Yoga tattoos

There are so many different types of people in my Bikram classes; lawyers, teachers, models, students; and I'm always surprised that so many of us have tattoos!

I got my first tattoo about 3 years ago now, and I'm looking for some yogi inspiration for a next one. Here's what I've got so far...

Tree tattoos

Elephant tattoos

Om tattoos

Yin Yang tattoos

What do you think?

x 

Inspiration not comparison

It can be very easy to judge yourself in a Bikram class. It's taken a lot of practise, but I've eventually learnt to let go of judging myself in the mirrors and comparing myself to others. 

When I see a student in a beautiful Standing Bow or perfect Tree Pose, I try and take inspiration from them in the knowledge that I will get there in my future practise. 

Namaste x

Let's blame this Standing Bow on on the Sangria...

Luxury in Penha Longa

Hello! I'm just back from a week of indulgence and luxury at the Penha Longa golf and spa resort in Portugal. It was an amazing holiday and I'm sad to be home, however I ate WAY too much so now it's time for a detox. I think I might do a 30 day Bikram yoga challenge...stay tuned!

My week in exercise

Not my best efforts this week. My social life got in the way somewhat! However, I did manage to get out for a few runs, yay! This is how my week looked...

Monday: Cake 1 - Exercise 0.

Tuesday AM: Bear Complex WOD followed by a short TRX workout

Tuesday PM: 4 mile run. This marks my first training run for October's half marathon!

Wednesday: 7am Bikram class. I find the morning classes SO much harder than evening ones! I definitely have a better class when I've warmed up throughout the day. 
However, everyone has a bad class from time to time - my workmate left the below on my screen later that day - definitely words to live by!

Thursday: One of my very good friends had a leaving party last night. I think I got home around 4ish...? Did not feel my usual fresh self which resulted in a rest day, again!

Friday AM: PT Mike's park session in the middle of a thunder and lightening storm. Quote of the session: "If it ain't raining, it ain't training!"

Friday PM: Bikram. Possibly my best class to date, everything fell into place and it was beautiful!

Saturday AM: Quick 5km run before making the long drive from London to Scotland

Sunday: A day spent catching up with family. A good number of biceps curls achieved through wine consumption.

I go to Portugal this week. The resort we're staying at has some good running routes and yoga classes, so hopefully I can keep up the good work!

Taking the leap

As I mentioned in my last post, it's been a crazy busy week. This is mainly because on Wednesday I handed in my notice! Eeeek!

In October, Craig and I will leave to go travelling for a few months and in the New Year we'll start our next chapter and I'll begin pursuing my Bikram teaching dream!

It's scary/exciting/overwhelming but I know it's the best decision for me. 

My perfect day off

Sorry for the radio silence this week - I have absolutely no idea where the time has gone! I've got lots of things to share, but first my perfect day off from Monday...

To start, I made my way to the City for a power breakfast with my Aunt and Cousin.

The best breakfast in London, courtesy of Hawksmoor

Then it was off for facials at the Landmark. It's such a gorgeous hotel, and they use ESpa products which are my favourite for facials. We lounged around in their relaxation room for hours reading and chatting, then it was time to get ready for our next stop!

Spa selfie

Feeling thoroughly pampered, we headed to the Berkeley Hotel for their famous 'Fashionista' Afternoon Tea, where all their cakes are inspired by the season's catwalk shows. We gorged on Manolo Blahnik biscuits and Balenciaga cakes - and a hell of a lot of champagne - until way into their dinner service, oops!

So many beautiful cakes!

And far too much champagne...

Treats for the cab journey home!

 It was such a perfect day off, I can't wait for our next one! 

What makes your perfect day off? 

My week in exercise

So I covered exactly 0 miles in training this week, oops! I have to dig deep and start half marathon training next week - wish me luck!

Monday - I was meant to get up early to do some sprint training with the girls. Instead I stayed in bed and they did a killer session. So as a punishment to myself a picked a horrible looking WOD for an after work punishment.

20 mins AMRAP

250m row

15 o/h squats

I HATE rowing, hence the punishment!

I think I managed 7 rounds. I couldn't keep up the o/h squats on 15kgs so I alternated with deadlifts/thrusters etc. and did 20 reps instead of 15 to make up for it.  

Next time, I'll just get my arse out of bed!

Tuesday - We picked 2 WOD's (see here) and did them back-to-back. This was a really tough session with lots of lifting. I went to Bikram in the evening to stretch out my sore muscles and it felt great.

Wednesday - Today was TLC for my muscles - lots of yoga and foam rolling. I have a massive love/hate relationship with my foam roller, it's so sore but so beneficial! 

Thursday - Another crossfit session which I picked up from one of my favourite blogs, Peanut Butter Runner, the girls and I really enjoyed this session and will definitely be doing it again in a month or so to try and beat our scores. 

Friday - Park session with PT Mike. PT Mike actually had to cancel last minute, so being keeno's we put ourselves through 10 minutes of suicides and a full seal circuit. Although Mike would have also put us through a load of sprint training, which we did leave out! Who can voluntarily sprint train without a big PT shouting in their ear?!

Saturday - Friday night was a heavy one. Enough said. 

Sunday - An afternoon Bikram class followed by a swim at my local lido. 

Now I'm off to try a few paleo baking projects which I'll share with you later if I'm successful! 

It's T minus 5 days until my holiday in Portugal and I can't wait to chill out in the sun! It's been too long since I was last away!