Gratitude Friday

Inspired by Artsy Crafty Babe, I decided I would do my own 'Gratitude Friday'...even if I am a day late :)

Spending the weekend soaking in the views of Dubai Creek




Reading my new book




Wandering beautiful gardens










My first coffee for 3 weeks ... even if it was a decaf!



Feeling fabulous thanks to my yoga!



Also:
- for being healthy and able to enjoy life!
- having a goofy husband!
- for REST after a crazy, stressful week of school inspections!
- getting through this post and surviving the photo uploading ... my longest ever!

I am so thankful to be able to enjoy my life and live it to the full! And it feels oh so good to focus on the little things that make my life so wonderful and enjoyable!! Hope you also have many things to be grateful for.

Yup...pretty much sums up my weekend

After reading this book a few years ago and viewing the movie just recently, I felt inspired by Liz's journey. Therefore, I decided it was time for a re-read! Needless to say, it has pretty much consumed my whole weekend!

Pomgranate heaven

I had never eaten these little suckers before Friday and now I am a convert! Talk about jazzing up any meal! Breakfast this morning was museli, shredded coconut, natural yoghurt and pomegranate seeds. All washed down with the obligatory cup of hot water.

And yes folks, it is actually cool enough to sit outside for breakfast. Yay!

Let the good times roll!

Yoga bliss once again ... meditation, breathing and some excellent joint stretches for arthritis ... would love for Matt to try these.
Loving my yummy food - the concoction above is mung beans, avo, carrot, toms, coriander and lemon. Oh boy!

The new black

So as it goes a cup of hot water is the new latte. No more cups of frothy caffeinated goodness for me. At home it's hot water with fresh ginger and lemon. At cafes, I put all embarrassment aside and ask for a cup of hot water. Refreshing. Healthy. And free :)

Dream day today:
- Slept in till the ripe ole hour of 7
- Did my sun salutations and breathing excercises
- Had a fab brekkie of museli, pomegranate seeds, natural yoghurt and nuts (with a yummy cup of goodness pictured above)
- Spoke to my sister on Skype and saw / spoke with my 2 gorgeous nieces!!! Erin not so chatty today!
- Met a friend for coffee (aka hot water)
- Hung out by the pool
- Read my book and napped
- Ran 4 ks
- Yummy Dahl and Palek Paneer for dinner.
- Will shortly head off to yoga for more fun!

7 hour yoga wrap up

Oh baby! A 5.45am start and a 12.45pm finish makes for a whole lot of goodness in one chunk o time! After having approx 5 hours sleep, we headed out into the pitch black at 5.25am. Destination - yoga centre.

The 7 hours consisted of beach games, breathing, meditation, breakfast, sun salutations, deep meditation, a little lecture and lunch.

The meditation is a whole new experience for me and I am loving it. The food was also fab :)

I am marvelling at the difference in how I am feeling, mentally and physically, compared to this time last week. Long may it continue.

Finally!

Yay! After 4..or was it 5? ... agonising days of pain, my head ache is gone! It feels so clear and light! I can think... I can focus. I can even be calm! Let's hope the feeling continues.

Off for another post-school swim in a minute. Then a foot massage as a little treat! Then off to my yoga course.

Tomorrow we start at 6am and go till 12 - oh, what a way to start the weekend! I'm thinking some sleep might be on the cards for tomorrow afternoon!!!!

Top of the world!

Literally ... today's excitement was heading to the top of the world's tallest building! No matter this was with the whole of 4th grade plus 20 parents in tow. Was still fun.

As for my health ... top of the world ... not so much. When I speak I sound like an 80 year old smoker and my cough is so chesty it sounds like a lawnmower.

Can you believe I have been getting up at 5am to do my meditation and breathing? Yikes! I'll tell ya one thing though, it really does clear the mind and energise the body.

