Yoga Babe Crushes: Tara Stiles & Kathryn Budig.

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I have to share with you my latest lady crushes. It’s all well and good to admire actors and celebs and be jealous of their amazing wardrobe (note: they get 99% of it free), social life, boyfriend etcetera BUT why not admire those who are doing incredible things in the world of wellness, helping other people and basically showing us how amazing life can be?

Especially when they look amazing (a testament to the results gained from what they do) and are constantly putting positive energy back into the universe – getting a little hippie here!

ENTERRRR… my two latest yoga obsessions – Tara Stiles & Kathryn Budig!

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1. Tara Stiles

Impossibly gorgeous and an ex-model, Tara has an approach to yoga which has been described as “unconventional” and she has received some criticisms for not sticking to the traditional style of any one yoga practice. She advocates yoga for EVERYONE and does away with sanskrit terms (eg. Savasana, Gomulkasana etc), instead choosing to use the simplest terminology such as “lower back” or “pigeon pose”.

Tara also has an incredibly interesting and frequently updated Youtube Channel, which I may have become slightly addicted to! She is gorgeous, but unintimidating in her videos, with her easygoing personality and “just one of the guys” vibe.

She founded the school Strala Yoga in New York and I would love, love, love to go there one day! 🙂

2. Kathryn Budig

She’s been described as ‘yoga’s first supermodel’ and with gorgeous glowing skin, shiny blonde hair and a beaming smile it’s not hard to see why. But it’s Kathryn’s devotion to an outside cause that most impresses me.

Poses for Paws is an initiative started by Budig and a friend, to raise money through yoga classes for dog shelters and organisations that help to find our gorgeous furry woofballs loving homes. Their current focus if the ‘Beagle Freedom Project’ (inspired by the love of her very own beagle).

Most people wouldn’t know this, but Beagle’s are one of the most popular choices for animal testing labs, due to their gentle and forgiving nature and non-aggressiveness towards lab techs (the same ones performing tests on them). Absolutely horrific stuff.

I recommend this video about the Beagle Freedom Project, it’s very interesting – prepare to weep a few tears, it makes me want to devote my life to saving these guys. They are so beautiful, and even after living in a lab cage for their whole lives they’re still willing to wag their tails, and seeing the dogs in the video run around on the grass for the first time is equal parts devastating and beautiful at the same time.

So, two beautiful yogis, both doing wonderful things – have you heard of either of these two ladies before?

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Beauty and Wellbeing Crushes: 7 Day Green Smoothie Challenge, Natural Epsom Salts and Weekend Yoga.

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1. 7 day green smoothie challenge

This past week I undertook a challenge to see what difference (if any) drinking a green smoothie each day for one week would make to my life. UNFORTUNATELY! I fell off the wagon a few days in, I’m definitely not perfect and nor do I claim to be 🙂 I did however drink a lot more of them than I usually would (4-5) in one week, and I have to be honest I’m feeling pretty darn good. I recently found out about the necessity of rotating your greens when making these type of smoothies, and I have to say I am amazed that nature is so clever. Click that link and read all about why it’s best to rotate… I’m sure it will amaze you as it did me!

In light of that I’ve been flirting with cos (romaine) lettuce in lieu of spinach and kale this week, and LOVING it!

Cos lettuce, blueberry & cashew smoothie.

1 x cup of frozen blueberries
4-6 x medium sized washed cos lettuce leaves
1/2 x cup of raw cashews
2 x cups of water
Optional: 1 x banana

Blend for 1-2 minutes. Will make enough for 2-3 big cups. I find this smoothie incredibly refreshing and it’s absolutely my new favourite, mmmm! Recommended!

2. Echolife Clay Cleansers

I lurrrrve the way this clay makes my face feel. It’s very different to cleansers I’ve gotten used to, being that it’s a lump of wiggly clay in a glass jar, but I take a 10c piece sized amount, rub it into my hands with water and then massage all over my face. It’s perfect for my skin type which is combination – few dry bits, few oily bits, few pimply bits – I’m certainly not blessed in that department. After only a few days of using this I’m already addicted and I love that it’s so natural, I’m really getting back to basics with skincare at the moment, so after cleansing I press a few drops of rosehip or jojoba oil into my face while it’s still damp, for a double hit of natural goodness!

There is also another version I like to use, that contains castor oil, for when my skin is feeling a bit drier (hello winter!).

3. Toasted cereal topping

This stuff. What can I say? It has transformed my breakfasts in the morning. I put a teaspoon of this wonder-mix, which contains organic raw linseed, sesame seeds, buckwheat, sunflower kernels, almonds and cinnamon. It’s gluten free, no added oils, sugar or salt, GMO free.

I stumbled across it one day at Farmer Jacks, Subiaco and haven’t looked back since. It gives an awesome nutty crunch and texture to my porridge in the morning and it just feels so -good- knowing that I’m getting that extra bit of easy nutrition to start my morning off the right way. I also sprinkle it into my smoothies and it gives it a really interesting flavour kick.

There are heaps of other rad products by the brand, Real Good Food, such as mixes with goji and blueberries, rice porridges, delicious looking trail mixes and MORE! Ps. I’m not getting paid to promote these! I just found them randomly and LOVE the prods, so want to share my joy!

Me at yoga… hah! Nah, it’s number one yogini babe, Kathryn Budig. Crushin’.

4. Sunday Yoga

A couple of weeks ago I took part in a generally unheard of activity… exercise, on a Sunday.

It was amazing! Admittedly, I felt a little smug as I was doing sun salutation after sun salutation when many people would still be in bed nursing a hangover from the night before. I quickly got over that and realised I was doing it for ME, not trying to be better than anyone else. It was a great note to end the week on, and I’m looking forward to it again soon.

The Yoga Company near the Subi train station (across from the road from Wagamama) do Sunday classes, if anyone knows anywhere else that does Sunday yoga, please leave a comment!

Just a couple of links for you this week… we’ve been too busy organising some excellent new competitions to browse too many other websites, but do let us know if you’ve come across anything interesting on your travels! 😉

Linkies:

Foods that promote collagen production
Foods that can help relieve stress

Past week n a bit:

We checked out some superfoods that go ON your body, not just in!
Green Smoothies: A new kind of beauty therapy – one of our most popular articles of all time!
Beauty and wellbeing routine: Ashlea Ingham, Model & Miss Universe Australia Contestant!
Planet Eve Organics – another ab-fab Aussie organic brand, LOVE!
Say bye bye to cranky winter skin!
♥ We reviewed Bikram Yoga in Scarborough to see if we’d survive…
Beauty and wellbeing routine: Lauren, Beauty on the Grove this lass is only 26 and already owns her own salon. What a go getter!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo