My Inner Fire around Toronto!

As January comes to an end I realize I didn’t do much of a recap to the last year, so here is a mini one featuring one of my fave Canadian brands My Inner Fire! I am so proud to be an Inner Fire luminary and have the chance to rock the coolest prints around Toronto! We usually head out for a full day long boarding, walking , picnicking and of course some yoga snap and these leggings withstand the entire day or working out. Here are some of my favourite moments:

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This was when I first got my Nocturne Inner Fire leggings! I LOVED all the new collection prints but had to have these Nocturne leggings first because they are totally my style. We took it to one of the most beautiful places in Toronto, High Park.

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Not only was I wearing comfy leggings but this day was also a breakthrough day for me! I love to backbend and contort my body and I have been trying to reach my hands up further to my knees in this standing backbend shown above. This day was miraculous, not only did I reach my legs but I walked my hands all the way up to my knees and held it comfortably. I realized after that I was even doing this on a downward slope! Truly a cool moment for me! For all of you wondering how to get into this pose, it requires a lot of warming up. I usually warm up with a ton of pigeon variations and also I have to stretch my shoulders for a good 10 minutes.

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I get so many compliments on these Bella leggings, they remind me of a warm Greek day with white buildings and this print on the tiled grounds. This was also a breakthrough day for me as it was the furthest I had ever gotten my splits in a dancer pose! It felt like a moment you understand a pose and what was holding you back at first. For me, I wasn’t able to reach my hands far down enough my shin to really lift my leg. I also focused more on backbends and less on my hamstring stretches. Now that I have incorporated splits into my practice, this pose feels much more natural to me and I’m proud to say I can do a full split now!!

On a sunny day like below we couldn’t resist long boarding around the city. I brought my travel Yogo mat (just incase yoga pics happened hehe) and of course they did when we arrived to this point on the lakeshore. It looks like you can see for miles, but it’s only a lake and it is pretty smoggy too!

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I tried this variation of a backbend called Alien Backbend, where you drop your butt a bit lower, almost creating a chair like shape. I really wanted to jazz it up by doing it in a forearm wheel, but also hugging both my hands to my elbows once I was in a good position. It looks and felt great!

Classic Upward Bow pose below! I will admit I did tip over just after this, you can kind of tell I am leaning a bit too far back but I swear I held it straight for a a few breaths before!

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We were headed home from a morning at the beach and we walked by this abandoned old train track. I had always wanted to try this pose where you extend your whole body over the track and do somewhat of a plank from one side to the other. I added a backbend of course and plopped my foot onto my head.

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But then the funniest thing happened… these guys drove by and were so impressed they paid me to be in their music video! I seriously asked them a million times – “Are you sure? I do yoga… it’s a hip hop video right? And you want yoga?” 😛 – and they kept saying yes! So I did a mini flow on the hood of their car. HAHAHHA

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This was possibly the best part of my yoga journey so far. getting to backbend on the hood of a rappers car for their video. Now I don’t know if the video ever made it out, and I honestly can’t remember their names. And who knows if they even liked the yoga hood girl in the end anyway, but I still LOVED this moment and will remember it for ever. It’s amazing how yoga has opened up so many doors of opportunity! Can’t wait for more!!

Check out @myinnerfire on Instagram – and you can use the code VanessaB for a discount at myinnerfire.com or on Amazon

 

Eleuthera 2016 – Surreal Beach Yoga Experience

So we didn’t really go on this trip so I could do yoga on the beach, but squeezing it in to our relaxing time in Eleuthera, Bahamas was not so bad, especially since it felt just so RIGHT! The warmth of the sun on your skin followed by that sweet salty breeze is the most wonderful experience. Especially when the beach is at low tide and the sand banks appear – yoga right in the middle of all that water, where you can walk for miles before it reaches your knees.

Mala pictured above is from Seed of Intention where you can use the code ASANAVANESSA10 for 10% off. I am also wearing HEAT Swimwear in the above photos. We had this idea that we would explore the entire island, and see every single beach. Well, we didn’t see the whole island, no matter how deceivingly small it may seem – we would need months to discover every beach this beautiful island holds. We did manage to see the top beaches on the island, with the above photos being from Alabaster Bay – one of the highest rated beaches on the island. Gaulding Cay was also one of the nicest beaches we went to (pictured below), but only because it gave us an awesome first time snorkelling experience to the island. I would highly recommend making the treck out to this beach just for that alone.