This week is surreal. My head is all cloudy and fogged. I guess this has a lot to do with my cold, but I am also wondering how much the detox has to do with this (along with sleep deprivation of going to bed about 11pm and getting up at 5am!). Hoping for some clarity of mind in the near future!

In other news, loved my after school swim. It was damn hard work but all worth it!

To act, not react

Well, day 3 is much better than day 2! Not so much of a headache and infinitely less stress in my day!

My goal today was to act, rather than react. To take each situation as a challenge and opportunity for growth. So, with this comes an understanding that stressful situations will always be there. It is how we choose to deal with them that makes the difference.

Feeling very pleased with my 5am meditation sessions! Especially seeing as how the yoga course goes from 8-10 each night, making for very late nights! The 5am meditation, combined with breathing and mindfulness throughout the day, and finally, with a 2 hour session each night, means I feel like I am headed in the right direction towards my goal of being more balanced.

The only thing I am feeling uneasy about is a lack of excercise due to early mornings, late nights and a chesty cough and cold :( The plan is to go for a swim tomorrow after school. Looking forward to it already!

Trying hard!

Phew! What a day! Who ever knew that one latte a day could make you so addicted to caffeine?! I went to bed with a giant headache and woke up with a humongous one! I honestly felt like half my face had been chainsawed off! Add to this no herbal teas, sugar, alcohol or unhealthy food and I swear my body started to reject me!

And then...amazingly, it lifted at about lunch time. I started to be able to see again. I was able to actually think with some (however small) degree of clarity. I started to think maybe my body wasn't rejecting me after all!

Today was beyond-belief stressful. In the face of this, I kept reminding myself to breathe and be filled with energy and happiness. I tired to be a leader in my life and not a follower. I tried to act and not react. I did my meditation this morning.

I am not sure how well I did all up because I really was feeling very stressed...

But, I am proud of myself for trying hard. Perhaps centimetre by centimetre, I will get there.

Today I will breathe!

Yoga bliss has started! After fighting our way through the traffic and wandering the streets of dirty Karama (a more salubrious part of Dubai), we arrived at Rhythm of Life Yoga Center.

Immediately, a feeling of peace and calm. I listened with focused bliss for over an hour to Yogi Sangeev as he spoke of life and how to live a fabulous one!

I woke up this morning at 5am and did my meditation - thoughts popped in and out of my head that made me giggle ... 'oh, my back'; 'my nose is itchy' and other intellectual revelations of that sort!

But ultimately, after 10 mins of breathing, I felt so good and was ready to tackle the day!

My mantra was to be "Today I will breathe". Have you ever realized how good breathing makes you feel? All day, there I was, inhaling and exhaling!

Can't wait for tonight's session!

Oh, and my caffeine headache feels like a crack-cocaine withdrawl headache! Ouuuch!

Here we go again!

How is it that life can get so busy that we forget to look after ourselves and do the things that matter?

I was just reading back over my blog from a few months ago and marvelling in how focussed I was! This is to be juxtaposed with my current feeling of being a little run down, lazy and stressed!

To combat this, I have a plan! Firstly, I am going to do a 70 day challenge ... did you know that it's exactly 70 days until we arrive in Australia for Christmas?! Wow! Secondly, I am starting a 10 day yoga and meditation course this evening.

I figure that between these two things, I will be back on track and living my life as I would like it to be!

So...here goes ...

Day 1
Feeling a little flat - mainly due to stress and a little cold that I currently have. I am wondering why, whenever work takes over, the first thing to go is healthy eating and excercise? I am someone who MUST have these elements in my life on a daily basis - if not I feel that nothing else is as enjoyable as it should be.

I have known that my 10 day yoga course is coming up and I have been thinking of this as the point to start to get back on track. I am so looking forward to feeling healthy, fresh and balanced. It's funny how the universe speaks to you in this way - I knew I needed something and then up pops this course. My friend from school is also doing it and it will be great to do this challenge together, knowing we are helping ourselves in such a positive way!

Bring it on!