Cinquième As

I know MC Solaar has been around since the early 90’s and he is by far one of the most popular and influential rappers but I just didn’t really ‘get it’ until one of his songs ‘’ La Belle et Le Bad Boy’ featured on the final episode of Sex and the City. Since then I’d been on the hunt for his albums and the titles were either deleted or outrageously priced on xbay.com/xmazon.com. The ruster boy coincidently blue-toothed me ‘Les temps changent’, ‘Caroline’, and the old ‘Hasta la vista’ a couple of days ago and it was then that I was determined to get hold of the albums. Thankfully, my dearest friend, M has all of his albums and apparently they are available in France.

I am looking forward to play the songs on the full blast when M comes to London next month!

29-03-2007

I was hit by a flu virus out of no where and was completely flat out yesterday.

However, as a dedicated individual as I am, I still managed to get my arse to work today even though I am feeling as rough as an old rug.

I know it wasn’t exactly a wise thing to do but I had an über venti soya latte to kick off my day as I just can’t seem to start work without my usual dose of caffeine. I look completely washed out but at least I made a bit of an effort!

Ruster keeps telling me that the reason I am not well is because I don’t eat meat! He said that a piece of nice, rare steak will just do the trick! Hahahaha, as if!

Anyway, no yoga for me for the rest of the week as I can barely lift my arms!

p.s. one good thing is that one of my trousers became rather loose when I put them on this morning, I don’t know if it’s just me being dehydrated or have I actually lost a bit of weight! (perhaps 0.2 kg! hahaha)

It is Finally Back

At long last that I was able to get into Marichyasana D again! I was also able to grab both of my toes firmly when I am in Baddha Padmasana…very pleased with the progress indeed! But then perhaps my body was just more ‘in tune’ yesterday and sometimes you just can’t push yourself too hard.

I am home alone till next Thursday before taking off for holidays therefore have been planning some ‘mini activities’ (i.e. hopefully will do some readings, practice more yoga and also watch whatever I want to watch on the telly!!! I know it might sound sad but hey a woman has to try to entertain herself!) for the evenings ahead of weekend when my dearest Joce is back and also WN’s ‘home coming’!

firmology

I have been feeling rather weary this week but still forced myself to go to yoga classes. I was not certain if I should practice today, not just because it was raining and bitterly chilly but my body was not well, in the sense that I felt really drained. After two minutes of hesitation, I thought I would feel better afterwards and I was WRONG!!!

I don’t know how I managed to get a few bruises on my legs and the ball of my right foot was awfully painful. Therefore I couldn’t do vinyasa in properly and it just went downhill after Purvattanasana. However, the finishing postures were not that bad and the backbend seemed to have progressed, I now could have my hands and feet closer.

Also I can’t believe how this week has gone pass by that it’s Friday tomorrow!
I am looking forward to the lie in on the weekends even though I know I will end up getting up really early again.
Will also check out the latest addition, COS (Collection of Style) on Regent Street – an extension of H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, a first flagship store outside of the USA…..not really interested in their clothing but the six-pac hunks standing at the doors! Yum!

p.s. Oh and this is the latest Benefit product I discovered. Being a devoted Benefit fan, I sure will try this out to see if it does what it says – ‘’a toning & smoothing serum leaves skin radiant and silky to the touch!’’

Where Water and Sand Meet

Dear old B and C arranged a trip for us to Sun Moon Lake. I am quite embarrassed to say that I have never been to the famous lake during the 14 years I was in Taiwan.

According to resources, the old name for Sun Moon Lake was ‘’Where water and sand meet’’. I can’t really make any comments at the moment but will sure provide a full report plus photos upon return, and that is in three weeks time! way-hay!

I know I will ‘probably’ need to do some homework before I go otherwise I know someone will whinge that I am not being dedicated enough about this trip especially he made extra efforts!

I just can’t wait! ^^

Zaytun

Bought a tub of marinated olives stuffed with very hot small red chillies and some marinated crunchy garlic today .. yum!
Now I just need to get a nice bottle of red and my Friday evening is settled.

Olives are rich in vitamins (particularly vitamin E), minerals, monounsaturated fat etc. Though I am not sure if the marinated ones still have those but then I guess they are probably better than crisps.

No special plans for the weekend, just want to chill out and do a bit of shopping in preparation for my trip in three weeks time! (Yeh, really really can’t wait!)

Hope everyone has a fab weekend!

Beverage Of the Month

I’ve been drinking quite a lot of rooibos tea lately and I just looove the sweet & nutty taste. I know in South Africa it is usually served with milk and sugar/honey but I love the flavour just as it is.

I did not know drinking rooibos tea can help health problems such as headaches, colic, asthma, hay fever and insomnia and it’s also good for skin conditions such as eczema! I had some rash near my collar bone and I could really see it was fading out as normally it would take quite a few weeks for it to disappear - in my case.

I’ve tried a few different brands and I have to say that my favourite so far is the Dragonfly Rooibos Earl Grey. The bergamont and rooibos just go so well together.

And one other good factor is that rooibos is organically grown and so here is one more reason that people should drink more of it!

Vinyasa In

Today the challenge was to land on the top of the feet rather than the ball of the feet when we jump in from downward dog so that we could progress and ultimately sit striaght on our bums when we do vinyasa in. It was not as tricky as I thought but my feet bloody hurt!

It’s always good to learn new things so that we know we are progressing.

However, this is all the yoga for this week as I am taking sis to the airport this Saturday! Oh and I already can’t wait for her to get back with all the goodies i.e. a couple of new moisturisers that I really would like to try!

