Sunday Inspiration

Get dancing!

Morning sunshine! I know, beer o'clock at 1pm. No. No no no. Roll out your yoga mat, fire up the juicer, put some funky electro on (thankyou free podcasts on iTunes!) and bring on Sunday Zen.

Yoga for lower body strength

Green juice: apple cucumber celery spinach kale ginger

Keeping fit when you travel

This is for a friend who is off to Turkey for at least 4 weeks (no, not jealous...much!) and worried that without a gym, she'll lose her fitness. Not a chance!
Apart from using your feet to get you from location to location - or a bike, or a surfboard - you can also:

PS90X DVD

• take fitness DVDs
• print workout plans (Women's Health is a great resource)



Subscribe to a fitness mag

• take fitness magazines with workout plans that don't require equipment
• take a walking/cycling/hiking tour
• be conscious of selecting healthy food options



No. Just no.

• avoid drinking alcohol - empty calories and after enough, you're likely to make poor food choices too!

Nervousville

Edge of a cliff feeling

Tomorrow I find out whether my work contract is being extended. I would like to say that after repeating to myself, "Whatever happens, it will be ok!", I'm actually hovering on the edge of a big icy cliff with anticipation and this feels like a judgement on my worth! I know, I know. Only if I choose to see it like that.

What we all aspire to feel!

I know I only feel this anxious because this really matters to me. Some people work a daily grind in work that doesn't give them any personal sense of satisfaction or fulfillment, so to have been able to work on a project for this long, regardless of what decision is made tomorrow, means a lot to me. I have met some really passionate, dedicated people who not only do a really impressive job, but follow curious and inspiring passions outside of work (singing in a choir, starting a beauty business, etc.)
I can't guarantee that I'll succeed, but I'm going to try to feel less anxious about tomorrow. If you have any tried and true formulas for calming the nerves, please share with me in the comments!

Breathe at Lunchtime

Breathe Yoga

Good morning fellow yogis (and fellow FUTURE-yogis!). I am off to Breathe in Lt Collins Street at lunchtime with a lovely colleague from work to Vinyasa Flow. I have SO missed a regular yoga practice and vinyasa is my best friend, so I'm really looking forward to it. I think my poor, overtightened hip flexors are keen to stretch out too. Bring on that upward dog!
If you're not vinyasa-ing this lunchtime, at least get up out of your seat and take a brisk walk (NOT to KFC) or check out what classes are on at local gyms. If not for your physical wellbeing, it will make you feel super self-righteous to arrive back in the office with a post-exercise glow!

UPDATE! Ambika's lunchtime vinyasa yoga class is FABULOUS! It passes in no time - I could go another hour and still feel invigorated. I leave feeling lighter, longer and more at peace with the world (even in Collins Street at lunch hour!)

Sportswear

Polyvore Sports

I wish this was more technical, less gloss, but it’s Friday so allow me some freedom to be vacuous okay? I love sweating, circuits, yoga, dancing…all that good stuff, but I’m also ridiculously in love with fashion and colour. So I was THRILLED to find Polyvore. You can make your own “fashion magazine editorial” style boards based on whatever theme you feel like. It’s like those paper cut-out fashion dolls I played with when I was younger. No, not 20, smart ass. Enjoy!

Suspension Training & Fly Yoga

Fly Yoga

What's more fun than twisting yourself into a pretzel? Doing it in the air, of course! Pictured to the left is Fly Yoga. A beautiful, inspiring yoga instructor in Ubud told me I would LOVE "silks".
Most of us would be familiar with videos or pictures of Pink doing these circus style performances on stage - dangling from material or ropes? Silks! It takes strength, balance, flexibility.
I'm looking into whether I can try this at NICA. Reebok has a workout called Jukari Fit to Fly. It's a collaboration between Reebok and Cirque du Soleil. As far as I know, not available in Australia yet. Here's hoping the circus/suspension training philosophy starts to filter into gym classes though. Some aspects can be recreated using the TRX suspension bands in the gym. Be on the lookout for the following if you're keen:

Suspension Training

Jukari Fit To Fly

• Fly Yoga
• Aerial Yoga
• Circus Training
• TRX or Rip:60
• Jukari Fit To Fly

Australia: a Fat Tax? Forum of interest

Tax on junk food?

Denmark introduced a "fat tax" - basically, increasing the cost of trans-fats laden processed food or "junk". I prefer to think that rather than punish people for poor choices, probably made out of ignorance, we should reward choices that benefit individual health AND public coffers in the long term! How?
* Less diabetes and related problems = less demand on public/private hospitals for one

body + soul

Check out the forum on body + soul for some great discussion around the topic

Reward healthy food options

I think Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden program is an ideal way to introduce the idea of wholefoods and the fact that food has a beginning, middle and end. As with most successful changes, it takes time and education. I look forward to seeing whether the ANPHA, (Australian National Preventive Health Agency) established in January 2011, can effectively institute some changes that count for all Australians (hopefully something a bit more meaningful than the "swap it don't stop it" campaign...really).