NAP

This is my favourite position that Alabama gets into when she's napping. Face plant into the radiator.

TICK TOCK

This clock... Well. It's just ridiculously, wildly, perfect.

MELTING HEART

Melting heart, my ultimate current favourite...

BENEFITS:

Many, many benefits. It releases tension in you upper arms, shoulders, and neck. Also expands the whole front of your chest. Melting heart stretches out your abdominal muscles, and gently stimulates your back muscles in preparation for further backbends. On top of this it also opens up your hips and stretches your hamstrings.

TO GET INTO IT:

Come onto your hands and knees, and begin to walk your hands forward, melting your heart centre towards the floor. Try to keep your hips above your knees and your hands shoulder width apart. Breathe deep in this intense stretch for 10-20 full breath cycles. Notice how the neck reacts to the pose, if it is more comfortable place the forehead near the floor instead of the chin.

SOFA

The sofa has arrived! Six weeks of waiting, and it's finally arrived! Randomly, it's from DFS- official grown ups now. Click HERE to see in detail... It's the perfect depth and oh so cosy! I was worried it may be a bit big, as the width of the living room is quite short, but it fits perfectly, and comfortably seats three!

CU COPPER

So iPad holders are a nightmare to get hold of. They're either over priced, or hideous, or they break very quickly. This is why I am excited to announce the arrival of this incredible copper iPad holder!

It is sexy, sleek and durable.... And the BEST bit is it's reasonably priced! CU COPPER also offer candle sticks ad coffee stands! Click HERE to check them out!

EASTWICK

So yes, we have already realised I am a candle FIEND. The latest to the collection is the wonderful Eastwick Candles

They are soy candles all handmade in London. Keeping things simple they use all natural soy wax, cotton wicks and a blend of paraben free fragrance oils and aromatherapy grade essential oils to create luxury scents that gently fill the room. Their products are vegan friendly and their packaging is minimal, recyclable and reusable.

COSY

Every night, at about 21:00, Clarence sets up for the night in his little cosy spot.

REVISION

I had an anatomy exam on Saturday last weekend, and of course, in true Samantha style, I left it till the last minute to revise! I didn't get out of work till 20:00 on Friday, and I knew if I went home I would crash and fall straight into bed, so I plonked myself in a conference room at work and revised for nearly 2 hours. Home by 23:00 and out like a light. I passed the test!

SEAT

We currently don't have a sofa. So whilst we wait for it, we are squishing between two armchairs and the eames chairs... Cats favour this chair. I often end up sitting on the floor........

TWISTING

Here's my beautiful bodies at a yoga class I held recently. As we don't have a sofa yet, I am taking opportunity of the lovely big space we have available, so am trying to hold a couple of classes each week. This was a Yin class, opening up the shoulders beautifully.

STONED

So this will be the first job- well second job, as the first job was painting the living room and bedroom white, which was done the day after we moved in.

This fireplace... Well... What can I say? I think it's hideous. It's sandstone, and feels like it belongs in a small chateau, not a small two bed cottage. Alas... It's there, and it's a working fireplace. You may wonder why we have boxes stuffed in there... This is because Clarence tried to scale the chimney. He is a terror for getting into TINY spaces, and loves to squeeze into anything his svelte shape will allow- often leaving Alabama behind... So when we caught him half way into the vent, we decided it would be best to just block up the fireplace and create more space- always the aim.

PUSS PUSS

God, this magazine is good.

REISSUE

So I don't know why it didn't happen sooner, bit IKEA have reissued some of their old stock. I went in with my Mum a couple of weeks ago to get their EKENASET armchair... I bargain at £150. They were sold out, and I managed to convince them to sell me the display!!

WOOD

First day, all moved in, plants are happy. Can't wait to get working on those floorboards!!

SCRAP

I love scrap booking. I hate that photographs are so disposable now, and everything is stored on this digital portal, and memories can be erased, swiped and deleted at the first malfunction or hasty decision! So I decided to start scrapbooking after we got married. I use polagram. It's an amazing service, you can print any photo from your iPhone or Instagram into a chosen design- I always go for polaroid. I have filled three albums so far, and dated by time period. Even now two years in, I like looking back to holidays and memories with friends and family and I like that they are tangible and in my hand.

BOXED

Long live procrastination. ARGH. I was so organised. I ordered the boxes, I ordered the removal company, bla bla bla. And I JUST CANT START PACKING. I JUST CANT DO IT.

CONTEMPLATION

No one likes packing. Alabama certainly was choosing to ignore me, when I asked for her help.

