Walking Around Perth!

Cardio is very important to my fitness, and although running has always been achievable, I find it very difficult as an asthmatic. Because of this, I like to walk, sometimes at high speeds, sometimes at long distances. Recently, my sister and I have been taking walks around Perth, looking for cool places to take photos. The walks are very long but never boring, and we always end up in a pretty bushland reserve, or a small cafe that we have never seen before! In addition to this, most days after school I like to walk from school to the train station and catch the train to my gym. This means that I am able to warm up for the gym, so when I do run, I don't have to focus on my legs aching and my breathing- just my breathing. This usually enables me to run at high speeds, for longer! Overall, it is a highly beneficial activity.

Hours gained from activity:
Creativity: 0
Activity: 10
Service: 0

Washing Family Cars!

To help my mum out this autumn I decided to wash our cars. I extended my offer to my grandparents and washed both of their cars too! It was important to me to help my grandparents out too, as my they always do things around mum's house, including gardening, repairing and painting. They invest many hours in helping around the house and this was a small favour to try to repay them! It was a very rewarding task. 

Hours gained from activity:
Creativity: 0
Activity: 0
Service: 2

Bikram Yoga!

This year I have been looking into balancing out my exercise and fitness, in the sense that I am focussing on a workout routine involving a lot of cardio but also a lot of stretching and breathing. Bikram yoga is a great way to do this as it allows you to relax yet engage many of your muscles. All you do is go into a very hot room and an instructor will tell you what stretches to do. What I learnt from this yoga is that it is okay if you are unable to do a certain stretch or position, as if you do it often enough, you will eventually be able to. I have only done it a few times, but in future it would be good to make it a regular activity!

Hours gained from activity:
Creativity: 0
Activity: 5
Service: 0

Meditation!

My mum has a close friend who owns her own homeopathy business and is also skilled in the area of meditation. She runs a meditation session most Wednesdays and invited us to try it out. I have never been a believer in this kind of stuff, and prior to these sessions have never seen the point in meditation, but I decided to try it out and it turned out to be really helpful and relaxing. She taught me many tips to help with any form of anxiety that I may experience, whether it be exam anxiety or social anxiety. It was a brand new experience and turned out to be really cool. Given this, I think this experience has proved that broadening your mind and trying new things is one of the best things that you can do. 

Hours gained from activity:
Creativity: 0
Activity: 5
Service: 0

Short Film Making and Editing!

Since my childhood I have always made short films with my sisters, and recently I have taken a more intense interest in the creative process of making short films and editing them. I am making films about things that I am currently obsessing over, which means that my skills in editing are improving because it is personally relevant. Over the past few years I have gotten so much better at making short films and I plan to put these skills to good use, and perhaps even look into film making at university later on! 

Hours gained from activity:
Creativity: 8
Activity: 0
Service: 0

Making Edits for Instagram!

As I am very passionate about Harry Potter, both the movies and the books, Instagram has recently become a great platform for me to express my love for the series. When I have spare time, I enjoy making edits and screen caps of scenes from the Harry Potter movies, including specific quotes from the books! It is time-consuming, but worth it as sharing the edits on Instagram is very rewarding. Instagram is a great medium and community for sharing one's passion for almost anything. I use multiple apps on my iPhone, engaging my creative skills in order to create something unique that Instagram has not seen yet! 

Hours gained from activity:
Creativity: 4
Activity: 0
Service: 0

Chopping Firewood!

It is now the first term holiday of Year 2 IB, and the weather is getting much colder lately. In the last weekend, a large order of firewood arrived, however my mum did not request for the firewood to be chopped or transported to our firewood shelter. So for my mum, along with my sister, I chopped up the larger pieces of firewood. After that was done, we conjured up a routine to get the job done as efficiently as possible! I loaded a wheelbarrow with the chopped wood that was on our driveway, transported it to the shelter, where my sister emptied it and put it all in neat piles so as to save space. We worked this way for a few hours until it was all done, feeling extremely accomplished once the job was done! This is the second year in a row that we have done this, and so this year we worked a lot more efficiently, learning from our mistakes last year! 

Hours gained from activity:
Creativity: 0
Activity: 0
Service: 6 (3 hours from last year in addition)