Outreach Yoga Challenge - Day 25 Comfortable in your own skin?

GOOD MORNING GROUSE MOUNTAIN VANCOUVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Similiar to waking up and shouting YEAAAHHHHHHHHH from your bedsheets, shout it to your neighbourhood! See how it makes you feel? :)

'Be yourself. Everyone else is taken'
Oscar Wilde.

How comfortable in your own skin are you? Being comfortable in your own skin and content with your own company is a magical gift you can give to yourself and everyone in your life.

Since when did it matter what clothes a person wore, does that make them who they are? Before I started travelling I decided to give most of my 'stuff' away to charity, or trade at car boot sales with the 'karma' pile inspired by Marcus, 'Take what you want, pay what you want, or don't pay anything, just smile.' Interesting experiment when most are heavily burdened with skeptism. I was ashamed at how many pairs of shoes, and endless bags and more and blah and URGH and things and and just meaningless 'stuff' I'd been brainwashed, bored, and tricked into purchasing, and I didn't really need any of it, I just wanted to be cool in Choos. Don't get me wrong, I still have an eye for glamour and a good set of heels when the time is right, but these days I've jumped out of the consumer rat race. Aside from a vintage old lady jacket I picked up in the salvation army for $5, come ooooooon I needed it to bring the Kate Moss Vintage glamour to lululemon world!!! It makes me cool!!! Doesn't it???

 A good spring clean of all that 'stuff' thats been collecting is a great way to spring clean your mind creating space, not just in your closet but inside yourself, making room for more of the real you.  Think about the environmental impact all that stuff does to the world http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8 A good challenge would be to test your consumer addiction, ask yourself what joy does the 'stuff' actually bring you, maybe cut down to just 1 new pair of shoes a year instead of a season/month! Or when you get holes in them :)) Donate your things to a nonprofit charity, or recycle them onto friends, car boot sales, kids, or recreate them into new. Point is, your 'stuff' especially your clothes does not make you, who you are.

Who said that skin meant naked anyhow Freeman?

I guess the weather is getting chiller, so old lady vintage jacket and some woolies from back home are definately needed to keep warm. Thats what purpose clothes have, but would I wear a tracksuit and matching headband to yoga, or frilly socks and stilletos and hotpants to the cinema, or maybe my Breakdance tshirt to an interview? I too have my limits, and Im programmed to know what I like to wear for comfort, and how I perceive myself. Guys, if you think this is all girl talk, then wear a t-shirt with your favourite sports team opponent. It would be like asking a Liverpool fan to wear a Man United shirt for the day, it just wouldn't happen. We like to send a message with the clothes that we wear, but at what point do we stop caring and judging the clothes, and take people for who they are, not what they wear.

'So how do we feel comfortable in our own skin, and have a sexy air of self-confidence that radiates an appeal to others around you? Some of us look in the mirror with disgust, and focus on the culturally-programmed-and-perceived 'bad' bits, rather than gazing at themselves with appreciation, embracing every part of their beautiful selves with a natural form of self-love. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! With the depth of awareness provided to an individual via dedication to a yoga practice, you teach yourself to look beyond the curvy hips and rounded belly - it takes you further into your true, loving, glorious self, where you are always feeling relaxed, sensual and cheekily sexy ... a place of peace and passionate awakening that brings a fire to your inner glow and empowers you to truly live life for the 'orgasmic' moment of existence itself.

But how does yoga help? The body shapes we create in yoga are a reflection of how your mind works; as you improve your postural alignment within these body shapes, this will, in turn, reflect back upon the workings of your mind - as you become more open and flexible, your everyday situations will become more adaptable to change and new opportunities. For example, with back bends - as you embrace and open deeper into the pose, your life will become noticeably freer, and you'll find yourself being more flexible in regards to helping yourself and others. Yoga is a tool that is used to channel stillness, to find love for yourself, and to embrace the positive - every moment of each and every day. And by nurturing this inner landscape of endless beauty, your yoga practice will shift your perspective of the outer world around you, and how your divine temple of the body is a fantastic instrument for connecting to this wondrous place we call 'home'.'


As an experiment, after you've spring/autumn cleaned out your closet and got the bag ready for your favourite charity, GET NUDE. Make a cup of tea, look out of the window, notice the sky, walk around your living room, dance, do whatever you like, just for 5 minutes even. Forget what you are not wearing, it doesn't matter. You will look more beautiful in that little black dress, if you forget you are wearing it. Call your partner, but don't tell them about your birthday suit attire, laugh at yourself, love yourself, do some naked yoga!

Be comfortable in your own skin!
Send me a pic for the blog ;-)

If you've enjoyed todays blog, then make a donation to the Outreach team, or donate a bag of warm clothes to a homeless shelter, there are people out there who would value 'any' stuff right now. Winter is coming, and the homeless fight to stay warm and alive, spare some CHANGE.
http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=14769