From North to South (London)

I've moved to a new flat. I have gone from North London girl to South London girl.  I don't get a bus to work anymore, I get a train. I am in zone three. But I love it. My new area is much leafier and quieter than my old one. And our flat is to die for. There's a lot of work to do in my room. This is how it looked when the moving men had finished their work.

I know. But after an hour or so we'd cleared a decent space around the bed, so we could actually climb in, and also located some clothes, as we were due out that night (I went to see The Bodyguard, it was amazing).

Day by day it's improved. We sorted out the kitchen straight away, because ain't nobody that can do all that work on an empty stomach. And once this big brown cabinet is up we can fill it and free up some more space to actually concentrate on making it look nice. This is how it looked before my worldly possession took over.

 

I've had various Oyster and utility bill related financial disasters this month so am absolutely skint with more weddings and hen dos to attend before payday, so it's time to focus on  nesting, making my room nice and cosy and liveable rather than a box room with a bed in the middle.

Yogini

 I have a new obsession and that obsession is yoga. I've recently joined Virgin Active via Pru Health (50% off so £46 a month as opposed to a wince-making £92) and while one of the gym instructors has given me a good circuit to work through in the gym, I hate the gym,so I'm favouring the classes instead, opting for pilates and yoga. All of the instructors are brilliant, I really rate them and I find I'm thinking about yoga all the time, I want to get better at it, I want to be able to stand on my head. I want to be able to do the stuff the gorgeous girl in this video can do.

However, yoga is about discipline, patience and control. I am going to keep going so I can reach these advanced poses in my own time, not try and rush forward to be the best (yoga isn't about competition), injuring myself in the process. Once I've moved house this weekend, I am simply going to try and fit more classes in.

One act of discipline might be actually managing to make it to the morning classes (and I am googling my new train route right this minute to see if it's doable). I can even go to later classes than I do currently. I like 6pm classes as it's straight after work, but I could wait for a 6:30pm one. My beloved is moving back to Sheffield to finish university and while I have a good social life, I'll miss him terribly so this will be a very nice, wholesome distraction.

Yoga is so good for the mind, I've been super stressed recently, with the move, wedding planning and everything seems to be just going every so slightly wrong,  but yoga seems calm me right down, and does wonders for the body, beyond improved flexibility and potential weight loss, like your heart function, brain function, lymphatic drainage, immune system, digestion...the list goes on...

My workout gear is a pair of yoga pants I picked up in TK Maxx, so very comfortably, and any old top I can find, but I've recently been ogling the ranges at Sweaty Betty and No Balls. Perhaps one day when I have some cash again I can splash out.

No Balls Tank Top at Shopyoyo.co.uk

I got a book for Christmas which was quite an amusing read, Yoga Bitch by Suzanne Morisson about a city woman who goes on a yoga retreat in Bali, I'd recommend it as a far more light-hearted, self-deprecating, and far less self-indulgent read than Eat, Pray, Love!

I'm doing the exercise, wearing the clothes, reading the books, I'm well on my way to being a full-on yogini!