adriene mishler – Lessons I learned after I turned 30

Sofa, blankets and delicious food Friday

Happy September!

First day of September, first day of autumn. I can feel the cold already.

Since it was payday yesterday, Sheba and I carried on the celebrations with lunch at Rogues cafe. I wanted to visit for a while, since it has amazing reviews and today we finally made it.

And it didn’t disappoint.

It was quiet when we went, it was just us, which was awesome, we had the whole place for ourselves.

We grabbed some blankets they had in wooden crate at the entrance and sat at the largest, comfiest sofa of the cafe.

The staff were lovely, friendly and chatty. The waitress enjoyed the music as much as we did and we all hummed along to most songs. She’s one of us!

Sheba had the veggie breakfast and I had avocado, hummus with chilli flakes and a poached egg on sourdough bread.

It was delicious! The avocado was nice and soft, hummus was tasty, perfect amount of salt and lemon juice and the bread was probably the best bread I’ve tried in Southampton, fresh, warm and soft, so soft it melt in my mouth.

The quote written in chalk on the wall just opposite us definitely touched a chord.

‘Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible‘ by Frank Zappa

We had a great time. Sofa, blankets, delicious food and fun conversations with one of my favourite people. What else could I ask for.

Needless to say I definitely recommend Rogues Cafe. If you love homely vibes, delicious food and want to support the community and local independent shops, give it a go!

After I came back from lunch I saw a colleague who’s been battling cancer for a while. She’s been off sick for weeks and only popped in to grab something from her office. She looked weak and fragile. She reminded me of the last time I saw my aunt. Well the last time I saw her alive. Back in March, 2015. She had just finished a round of chemo and lost most of her hair. But at that point doctors were optimistic that she would get through it, but she didn’t believe it. I can’t stop thinking that she knew. She knew months before. God I miss her. I’ll always miss her. It’s sad and painful but I’m glad I remembered her. As long as we remember her, she lives through us.

After work I had my hairdressers appointment with the lovely Vicky at Haringtons. I love this place. I always look forward to it. Massage chair, a nice cup of tea, chatting and pampering. What else does a girl need!

And just finished the Love Vinyasa Flow session with Adriene. Day 1 of the Self Love themed month. Just what I needed! It might take me a bit longer to finish since I can’t follow the sessions on holiday but I’m confident it will be another amazing journey.

Now Pizza and Friends. Perfect end to the day.

September started well. I have high hopes! Every time I think of it Kodaline’s song comes to mind and I start singing

High hopes, it takes me back to when we started
High hopes, When you let it go go out and start again
High hopes, when it all comes to an end butt the world keeps spinning around…

I’ll try and post during the weekend before I sign off for a week or so for my holidays if I have something to share and if I get the time, so much to do!

Here’s to the weekend! Happy weekend beautiful people!

Namaste

Eleni

Yoga Tuesday

Today was emotional.

I have just finished my last session of my 31 day yoga revolution with Adriene Mishler. I started crying even before it started.

I can’t believe it’s been a month already.

It feels like yesterday I reluctantly decided to give it a go.

I never in a million years thought I’d stick to it, let alone I’d actually look forward to getting back on my mat every single day. It’s been the highlight of my day for the last month.

I’ve written all about it recently if you want to find out more.

Today is all about what I learned from it, besides strengthening my body, my balance, my posture. Besides the physical benefits of it.

I learned how to be aware, present in the moment.

I learned how to let all my worries and negative thoughts fly away whilst I concentrate on my breathing and my inner smile.

I learned to be more mindful and confident.

Above all I learned to love and care for myself. I learned to trust myself.

I feel I’ve grown so much within the last month, more I’ve grown over the last couple of years.

Yoga will always now be part of my life. And it’s all because of Adriene. I’ve been to yoga and pilates classes before but never grabbed me enough to keep going.

But Adriene with her wicked sense of humour, spontaneous singing, calmness and genuine love for what she does showed me the way.

