Getting into yoga

I was very active as a child. Spending most of my days outside, me and my friends enjoyed running around, riding on our bikes or rollerskating. As I went to school I have slowly started withdrawing from group sports like football or basketball and by secondary school PE was one of my least favourite subjects. I saw any form of sport more as a way to lose weight rather than stay healthy and being slim, it was not something that interested me. 

As I started working in a coffee shop over a year ago, I began slowly shifting the weight I have put on in my last year of university. By the beginning of April last year I have lost about 8kg just by moving around so much at work. I began feeling fitter and healthier despite having lost so much weight and was happy to discover that I could achieve that whilst doing something I enjoy rather than spend my time running or going to the gym. 

When I began cutting off sugar from my diet at the beginning of this year, I have set my mind on trying out other healthy ways of being and came across yoga mats and accessories when shopping around in town. I thought that it could be something I would enjoy as it would get me moving outside of work and wouldn't cause me to lose any more weight. So I bought the mat and looked up some yoga videos on Youtube and off I went practicing. 

I began by doing a 20 minute workout for beginners which included easy poses like downward facing dog and cat cow. It definitely made me sweat and took my breath away but I enjoyed it enough to continue doing it every day since. Rolling my mat out and stretching my body in peace and quiet is something I look forward to every day now and I'm not happy with myself when I skip a day of yoga. It's the (roughly) 20 minutes of the day where I can completely shut everything off, quiet down any noises and thoughts and enjoy the deep steady breath as I practice new poses. If I feel angry or tired throughout the day, I look forward to hopping on my yoga mat in the evening as I know it will keep me smiling and feeling relaxed. 

I have only been practicing yoga for just under 2 months but I know it is something I will continue with for a very long time and I look forward to keep getting better at it. 

I'm back! | Project Life

It has been over a year since I have blogged here and I've decided that I'd like to start blogging again, mainly to stay creative now that I am no longer at university. While I haven't been taking as many pictures as I would like to, I have occupied my time outside of work with different projects. One of them and my favourite one being Project Life which I have discovered and been doing for over a year now. Last year I have started it with the more popular 12x12 format but this year I have decided to switch to 8x6 simply because I found it quite hard to fill a whole 12x12 spread each week. The smaller format works very well for me although I had to split this year between two separate albums because one wasn't enough to hold 52 weeks worth of spreads. While I am still trying to catch up on certain pages within the two albums, here are a few of my favourite spreads and details so far. 

 

Canada 2014: reliving my summer vacations, pt. IV

Another of my most favourite and one of the last trips was a visit to Peter's auntie's workplace. She worked as a gardener at a possession which wasn't too far from where we were staying. We have spent two days there. On Thursday evening we swam in one of the swimming pools whilst on Friday we went exploring the possession in all its glory. Everything from the back garden to the woods and the lake was beautiful and the weather made it look so much better too. It must have been a lovely place to work at but even better to visit. 

Canada 2014: reliving my summer vacations pt. III

One of my favourite short and more local trips was a trip to Alton Mill, a stunning gallery located in an old mill. It featured a mixture of art works, from sculpture to painting. Upstairs held artists' workshops which were just so stunning. I would definitely feel inspired in any of those rooms. 

St Botolphs Big Sunday

Last Sunday The Minories Galleries has been a part of the St Botolphs Big Sunday alongside some other local galleries. There was live music, lovely food from the Garden Café and some great vintage stalls in our stunning garden. Whilst I was sat at Front of House for most of the day greeting our lovely visitors, I have had time to quickly pop out to the garden with a camera and snap some pictures of the event. My favourite part were the vintage stalls located in and around the folly. They had great interest from the visitors. Both the garden and the gallery spaces were full of people. It was a great day.