Yoga for Flat Feet

Hi, lovelies!  It's snowing today!  I keep looking out my window in disbelief.  I was beginning to give up on the possibility of snow this year, so it's very exciting to even just have some flurries.
Speaking of exciting, I saw an article yesterday about yoga stretches for unhappy arches.  I have very flat feet (my arches aren't so much arches as they are suction cups, LOL) and my knees turn in, and I'm starting to recognize now how important it is to maintain foot health because foot problems tend to only get worse as time goes on.
Now, I'm not by any means a "yogi" when it comes to flexibility and all that admirable stuff.  I love dancing (yay, music!) and have done Pilates, and I've tried to do yoga, but I'm just not very bendy.  That said, I think yoga has a lot of benefits for foot health.
According to the Art of Yoga site, prasarita padottanasana can help to strength the tibialis posterior, which, when weak, can cause the foot to turn in the wrong direction (both inwards and outwards). I found this pose to be very helpful for me, and I could really feel it in my feet (in a good way).  Get into a wide-legged squat and bend the knees slightly, sort of like a football player at the scrimmage line (or at least that's what the article said, LOL--I'm not a sports person).  Turn your feet to lift the arches. This will cause your knees to turn straight if they tend to turn inwards.

According to Yoga Journal, other poses that can help strengthen feet include Tree Pose, Downward Dog, Chair Pose, and Bound Angle Pose. Be really careful when trying any of these positions and do your best to maintain proper form so that you don't injure yourself.  Some of them may look "easy," but they really involve a lot of focus with regard to stance and breathing so that you aren't rolling or pulling too much. Over time, flexibility will increase and you'll be able to do more. Hopefully your feet will get better, too.  Remember that it's all a process!

<3 Frances

Quotespiration

Here's a little quote inspo to get your day off on a literary note.

<3 Frances

Ground Control to Major Tom

We lost David Bowie this weekend. It's difficult to imagine that such an incredible artist is gone because his musical influence is still felt so strongly everywhere, and it's heartbreaking to hear that he was struggling with cancer.  With that said, here is our little tribute to him--and to everyone else out there that we've lost recently.  Love and light to all <3. 

"Space Oddity"

"Heroes"

Gardenspiration

Flowers disappear in winter and return in the spring almost as if to show that, no matter what, you can always have hope for there being some sort of beauty in the world even if you can't see it for a while.  Flowers are rather inspiring in that way, aren't they?  As yesterday was the new moon in Capricorn, marking a time for fresh starts and goal-setting (though some goals may not manifest as quickly as others), I decided that a mini-goal of mine is to get more familiar with flowers and gardens and all of nature in general because it's so amazing and genuine and isn't at all appreciated as much as it should be. I gave the plants in my apartment showers so that they could get their leaves glossy and hydrated, and I picked out some of the dead leaves from their soil.  I cut my finger a little bit, but being around the plants and smelling their soil and talking to them made me feel so happy inside, almost as if I were standing on the porch in the sun.  This is one of my propositions to you this new year: if you have time (and, trust me, I know that's difficult to come by), spend some of it in or around nature.  Even if you're just taking a moment to be with the ficus tree in your living room, make it a special one and open your heart up to nature and the incredible power that is our planet <3.

<3 Frances

Music and Misc.

Hi, darlings!  I hope you're all well this first Thursday in January. It's funny to think that this is the very first Thursday of the year, but it is, and the last day of 2015 was a Thursday, so perhaps that makes today special.  Or perhaps all days are special and I'm just getting too excited about it.  I don't know. I'm studying for midterms (fun!), so my mind is a bit preoccupied as of lately. History dates, science terms...it's all very interesting, but it's hard to keep it all together sometimes.  I get things a bit mixed up.  And I'm trying to read Les Mis on the side, which just gets things more confusing, I think, because Fantine and Jean Valjean keep sneaking into my thoughts whenever my history textbook mentions France.  Sigh.
Brilliant tragedies aside, I'm excited to share YouTube user alexrainbird's one-hour indie/pop/folk compilation for January 2016 today.  I'm not really much of a YouTube video surfer myself, but I do enjoy digging into its indie music side (sidebar adventures!), and it's exciting when you find compilations because they're a great way to discover new music.  What have you been listening to lately?

I'm sending warmest wishes to everyone!  We're only a day from TGIF.

<3 Frances 

No Worries

Let's make today a positive day. A productive day.  A procrastination-free day. 

The truth about worrying is that it often doesn't get you nearly as far as you think it will, so instead of worrying today, try putting love on all situations and just doing the best you can to make the world a more positive place for yourself and for those around you.  With all the craziness of the new year and being back at work, doing that is a lot easier said than done, but here are some songs to help get you started...

Bob Marley: "Three Little Birds"

Bobby McFerrin: "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Lykke Li: "Dance, Dance, Dance" (Feat. Bon Iver)

Len: "Steal My Sunshine"

<3 Frances

Back to School & Scarves

It's Monday, which means we're back in reality after a two-week hiatus in the world of no alarm clocks.  And it's really cold, too.  On Christmas, it felt like spring, but today it's freezing. At least there are scarves. They make early-morning, still-dark-outside studying easier and keep cold necks warm.

Stay warm!

<3 Frances