When you wake up feeling a little blergh

You know when you're about to hit that day... it begins when you repeatedly hit snooze on your alarm clock, interspersed with groans as you curse the arrival of daylight (and not because it makes you a sparkly vampire). It's the day that everything's gone wrong... your breakfast burns, you miss the bus and are late to work, nothing seems to go right. Everyone has these days, and so do I.

What then do we do when we're just feeling a little icky, dull and irritable?

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When I have such a day, I like to

do as little as possible. 

That's right... I schedule a little off day and reduce all the activities I've had planned. If I'm not having a good day, chances are I'm not going to enjoy my run, or that I won't feel like cooking, cleaning... and forcing myself will just make my day so much worse. Sometimes, it's better to let things be. You know what your body needs, and if it's a day off from routine, so be it!

do a little yoga or meditation or both. 

While I cut down on anything intense and heavy, some restorative yoga always helps to calm and centre me a little. Focussing on breath just helps me put everything else out of my mind, and when you're having a crappy day, there's nothing worse than having your mind burdened by everything that's gone wrong!

read/ look at something that makes me smile. 

Reddit /aww. Need I say more? Just have a quick browse and tell me is your day not better already?

brighten up the house. 

Open windows, blinds, make sure the sun is streaming into your home. Nothing feeds a bad mood more than bad lighting.


When I have such a day, I also try not to

take it out on others. 

So easy to do. I always take a few deep breaths if something's irking me, especially if I know I'm in a bit of a mood. Nothing makes me feel more guilty than snapping at an unfortunate friend/family member just because I'm having an off day.

sink too much into it. 

It's easy to indulge in the mood and get sucked into feeling sorry for yourself. I have on many occasions played Brand New and Tori Amos on my media player non-stop while browsing PostSecret to actively make me sadder! (I know, I'm an emo kid!)

What do you do when you have an 'off' day? 

5 Ways to Reduce Stress

Anyone who has reached adulthood has to deal with stress at some point in their lives. I know I do on a daily basis... in fact, a little bit of stress is good for you to keep your mind sharp and your muscles ready to go thanks to the good ol' fight or flight response. Gotta love our sympathetic nervous system!

Sometimes though, we become too overrun by stress to properly function. So, how do we keep life in the balance? 

1. Just breathe 

Sounds too easy? It really is! Yet, it's the most effective relaxation tool out there. Taking in deep breaths from the belly calms your nervous system, reducing the production of adrenalin and keeps you sane. We often forget to breathe deeply, so set little reminders in your day. Try taking three deep breaths every time you stop at a red light the next time you're in a car! 

2. Make yourself a hot drink 

It could be chamomile if you wish, but I've found that any non-caffeineted hot drink does the trick. Even hot water with a squeeze of lemon. 

3. Go for a walk 

Step outside, breathe some fresh air. Walking is a good way to clear your head, and a nice way to spend time with family and friends! 

4. Don't pack out your day 

I'm guilty of biting off more than I can chew. Allowing yourself plenty of time to get things done takes out the urgency of daily life. Perhaps a little hard to do at work if you have little choice over your workload, but definitely something to keep in mind for home life. Always rushing to get to places? Try leaving a little earlier so you have more time to get there. It may mean that you might have to take a prior activity out so you have more time to get ready and leave, but it's worth it. 

5. Smile even if you are having a bad day 

Think this sounds ridiculous? It might be, but it definitely works. Try faking a smile and I'll be damned if you don't start genuinely smiling at the how silly you feel. Want to take it a step further? Try some laughter yoga sessions! 

How do you deal with stress? 

Yoga for Neck Pain

About a week ago, I had a migraine. It was extremely unpleasant, it happened while I was watching The Hobbit (great film by the way, go see it!) and I had a lingering headache for days, and really bad nausea that lasted a week.

Coupled with all those terrible symptoms, I also began to have really bad neck pain. I've always had tight shoulders, and some neck tension, but this went beyond it. There was even a firm lump in my neck where the muscle had gone really taut.

I began to research yoga for neck pain, because ... yoga cures almost everything physical :P Isn't yoga incredible?

