Yoga Challenge

Hi everyone, welcome back.
So a few weeks ago I took part in a yoga challenge with +Ann Mazur (RunnersLoveYoga) on Instagram and I just wanted to share all the different poses and pictures with you.
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It was so much fun trying out a new pose each day and incorporating it into my yoga routine. I also actually found that this challenge gave me more confidence as I spent each day as I was out and about thinking about where would look good for the photo and whenever I found a spot I thought would work I would just stop / drop / and yoga! I really started to embrace that feeling of not caring whatsoever what anyone around me was thinking and just went for it, it is such an amazing feeling - try it this week at some point in one of your days - just do something because you want to and never mind who is around, if its a suitable situation or not. You'll feel alive and energetic and inspired to continue to live the life you want, because you want to! 

Day 1 # Utkatasana / chair pose

translates from Sanskrit = powerful pose. It looks like your just chilling in a chair when your actually engaging all the strength you can in your legs and ankles whilst tightening your pelvis and core, oh and that whole balancing thing is thrown in too!

Day 2 # Parivrrtaanjaneyasana / revolved lunge

Improves your digestion - who would have thought something seemingly so simple can impact on something like digestion so much! I did this one at GOMA - Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.

Day 3 # Utthitaparsvakonasana / extended side angle 

Utthita = extended

Parsva = side

kona = angle

This feels amazing for the side of your body and you really feel your quads working.

Day 4 # Variation of parivrrtaanjaneyasana / revolved lunge 

I did this pose all day long all over Noosa! I woke up the next day and wondered why I was sore! 

Day 5 # Anjaneyasana / low lunge

This pose if you can allow your body to sink into it really allows you to have this feeling of letting go, one of my favourites. 

Day 6 # Ardhahanumanasana / half split

Ooooo eeee this is a major hamstring stretch and golly gosh I have super tight hamstrings! I could only just touch my fingers to the ground but that's ok, I know this just means that this is a perfect pose to continue in.

Day 7 # Utthanpristhasana / lizard pose variation

This pose feels amazing for your hips, perfect hip opener and a pose I particularly love first thing in the morning to get my legs feeling looser and get rid of that stiff still asleep feeling. 

Day 8 # Utthanpristhasana / lizard pose with a bind

Perfect for your quads after a run! It feels really nice pushing that front leg out too, allows the hips to get involved.

Day 9 # Ekapadarajakapotasana / pigeon pose

Ahhh this has got to be one of my most favourite poses, it gives the most amazing stretch every time but also is a pose that release emotion for me, I think I store a lot of stress around my thighs and glutes.   

Day 10 # Camatkarasana / wild thing 

This feels a bit similar to extended side angle with the deep stretch in your side body but a bit more emphases on your straight leg to ground down.

 

Day 11 # Gomukhasana / cow face pose

Try this today! I was so surprised at how one side felt quite good and the other I could barely touch my hands together, really reiterates that you have two sides to your body and they don't always match up!

Day 12 # Bhujapidhasna / rock the baby

This is similar to Pigeon Pose and perfect if you don't want to put any weight on your leg whilst getting the same stretch, as you rock your leg back and forth you open up dem hips too!

Day 13 # Chatushpadasana / four footed pose

This was an interesting one for me, I couldn't get my hands to my feet, struggled to keep my feet straight and was so surprised when I saw the photo how low down I was. I see poses like this one a lot across social media and assume it to be easy - nope not for me! I kind of love that though, yoga is all about learning about yourself and what you can do, I now am working to open up my chest more to allow for this to feel more natural.

Day 14 # Baddhakonasana / bound angle pose 

The final day and funnily enough a pose that is probably almost my most favourite. I've been doing this one since I was tiny and have always felt so comfortable and safe in this pose, I go it almost daily whenever I find myself sitting on the floor. I watch TV in this pose and just listen to my breath in it. Try it, its amazing for your hips and if you can release and let go it feels wonderful.

 

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So there we have it, my first yoga challenge and 14 different yoga poses! I LOVED doing this, I think its going to be so fantastic to look back on these poses in a year and see how they compare.

