yoga at home: some tips

I often get emails asking me for advice on practicing yoga at home. Some people don't live near a studio, or don't like the studios nearby; others find it hard to get to class with kids to take care of; sometimes it's a question of a tight budget, etc. Personally, until recently I was able to get to various classes around Sydney 2 to 6 times a week. Now, with a big belly and the end of summer heat that just won't let up, I've been finding myself practicing in the comfort of my (air-conditioned) home more and more.

Here are some tips, in no particular order, for getting your yoga on at home. I hope you find them useful:

• If you've never done yoga before, I would recommend trying to get to at least a few beginners classes to get the basics down.
• There are heaps of free yoga podcasts you can download and practice along to. You do need to have a fairly good foundation because you have to follow along with just verbal cues. One of my favourite yoga teachers, Jessica Stickler, has a podcast that you can find here.
• There are also several websites offering videos that you can download for a fee, or stream unlimited for what's usually a very small monthly fee. I would recommend YogaGlo and My Yoga Online.
• To practice at home, you really only need a yoga mat. If you're serious, you may want to invest in a bolster, a strap and two blocks. That said, you can always improvise and use books as blocks, or roll up a blanket to use as a bolster.
• If you can set up a space for your regular practice, you'll be more inspired to get on the mat. It can be as simple as lighting a candle on a bookcase that you always practice in front of. My friend Emily wrote some more about this here.
• The hardest thing about practicing yoga is just rolling out your mat. My friend and fellow yoga teacher says that when she wants to practice at home she rolls out her mat, lies down on it and then hopes for the best. I love that. 
• On that note, sometimes you just need a burst of inspiration. I recommend watching the amazing Meghan Currie's time lapse videos on youtube, or reading a beautiful book. One of my favourite yoga books is An Offering of Leaves by Ruth Lauer Manenti.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section and I'll be sure to answer...

bits and pieces

 Alongside this random assortment of photos from the last few days, some random thoughts, in point form (because that's how random thoughts come out best, I find):

• I finally went to check out The Grounds of Alexandria. Apart from the fact that it is aesthetically very pleasing, my final verdict: meh.
• I've been reading Great With Child: Letters to a Young Mother. It's an inspiring and perfect read for me right now, so glad I found it. 
• I'm loving the blog My New Roots, which I found via the whole food e-course I'm doing. I can't wait to make this once the weather cools down.
• We celebrated the husband's birthday on the weekend. I made the one cake he kind of likes, the honey cake from Tessa Kiros' Apples for Jam. Déja vu.
• His cousin made this beautiful onion tart with tomatoes, basil and olive. It was vegetarian, for me, and oh so delicious. 
• One of my husband's cousins just had a baby, and we spent most of the night oohing and aahing over her tiny cuteness. 
• In the last month I've watched Jeff Who Lives at Home, Safety Not Guaranteed and Your Sister's Sister. I've loved all three, and it's safe to say that I have a crush on the Duplass brothers.
• Speaking of movies, I can't wait to see this one.
• The humidity is killing me. Today as I checked in students for my afternoon yoga class, we all asked each other, "when will this end?"
• I've been meaning to mention this for a couple of weeks now, but see that beautiful new banner up there? It's from Central Coast artist, Lauren Merrick. She's a freelance illustrator and graphic designer and boy is she talented!

bump: 28 weeks

photos by Belinda 

 Being pregnant is so distracting. I'll be having a conversation with someone, or trying to read a book when I start to feel some little wriggles coming from within. Sometimes that's it, as if the baby just needs to readjust and then falls straight back to sleep. Other times the wriggles mean that a full on gymnastics routine is about to start and I can't help but be captivated. I watch my belly as it waves up and down and give the baby little pokes where I feel his/her limbs. I get the husband to feel as well and we try to guess - is it a head, a foot, a bum?

To me, the guessing and the not knowing is the magical part. It's why we haven't found out the baby's gender and why I've declined 2 out of 3 ultrasounds. In my favourite prenatal yoga book, Bountiful Beautiful Blissful, Gurmukh writes:

"The marvel of this experience is that this being who is so close to us cannot be seen. We don't have a window in, or a pouch like a kangaroo. When you can't see and touch, you have the opportunity to connect deeply on another level."

