KDYoga1

I have done many fasts and detoxes in the past. I love to push the boundaries of my body and mind as a challenge but always for the health benefits. I love detaching from so-called daily must haves or can’t live withouts. It’s amazing what you tell yourself you need. Everytime I do one of these challenges some of the new habits stick. For this challenge I decided to cut out coffee, sugar and alcohol for 30 days. I hope to eliminate coffee going forward and just have it as an occasional treat. I know coffee has many health benefits but for some like me I have found it doesn’t work with me so well. When you remove things from your diet you realise the effects it was having on you. This past month has been a real wake up call and I’m so excited to share my journey with you.

Week 1. Coming out of the haze. After a very indulgent festive season I was ready to reset myself. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but I decided I was going to make the most of it. Being in lockdown I was excited to be able to cook lots of fun and tasty recipes and have the time to do so. I will admit the first 5-7 days the coffee withdrawals were intense. I was really cranky and lethargic, restless, little motivation but I knew my own energy needed a change to rise.

Week 2. Feeling on top of the world. I had so much energy, bouncing out of bed in the morning and drifting off to sleep at night with ease. My energy was steady throughout the day and there were no bouts of tiredness like I would normally get around 3pm. Barley cup is a chicory drink that is a great substitute for coffee, without the caffeine. I don’t really have a sweet tooth but I was craving fruit a lot, so I had plenty at hand.

Week 3. Still going strong. I do find it hard to drink water in the colder weather. I drank lots of caffeine free herbal teas which helped but I was definitely overcompensating with snacking and had to rein it in. I was getting to the halfway point and probably a little bored of it but I knew why I was doing it so that kept me going.

Week 4. It all seems so normal now. I just got on with it and everything was going great. All my cravings had subsided. I was really beginning to make connections to when and why I would reach for certain foods or drinks. Stress, distraction, tiredness, boredom, a reward etc.

Week 5. Final stretch. I have been so tempted this week. I have thoughts like sure you’re nearly there now have the coffee or take away nobody will know. I’ve been thinking how I want to bring these new changes into my lifestyle and making plans. I’m a big believer in the 80-20 rule. But I suppose I’m lucky in the sense that I love whole foods and healthy treats.

So my final analysis is that it gets easier the more you do it and you have to have a strong WHY. If you don’t know why you are doing something, motivation doesn’t last very long and you’ll quit. My why was to give my body and mind a reset, improve my skin and give my natural energy a chance to flourish. Keep it simple and realistic. Make it doable for yourself.

I really enjoyed the experience and being in lockdown really helped because I wasn’t feeling I was missing out on parties or dinners. It’s good to give your body and mind a break every now and then. Detox doesn’t just include food, it can be people, what you watch and read too. I will do another one in 6 month or so, maybe I’ll even include social media this time.

I hope this has inspired you to challenge yourself, even if it’s just for a day. Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below.

Namaste,

Katie x

There will never be the perfect time to begin. You’ll never be ready or confident. You’ll never know enough. 

We are constantly shown what perfection looks like and it’s all fake. Perfection doesn’t actually exist. Who determines what it is anyway? Yes, I will admit that there are certain standards that need to be met. But you have to start somewhere and then you begin to grow. 

Hi, my name is Katie and I’m a recovered perfectionist. 

I remember the fear and worry the weeks before and the night before teaching my 1st yoga class. I felt like I was going to explode with the tension (I know how silly does that sound for someone who is supposed to be zen). I look back now and think how much more I could have enjoyed the experience if I had just let go of the need for everything to be perfect. Hindsight is great but you can learn from the experience. 

This is a really important lesson because it teaches you to live and enjoy the NOW. Everything always works out in the end. 

Perfectionism can hold us back from living our truest potential. You realise that you could have started sooner if you had accepted where you were at and started from there. Your biggest critic is yourself and from my experience, people are so kind and supportive when you are just starting out or trying something new. 

When you allow yourself to fail and mess up you learn so much. Having expectations that you need to do everything perfectly is unrealistic and will leave you feeling stressed out and miserable. 

Progression is a natural process. Look at babies for example. They take everything in stages. They never run before they can walk and they do everything at their own pace, having lots of giggles and tears along the way too. 

We all have dreams but fear can hold us back because it’s the fear of the unknown. Your brain is wired to keep you safe and in your comfort zone. Therefore you must get uncomfortable to work towards your dream. 