Bikini by @wetchic_beachwear

Speaking of top rated beaches, one of the top in the world belongs to this tiny island – famed for its coral coloured sand. We had to see this beach. So we woke up early and made the hour long car journey to the docks to take a small ferry boat over to harbour island. We had to rent a golf cart once we got to this tiny little island to make it to the famous beach, but that was so much fun as it is how the locals ride around. Every golf cart to themselves riding around in the sun on narrow roads, where you have to remember to drive to the left! Feet in the sand below, can you see the hues of pink in this sand?

I was wearing all JVRNEY swimwear on this day. So comfortable and I loved the white top with the green palms and floral on it. Felt perfect for this setting and practicing on the softest sand ever. We even had some of the best conch on the whole island in a salad as we watched the sun start to set. It was perfect. Conch is not my favourite but the way it was prepared for this salad was divine.

We did a lot more beach exploring after this, of course. Beach after beach after beach… but I’m not complaining. memorable moments include eating food, snorkelling, tanning, floating, eating food, drinking, tanning, snorkelling, eating food. So ya know, it was awesome.

We visited the Marker bars by Schooner Cays in the first photo above. just miles and miles of sand banks in the middle of the ocean between Eleuthera and Exuma Sounds. We stayed close to the small town of James Cistern where I had to strike a pose on the dock (the locals loved that haha). And one of our personal favourite beaches in the last photo above called Ten Bay beach. Such an awesome spot where the water is like a big clear pool at high tide.

I had to do some underwater yoga at South Palmetto Beach as well. We saw a shark soon after this so that was the last photo taken before moving it on to the beach for the rest of the day!

What is amazing about the beaches of Eleuthera is how private they are. We rarely bumped into anyone on these beaches so if thats your thing then this place is for you. You have an entire beach to yourself every day – all day. It truly is magical and breathtaking place. Since it is so empty all the time and the roads are hard to drive without a 4×4, if you get trapped at a beach, then you have to wait and hope someone drives by 😀 That’s why we always packed enough food and drinks in this AMAZING Sol & Selene bag that came so handy for this trip. We stuffed it full of everything we needed to last throughout the day – I am so happy we brought it.

Bag by @solandsolene 😍 Use the code ASANAVANESSA15 for a discount at solandsolene.com

Bag by @solandsolene 😍 Use the code ASANAVANESSA15 for a discount at solandsolene.com

Other than beaches we visited the Cliffs in James Cistern – just for a little adventuring. The pools behind me in the first photo below were full of crabs and sea urchins. It is also where the Atlantic ocean crashed against the edge of the cliffside. The second photo below was a rainy day where we visited Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve and learned about the various insects and plants of the Bahamas and Eleuthera. We also got stuck in the pouring rain but made it to this lovely tower within the park, so it wasnt so bad.

Last photo is one of my favourites. From the land of pineapples we had the juiciest little ones in Eleuthera. The most delicious pineapples live here and you need to sample these babies.

We had to visit Spanish wells as well, noted as one of the most beautiful beaches. As it was super beautiful but our taste had grown quite high after Harbour Island and Ten Bay beach – this one was beautiful, but very windy and full of larger bigger fish which we couldn’t see because of murky water. That freaked me out a bit so not too much snorkelling happened. It is home to Lobster island though so we had to sample the local cuisine – SO YUMMY.

Of course I had to do some underwater yoga, taken at our most favourite beach – Lighthouse Point beach. I think if we had seen this beach from the beginning and not save dit to last, we probably would have just come here every day. WOW. It is so incredibly breathtaking. The sand is soft and pink, there is adventuring to be done with the hike up the the Lighthouse and around, and plenty of amazing snorkelling spots in deep water close to shore. this was by far my favourite spot on the entire island. You can see how clear of a pool it is below.

The white bikini pictured is from Bikini CN which I loved for cheeky tanning 😉 The top also felt like a rash guard so it was great for snorkelling. We spent the entire day from morning to night on this beach, we came prepared to do just that because this one was the hardest road to drive to get to this beach. Super bumpy for 20 minutes on a slow ride in. But so worth it.

Thank you Lighthouse beach for a last magical perfect day in Eleuthera. I had my mermaid moment here too, pictured above in my fave dress from Red Carter Swim. You can see how crystal blue the water is – I will remember this moment forever. 

