What 31 Days of Yoga Did To Me

reading time: 3 min

Heyo, fellow yogis and yoginis! 

As you may know from this Get Healthy With Me post I finally got around to do the free Revolution program from Yoga with Adriene on youtube for the past 31 days. I like to challenge myself every now and then – Day Zero Project, 1 Month Self Love Photo-A-Day, 10 Day Alkaline Diet Detox, 1 Month of No Sugar, now 1 Month of Yoga, and maybe 1 Month of De-cluttering or 1 Month of Meditation or a Digital Detox in the future? – to expand the limits of my body as well as my mind. It's amazing what we humans are able to do. We only have to try!

Today I want to talk about how 31 Days of Yoga changed me. Gosh, that sounds dramatic!

Places I Would Love To Go

reading time: ca. 1 min

»We live in a wonderful world
that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure.
There is no end to the adventures we can have
if only we seek them with our eyes open.«
Jawaharlal Nehru

 

India.

»A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.«
Lao Tzu

Hi friends. As I am leaving for Vietnam on the 1st of June, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to feature various places that I want to visit some day! (Okay, Thailand, Prague and Nepal don't really belong on this list, but I would love to go back there again!)

Where do you want to go to travel and explore?
 

Weekly Meal Plan CW 20

Hey guys,

I sound like a broken record when I say this but I'm on the FINAL SPURT of finishing my master thesis, next Wednesday is deadline, so you can imagine my sky-high stress levels at the moment. Nevertheless, my boyfriend and I have been active in the kitchen, and here's what we came up with as meal ideas for last week :)

Friday Favorites - Week 374

IT'S PARTY TIME!

Hey guys!

When you read this, I will be at my grandma's house who is about to turn 75 years old, so of course we are going to celebrate by spending the weekend together, riding our bikes along the riverbed, eating ice cream, window-shopping, book shopping, eating cake and talking :) 

What are you doing this weekend? If you are in the mood to do some cleaning, I'm featuring 4 Natural Cleaning Supplies You Can Make Yourself this week!

Now happy partying!

Summer Phone Wallpapers

reading time: 1 min

Hello friends! I can't tell you how much I'm craving the warmth of the sun right now, the bright days with flowy dresses, late barbecue nights at the river, cold lemonade and homemade ice cream. 

It is only just starting to transition from a rainy spring to a windy summer here in Germany, and in order to invite summer into my life, here is a round-up of 24 summer  inspired phone wallpapers (that can be used as lock screen or phone background). Click "read more" to view all of them!

Dealing with Anxiety

reading time: 3 min

Over the past few weeks and months I have been working on my master thesis and I reached my personal limits more than once. It was a long and painful process of constant stress, and headaches, exhaustion, irregular periods and emotional instability were its results (plus a 224 pages long thesis). Even though I'm very sensitive to stress, I don't always realize it in time and I oten end up with anxiety and strained nerves. Who can relate?

BTW: When talking about anxiety, I'm not referring to chronic anxiety and panic attacks (for that sort of anxiety toolbox check out Sophie's wonderful blog post on that!), but rather the sort of "everyday anxiety" that comes with exam stress, term papers, an overly tight schedule and our general busy lifestyles.

Here are my methods to deal with stress and stress-induced anxiety:

Weekly Meal Plan CW 19

Hey guys,

I'm currently still finishing up my master thesis, so my boyfriend has been cooking the majority of our dishes this week again. Enjoy! :)

Friday Favorites - Week 373

IT'S PARTY TIME!

Hello friends!

How has your week been so far? Mine was kind of a bumpy ride. For the past few days (and weeks) I've worked on my master thesis from 7 a.m. till 10 p.m., sometimes even later, all the while trying to keep my blog going and also doing tutoring twice a week. Now my master thesis is 98% done, and I'm feeling much better. Also, the 31 Days Yoga Challenge is doing me a world of good, as I do feel much more balanced and energized after each yoga session. Other than that I haven't done anything really, so there won't be a weekly round-up today.  

Please note that we are still looking for new fellow party-hostesses, so if you are interested in being a part of the Friday Favorites linky party, just fill out the form at the very end of this linky party :)

Now happy partying!

Vegan Strawberry Scones With Homemade Rhubarb Jam

reading time: 2 min

These lovely strawberry scones were part of the big Mother's Day picnic my parents, my boyfriend and I had in a local rhododendron park (that was in full blossom!) on Sunday. This was sort of an improvised recipe because we had some leftover frozen rhubarb and strawberries in the freezer, but the outcome was

fluffy
light
summery
slightly sweet
satisfying
& delicious.

Feel free to use any other kind of fruits instead of the strawberries (blueberries or blackberries sound lovely), and use more sugar for a sweeter version. Same goes for the jam. Also, if you aren't quite the berry-type, my orange walnut scones might me more to your liking.

On Eating Disorders #Moretothepicture

At this point people are surprised to hear that I used to have a severe eating disorder – because I am usually very bubbly and cheerful and full of energy, and not at all depressed or sick of life. However, that wasn't always the case.

Ever since 1949, the month May has been appointed Mental Health Awareness Month in order to raise awareness about mental illnesses, such as depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. In honour of this awareness movement, I want to embrace the opportunity and talk about (my) Eating Disorder.

