First class with HomYoga

Over the weekends, I got myself the prettiest pair & expensive HipWidth yoga apparels from HomYoga! I've been contemplating for a while because of the hefty price but there were no regrets after I tried it on. The material's so so good and cutting is great.

I wore it on my first 2 trial classes and the short was so comfortable for both heated (hot hatha) and non-heated (yin) practices. 

Since I was free and have been wanting to try yoga at Hom, I decided to register for two classes at Orchard, both by Daphne. I like how helpful and gentle she was-helping me to go deeper and also correcting my posture. The yin is a non heated class which really helps to stretch every single muscles in the body. We had to hold long in poses and in some, I almost died. By the time I finished hot hatha, I was shakey from the stretching. I left the place a happy yogi satisfied with my Saturday :)

Made myself a hearty sandwich above, which was perfect for before my classes, here's what you need simply:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 avocado
• 1 tomato
• 2 slices of bread
• pepper

Slice the avocado and tomato. Slap it in between the bread, sprinkle some pepper and ready to eat. 

Till I try the hot hom & hot flow series :)

Breakfast x Banana Oats Pancake

I'm so pumped that weekends is here and all I'm thinking about is breakfast for tomorrow. 

Pancakes has always been one of my to-eat list on a weekends. I used to always turn to McDonald Hotcakes and somehow I don't really fancy it now. After all, McDonald is a still fast food restaurant. I decided to make some pancakes off a healthy recipe found online with some tweaks to it.

I added my overripe bananas into the raw oat flours and yoghurt as dressing. 

Blueberries as toppings are always the best, filled with anti-oxidants. My fridge are always filled with these. Yums

Ingredients:

• 1 banana mashed
• 1/2 cup of dry rolled oats, grounded into flour
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk
• Yoghurt (any of your choice)
• Blueberries

Steps:

• Grind the rolled oats using a food processor into flour bits and mash the banana. Mix the 2 ingredients and add milk in. Stir until well blended. 
• Start cooking with pan. Pour in some oil on low to medium heat and scoop the batter onto it. Wait for a few minutes, flip and it's done!
• Toppings: I used 1/2 cup of blueberries, heat in small saucepan for about 3-5 minutes.
• Pour on some Greek yoghurt and your toppings, ready to serve!

This recipe makes about 3 pancakes and I was satisfied for the day! However, the taste got a little 'gelat' so I'll recommend you not to mash the banana in and add it as toppings instead :)

Now I'm off to bed and have a great weekend!

Learn to move with ease

 I'mmaaa back from Vietnam!

My trip to Ho Chi Minh City was definitely an eye opener... I'm happy to be living in Singapore :) No, don't get me wrong, I like being in that city but I just felt that we've so so so much more here and I'm truly and ever grateful for that. 

I miss my SG practices after spending the weekends away and decided to book my first non-heated yin-yang class with Renu at Anahata after work today. It was just a small class with 7 people and I like how Renu speaks with clarity. There's always a war between my mind and poses during my practices. I realised I have difficulties alot of times trying to maintain my poses and to follow what the teacher is saying (i.e. inhale and you do this, exhale and you do that) but with small classes, it's only exception that the teacher gets more opportunities to correct your postures and we have fun!

Yin Yang class is a perfect blend of deep stretches, also known as Yin Poses, and Yang poses (muscular strengthening), practiced in a non-heated room. My first thought was "cool, will be a breeze for me" but boy, I was wrong. I left the class with achy thighs from the really deep and long (we hold up to 2 minutes!) stretches as compared to my regular hot classes despite not sweating at all (cooling rainy day perhaps) 

I still prefer hot classes but I had a rather interesting takeaway from today's class. I guess it's good to go back to basics and beginner class once in a while since it requires additional level of explanation that all levels of teaching can benefits from :)

Probably try Power and Hot Vinyasa someday!

We all have dreams

I've always been a fan of Tara Stiles. I enjoy watching her YouTube yoga videos, reading her blog, weekly updates and tweets! She's such an inspirational lady. Very randomly this morning, I took my first chance to respond to one of her tweets and she replied!

 

Ohhh, She's coming to Singapore??? I was so stoked upon seeing this, and now I know that she's coming to lead yogabythesea organized by Shape. I'm definitely signing up for this :)

IOff to Ho Chi Minh City in 7 hours time and guess what I've managed to squeeze into one of our itinerary? Yes, a Yoga class!! So excited about it, and I hope to have a taste of real good pho. 

Till then!

Where to start.

Haha, that's true. The first post is always the hardest.

Hmmm..I've always been more of a runner than yogi until the late recent. I've been doing yoga on-and-off and have only been attending yoga classes regularly about once a week from about Feb/Mar. I kinda got hooked on my practices and started practising more from twice a week to about 3 times a week now.

To incorporate so many classes within a week is not easy because I lived by the OL life from Mon-Fri but these days, it's a part of me - a form of escape and therapy which makes me feels good and alive!

Obviously after practising regularly, I've found so much benefits in it.

1. Patient
In every class, there's no place to go other than our mat. The art of holding and balancing a pose is not as easy as you think! Yoga has taught me to focus on my breathing, let go of the outcome and surrender to the present moment. This applies in life.

2. Improve my concentration
When our mind gets distracted, it's hard for us to focus. In yoga, we're taught to take our attention to a single point of focus. We're always reminded to come back to our breathe (and this is something I always forget!) Through my practices, I started to watch my breathe through my pose and truly, my concentration skills has started to improve.

3.  Letting go 
When I enter my studio and step onto my mat after a long, tired, difficult day, my emotions would be fixed. Practice helps my mind to slowly let go of the stale thoughts and feel light.

4. The sweat!
I love to sweat. In yoga, the sweatier the better. This is especially true when doing Bikram. I am always amazed by the amount of sweat dripping down my chin, thighs and body at the end of class. Yoga sweat makes me feels gloriously feminine.

5. Everyday is different
It's very true in one class I find myself extremely strong and flexible and in the next, there's immense struggle - the struggle to stay on 1 leg, the struggle to hold on warrior poses. Our practices are constantly evolving, I've learn that we're cyclical and not fixed. It never ends and that's a gift.

There are so much more benefits and the list goes on. I'm still in the amidst of learning about yoga, embracing and learning about myself.

I hope to find more yogis in Singapore and let's have some fun doing practices together! ;)

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