Kate Allen

Some resources during Lockdown- #coronavirus

Written by Kate • April 10, 2020 •
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Here are some great resources for you during lockdown. If you’ve been reading my posts, then you know I love yoga. And I was going to yoga classes 6 days a week before the lockdown. Now that I’m helping to flatten the curve, I’m at home and trying to keep up with some of my favorite things to do.

Below are some yoga and exercise ideas for your physical health. Following those suggestions, I’ve posted some great mental health workout options.

[Note: I have no affiliation with my recommendations in that I don’t get a kickback or any profit from my recommendations. I just love them and want to share]

YOGA

The Yoga Barn in Ubud, Bali has been shut down because they are in lock down and no foreigners are permitted entry to the island. So they’ve gone online. Some really great videos of yin, vinyasa flow, and power yoga that are about 45 minutes long. Highly recommend all of their work. Here is a link to the FB videos. Their work is being provided by donation.

From the Yoga Barn, Daniela Garza Rios is an amazing teacher. She has a few 75 minute classes. Also an amazing teacher. Her work is being provided by donation.

My friend Angie at Honestly Yoga also has some great yoga classes on YouTube. Check her out too. (Free!)

And my teacher, Sue Miller, also has really great classes. Love her!

I also really enjoy the Down Dog app. I would recommend it too. They are free until 1 May.

EXERCISE

Best Overall App

I’ve tried several of the pilates apps and I’m just not there yet, given my pelvic injuries so I need more basic apps. I find FitOn to be the best for me. It’s got HIIT, Pilates, Yoga, Barre and more. Love it. Free app.

Pushups

I also intend to be able to do 100 pushups so I’ve download this app for that. Right now I’m doing knee pushups but I’m hoping to be moving to full pushups in a few weeks. Then I’ll start over and do 100 full pushups, as my goal. Three days a week. Why not get strong?! $2.99 for the full app. Essentially free.

MENTAL HEALTH

I really love Brooke Castillo’s no nonsense approach, mixed as it with love and compassion for your suffering. Definitely check out her podcasts. Great stuff. She dropped several podcasts specifically for the corona virus situations and they were uplifting and awesome. Her podcasts are free.

As usual, Martha is amazing and inspiring and I always recommend her stuff as well. She has a great video series on Facebook for you to watch, to help with your mental health during this trying time. Her videos are free.

My friend, Scott Clover, is a really talented intuitive energy healer if you could use some additional, personal attention. I highly recommend one of his sessions for healing. He’s helped me a great deal. Absolutely worth it.

What do you love? What would you recommend? I’m especially looking for some great barre or pilates apps that provide classes of various length for beginner to intermediate users.

Moving to Bali – A Brief Overview of the First Six Months

Written by Kate • July 4, 2019 •
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In January 2019, my family and I moved to Bali, my partner, our 4 year old twins and me. We bought one way tickets and had two months of housing booked through Airbnb. Beyond that, we would just wing it.

Because of my passion for yoga, we decided to try Ubud first to see if it was a good fit. We were so fortunate to find a house right near the Monkey Forest and had to walk past by countless monkeys to and from the street.

They grabbed at our bags and at the fruit off the trees at our villa. They were scary and thrilling at the same time.

I started at the Yoga Barn, taking classes six days a week. I needed the walk, the adult interaction, and the exercise. I was badly out of shape and getting back into shape was difficult. I almost wondered if I was too old, at 50, to get into good shape and realized that was a silly question. My children are fours years old. Their Mommy needs to be in the best shape possible, as fit as possible, to help them have a great childhood. And this thought served as all I motivation I needed.

We met our Balinese babysitter, Kadek, who would take care of our kids for most of the next few months, allowing me time to do my yoga, get some massages, shop for food and essentials, and see Ubud a bit. My partner worked in a bedroom while the twins got used to Kadek, who eventually became a trusted and beloved friend.

The first month was spent in Nyuh Kuning, a beautiful small village to the west of the Yoga Barn and south of Ubud Center. The second was in Peliatan, in a very cute villa that had connecting bedrooms and twins beds for the kids. This home also had two part time staff, who did a lot of the cooking and all of the laundry. Such a treat!

We then had to renew our visas, so we chose Singapore to visit. Singapore is not my cup of tea but there some great moments there. More on Singapore in a later post.

Then the village of Mas, and then the village of Lodtunduh for another month. After Lodtunduh, we decided to move to Sanur to allow the kids more access to their favorite activities in Bali, the beach and the indoor playground Peek A Boo.

For our second visa renewal, we decided to head to Malaysia instead. My partner was traveling for business so it was just me and the twins for 2 nights/3 days. I love Kuala Lumpur (KL). What an absolute treat. More on KL in a later post!

Then back to Sanur for a few more months. We’re now about to head to KL on our second visa renewal trip and we intend to get social visas this time so we can stay the remaining 4 months of our trip before we head to Turkey in November and Chamonix, France for December through February 2020. We’ll back in Bali in March 2020, if all goes as planned.

So far, so good.