Comparison is the killer of joy. Never compare your journey to anyone else’s. You rarely see the hard work and struggles people go through to get where they are and there’s definitely no such thing as an overnight success. 

A Japanese proverb “Nana korobi ya oki”  means fall down seven times and get up eight. This speaks to the Japanese concept of resilience.

You must keep going to move forward no matter what, but you must also know when to surrender and let go. 

Always be open, honest and authentic. If you stick to this you’ll never go too far wrong and if you do you can just start all over again.

Namaste,

Katie x

I’ve always had big dreams. As a little girl, I wanted to own my own business just like my dad. I was always very independent and driven, any job I was in I gave it 100% effort. I loved working.

What would happen though is that I would love the newness of the job and the challenge but 6-9 months in that sparkle would begin to fade and then I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. I went through a couple of jobs like this and the novelty would begin to wear off quicker and quicker. I used to feel bad that I had no staying power in a job but it used to make me feel so physically uncomfortable that every Monday morning I would sit in the car and feel a tightness in my chest with the thought of another week. I realise now it wasn’t the job, it was me. Now, moving into my 5th year of being self-employed I can honestly say I’ve never had a day or even a moment like that since. I love what I do with every fibre of my being. It never feels like work, granted you’re tired at the end of the week but I never feel drained or wishing for the week to be over.

Getting to where I am now didn’t happen overnight. I worked hard and every hour for the 1st two years. But I didn’t mind because I knew it was leading to bigger and better things. I always admired the yoga teachers who ran retreats and big events and in the back of my mind, there was a little voice saying you could do that too. 

I started with just one class a week on a Wednesday morning. I put up posters everywhere. Some days I would arrive at class and set everything up and nobody would turn up but I keep showing up every week regardless. I knew I had to be consistent. I went back to working as a beauty therapist just 3 days a week to support me and then I had the rest of the days to research and teach classes. Eventually, the time came where I had to make the choice – Am I going to take the leap into becoming completely self-employed or keep going the way I was going? I took the leap and as scary and daunting as it was I believed I could make it work. 

The 1st year was spent setting the foundations, teaching as many classes in as many places I possibly could. This was very tiresome but I knew it had to be done. Eventually, I was beginning to build a reputation for myself and I could then scale back on the classes and focus on the ones that were popular.  

Year 2 my goal was to run workshops. Oh, the self-doubt was really seeping through. Do you know enough? There are so many more knowledgeable teachers out there than you? People will be bored! I just decided that I was going to share what I knew and from the heart and hopefully, people would enjoy and go home feeling relaxed and informed. 

Year 3 I had planned to run a retreat at the end of my 3rd year and wow was the pressure building. This was a big dream about to come true. I had been working towards this moment for 3 years. Again the questions started to arise What if no one books in and you have to cancel? Do you have enough skill and knowledge to facilitate 3 full days on your own? Oh yeah, this was a big responsibility. I knew I could do it and I was well prepared, everything was planned down to the minute. I had the most magical weekend with the 3 most beautiful souls. It was perfect. To be honest I was so glad it was just the 4 of us and I could really give them my full attention. 

Year 4 well what can we say 2020. For me, it was my best year. I had a strong and loyal community. The previous year I was at a point where I couldn’t physically do anymore, my schedule was full, so I knew I had to move online. This was something I was not skilled in at all. Thankfully Grace the marketing Angel and technical Guru came swooping into my life at the perfect time. We’ve been working together ever since and I have to say it’s the ultimate dream team. I moved completely online 1. Because I literally had no other choice because of COVID-19 and 2. It was another big goal of mine. As the saying goes “Don’t put off tomorrow what can be done today”. It was a rocky road in the beginning but I got there eventually and I’m still learning and improving with each day. 

It’s amazing to look back at where you started with just a thought to where you are now and see the journey. Now that I have arrived at my destination the journey hasn’t finished, it’s starting all over again. I’m going to take the next few weeks to visualize and think about my dreams and desires, explore those little nudges and insights. Then start taking those small steps in the direction of my big dreams. It’s exciting stepping into the unknown and I’ve realised now it always works out for the best so enjoy the process. The right people will come along and the doors of opportunity will open when the time is right.

Did I ever think things would unfold the way they did? NO! But I am so happy with how it’s all turned out and the life that I’m living right now.  

So my final bit of advice to you now is to keep dreaming but take small actional steps towards your dreams to make them a reality. 

Namaste,

Katie.