If you’ve never heard of 5 Rhythms before then neither had I before last week. I found out about it through a friend who I guess is even kookier than me (you know who you are and you know that I love your kooky self!). So when he invited me to the dance class I gave a shy little “sure” before wondering what on earth I had got myself in to.

I ended up dragging along my entire household plus one more. So our little group of six turned up to the class a little unsure of what to expect.

When we turned up the hall was full of about thirty lovely people warming up and moving along to the gentle music that was playing. We were instructed not to speak with each other after we’d entered the hall so this amped up my vulnerability a little. A couple of my house mates have just returned from a long holiday in India where they attended very similar dance events so they very naturally and confidentially joined the class and started to move along to the music with their own movements.

But then something very unusually wonderful happened. Within less than five minutes my vulnerability and shyness were completely gone. I then felt completely safe to move my body to the music in any way that I wanted to. This feeling of freedom was incredibly beautiful and I started to dance around the room with a huge smile on my face. And then the night just kept getting better and better.

One of the most wonderful things about 5 Rhythms Dance is the amount of exercise you get. We danced for a solid two and a half hours. The music changed throughout the evening so at times we were all moving quite slowly, but most of the time we were using just about every muscle in our body.

In fact, there was one exercise that we shared with a partner. We formed pairs and while one danced the other observed. The observer had to tap the dancer on any body part that wasn’t moving …this meant that our ENTIRE bodies had to be moving at all times. This was an interesting way to learn what parts of my body were stiff, and what parts of my body I don’t normally use in Dance. It was also a beautiful way to work and use all those tiny little muscles in my body that are normally not touched.

I love, love, love to dance even though I’m not a trained dancer. So the evening was such a gift to me. By the end of the class I was feeling hot and sweaty but also incredibly high. My friends all felt the same. For each of us it was our first time at a 5 Rhythms Dance and we all had such an incredibly wonderful experience.

I’m definitely going back when I can. And I’m so happy the universe has presented me with a super fun way to exercise (even though it’s more than that). I set a strong intention a few weeks ago to find another form of exercise that was in a group and was fun, and here it is.

I guess I should also add before I finish off this post that 5 Rhythms Dance isn’t all about exercise. It can be a very spiritual experience. It can also be a way to release stored up emotions, and lets be honest – we all have those.

I personally didn’t feel as though I released any stored up emotions in the Wave class we did on Saturday night, but a friend of mine did. He spent quite a bit of time during the dances releasing emotion through crying. It’s actually quite wonderful how this space allows us to release anything, including emotion through something like crying without it being a problem. Anyone dancing can feel completely safe to express themselves in any way that they feel they want or need to, as long as it’s not violent or harmful to others.

There are also three levels of 5 Rhythms Dance, and we were dancing at level 1 which is the Physical. The second level is the emotional so when I try that one perhaps some emotions will bubble their way up to the surface. I guess in a way I kind of want that to happen because it seems like a very warm and supportive environment to be able to release stored up emotions. Much more beautiful than being alone anyway

If you want to check out 5 Rhythms Dance, did a Google search for classes near you because they are all over the world. From just a quick look on the net I’ve found classes in New York and London. If you’re in Brisbane or Mullumbimbi, check out Deva Nandan’s class here- 5 Rhythms Dance with Deva Nandan.

I used to be a fit little bunny and I felt so healthy and so clear on the inside for it.

So my mission over the next few weeks is to get back into a routine of regular exercise and reclaim that level of fitness back!

Jogging always seems like the easiest option because you can do it from the front door of your house and all your really need is a pair of running shoes. But if you’re like me then you’re already huffing and puffing half way down the street and are seriously wondering why you even thought about this jogging idea in the first place.

So what if I was to tell you that there’s a program that guarantees you will be running 5km (or 30 minutes) non-stop without breaks after only nine weeks? And the best part is – this program is a free coaching program on the net. Where would we all be without the Internet??

Couch to 5k in 9 weeks

I have my beautiful friend from Sydney, Kris, to thank for this one. She’s never thought of herself as a jogger, but she’s already into week four and loving it!

The couch to 5k program is a beginners running program that has helped thousands of people get into the habit of regular exercise. It’s even transformed a few couch potatoes into recreational marathon runners.

You see, the problem we all make with running when we first start is going too fast and too hard. The only way you’re going to learn how to jog for 30 minutes non-stop is to slowly ease yourself into it. This means combining walking with jogging, then gradually reducing the amount of walking and increasing the amount of jogging over the nine week period. By the end of a couple of months you’ll be running for about 30 minutes non-stop which is really cool.

There’s a lot of information on the net about the program. You can just go off the running schedule provided, or you can download a podcast. I hear some podcasts request a fee but the free stuff is just as good so go with your own intuition there.

This is the link to the official C25K website by Cool Running – http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

And here is an awesome site I found which has links to all the different C25K podcasts and downloads on the net – http://www.c25k.com/

Why exercise helps our skin

One of the biggest causes of acne and premature aging is stress. From personal experience, I have found that in times of high stress, anxiety or depression regular exercise helps a lot. If not anything scientific, it’s a great way just to clear your mind and feel good about yourself.

After you get your courage up (maybe 9 weeks down the track!) you can also join a running group which is a great way to enjoy your exercise more because you get to chat and be social while you’re doing it. I love my rollerblading group, sometimes even when I don’t want the exercise I still go just to hang out and be social.

If running is something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t been able to get yourself motivated enough, I highly recommend this program. I used to attempt jogging several years ago so would have benefited very much from this program, but I’ve since discovered yoga, rollerblading and laps in the pool which are my preferred methods of exercise.