This is a great video by Esther Eckhart, I've been practising this a few times a day. After the first day, my neck pain had improved so much!

The other neck exercises that I've found on the internet were back strengthening exercises, such as locust.

Other poses that I thought really helped with neck pain and relieved my headaches were standing forward bends. In a standing forward bend, you can work on releasing your neck, and shoulders. Poses like wide legged forward bends, and standing forward bend.

Wide legged forward bend
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Standing forward bend
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I have found that threading the needle also opens up the shoulders, and relieve some neck tension as well. That's the strange thing about muscles, sometimes the muscle that's tense isn't necessarily the cause of the tension. 

Threading the needle
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Next time you have a really sore neck, try some of these tension soothers before you reach for your Advil.

How to control your meal portions

I'm no Martha Stewart. If you've read a little about me, you'll find that only about two years ago did I swap from my Maccas/KFC diet to one that is home-cooked.

To be honest, I find it hard to believe that it took me so long to go from this 

the notorious KFC man burger
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to this. 

Silverbeet (swiss chard) with raisins, toasted sunflower seeds on a bed of quinoa
(Source: My kitchen)

Nutrition aside, some readers have requested that I do a post on portion control. I'm not particularly great at portion control myself. I follow a semi-ayurvedic way of eating, but instead of having my biggest meal at breakfast, I have my biggest meal at lunch, and my smallest meal during an early dinner. 

Reading up about portion control brought back memories of being in school, in that dreaded home economy class. 

If you want the easy way to understand portion control, you can purchase a curry plate from any Indian grocery store 

Curry plates look like this, only they are metal.
Think of the rice compartment as vegies, the meat curry as your protein, and the vegie curry as your starch.
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or you can use the image below. 

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It's up to you what source of starch/carbs, vegies and protein that you would like to use. You could do the full vegetarian option and choose lentils, chickpeas, quinoa, kale etc option, or you could have your fish, chicken etc, depending on your dietary choices. 

Most vegetarian meals contain a mixture of protein, vegetarian and starch, so it is difficult to portion them out into a portion plate. Some ingredients double as a source of protein and carbs. What do you do then? I'm personally never that rigid about these things. I know superfoods like quinoa are rich in protein and also carbs. If I use quinoa in my cooking, I generally won't have another grain, but I may use another protein source such as chickpeas. I'd still portion out the grains/legumes/tofu to be half the amount of the vegies that I'd use. 

I decided to put the portion plate to the test however, using meat because it was easier to photograph the portions. I made Cajun chicken, with a salad, and some macaroni. 

Cajun chicken, salad and macaroni

I made a lot of salad. There was more in the bowl and it couldn't fit onto the plate. What can I say... I must like my greens. I also feel like there is a little too much macaroni. In my regular meals, if I were to make something like this, I'd skip the macaroni altogether, and just have the chicken fillet and a lot of salad. 

I did enjoy attempting to control my portions though. For the most part, I think my current diet is quite nourishing (I'm flexi-vegetarian, and only have meat mostly on weekends). 

How do you control your portions? Do you ever think about what you put on the plate and if you are getting a balanced diet? 

Focus on: Backbends

Reaching for that third cup of coffee? Maybe try something else to boost your energy levels. Backbends are a great way to energize (they squeeze your adrenal glands). They strengthen your back in the process, and some believe it opens the heart chakra. I've read accounts of people bursting into tears in the middle of wheel pose, although I have yet to experience this myself. 

Here are some of my favourite backbends (click on the names for how-tos). Please don't try this if you have a bad back and never force yourself into any position. I apologize for how sweaty and red-faced I look, it's an eff-ing hot day (I know, not very yogic of me) at 38 degrees Celcius, and I had just finished my flow yoga sequence of the day. 

Camel pose

Wheel

Bow

Sphinx

Upward dog

Enjoy backbending and stay cool, Melbourne. 

New to Yoga?

You've been interested in trying out yoga, but don't know where to start? Here are some pointers to help you get started, and to decide which form of yoga interests you most.

WHAT WILL I NEED TO BRING TO CLASS?
Basic equipment:

A good yoga mat makes all the difference. It gives you the right amount of padding, while giving you enough grip so you have better alignment in postures. I highly recommend Jade Yoga mats. For local stockists, click here.

