When I grow up....

My article on Philip Askew on the Africa yoga Project page:)

WHEN I GROW UP, I WANT TO BE PHILLIP ASKEW

AYP had the pleasure of hosting Phillip Askew in Kenya during the first week of November. Personally, I had never heard about him but I was ready or so I thought.
His way of teaching is quite different and that is the one class where I can openly admit to having done watch poses, as Moses calls them, for half the class. I was not alone, at least, because there’s something about having everyone making hilarious effort towards flowing during a yoga class. At the end of the class, I had one word for it- Murder.
But I did wonder what it would take to move my yoga practice to the next level. I appreciate the fact that Phillip is absolutely talented and I am positive it takes a lot of practice to get there. People have varying reasons for doing yoga- my reasons have evolved over the two year period that I have done yoga. I can barely do a wheel (I feel so heavy and can’t lift myself upJ ) Once during community class, I fell over forwards on someone else trying to do a headstand without a wall for support, and I realized I just was not ready to do that pose just yet. Thankfully no one got hurt, but it did make for a funny moment there. What’s life if you can’t take a few moments to laugh at yourself, right?
But after Phillip’s class, I could do a shoulder stand, transition it into a bridge pose, move it up a notch to a cow pose and do the basic of all basic wheel poses. Oh, not forgetting a headstand on my forearms…with the wall for support of course! How is that for progress?
I did some research on Phillip; turns out he has 11 years of yoga practice under his belt. When I found that out, I laughed because it made sense now that he is so good and flexible and can really fly.
 But, thank you Phillip Askew for showing me what my yoga practice can evolve into! I only hope I can get there much sooner.

Check it out here

Vegetable salsa

This is one of the easiest salads to prepare. I love salads, they add color and flavour and jazz up the plainest of meals.

Here's what you need:

• Avocado, diced
• Tomatoes, diced or quartered (as you wish)
• Onions ( I prefer mine sliced into half rings- it looks nicer)
• Cucumber, diced
• Capsicum, sliced
• Dhania (optional)

For the dressing:

• Natural yoghurt
• Honey 
• Sage (or oregano, thyme, marjoram...in short, any herb that tickles your fancy:)

How to:

• Mix together all the vegetables
• Mix the ingredients for the salad dressing and pour over the vegetables
• Toss lightly and allow to sit for a few minutes so that the flavours can intergrate
• Serve up and enjoy

•  I am thinking of using this to create a sandwich with either fried or boiled egg. Should be     interesting!
• You can also add lettuce leaves if you like.

Colour blocking made simpler...

The weather of late has been a bit unpredictable, which makes dressing a hassle. The key is wearing pieces that you can easily take off as the weather changes- in this case I opted for the Ethiopianesque scarf and the coral sweater cinched in with a yellow belt, against a white background and goldish ballerinas.

Life becomes simply colorful that way:)

What has made you smile?

Outfit roundup!

Practising my fierce pose!

Cerise or raspberry or pink?

Love the backdrop!

I hadn't noticed how lovely the back of this dress is, i.e. low cut!

Silver gifted chain and fox earrings...metal contrast!

Monday morning thoughts

Binspired!

(find it here)

What are you choosing in this moment?

Day 4 of the Meditation Challenge and today was essentially about pure consciousness and choice. One word that really struck me was that potentiality simply means ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!Choice, I believe, is God's way of giving us power. Think about it- you get to decide, you give the call, you say what you want, you are basically in charge (which by the way is a topic for another day)
So why are we so afraid of making choices? Maybe because we are scared we will make the wrong one. Or we just don't want to do it because it means we have to confront other (imaginary or real)   issues. One of the quickest ways to create lasting change is to examine what you are choosing at each moment. For example, if you are stuck in traffic, you could honk as loud as you want, assuming the other driver will hear you and honk back :P or you could choose to look at that time as reflection mode. I remember once when I was a train and out of the blue two women started going at each other like a pack of cats. Not pretty!
Reclaim your power by embracing your power of choosing new thoughts and ways to react and see what difference it makes!