Couch to 5k however has made me very curious and I have always wanted to be able to run for 30 minutes non-stop without feeling like I’m dying so who knows …maybe I’ll be running 5k soon too!

It was silly of me really. I should have taken something else out of my bag so that it would fit, because I like to do a lot of yoga, and I had every intention of doing a daily yoga practice, even while I was traveling.

My friend Cathy advised me in Brisbane to buy a travel yoga mat that I could easily fold up and take with me in my bag. If I’d been properly prepared for my trip I would have taken her advice and bought one. Unfortunately yoga stores are few and far between in Brisbane so I left for overseas minus a yoga mat.

It wasn’t until I was in a bookstore in Chicago two months later (and a lot of doing yoga on a borrowed mat or towel) that I stumbled across one of those fold up travel yoga mats that Cathy was talking about. It had a sticky grippable surface on one side and a nice soft surface on the other. It was a perfect size for carrying around with me while I was traveling, so I grabbed it off the shelf. Definitely worth the US$30 price tag.

If you want to check out the Gaiam travel mat I bought, you can visit the Gaiam website.

But sadly the travel mat just wasn’t good enough …

So the time came when I’d settled in Canada (in a house with a hard wooden floor) that I badly missed my nice soft yoga mat at home in Brisbane. My travel mat was great for fitting in my luggage and nice to use on the soft grass in the back yard, but damn it was uncomfortable to use in the house on the hard floor. There were certain asanas that I had to just leave out because they were just too painful, and it’s not that grippable so my hands or feet occasionally would slip.

I could have just gone off to the shop and bought a new cheap mat …but my conscious wouldn’t let me. I didn’t like the idea of so easily disposing of something so big and contributing to land fill once I left Canada and yet again couldn’t fit the mat into my suitcase.

So if I were to buy a new ‘real’ yoga mat, I would have to buy one that:

• Was made out of recycled materials
• Was recyclable
• Did not cost a lot, because I’m a traveler and on a budget

The problem was, all eco friendly yoga mats that I found cost CA$60, which was way more than my allocated yoga mat budget. Even the online prices seemed to mirror the store prices that I found.

After a couple of frustrating yoga sessions at home, I just gave in and made the decision that I was just going to have to pay the extra price to buy a new yoga mat. It was just too difficult to do yoga in the house and I couldn’t continue to do it in the backyard because it was raining a lot and there’s loads of bugs out there that crawl on me and itch.

So I took myself off to a meditation store close by that I love, and felt kind of okay giving them the money for my mat because it was a beautiful little family owned shop with a great cause.

Maybe the universe was shining down on me that day, I don’t know, because I was so lucky to find my perfect yoga mat in the store. A mat that wasn’t there when I’d looked two weeks ago, and just happened to be the last one left. Not only was this mat made out of recycled materials, but it was also recycleable, and much cheaper than the ‘usual’ eco mat price of CA$60. My new mat cost me CA$45.

Here is my video review of my two yoga mats:

Now I’m a happy little yogini with my two perfect yoga mats. Owning two is a little excessive, and I don’t know what I’m going to do when I travel again. But for now I’m so yoga happy

Fran

So I did yoga on the bare sand in Fiji, yoga on a towel in our hotel room in Waikiki, and yoga on the carpet of our apartment in Vancouver. Fortunately I’ve been staying with family in Toronto who’s house came equipped with yoga mats, but on Monday I’ll be on the road again and I do not want to do yoga on a slippery towel.

If you’re wondering what’s with this obsession I have with yoga and what the heck does it have to do with skin care, well …yoga is pretty much the answer to everything [including clearing acne] and apart from all the other benefits that I get from doing as much yoga as I can, I do notice an improvement in my skin when I follow a disciplined yoga practice.

The hunt

So a yoga mat should be easy peasy to buy right? Well you’d think so. But of course I started thinking about the environment, and uncessesary waste, and how buying another yoga mat is just contributing to land fill. So then I found these ‘eko’ mats. Yoga mats that are made out of recyclable and biodegradable material. What a perfect yoga mat to buy, and how very yogini of me.

However, the problem with these eko mats unfortunately are the price. To save the environment it’s going to cost me a bit of money. A regular yoga mat costs around CA$30, but a environmentally friendly mat will cost around CA$50. I’m a struggling traveller at the moment so I don’t really have that extra $20 to spend!

And then I started thinking about the size of the mat. If I’m travelling with a yoga mat, it’s going to have to fit inside my suitcase isn’t it. So none of these luxurious extra thick comfy yoga mats for me. Oh no, I’m going to have to get the slim line version that squeezes comfortably into my travel bag.

So then I found these mats called ’skidless’ which are really just non-slip towels. They’re designed to go over a yoga mat to soak up sweat and make sure you don’t slip, but I think you can use them for travel as well. The problem is, I’d have to make sure there’s carpet in every place I stayed because it will be too thin on any other surface.

Yoga Pawz

While I was reading my fav yoga magazine The Yoga Journal (yes I am a yoga nerd), I found an advertisement for yoga gloves. These are gloves you wear on your hands and feet that can be used in replacement of a yoga mat. They’re made out of the same kind of stuff, but instead of carrying a mat around, you just carry around these gloves. Sounds okay but if they’re anything like my rollerblading wrist guards, they’ll be really smelly and a little distracting after a few uses. And it just doesn’t seem very …yogi normal.

Hmm, I don’t know what it is but these glove thingys just don’t seem quite right to me. Maybe it just feels too sporty and not spiritual enough? But a great idea, and if I can’t find a mat small enough to fit into a bag, yoga pawz it is.

Fran