EXCHANGE

When we eventually exchanged on our house sale, we were ecstatic! We opened a very nice bottle of red. I think we bought this one is Versailles when we were over for Paul's 30th.

LIZARD

About time for another yoga pose! Here we have lizard lunge (Utthan Pristhasana.) It's an incredible hip opener.

 

Not only does Lizard open the hips, it's great for hamstrings, groins and hip flexors, whilst strengthening the inner thigh muscles on the front leg.

It also opens and releases the chest, shoulders and neck. It is a great in preparing the body for deeper hip openers such as Pigeon Pose and Hanuman Pose! I LOVE THIS POSE. I think it's my current favourite, this and humble warrior.

How to Lizard:

1. From Downward Dog, step your right foot forwards between your hands. Manoeuvre your right foot to the outer edge of the mat, so that the foot is slightly wider than your shoulder.
2. Now sink the hips down, so they are heavy, and they settle forwards and down. Now walk your hands forwards until you are able to come down on to your forearms. You may place your forearms on the ground, or on a block.
3. Extend your heart forward, and lengthen the spine. Try to soften the chest and draw the shoulder blades together, taking the rounding out of the back.
4. Hug the right knee towards your midline to get into the inner hip and thigh area of your right leg. You can keep your left knee lifted (as pictured) with your leg active, or for a more restorative version, you can lower your left knee.

UPSIDE DOWN

Hello there! Another yoga pose! Headstand- or sirsasana. The king of all asanas, and the ultimate hangover cure- although it might be the LAST thing you want to do when hungover!

Headstand is PERFECT for strenghtening your upper body and core. Alot of the stability in headstand comes from your upper back and shoulders- contraction of these muscles helps to protect the head and neck.

Sirsasana also has a variety of other benefits including stimulating brain function- sending the blood to the head, as well as stimulating the pineal gland, which helps to calm and steady the brain. The part of the brain is also responsible for regulating our sleep patterns! More headstands- better sleep! WONDERFUL.

Headstand also stimulates the pituitary gland- responsible for releasing endorphins- the happy hormone! Headstands also reduce the production of cortisol, the STRESS hormone. Sold yet? If not this is BOUND to tip you... Some say headstand is the equivalent to a facial! (yes really) This is mainly due to the blood flow to the face, increasing circulation to the skin of the cheeks and forehead mean oxygenation and beautiful young skin.

HOWEVER, do not stay so long in handstand that you start bursting blood vessels- 1-3 mins is quite enough!!
 
How do you get into head stand?

1. Start on all fours. Place your forearms on the floor, elbows should be shoulder width apart- not sticking out to the side. Clasp your hands around the base of your head/ neck. The FLAT part of your head should be down on the mat, so the neck is nice and LONG.
2. Lift the knees to straighten the legs, sitting bones high to the sky. We want to keep the torso long and straight. Engage the triceps as you flatten the shoulder blades down the back, this will protect your head and neck from the weight of the shoulders. You now have a beautiful inverted V.
3. Walk the feet towards your face. Little steps. Imagine someone is pulling your hips up, so the weight isn't in the feet, the strength comes from the core and the upper body, it's almost as if your feet are being dragged towards your face and eventually up in to the air. I like to think of my legs and weightless and floating, rather than trying to throw the shotput up in the air!  It's more like a bird soaring! NOTE: If you're beginning the best bit of advice I can give you is stay in the upside down V for a while, listenng to your body and how it feels, you will still be inverted, so you are still enjoying many benefits! Walk the feet closer and closer until one day your feet with naturally just float up. There should be NO KICKING UP in headstand. If you need to kick, you aren't ready. WHICH IS FINE- just let it come to you naturally in time. And it will come. Many people feel they need to get from A to B very fast in this position, but I think it's important to enjoy the journey and the transition just as much as the end result. No rushing!
4. I lift one leg at a time in sirsasana, which technically is a perfect yogic world I shouldn't be doing, but I bring my knees in to just about my elbows, like an upside down squat and then straighten, which I am currently fine with! Once those legs are up in the air, floating around, rotate the inner thighs together and press the feet flat firmly towards the ceiling- like you were standing (picture is not doing this... but I was hungover!) Ideally we want the arches of the feet should align with the pelvis, which in turn should align with the crown of the head. The weight should be even between the two forearms and the fingers relaxed, and it is vital that the tailbone keeps lifitng upwards towards the heels, and not sinking- we dont want lazy snaky headstands!!

Give it a whirl and let me know how you get on! I like to add 5-10 seconds each time I do it, i'm up to about 2 minutes currently before I start swayingggg everywhere.

Questions welcome! Just drop me an email!

HAPPY HEADSTANDING!