Yoga-suitable clothing. It's really a matter of preference and the style of yoga that you do. Some yogis prefer loose clothing, others prefer more stream-lined clothes. My gear of choice are a basic tank, and leggings, as alignment is so important in yoga, and tight-fitted clothing help me to check on my alignment myself. I love Lorna Jane's Amy full-length tights (pictured below). They are warm, come with a small zip pocket, and wick moisture away.

Purchase this here

Extra equipment that could be helpful:

A yoga block. Foam ones are lighter, and equally as strong. These help with alignment and to progress deeper into some poses. 

Get these blocks from Clark Rubber

A yoga strap. Like the blocks, these also help with alignment and for deepening.

Like these colourful ones, which you can get from Stretch Now 

Stick-e gloves and socks. Really helpful if you have hyperhydrosis like I do. If you're finding it slippery on the mat, or if you just want a bit more grip, these work wonders! The only problem I have with them is my hands slip within the glove, so mine get holes and tears in them within a week. Holey gloves still work though! I own about 5 pairs of these. 

Stick-e gloves

WHAT STYLES OF YOGA SHOULD I TRY? 

Here are some of the main styles of yoga in Australia. 

Bikram 

Probably the most scene-y yoga out there, a bikram or hot yoga involves 26 asanas, practiced in a heated room, generally between 30-40C. If you are prone to heatstroke, you may want to try something else. 

Ashtanga-vinyasa

My preferred style of yoga. It focuses on fluidity, coordinated by breathwork. It's vigorous and quite strong, if I'm not mistaken, most yoga injuries come from ashtanga-vinyasa. It involves a lot of wrist strain, so if you are prone to wrist injuries, you may want to try something else. 

Iyengar

Quite a popular style, Iyengar involves using props such as straps, blocks, chairs etc to create better alignment. It is quite a good way to start getting into yoga, especially if you have existing injuries. You may want to reconsider if you are uncoordinated with straps... I used to get tangled in the strap all the time. 

Hatha

Probably what most people think of when they think of yoga. Hatha yoga is a gentle yoga focusing on sustaining a pose for longer periods of time. It builds focus and is deeply relaxing. 

Kundalini 

Kundalini is gaining a bigger following now. Sometimes referred to as moving meditation, Kundalini involves the use of mantra and a lot of repetition. You perform poses with the eyes closed, a great way to draw into centre. 

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW BEFORE MY FIRST CLASS? 

Angela Leigh at Lorna Jane has created a fantastic post about this, so have a read up on the Move Nourish Believe blog. 

Are you getting yours?

Here's some food for thought. Tribesports recently ran a challenge, to do 30 minutes of exercise every day for a year! To help convince you that you do, in fact, have 30 minutes every day to spare, they've even included this nifty pie chart.

From Tribesports

Hmm... that looks like an unconvincingly exaggerated amount of free time...you might be thinking. Or maybe that was what I was thinking... so I decided to create my own pie chart to compare.

Numbers represent amount of time in hours. Work includes commute time.

Sure, my pie chart isn't as fancy as theirs, but I was still utterly stunned by how exact the size of the Free time slice is in similarity. I'm also stunned (and slightly embarrassed) at how much free time I have. 4 hours a day! When I further reflect upon how I spend that free time, I am slightly horrified. 

Since we're in the spirit of pie charts... 

Numbers represent the amount of time in minutes

So, yes. There goes my excuse on not having any time to exercise. You should probably work out how much free time you have in a day. That's right... have a go at creating your own pie chart here. Now that you've done that, and proven/disproven the point I'm trying to drive here... you can decide if you would like to read on/close this window. (Major disclaimer: I am unmarried, and do not have kids. As my understanding goes, when kids happen, the amount of free time you have ends up in the negative zone, so hats off to you if you do find 30 minutes every day to exercise. You truly are amazing.) 