This blog post was written two years ago, but I never felt comfortable enough to share it on any social media platforms where it would also be read by my real-life friends. Here is the slightly revised version.

Weekly Meal Plan CW 18

Hey guys,

this week I'm a very lucky girl because my boyfriend made all of our dinners so that I could work on my master thesis and blog in the meantime – isn't he just the sweetest? Anyway, so the credit for the meals this week go to him! Enjoy! :)

Friday Favorites - Week 372

IT'S PARTY TIME!

Hey there party peeps!

Do you have all your Mother's Day gifts ready? I don't :D But I'll take my mom (and dad and boyfriend) out for a picnic in the open on Sunday. I won't say anything more about it though because I know that my mom reads my blog ;-) So instead, here's what happened this week so far: 

 

• Explored London last weekend with my boyfriend – we walked about 90km, went to every single park in search of squirrels (finally found some in St. James's Park and took heaps of photos with them of course), admired the city at night, ate the most scrumptious peanut butter chocolate pie at a vegan bakery/café (Cookies and Scream) as well as a delicious Ethiopian plate at the Old Spitalfields Market (Merkamo Ethiopian), and stuffed our faces at the best and cheapest all-vegan Chinese restaurant in Camden (Dou Dou).
• Discovered another great vegan recipe website (Vegan Family Recipes) and have already put their DIY Coconut Butter on my to-do list. Looks sooo good!
• Ended my sugar-free month and shared my tips on how to quit sugar in a recent blog post.
• Currently participating in the free 31 Yoga Revolution Program by Adriene Mishler, so if you want to join me: we are now on day 11 :)
• Adoring those too-good-to-be-real Succulent cakes, aren't they just so adorable?!
• By the way, if you are still looking for a way to Pamper Your Mom on Mother's Day, Mary of The Boondocks Blog shared some lovely gift ideas over on her website! Apart from that, my feature this week (Easy Handmade Hand Lotion from Angie) is also a great last-minute Mother's Day gift.
• If you are wanting to pamper yourself (which is always a great idea), head over to Sophie's side and read about her great tips to Build an Anxiety Toolbox!
• Once again I would like to point out that you can still find a form at the end of the linky party where you can sign up to become a fellow party hostess! So if you are interested in being a part of the Friday Favorites linky party, just fill out the form below :)
  

But enough talking. Let's start this party!

Homemade Yoga Mat Spray

reading time: 1 min

Hey there yoga bunnies! How's things?

Consorting with my ongoing 31 Days of Yoga challenge I thought this would be the perfect time to share my easy, eco-friendly DIY yoga mat cleaning spray recipe to keep your yoga mat nice and clean. Plus, it smells good. All you need is three ingredients and about two minutes of your time. Let's go!

How I Quit Sugar | 1 Month of No Sugar

reading time: 3 min

Could you go without sugar for a month? I say you can! Here's how I did it.

So here I am, one month to a day since I started my No-Sugar Challenge. First off, I kind of failed. I did not go sugar-free for an entire month. Secondly, I still succeeded because I managed to reduce my sugar intake and cravings for chocolate to a minimum, AND I noticed a bunch of benefits from it. However, I still want to continue with a low-sugar lifestyle because I don't think I really detoxified my body in that regard.

Here is how I quit sugar for a month (more or less).

Weekly Meal Plan CW 17

Hey guys,

when you read this, I will have just arrived in London, but of course I prepared another week menu for you to hopefully inspire you to jazz up your home cooking a little. Enjoy! :)

Friday Favorites - Week 371

IT'S PARTY TIME!

Heyo party peeps!

May has come round and spring is in full swing. Since I'm currently in London, I'll keep it short and sweet today. Here's what's on my agenda this week: 

 

• Off to London to show my love my favorite city :) Still low-key hoping to run into Niomi Smart or Emma Watson when I'm there, haha.
• Drooling over Emily's Peanut Butter Caramel Fudge Slices and Sophie's Toasted Coconut and Vanilla Matcha Latte (who by the way inspired me to do these weekly "updates").
• Also, made those anti-inflammatory turmeric coconut bites, as well as an antioxidant-packed green smoothie for breakfast to fight the radiation during our flight-.- 
• I took another "personality test", this time to find out the colour of my aura. The result was YELLOW: You are optimistic and intelligent, with a friendly, creative presence. A yellow aura signifies that you are full of life and energy, an inspiring and playful person. You may be on the brink of a new awakening, close to finding new meaning in your current life. I'm pretty cool with that :)
• If you are into those fun personality tests, here are two more for you: Which Disney Princess Are You? (Me: Pocahontas) and Which Mythical Creature Are You? (Me: Fairy - boooring!)
• Matching my recent DIY post for a delicious chocolate mocha body scrub, I just HAD to feature Merissa's post on Ways To Reuse Coffee Grounds. I'm not much of a coffee drinker myself, but I guess that's about to change, eh? :-)
• One last thing: at the end of this post you will see a form where you can sign up to become a fellow party hostess and co-host this linky party with us! So if you are interested in being a part of the Friday Favorites linky party, just fill out the form below :)
  

But now on to the party!

Lifestyle Favorites ❤ April /17

reading time: 5 min

Hi guys,

I'm back with another monthly favourites post, and this time we've got clothing, a DIY project, a controversial TV show and my favourite app at the moment. Oh, and a little secret... ;)