Adriene, if you happen to read this, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I felt, as I’m sure thousands of people who have followed your yoga revolution programme have, the love and care you put into this.

I feel grateful, blessed and privileged I’ve been on this journey with you.

Namaste

Eleni

As you are

Good morning and happy Friday!

My favourite weekday.

Finally the weekend is upon us and today is all about loving yourself.

And it’s only in the last year or two that I finally accepted and loved myself. As I am. With all my imperfections. I wear my flaws on my sleeve, I wear them like diamonds.

Adriene’s yoga revolution over the last 25 days boosted my confidence and I was reminded again to love and care for my body, my spirit, my self. When I first started it I wasn’t sure about self hugs, and inhaling and exhaling love, finding my inner smile, but now I get it, I get it Adriene! And I love it.

I’m not saying much more today because one of my favourite contemporary writers Nayyirah Waheed (check her out) put it in words better than I ever could.

and Rag’nBone Man sang about it beautifully- my tune of the day.

Namaste

Eleni

Revolution-31 days of Yoga #Namaste

Good morning and Happy Sunday! God I love lazy Sunday mornings.

I’m very happy the sun decided to come out this weekend after a windy rainy week. British Summer eh.

I love my food and yesterday I enjoyed a Rubenesque toastie (I LOVE Sourdough bread) in the sun with a friend (at Mettricks Guildhall) which was too delicious not to share with you all.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXapVCzBapN/?taken-by=eleni_zenonos

I can talk about food for ever (I wish I could be a food blogger travelling around the world taking photos and tasting delicious local dishes, that’s the dream!) but today is all about the 31 day yoga programme I’m doing at the moment.

Is designed and run by Adriene Mishler, an American actress and yoga teacher and as the name suggests is daily yoga sessions for 31 days. Her Yoga Youtube channel has 2.4 million subscribers!!

It’s pretty amazing that thousands of people across the world including me tune in to Adriene’s channel every day and follow the same journey.

A friend told me about it a while ago and since I’ve tried yoga before and enjoyed it (although I still struggle with balance!) I thought I’d give it a go. I’m one of those people that feel that the world slows down when exercising and I’m clock watching eagerly waiting for the workout to end so I didn’t think I could commit and do it every single day.

BUT I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t give up, I’m on day 15 today and I absolutely love it.

Every session has a theme (yesterday was about forgiveness and today is on being fearless!!) and lasts for about half an hour. Time flies by and I never realise, that’s how good it is!

It is designed for everyone, from beginners like me to pros. Some of the poses can be challenging but as regularly mentioned at each session is not about nailing the pose. So if that put you off Yoga, give it another go, and shift your focus on relaxing and enjoying the mental and body exercise rather than perfect every pose.

Adriene is an awesome teacher. She is funny-her spontaneous singing and accidental innuendos make the practice even more fun-, she guides you through every pose and as she always says is not about getting it right or getting physically fit (although that’s definitely one of the perks that comes with it), but is practising the theme of each day and above all, although not explicitly said, mindfulness.

I’m a big advocate of mindfulness (I highly recommend A mindfulness guide for the Frazzled by Ruby Wax) but I found it hard to practise it. Well, not anymore!

Every time I get on my mat, after a minute or two I forget all my worries and things I have to do and I concentrate on my breath and being aware of every inch of my body. And miraculously all negative thoughts just disappear!

I felt the physical benefits from the first couple of days. My muscles across my body from legs to arms feel tighter and I’m aware of my posture almost all the time. AND my balance is getting better. I can’t wait to be able to do the tree pose without falling!

My daily session is on of my favourite times of the day and although there are days that I struggle and my balance and concentration are off, I look forward to it every day!

Yoga will definitely be part of my life from now on.

If you fancy giving it a go or you are just curious to find out more all details here and here.

I quite enjoy blogging lately and I’ll try and do it even more regularly.

I have no idea what my next post will be about though! If you have any ideas you are more than welcome to comment below.

Have a great Sunday!

Namaste