Last weekend I got together with the beautiful Belinda, who blogs at Billy and August, so she could photograph my 28 week bump (which means I'm playing catch up and am now 29 weeks). I love these photos that she captured and we already have plans to do it again. So this it, the last trimester, here we go....

cracking up

Recent conversations between the husband and I:

husband (while I ate a sandwich in bed): You're getting crumbs all over the bread. [long pause] I mean bed, all over the BED!

a text from husband (at work): I forgot my pants. And my shoes... again.
me: Nailed it.

shopping for bed sheets...
husband: They're organic cotton... and free range....

another text from husband: Love you too. Even though you're a shit.
me: I am not.
him: Point proven

husband on romance: I'd like to be like my granddad and his 3rd wife.
me: Um, thanks.

lying in bed, slats give way under husband...
husband: Don't. Say. Anything.
note: husband, in his own words, has been in a good paddock over Christmas.*

husband on pregnancy: So the baby grows inside the placenta, right?
me: Um... not quite.

driving by a field when I spot a calf on its own...
me: Awwww, a baby cow! I wonder where its mother is...
husband: Probably off encapsulating her placenta.

Happy birthday husband! You crack me up. Every. Single. Day. I don't know what I'd do without you.

*a paddock is where you put livestock to fatten up

weekending

 

A typically Newtown building.

Photo shoot with Belinda, stay tuned...

The view in Manly. 

Organic blueberries - a major indulgence, given the price tag. 

And here begins the 3rd trimester. Holy crap.

babies and minimalism

So far, everything we've bought, received or made for the baby fits into two small drawers. Actually that's not true; I bought a pram from gumtree and that definitely doesn't fit in a drawer. I was feeling ok about this, until I had a minor panic attack a few weeks ago when I realized that I would be holding a baby in my arms in 3 months time, and we've hardly prepared for his/her arrival.

Actually, that's not true either; it's just that my preparation has mostly involved reading what feels like every book under the sun on the topic of birth and doing lots of prenatal yoga. It's the logistical and material things that have been put on the back burner. I think perhaps what made me worry about this was looking around at other soon to be moms and seeing that they have nurseries set up, names chosen, and carseats installed.

But that's not really how the husband and I roll. We're more fly by the seat of our pants (read - disorganized), and we're also trying to keep baby things to a minimum. I truly think that those lists of what your baby needs are ridiculous. This resolve was only reinforced when I stumbled upon The Minimalist Mom. I bought her e-book immediately and finished reading it the next day, at which point I breathed an even deeper sigh of relief. Her list of must-have baby items has 6 things on it. No joke. And I nearly have all of those 6 things!

So for now, I'm repeating to myself, "reduce, reuse, recycle." Our pram is second-hand; we'll borrow a bassinet from a friend when the time comes (no crib for now); I'm buying a baby carrier from craigslist; I will do my damned hardest to cloth diaper etc. Finally, we won't be setting up a nursery because babies don't need much space and we need our spare room to remain a spare room so my mom has somewhere to sleep.

I know that our baby doesn't need much, and everything that needs to get done will. We still have 12(ish) weeks...

p.s. Photo of my friend's newborn, because that's what this is all about, right? Babies. Not stuff.

curl curl

 

This weekend was hot, so yesterday we set off for North Curl Curl with sunscreen, snacks and books. By the by, I adore the name Curl Curl. Isn't it just so perfect for a beach?

Anyway... we swam and read and swam some more. I swam out past the crashing waves until my feet couldn't touch the bottom, and I enjoyed being weightless. I've never been able to float before, but now, thanks to the belly, I can and it's so nice.

This summer has been record breakingly hot, so even though I'm eagerly awaiting autumn I'm trying not to wish these days away. I am soaking up this last official month of summer, with as many beach trips as possible.

sorry gifts are the best

Last week, in the middle of a multi-day argument with the husband, I came home to find a wonderful surprise. An "I'm sorry" gift that worked wonders - the Gorman backpack (or mochila as I'm calling it, since it's so much like the traditional Colombian craft) that I had been coveting ever since this post.

I've worn it every day since, and I've been surprised at just how useful a backpack can be. I can fit yoga clothes, a snack, a notebook, a book, a litre of water, sunscreen and various other bits and bobs and not feel like my arm is falling off. I'm totally converted!

Thanks again husband. I love it (and you too).