Käsekuchen

Had some German cheesecake on the weekend and I have to say it was absolutely delightful. The cheesecake was made with a yeast dough bottom and in the cheese mix there were raisins and a light egg-white snow on top. What I enjoyed the most with this cake was that it was not too rich. Too often cheesecakes are uber rich and sweet and often give you a sickly feeling after a few bites.

One downfall is that…I had it AFTER the yoga class which just kind of defeated the purpose of exercising.

So I told myself that life is too short and there is nothing wrong to have treats every now and then, only the ‘every now and then’ just turns out to be every single weekends in my case.

But hey, what the heck! At least I enjoyed it!

My Mykonos

The weather over the weekend was absolutely beautiful and that just reminded the time we had in Greece last year. The sky was blue, the sea was blue, and the buildings were also blue and I am referring to Mykonos in particular. I know a lot of people don’t actually like the island because they think everything is all very commercialised and there isn’t much to do there. However, I really enjoyed my stay there, it’s a heaven for gay couples and we bumped into these cute couple and I swear that if I wasn’t there, my darling T would be dragged away. They were really coming onto him and did not stop saying how gorgeous he was. It was all rather entertaining.

Anyway, back to Mykonos – the pictures really say it all. I love the little alley ways; fascinating shops and friendly Greeks; not to mention the delicious food. I personally would highly recommend this island and I would definitely like to go back sometimes in the future.

My Mysore Class II

I am pleased to say that I actually did manage to go to the mysore class on Saturday morning and sweated throughout the two hours.

To be honest, I am not quite sure how to make of the class, or should I say, myself. I was in fact feeling quite energetic, or so I though but my body was quite tight. I wasn’t able to get into Marichasana D and it took me three attempts to do my head stand (against the wall of course but without any help). And one new thing I learnt was how to stand up from Urdhva Dhanurasana (back bend), it was really difficult as I had to find the ‘momentum’ to lift myself up.

However, the good thing is that I remembered all the asana. My hamstrings are still very tight and apart from practicing more I just have to live with it.

The thing I love about Ashtanga Yoga is that you really do learn about yourself and your body. It is always too easy to be over ambitious and competitive but in reality you truly have to be patient and get to know what you are good at and what your limitations are.

नमस्ते

The ''King of Asanas''

The ‘new’ posture we did today was Sirsasana – head stand. Well, I didn’t actually get into it as the class was too big and it was rather ‘unsafe ‘ to do it as everyone would just end up doing different things specially I’ve only did it once with help and also against the wall. Therefore we just tried ‘The Dolphin’. Hopefully my lazy butt would lift me up this Saturday morning to do mysore practice.

Sirsasana is known as the 'King of Asanas' because of its many benefits. Sitting and standing for most of the day causes circulation to become sluggish, so the heart has to work harder to pump sufficient blood to the upper parts of the body. Normally, the heart works against gravity; inverting the entire body lessens the strain on the heart, and allows a plentiful supply of oxygen-rich blood to reach the head and brain.

नमस्ते

What Exactly is Ashtanga Yoga?

I am supposed to learn this from the very beginning since it is after all, the foundation. Ashta = Eight, Anga = Limb; Yoga – Calmness of waves in the mind. I knew what Ashtanga meant but not in a great detail and had no idea what yoga meant. So when Iiling asked the class what exactly Ashtanga Yoga meant there was a long silence. In western countries, people tend to start with the third limb, Asana which is the postures.

Eight Limbs are:

Yama (moral observance)

Niyama (inner observance) A

sana (postures)

Pratyahara (breath control)

Dharana (sense control)

Dhyana (meditation)

Samadhi (contemplation)

It is ‘’not possible to practice the limbs and sub-limbs of yama and niyama when the body and sense organs are weak and haunted by obstacles’’ (Jois 2002 17). Therefore it is important to take up DAILY asana practice to make the body strong and healthy (Jois 2003 10). With the body and sense organs thus stablised, the mind can be steady and controlled (Jois 2002 16).

Hopefully I have not bored anyone but just thought it’d be nice to share the little something I learnt today.

नमस्ते

The Bloody Vehicle Clampers

Saturday morning started off nice and easy; the sun was shining; put on the tangerine top I bought; enjoyed the buzz of early spring feel and was looking forward to meet up with friends. Everything was going so well before we decided to go to the cinema to watch The Queen. It was then I found that my car was clamped! Yes and the penalty was £141!!!!! I was absolutely gobsmacked. The place I’d been parking for the last 5 years decided to charge cars parked on the premise without permits! What permits? The porter was off over the weekend and there was no way to obtain one. Long story short, we paid the fine but are trying to make an appeal. So we didn’t go to the film and the day ended with a huge cloud over my head.

So I decided to pig out on Sunday and hence we made some dumplings. Yes, dumpling…one of my favourites, they were juicy and comforting and almost healed the pain until I realised I had too much chilli in my dipping sauce!

It was certainly a bloody expensive lesson to learn as well as a dear weekend but hey ho, that’s life and life is tough.

Ashtanga Yoga Mantras

Today Iiling stressed again the importance of Ujjayi breath, Bandha and Drishti. I can do the Ujjayi Pranayama but tend to forget about it after Surya Namaskara A, which just isn’t right. Though I did find it easier to do it when I did mysore practice (the only one time..) as each postures needed to be counted so that you don’t forget how long you are actually into the posture.

I managed to do five Urdhva Dhanurasana (back bends) today and it was not as hard as I expected. Normally I would do two semi back bends and the three full ones but since I was actually feeling quite energetic today so I thought I should really push myself.

I also tried to do Vinyasa In ‘properly’ i.e. jumped with my bums as high as possible but still need a bit of practice.I was hoping to go for my second mysore practice this Saturday but since we are meeting up friends for a ‘footie brunch’, hopefully I will be able to make it next week…

नमस्ते