For the rest of us, why is it so hard to find 30 minutes every day to exercise when you have an abundance of free time? I think the answer is pretty simple. Priorities. My Free Time chart says it all... I would rather spend more time dawdling on Facebook than any other brain or body-building activity. I couldn't even tell you what I do on Facebook every day. I believe I just stare at my news feed waiting for it to self-update. I solve this problem of life-stalling by exercising first thing in the morning. Before my brain activates its excuse-giving centre. It could mean that you might have to wake up earlier. I did, and have been ever since I started this blog.

I also have a yardstick to decide if I do have enough time to exercise. I ask myself... do I have time to game/reddit/facebook? And the answer, almost all of the time is... yes. In fact, I am probably gaming/redditing/facebooking when I ask myself that question. If you have time to do all of that, you have time to exercise. Believe it or not... I use that yardstick in almost any situation... including if I should call in sick at work. Am I too sick to play Diablo? No... ok, off to work I go. 

Still unmotivated? That's partly the reason. You're unmotivated because you'd rather be doing something else (which brings us back to Priorities. See the nasty neverending circle?). What you need is a fitness-oriented community. Tribesports is a pretty good start, in fact it will suit most Facebook junkies because it functions on a similar platform. You know how they say it's harder to quit smoking when all your friends are smokers? It's harder to get fit when all your friends are making excuses with you (or worse, for you). I also have my regular Facebook news feed bombarded with motivational posts by Lorna Jane. Looking at their super fit models wearing super hot exercise gear gets me off my bum every time.

Find your niche sport. If you can't bear the thought of going for a run, try something else. There are so many sports out there... I've tried horse riding, swimming, wind surfing, snowboarding, yoga, pilates, zumba, and I was a school athlete. Nothing clicked with me as much as yoga did. I just kept wanting to go back, and learn more, and do more. I looked up bigger challenges on my own outside classes... you know you've met your sport when you want to do it every day, no carrots dangled.

Tell the world about your new fitness goals. It helps you keep them. I recently blogged about my new Spring Fitness program, and you may have noticed a new This Week's Workout panel on the right. Having a fitness program planned publicly made me more motivated to keep to it, and I did. You may have noticed that I haven't got anything scheduled on Saturdays or Sundays... I'm normally travelling between homes on weekends, I know it sounds like an excuse, but I try to squeeze in exercise when I can, it just happens in addition to my planned exercise.

Happy challenge-ing people! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will keep to my fitness regime up all year long.

Tribesports Challenge: Get stretched!

This is a pretty straightforward challenge, focusing on calve and hip flexor stretches. This is the image I was sent.

Get Stretched Challenge

As the illustrations aren't particularly clear, I decided to help out by doing a series of photos and including some modifications for stronger stretches if you are so inclined.

The sitting hamstring or one-legged forward bend

This is a pretty standard pose in yoga. A key thing to remember is to keep the hips facing forward, make sure both sit-bones are grounded and to lead forward with the chest so the shoulders do not hunch. Reach the chest towards the thigh, keep your knee bent first and straighten out over time. 

Standing reach or standing forward bend

Yes, most flattering pic I know. I prefer to have my hands on my calves because this gives me a much stronger stretch, you can also hold on to your elbows and just let them dangle over your head. Keep knees bent at first (you can see that mine are still a little bent) and straighten over time. Weight should be forward, onto the toes.

Crescent lunge

One of my favourite yoga poses because I think it looks so beautiful, it's important to make sure hips face forward and that you do not crunch into your lower back.

Bridge

I'm doing the standard yoga bridge rather than the one in the image, as this also opens up the shoulders. Make sure knees do not splay apart (imagine holding a brick in between your knees).

Foot to hand in press-up position

Also common in vinyasa yoga, make sure that your feet and hands line up, hands directly below shoulders, and press back into your outstretched leg. Keep chest open.

Raised hamstring

I prefer to do this with a strap (I'm only using a belt in this), and I prefer to keep my other leg grounded because it provides a deeper inner thigh stretch. Keep both hips even and make sure the grounded hip does not lift.

Bent over back rotation

A tricky one to get right, make sure your feet are parallel as with all wide-legged forward bends, twist from the core rather than from the hips. It's an easy one to have your hips become unbalanced.

Hope these images help anyone with the challenge! Happy stretching!