MALIBU RETREAT
Sometime living in L.A. you can forget all the beauty that the city has to offer. It’s rare for me to drive up to Malibu, but last week I took the day off, grabbed Karina, and headed off to a beautiful Malibu house to spend the day. While my intention for the day was to shoot content for the blog, I found that the activities planned forced me to slow down and relax as well. The ocean air helped too. Upon arrival, we were greeted with an activities schedule. First stop, rooftop yoga overlooking the ocean.
Wearing Beyond Yoga Jungalow Studio Bralet and Jungalow High Waisted Long Legging
RELAX WITH ROOFTOP YOGA
My day began with a relaxing session of rooftop yoga overlooking the beach. While I’m out of practice, the hour long yoga sessions balanced me. Yoga always forces me to be present and breath. I forgot how much I love/hate yoga. It’s an amazing workout, but for me it’s about focusing on my breath and mind. Yoga is the best way for me to focus and stay present. Have you ever tried to hold a pose and not be present? Typically you fall. Of course my mind wanders it always does, but yoga helps me catch this and stay present during the hour. Yoga also forces me to breath, something I can forget to do. Anxiety and stress affects my breath, which then causes more anxiety and stress. Allowing myself to take deep breaths and breath in the ocean air was relaxing and healing. This was a wonderful way for me to start the day.
TAKING IT ALL IN
Something about being by the ocean helps me feel grounded. After yoga, I had an appointment to have my hair braided. We then sat down to enjoy some fresh fruit and water while overlooking the ocean. The beautiful home we were at had a path straight to the beach. I asked Karina if she was up for a little hike and off we went. There is something magical about the sea. I rarely take the time to goto the beach these days. Crazy considering I live so close to it. The smell of the ocean brings back so many memories. Feeling the wind and hearing the crashes of the waves it forced me to take a moment to just breath and take it all in. With everything going on in the world right now, this moment made me realize just how small we are.
RELAXING BY THE POOL
After our walk down to the beach, we headed back up to the house to just relax by the pool before my massage. There was a beautiful pool that was heated. Kind of bummed I forgot my swimsuit, but defiently took advantage at dipping my toes in the water while enjoying some more fruit. I even tried to float around on one of the floaties. I’ve been meaning to take time out of my week to just relax by the pool at my apartment, but I can never manage to get to it. This was the perfect chance to just dip my toes in water for a bit.
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FEELING GRATEFUL
There are times I forget why I do what I do. Why I work so hard and put so much pressure on myself. There’s nothing wrong with ambition or the want to be your best, but there are moments when I think I need to slow down, stop and look around. Sitting by the pool overlooking the Pacific Ocean mid week on a beautiful L.A. day, I started to feel a sense of calm. Trust that the path I’m on is the right one for me. That the growth I’ve had the past few years has been right for me. A lot has happened the last two years personally and this has forever changed me. For better or for worse, I’ve grown as a person, as a woman.
My channel might not be exactly where I want it to be. This blog might not be perfect (literally obsess about how to improve the blog nightly), but it’s where I am now. It is what I’m capable of now. I will continue to grow because I want to, but I have to just breath and relax. Take time off. I have to forgive myself and look at all that I have achieved. All that I have now. I’m blessed with a small, but amazing team that help me everyday.
So thank you for following along as I continue to grow on here and in private. Thank you to Derma•e for planning such a lovely zen day and helping me to relax and just breath.
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What are some ways you like to relax?
xoxo
Serein
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your yoga outfit looks amazing!!! I never tried yoga (it’s not that popular in Croatia ) but I feel like my posture could benefit from it
Looks like you had a great day! Everything sounds so relaxing and peaceful. So jealous right now! 😉 As a single mom of two kids 4 and under, I don’t get a chance to relax very often, but I realize that I need to start doing that more often. I can be a much better Mom if I’m relaxed. I love to read, and to just be outside, even if it’s just for a few minutes. It really helps to calm me. The other thing I like to do to relax is read your content and watch your channel. Thanks for creating all that you do Serein!
Wow okay for starters, love your yoga outfit! You look like a pro! Secondly, I absolutely love reading about how you work through a busy schedule. I think for us as viewers it’s easy to see posts on instagram or YouTube or whatever and think that it’s all just so easy all the time. There is so much work that goes in behind the scene. The work you put into your channel, your blog, and your podcasts is unreal. I think it’s great you didn’t cancel. It’s important to take a breather and what an amazing way to do it! Thank you so much for sharing. I love reading your more personal posts. ❤️
Author
Hi Ashley- Thank you so much for always being so supportive and reading each post! It means so much. I love creating content and I’m so happy I get to do it on my terms and full time, but it is a lot of work. I don’t mind it, but I gotta try and chill out sometimes :-p Hope you are having a wonderful week!