dependence on the interwebs. I've had some good days, when I've squeezed in some yoga, and some bad days where I've been glued to my monitor, too lazy even to make decent meals.

To kickstart my path to recovery though, I've signed up to the Yoga Journal's Strong Core program. I've had a great time with YJ's fitness programs in the past, particularly the 21-Day Fitness challenge, so I'm hoping I'll be self-motivated enough to complete this.

Are you ready to sculpt your core?
(Source: Yoga Journal Strong Core)

The program begins Monday 8 April, which is next Monday! If it's anything like their other programs, there'll be fitness tips, recipes and a daily video which is generally 20-30 minutes long.

Will you be taking on the challenge?

Hump Day Yoga Inspiration

More for me than you, really, considering the rut that I've been in. Inspiring yogis to follow.....

Fran Miller - 91 year old yoga teacher 

Yep, you read right, she's 91 years young! And she only began teaching yoga in her 50s! As they say, you are never too old to yoga (or maybe I just made that up just then :P). Here's a lovely interview with her on Yogadork.

Photo from Yogadork

Adam Levine, Maroon 5 frontman 

I'm going to be honest, I hate really dislike Maroon 5's music. But I do admire Adam Levine as a yogi (yay, I'm glad I can now separate the man and the music, unlike my 16 year old self). My favourite quote?

"There’s a very specific yoga cliché. Eat these foods, wear these clothes, believe only these things. I don’t want to be that."

Plus, Adam knows his asanas.

Borrowed from Yogadork, check out the full article on Adam there. 

I have tried this asana a few times... let's just say I'm not quite there yet.



Sadie Nardini, yoga teacher

I just love Sadie, I think she presents herself well, and I feel that she appeals to a younger demographic. My favourite Sadie quote?

"Being hurt in love doesn't mean you should shut down, or defend. In fact, be proud that you trusted, and loved with an open heart, even if someone else decided to act unskilled with you, or your path was not theirs. Be discerning, set calm, healthy boundaries--but keep your heart available and trust unless shown otherwise. Do not make future people pay for the actions of the past."

Visit Sadie's website for free yoga videos and information

Alanis Morrisette, musician 

What can I say... I was a child of the 90s. I loved Alanis Morrisette during her angsty days of being a Former Infatuated Junkie. And then, she faded into oblivion for a while or I grew out of adolescence (pick one), and she faded from memory until one day, who should graze the cover of my Yoga Journal, but the one and only Alanis!

And looking mighty fab. She also appeared in Weeds round about the same time, and she looks amazing! I'm going to put it down to all the yoga. I think she looks younger now than she did 10 years ago.

My inner schoolgirl leapt with joy when I saw this cover
(Source)

And I think I'ma end this post with a quote from Alanis.

"The mat just stays there, and I just keep coming back to it."

The Internet Detox: Update 1

You may have read that I attempted to take a break from the internet.

(Source)

The synopsis of that story: My computer breaks, gets sent for repair, and I decided hey, why not use this time to cut down on my online time? Then, I got my computer back, and that was when things started to get pretty hurdly! The first couple of weeks went well, I kept my computer off most of the time, and I went for runs, read, did some yoga, only browsed Facebook and reddit occasionally. 

It was going so well. 

And then, I have no idea how it happened... but what with researching uni courses, and then uni applications... and gaming... somehow, the computer just crept back into my life and ousted out my yoga and running. That has not happened since the end of uni, 3 years ago. I'd never stopped doing yoga before... it feels weird, even now, especially since I haven't gotten back into it. I have to admit, shamefully, that my computer dependence is now much greater than before. I've been introduced to DotA 2, I've discovered this terrible yet addictive online game called Wartune, and I recently discovered Duolingo which is a fantastic and free language learning site. It's also the only product I will link to because it is, at least, educational so getting addicted to it isn't so bad. :P

I suppose I realized I had hit a low when I purchased a jar of ready-made curry simmer sauce. I know, it's a really bizarre thing to trigger an epiphany, but I haven't eaten any processed foods in a very long while. I make all my own curries, soups, stews, etc when I'm not eating out. Why did I buy that jar of sauce? So I could have more computer time, why else! 

I can't believe this jar showed me just how far I had fallen.
(Source)

The disappearance of my yoga practice and fitness regime has changed a lot in my life. For starters, I have a lot of free time that I just don't know what to do with, which then gets spent on the computer (terrible neverending cycle that one...). I have lost weight... about 5kg. I am much weaker physically. My shoulders ache all the time, and I get constant headaches that simply won't go away. I wake up every morning vowing to do some yoga, but what I think will be ten minutes on Duolingo ends up being a few hours. 

I just have to ask myself... what happened? What went wrong? I've always been so disciplined in my fitness routines. How did I lose the plot when my intentions were all in the right place? 

I wanted my internet detox to be along the lines of Susan Maushart's The Winter of Our Disconnect. Instead, I seem to be on a road to Netaholics Anonymous. 

I'm not even sure what my next step is. Besides the obvious of trying to get my yoga and running back on again. I'm not even sure I know what I wanted to achieve with my internet detox... I think my original goal was just to cut down on dawdle time on the internet. 

So, there you have it. I wanted a hiatus but instead got a face full of internet. I've never really failed in anything before, this is a first. What a downer of a post, I guess it's possibly from the lack of yoga :P Hopefully, the next time I update, there will be better news.