Extra special thank you to my main muffin photographer for documenting some of my yoga experience on the island. love chu!

November Yogi Surprise featuring OM PHONES!!

I have been seeing sneak previous of this months Yogi Surprise all over, and one of the items that really caught my eye are the fantabulous OM PHONES!! These are super unique mala headphones that soothe your mind and nourish your soul. They are made from sustainable materials and the sounds quality is killer. I will definitely be taking these on my holiday because they are the cutest headphones ever!!! I got the red tassel mala phones but I did see a beautiful blue version as well! The ear buds are super comfy and soft in the ear, I can see myself wearing these for a while during a workout. IMG_0562

Last month I received an awesome yoga mat strap my Manduka, which I was thrilled for because I finally had something to wrap up my Manduka mat in! Coincidence, or does Yogi Surprise know me too well? Either way, this month I got a certified organic Manduka yoga mat spray – you can tell it is a high quality spray that won’t degrade you mat over time. I always find there is something super yummy smelly in the box, and this month it was the Aura Cacia Chakra balancing roll on scent. This is one of my favourites in the box, it allows you to roll on without having to spray anything. The scent is a calming earthy floral aroma, love it!

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This whole time I was going through the box I was wearing the first thing I pulled out which were SOCK – I FREAKING LOVE SOCKS! These Toe Talk manta Socks are made for practice with their grippy leafy design at the bottom and they have a personal mantra printed on the top. My socks said Find Your Zen – ah, yes I will socks… yes I will.

Next comes our yummy Balance Superfood shot, containing half a days worth of fruit and veggies in such a little cute green bottle. I am saving this one for after a yoga practice, will let you know how it goes but I read the ingredients and it cant get any more natural than this. PURE fruit and veggies with no sugar or chemicals added. HOW YUM! <3 There is also a Buddha Teas Organic Zen Cleanse blend in a Hibiscus and cranberry flavour which I have yet to try, but like all Buddha Tea products – you can’t go wrong.

The surprises are not done yet as I still have the Yogi Surprise Jewelry box. I love this cute little box the most because there is always a yummy treat inside too, and this one had a limited batch Apple Pie virgin chocolate bar from Raaka. I had one of these in a previous box – it was salted dark chocolate, so I was excited to see one in this months box too. I know it’s cheesy but I personally love the packaging on this bar. These are hand crafted in Brooklyn and you can see and tatse the love that goes into each one. Lovely Bean-to-bar magic.

On to the jewelry! a beautiful matching set of beads, one bracelet and one necklace. The wood and fire agate beads on the necklace hang on a fine chain and are strung in a line – super simple. They are a warm ambery colour, perfect for this fall. Perfect for this months gratitude theme!

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Such happiness every time I get one of these boxes, so many subscription boxes to choose from, but this is for sure my favourite little parcel that lands on my doorstep. Sign up for Yogi Surprise, You really won’t regret it.

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A night to remember at B Yoga’s Community Collective

When B Yoga invites you to their first major event, you say yes. I am so happy I did have the chance to attend and practice with new and old faces. The event was a major success, as this warm practice was led by Sarah Leavens, Jonathan and Queenie Phair (Phair Yoga), and David Good. Mostly I was super excited to finally take one of the Phairs yoga classes, it was so much fun – especially when we all linked together for our Warrior flows!IMG_1676

There were so many wonderful vendors including My Inner Fie, Village Juicery, Flow Water, Kupfert and Kim, Gorp Bar, and Province Apothecary – all part of the goodies bag every one received from the event which included an amazing B Yoga towel made from Turkish Cotton! We all received hydrating FLOW water throughout the event and a yummy drink from The Village Juicery at the end of our savasana.

The music was unlike any other, the entire practice had music by DJ Carmelinda and the live serenade of local musician Matt Riggs. I must say this had to have been the best playlist I have ever heard during a practice. It just fit so well into the chill atmosphere throughout the Glass factory at 99 Sudbury (this space is gorgeous).

Brian, Su and I hanging out (Queenie in the background )

Brian, Su and I hanging out (Queenie in the background )

I love how events like this bring a local yoga community together, there were so many familiar faces like Brian @bchanwarrior and Su @schun who I had met from Instagram. We all had a blast and even got to strike a pose together before heading home. IMG_3148

What a night! I can’t wait for the next! Thank you so much Arin and B Yoga @byoganow