Yoga Beginnings

I decided to begin venturing into the practice of yoga. This is something I have been wanting to do for quite some time. I am no stranger to movement, as I have spent over a decade practicing ballet. Although lately, my body has been dormant, lacking variety of motion. The reason I want to incorporate yoga into my daily life is to give my body the opportunity to move and stretch in ways that will open up stagnant areas, rushing in higher amounts of nutrient-rich blood. This will cleanse the body, preventing long-term build up which may lead to disease. Many of us position our bodies in the same set of positions every day, decreasing blood flow to certain areas. I have some of my own problem areas that I feel could become worse if I let them remain immobile for the next ten years. I have the chance to extend my time here on earth by changing and enhancing some of the things I do everyday such as yoga and my diet. All of this is directly leading me to a greater state of mind, happiness, and inner peace. 

I found an amazing series on Youtube to officially begin my journey into yoga. It is a 30 day Yoga Camp lead by Yoga with Adriene. I have already completed the first two days. She really warms you into the practice perfectly. It is hard to describe her amazing method of instruction, but I will say that she leads you from one movement to the next very naturally, including daily mantras that truly provide mental therapy along with the physical. She knows what you are thinking and she addresses those thoughts from a quirky, lovable and wise perspective. In your own home, you are ushered from the beginning of your journey through to the end, where you are left feeling stronger, activated and at peace. Following her instruction, I have found myself sleeping much better, especially with a steaming, candlelit bath afterwards. Every day I look forward to starting the next yoga camp video because I know that she is going to challenge me just a little bit more than the last video. Productivity is something that has increased in my life since I began my practice in yoga. Everything has been better.

A few days ago I got in the car, drove to Five Below, a store with various items all priced $5 and below. They have a pretty nice basic exercise equipment section. I purchased a yoga mat and two blocks. I began yoga that very day. Purchasing those three items was the small push I needed to jump right in and begin this journey. I did not spend a lot of money on a mat or blocks to start because I always have the option to upgrade once I feel that I have earned it. But I may just keep these, they are good quality materials. The reason I bring this up is to say that I did not let the desire of acquiring fancy yoga equipment, apparel, or studio membership keep me from starting my journey. Spend no more than 15 bucks and work with Adriene. Simple.

Lola Loves

Trying Not To Care As Much

So I have a problem. That problem is that I care way too much about every detail of everything. Usually when it comes to work ethic and the quality of the projects I complete, this excruciating attention to detail pays off very well for my reputation. But one thing that I have come to realize is that it holds me back more than it propels me forward. I tend to view myself on a scale. And right now I feel like I am far right of center. There is another side of me that resides far left of center, and I have no idea where she is. I need to find some sort of balance so that I can get right back to the middle. That sweet spot where there is perfect balance usually reaps the most benefit for me in anything that I do.

When I am too laid back, I get nothing done. When I am too uptight, I get nothing done. It's all the same! I figure that the best practice to find balance is to create action with the energy that I am trying to get more of. The more energy I can wind up, the more I can move myself with that energy closer to the center. I need to do more spontaneous, less thought out, less caring things. So that I can balance the other side. If I go too far, then I will need to fix that as well. I'm hoping this works. This post actually is the first pulse of energy that I am putting out to get myself back to center. I didn't plan this, and I am putting up a random picture of a light bulb I took. Boom!

 Zanz

Last Week in Photography

I'm off work for the week! I am so happy to be off. This will give me time to catch up on my blogosphere and get my life together. Last week was jam packed full of events and I was able to get a few things photographed. We went out to a bar the other night. A nice chill spot. Sticking with the group order, I tried some carbomb situation and it was ghastly. I could barely get down a sip and they they started chanted MORGAN! MORGAN! causing such a loudness of cheering me on to drink, that I had no choice but to slide down and hide under the bar in shame. lol I still couldn't drink it. 

The picture above is the side of an awesome building. You just don't get to see sides of buildings that look like this often. 

I am starting to build a collection of reflective shots of myself through windows. This particular shot picked up on the reflection as well as through the glass into the building. This one is a little creepy and cool because of how some of the shot makes it look like there are holes through my eyes, but that's just a view through the glass.  

New poster I bought. Still have to get it measured for a frame. I'll be putting this one in my blue room, but I tacked it on to a wall just to see how it looked. 

I'm so exhausted...I need to figure something out. I'm not operating at good levels of efficiency. I feel like I just kind of sit there soaking in my exhaustion, eyes getting heavy like how they used to in my three hour long business finance class. But I have many things to do, people to email, and projects to complete. Let's go coffee!

Z

Been So Busy. Peanut Brittle and a Toothpick.

I came across some sketches I did about four years ago to increase my shading skills, then I decided to take some pictures of it. This actually has nothing to do what I am writing about today. I have not been on my blog in a good amount of days. I had a college homecoming two weeks ago, which was amazing (and freezing cold). This past week was my beautiful little sister's birthday, she came down from school and we had an awesome time. I have been working as usual during the day. Then doing multiple projects on top of that. I usually rotate my time from one thing to the next. (Which also and quite frequently parallels with me not being able to stick to just one project at a time.)

