Off the Mat is a series on YBC that shares bits and pieces about what goes on off the yoga mat, and in my everyday life.

PSA: FYI, our video bundles available for yogis of all levels. Don't forget that you'll get a free gift when you screenshot your review of our app to Lauren. And if you screenshot a review of my book, Namaslay, to @YBCsneakpeek, we'll send you a different free gift in thanks. Lastly, we're doing a last minute promo for our yoga retreat in Italy. Email Jan (at) yogabycandace for more info. Lastly, we just finalized details for our Namaslay yoga workshop in London, England. Sign up now!

Disclaimer: Off the Mat posts are not sponsored, but many of the products I mentioned were sent to me. I've noted when that's been the case, and as always, I only recommend products I truly enjoy and would purchase for myself. This post contains affiliate links, which means YBC earns a small commission when you check them out.

Just downloaded this because I know I'll finish This Is How It Always Is on my flight home. Would love to hear any recent book recs you have. Leave it in the comments below with a brief synopsis so other YBCers can pick their next book too. (This Is How It Always Is is excellent - follows the life of a family whose youngest is trans. Highly recommend.) #YBCreads #yogabycandace #book

A post shared by Candace (@yogabycandace) on Mar 12, 2017 at 1:02pm PDT

Reading Lately

One easy thing you can do to have more productive work days.

This fashion post cracked me up and made my whole day.

I finished this book in just a handful of days and found it so beautifully written and so moving. Now I'm onto this one, although I still need to finish this one.

Wearing Lately

New Shoes - Slides are trending for spring so I busted out my new pair while in LA this month. My dad got me these sneakers for my birthday and I'm planning on wearing them with casual dresses while in Italy. Below are a couple casual dresses and rompers I'd wear with sneakers or slides.

Shades - I got these sunglasses right before my trip to LA and I am obsessed. I went on a sunglasses revival kick and dug out some Ray Bans I hadn't worn in a while and now I'm kind of hooked. Maybe age does that - haha, I never realized how easy it was to cover up those dark circles under your eyes in a hurry. Just throw 'em on and go. A few others I'm liking below, including a bunch from this brand Quay, which I've been wanting to try for ages. I can't really shop for sunglasses online, though. I like trying them on in store because my face is so small :( Does anyone out there own a pair of Quay sunglasses? Care to share a mini review?

I've also been wearing my Free People duster all. the. time. It's perfect for travel because it doubles as a blanket. My Free People one isn't available anymore but here's a similar one on supersale.

Doing Lately

The Open - In the workout realm of things, I've been participating in the CrossFit open. It's been a lot of fun, especially because I remember doing it last year, when I'd just started incorporating CrossFit style workouts into my fitness routine. I haven't been taking it too seriously (let's be real, I'm not going to The Games, like, ever), and instead approached the whole thing with an attitude of: well let's just see what I can do. If I do well (hello, 17.1), great. If I don't (hello, 17.2), well then I know where i have to focus in order to improve for the future.

Bundled up & ready for a walk 🙄😑 #yogabycandace #husky #petstagram

A post shared by Candace (@yogabycandace) on Mar 21, 2017 at 9:00am PDT

Spending time with my dog - As you may have seen on snapchat (@yogaby_candace), I got my dog Buckles back for a few months! My ex and I are splitting custody of him and I was so psyched to get him back. But, as you may have read in my book Namaslay, I have PTSD from the dog bite I suffered years ago that triggered all my Lyme disease issues. I live in an apartment building with lots of other dogs, and Buckles is fine with other dogs, but I am not. I just don't trust them and I have such bad anxiety and post traumatic stress from when the second dog we'd adopted attacked Buckles and I tried to get in the middle to break it up. My energy is bad when other dogs are around, and my goal is to really work on it because I feel like dogs pick up on energy. If you're fearful, they're fearful. If you're anxious, they're anxious. I need to work on being calm and trying not to freak out if there's another dog that steps onto the elevator (although that's my worst damn nightmare - where are we supposed to go if there's a dog fight in the elevator?!). Anyway, so I've been working on dealing with that. Wish me luck, ha.

And this little piggie came to auntie's 😍 #yogabcandace #normal

A post shared by Candace (@yogabycandace) on Mar 16, 2017 at 11:18am PDT

Operation Have More Fun

Family Time - Operation Have More Fun is still going strong. I feel like as a kid, you're naturally in this state of trying to create fun. As we grow up, that's replaced with so much stress. We sort of forget to have fun. And having fun is vital, I'd argue, to our mental health. So in case you're new around here, I've been making an effort to have more fun. This past month included a visit with my aunties and one of my cousins. My mom's side of the family is huge (I have, like, 20+ first cousins just on that side alone), and family get togethers are always a lot of fun. My mom and I went up for lunch, and my cousin, who owns a small family farm, brought one of the piglets. He was born just a week prior, and was the cutest little thing with the more adorable grunts and longest lashes. Did you know that pigs communicate with this grunts? Kind of adorbs.

Tattoos - While in LA, my friend and I popped into High Voltage Tattoo to get inked up. She got lettering that said: Nevertheless, she persisted. I got.....something I'll share on the exclusive section of the YBC App at the beginning of April, once it's fully healed. It was such a fun experience to spend time with my friend. Aside from the tattoo date, we also hit up Salt's Cure afterward, where I had the most delicious duck broth.

Me time - I also got some me time in with a solo hike in the Hollywood Hills, jaunts to my favorite thrift shops, and early morning coffee runs to Go Get Em Tiger. Gah, I miss LA so much sometimes. I spent a summer there a few years back and it was great in all aspects...except for the traffic. I just cannot handle it!

Recent Discoveries

The whole reason I went to LA was to hit up Expo West, the biggest natural products expo in the country. It was...an experience. I don't know that I'll go back, mostly because my goal was to discover small businesses we could feature in the Mantra Box®, but every single booth were actually major brands I already knew about. It was sort of frustrating. I've heard it's very expensive to have a booth at this expo (like upwards of $10k) so I should've thought that through first. Smaller businesses wouldn't have that kind of budget, so obviously they wouldn't be there. Womp. Ah well. I did discover a handful of new products I really like, including the Amazing Grass Green Superfood bar.

Watching Lately

Movies - I've seen a number of movies just due to all the time I've spent on the plane recently. I saw The Dressmaker (witty, wry script, cute movie), Hell or High Water (great script, great cast), Mary and Martha (uplifting, feel good), and A Man Called Ove (excellent, but the book is better).

That about does it for me - I'd love to hear what's going on in your life off the yoga mat. How's work? How's life? What sorts of things are you doing to have more fun in your life? What stressors are you dealing with and what are you doing to minimize their stress on your life? Let me know down in the comments section below.