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Do you love Yoga as much as me? Have you tried these poses?

xoxo

Namaste

Tone It Up Ab Challenge!

Hi Holiday Hunnies hehehe
Tone it up reference there -> LINK HERE to see what thats all about.

So today on my Instagram I posted my top 5 goals for the upcoming holiday season as per the challenge set by Tone It Up for today, and one of my goals is to complete a 30day TIU ab challenge! 
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Myself and a few other TIU girls wanted something extra to keep us going and to have something to have some more accountability with one another so I created this ab challenge for us to do! 
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A few of you also want to join in which is awesome, honestly there is so much more of a chance of me sticking to something when I know all you wonderful ladies all around the world are doing it too!

So here is the link to the PDF for the challenge:



TONE IT UP 30 DAY ABS CHALLENGE

It will be starting on Sunday the 9th November! But you can really use this PDF whenever you like as I didn't date it at all, just a 30 day count! 
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You can save it onto your iPhone if you have one in iBooks and then its with you wherever you go!

I also added in a section to tick for before and after photos as thats where I see the difference the most when I remember to actually take a before shot! I also added in a reward section..... because well...... its fun! I'm thinking if I complete it I shall be getting myself some more Lorna Jane workout gear #addiction right here! 

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Anywho, let me know if your in on this challenge and we can all check in with each other - #tiuabs 

My Instagram is @sarahalicetiu 

Tone It Up RETREAT Day 3!

Well hello there! How are you doing today? Good I hope! 

Today I've got my day 3 of the TIU Retreat to share with you all. Lets jump right on in!

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So the day started off bright and early with copious amounts of coffee to help with the non existent sleep (hehe) and we were off on a 5km Asics Run! 

We did a loop of 4 around the inlet at the edge of the hotel which finished with Karena and Katrina spraying champagne over us! Why can't every race end with a champagne shower and champagne breakfast?! Best ever! I actually managed to run an ok 5km, 28mins or so which impressed me after all the beautiful cocktails and no sleep I had had! Just goes to show if you set your mind to something, have a positive outlook and just enjoy yourself your body is capable of more than you think! 

We celebrated with champagne and perfect fit pancakes for breakfast in the sunshine! Brynn here being the massive babe that she is! 

Skunk!!! Looking ever so glam with her 5km race badge on 

Chinks with Brian 

After refreshing it was off to my main activity for the day down at Newport Beach - Surfing! 

I am a BIG lover of the ocean and being by the sea, so when picking what activities I wanted to do, surfing was a no brainer. Growing up in Australia it is inevitable that you will have some surfing lessons along the way, which I have and have always loved. I am the biggest fan of workouts that you actually don't even realise your working so hard; which growing up was dancing for me and surfing gives me that same feeling - its too fun to feel hard but boy oh boy its a workout alright!!! 

Can I just never leave?!

I had SO MUCH FUN, seriously the hour and a half we had zipped by so quickly. It was a surf school called Endless Sun Surf School who gave us the lessons, and they were all so great. They explained the ins and outs of surf on the beach and we practiced different ways to get up on the board before heading out into the waves. They were then out there for the entire time, pulling and helping us out and pushing us onto waves. They basically made sure we all caught a wave and had a blast. 

You can see in the photo above Danny has his hand out for me to give him a hi-five ....

And hi-five him I did! Haha so cool! Such a surreal moment for me. I mean, am I actually riding a wave in the sunshine, in California, on a Tone It Up Retreat, surfing with my amazing new friends and just hi-fived my instructor? No surely not! 

I LOVE the ocean so much!!! Catching waves is so addictive! If you've never surfed before I highly recommend it! 

Aurora!!! This beautiful lady is one of the amazing team at TIU Headquarters - she is the babe who is sending us gifts, is in the community, emailing us, sorting out member emails and more! She is SO LOVELY! I absolutely clicked with her right away and had such a great time chatting with her and getting to meet! Its the strangest thing with TIU, because you learn screen names, see still photos and comment and email one another; you just feel like you already know everyone so well. Thats how it felt meeting this beaut! A big highlight for me was getting to know the faces behind TIU and see how much effort and heart they put into their work and lives in general. You really get that family vibe from the company and I really resonate with that so it was so special to see. 