I want to draw, and take pictures. I want to read beautiful literature in the tub and then go into a writing craze. I want coffee. I want a COFFEE MAKER. I want more of that sea salt caramel pretzel ice cream I got from Target. The churn consistency was perfection. That really does make a difference. The only thing that would make it even more spectacular is if there was even more of a crunch factor. Some of those pretzel pieces softened up a bit. I would personally add a nice bit toffee. Or what about peanut brittle type situations? I grew up on that stuff. My grandpa always had a box lying around. My country papa...miss him I do. Yep peanut brittle. And a toothpick..

Zi

Wunderlist: My Favorite To Do List App

I have to confess, that I am an avid To Do Lister. Why? Because without writing every task down that I need to get done, I won't get anything done. Strangely, it's those who have the most trouble doing things in life who are the ones who need to do extra steps in getting things accomplished.

I have downloaded many different applications on my iPhone for the purposes of task organization, and Wunderlist by far is the best app that I have come across so far. Now I will never give up my classic pen to paper methods, it's just that I go through so much paper that it gets a bit insane. I write so much that I will use up every piece of computer paper in the house, every notebook will be filled, every index card, post it note, etc...



Anyways, this app was a miracle for me. I love that my information transfers instantly from computer to phone. It is beautifully designed. You can invite other people to be a part of the list. You can add notes to the lists and reminders that go off on your phone. I love the sound it makes when you complete a task. I always feel so accomplished as it keeps me always moving forward.

I just recently discovered more information regarding the creation of public lists. It's a feature I think I would like to try out possibly in conjunction with my blog. When I am not creating to do lists for the purposes of productivity, I love making lists organizing thoughts, likes, dislikes, favorites and so on. Even in my every day life, I tend to group similar things together all around the house.

It puts my mind at ease and makes me happy. This is the same for pretty much anything. So I think I will publish a public list to share on my blog/social media. It will either be a list of movies, products, maybe even a comedic list of pet peeves. I really shouldn't be this excited...but I am. They talk about public lists here in this video...



Sometimes I find myself drifting off into random thoughts forgetting what I was doing and whenever that happens I just go to my Wunderlist app and figure out what I need to do. I have an ever evolving list for groceries, a general daily to do list, a future goals list, a blog to do, and I even have an aspects of my dream life list.

Anything I can think of is in list form and neatly organized amazingly on this app. I love it love it love it. You can email a list, print a list, change up your backgrounds. They offer a lot of little things you can do within the app and even more with the version that you can upgrade to. I love the user-friendliness of Wunderlist.  It just makes me genuinely happy thinking about it. It's like I know there is order to my chaos, and order gives me peace.

Go to your app store on your mobile device or check out the website here to sign up and start listing!

Z

Finding Sanctuary and Creating Happiness

There are a lot of things I want out of life. Including the freedom from dealing with backwards hierarchies, politics and the power to control the parts of my own existence that are within my grasps. It takes a lot of patience dealing with situations that you know you have no business being in, but sometimes, life puts you in places that only set you up for bigger things.

Since frustration breeds motivation, you finally decide to define your goals in life, make a plan, and begin executing each step towards your dreams. Since every seed takes time to grow, it is important that we set ourselves up to be happy during the wait. I realized that sanctuary is necessary for any person to maintain sanity and peace. Sanctuary is a place you can create specifically tailored just for you.

Sanctuary, as I observed from A Series of Unfortunate Events, should be accessible to you no matter what situation you are in. It can be as small or as large as it needs to be. I started to think about some other sanctuaries I've seen. For example, my dad's sanctuary consists of a decently sized TV, football games, a comfortable chair and air conditioning. Even on the smallest level, if he has just a radio to listen to a baseball game and a view of nature (whether it be the trees or the lake) he can find his peace.

My dad, Sekou Malik, at one of his favorite places in Lake Erie. 

My grandmother's sanctuary seems to be surrounded with lots of flourishing plants, flowers and bright colors. I did a full photography spread on her beautiful garden, and the first photo in this post is actually from her garden as well as is the following photo. Something about the beautiful colors gives her peace, and the fact that when my mother was alive, she was the one that bought all of the flowers that make up this garden. Her true sanctuary rests in her big comfortable bed reading the Word of God, which gives an unparalleled amount of peace to those who seek it.

My usual sanctuary is when I am in the bathtub. I light candles or incense. I have a whole set up which truly gives me great joy and relaxation. I have been making plans to expand my sanctuary to my bedroom, giving it a full redesign making it the perfect getaway. My own wonderland. I also love to incorporate teas and literature into my atmosphere. On the most basic level, I am happy reading with dim lighting and candles. I'm all about the lighting. It calms me and soothes my spirit. I also find great peace looking out my window to see blue skies and bright green treetops.

Why am I doing all of this? Because without the small things that give me joy on a daily basis, I will easily get caught up gazing into the future waiting for the harvest of all my work. Have you ever tried sitting and watching a plant grow? I would assume it's quite agonizing. We mustn't forget to live in the present while striving for the future. I've realized the more ambitious you are, the more your world revolves around the future and not the here and now.

My mother died a few years ago at the age of 46. She was in the middle of a home renovation when she passed out, never to be the same again. She had plans after plans made and ready to go. As accomplished as she was at the time, there was always more to achieve. There will always be more to accomplish as we humans are plagued with a rabbit hole that keeps our race thrusting forward into existence. Life is truly about balance. Once you learn the art of balance, you will have mastered your universe. Find your sanctuary. Create your happiness today, and continue pushing towards tomorrow.

Aziza