The camera man who was out and about with all of us throughout the retreat 

The AWESOME team from Endless Sun Surf School - seriously the nicest bunch. Thank you for getting me on so many waves and having a good ol laugh and chat with me! Come visit and surf Australia!!! 

I was mentally doing this move in my head every 5 seconds haha

After Surfing I didnt have any other set activities so it was some chill time on the beach and then I headed back to the hotel to re pack my ever growing suitcase and get ready for our final evening together - the gala dinner! 

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Everyone jazzed themselves up and let me tell you - 300 TIU girls at one party ..... smoking hotness and fun everywhere you look! Not just in the outfits, make-up and hair-dos but in all the smiles and laughter! 

Babes babes babes at every turn! 

The beautiful set up at the table for our dinner - they really left no detail out! 

We were gifted the group shot of everyone at the Bootycall in these gorgeous little slips 

Looking all whimsical here Hannah! Reminiscing on the amazing weekend we just had? 

K&K handed out some super fun and funny awards - porter potty hottie anyone?! hehe so fun and then they showed us a clip that the film crew had put together of the weekend which summed up all the activities and amazing fun we all had. 

The food was JUST SO GOOD ALL THE TIME! 

I shared I promise 

Open bar meant two drinks at a time lol 

Yup! 

Kats Mumma after watching the clip that they put together 

Photo booth fun! 

This bella came all the way from Italy!!! 

After dinner we made our way to the dance floor and danced for hours and hours and hours! It was THE BEST FUN! Seriously where else in the world can you be with 300+ of your best girlfriends in a room with amazing music (Nick Cannon DJ-ing) full of love and laughter and fun and no bitchy-ness, no negativity nothing - just everyone wanting to have a blast together - SO RARE! This is what TIU is and it was such an incredible night! 

Aussie Aussie Aussie!!! There was only 4 of us from Australia at the Retreat, and Christy was one of them, and a gem indeed she was! 

Leckrone! Aka 'the details man' lol. Such a lovely fella - thank you for all your hard work! 

Some of the beautiful TIU staff/family - I really enjoyed getting to know them all and having great chats 

Mamma Jane! This is Kat's wonderful Mum who came out and did the Retreat with us! If you follow TIU then you'll have seen her success story. Mumma Jane is truly such a sweet and kind soul, we had a wonderful talk and I seriously felt like she was my Cali Mum! Everytime I saw her I just wanted a hug haha! It was so nice to get to talk and voice all the amazing things that TIU has done for me and what this community means to so much of us. It was pretty awe inspiring for me to see it actually happening as opposed to on my phone! 

THIS GIRL! Ahhhhh Liveliest personality (she even won the award for it!) and just the brightest light - every time I saw her I burst into a big smile and just had to hug her! Such a sweet and wonderful lady - so glad we got to meet! 

Such wonderful women who were so much fun! Dance party again soon??!

Nicole! This babe is Nicole Hill - aka she takes INCREDIBLE photos! She has taken a bunch of K&K for photo-shoots, bikini series and more and took a heap of the weekend too! Such a talented lady and super lovely to talk with as well, plus she carries an amazing camera everywhere she goes - whats not to love!?! 

Nike Cannons Team - really nice down to earth guys 

Stephen! Aka Kat's Brother and TIU workaholic, aka Mr tall man! He is 6ft7! yikes! Towering over me here lol. Really fun fella who was just so chill and easy to chat with - thanks for being so cool Mr tall man! 

And of course, what TIU party doesn't end with K&K in the fountain this time haha! 

Jeremiah (the videographer and really funny chap) is the one in the middle.

I feel like this may have been at around 2am?! Lol TIU girls work hard and play harder! 

Such an unforgettable fun night - I had a blast!   

See you tomorrow for the final TIU Retreat post - meow :( 

xoxo