£ $- Create.Vibe.Play.Yoga.Work.Sing.Exchange.Support.Empower – * With me! *

I have travelled all over the show watching and soaking up tricks and licks in the music lane. Working with producers,  musicians and Yogis for the past few years has given me a crash course in all the things I didn’t even hear of in school or Music College.

But first

WHY YOGA ?! I THOUGHT SINGING is PRACTISING SCALES AND PERFORMing WHY DO I HAVE TO STRETCH and BREATHE SO MUCH? 

Yoga releases tension. Unmanaged tension is cancer to a performance of any kind.

Let alone the voice being your instrument! 

Tension is caused by emotional reaction to an external or internal trigger. Relieveing our bodies of past occurances of stress is a beautiful energetic exchange which can be optimised by Yoga and its asana work.

Yoga also works at stabislising the pelvis and legs to create strong foundations to stand from. If your foundations are not strong and stable then your upper body will feel the need to compensate and be ‘on duty’ more regularly and stiffly than needed ergo – stiff necks and frozen shoulders and jaws that lock in the night.

Singing and voice awareness = Vitality! 

Lessons I have most recently learned whilst chasing my own dream of living through my music. You never stop learning at Life!

I.e Recording vocals to performing vocals live. – How important it is to hold extremely close familiarity with your parameters created by your voice at that moment, not your last performance or session, because having this awareness and control will save you in trickier moments occuring on stage or in the booth.

I.e The importance of your physical and mental wellbeing whilst writing, performing and working as a musician and singer. It was, for sure, touched on by Kele Bryan from Eternal (one of my tutors at BIMM ) but her style was more of a circuit training warm up and core strengthening exercises this did not penetrate my interest at the time, and have only really got where she was coming from in the last few years after being living proof that body tension + weak muscles = stressful mind maps.

I am offering 3 x 1.5 hour sessions for £120 –

how?

30minute body awareness Yoga flow tailored to student’s needs.

30minute – breath and vocal integration

30 minute – song study, musical improvisation – general fun musical playtime!

can include – audition techinque, pre production for recording, gig prep, music theory – tailored to student’s goals and direction.

Where?

TBC

Why is this so amazing for me?

I love teaching and passing on knowledge. i especially learned SO much recently on my travels and more than ever I want to pass this information along. I had my eyes opened to how things are moving along in the american market, how it differs from here and why us Brits always make waves across the Pond.

The money I make from teaching lessons and passing on information goes directly to the making of my EP and towards my returning to NYC to finish all of the work that had such a magical start to!

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I am also looking to learn new skills myself so if this is something you would like to learn about or get involved with, get in touch! 

I am open to exchanges in 

Languages

Music Production and Technology 

Music Theory 

Piano lessons / just about any instrumental lessons! 

 

+447936357065

or Comment here!

Express yoself! Love, Cella P.s + Tips that may or may not work… Ha ;P

Start

plane

stream of thoughts

words

Opportunity Knocks.

Freedom in Open

expression

Receive.

*

10 Realistic tips from me to you.

(Musical / Singing / Creative / Freedom )

1. Eye contact whilst meeting and conversing. Trust me. I know it can be scary, but buckle up kid, life is terrifying!

2. Speak from a Smile.

3. Sing from a Smile (or at least an inner smile).

4. Listen to surroundings, that is all that is relevant.

5. If you feel that you should do something, Do it.

6. Push through anxieties for new experiences. Do not believe everything you think, but do pay attention to how you feel whilst contemplating said thought. You know if you know!

7. Push forwards! In every sense of the word. If you feel down and out, push forwards to the next step and focus only on that next step.

7a) ALSO Literally at Jam nights or Open mics or choir meetings or theatre rehearsals! Do it, If you are looking to catch an organiser’s eye do not be afraid to be a tad more in their face than you or I would naturally feel comfortable with. We all have extremely short attention spans nowadays so there could be a chance the organiser or MC has or will forget about you. Even if you know them personally!

8) Let go and kiss all of the frogs! It really doesn’t matter if ideas suck; Think of them as the frogs on your path to the Prince or Princess or whatever you’ll find at the end of your rainbow!

9) Sing/ Play/ Create/ everyday! One way or another.

10) Daily practise! < This guy!!!!

If you want to be kept in the loop with all of the great inspirational learnings and resources i find along my quest for freedom comment on this post and I will put you on a fwding list!

😀

My gentle transition from West to East.

The Uber Cab driver from the Greyhound station to my LAX hotel was an absolute blast. I got a cheap ride by using their Pool service, but no1 ended up getting picked up so I still got the cheap ride 😀

My Uber lady was extremely excited about finishing up some of her exams for nursing school and we had such a great and conversation about the wonders of the human body. Amazing to speak to someone coming from a different school.

I was able to give a better understanding for the benefits of Yoga and how it could relate to her post as a nurse, and she was able to shed some light on different modules and all the info Nurses have to know! Not to be underestimated. UberL was telling me about chemistry and the periodic table and the different ways her and her peers were paying their ways through nursing school.

Before I knew it, we were at my hotel and had to sit for a moment to finish up our incessant chatter. UberL was convinced that the way to shake the TSA was to get examples of my music and give them a CD and pretend I am an unknown British Celebrity. I mean, not my idea of a good idea but USA culture loves a good celeb and if they’re British too don’t even try to stop their squeals of excitement! (Although, I do get asked if I am Australian every.single.day – hopefully the passport would X that question)

My LAX hotel is my favorite hotel I have ever stayed in. View of the Runway from my bed! Absolutely incredible watching the planes go in and out from a height that you don’t feel dwarfed by it. I very much felt like I was in a music video, namely the Adele ‘make you feel my love’ piece. I also felt very Anthony Keidis from the Chilis in that room (obviously sober AK). Who knows, maybe I was feeling vibes of other struggling artists that had stayed in the hotel on their way from a – b or maybe West to East like me.

Vegas baby!

The highlight of this trip for me, geek that I am, was the bus ride there and back from LAX. I took the Greyhound (5 ish hours), which meant that I got to see the Desert, Mountains, Cacti and tings from the bus. It only cost $50 for both ways, so all in all an absolute bargain. I had a priceless view for the whole journey, AND I got to sit at the front.

(lol – My year10 self would be mortified at the above paragraph)

I stayed at The LinQ, a newish development on the strip and my room was lovely (and cheap), the complex that they have built around The LinQ is probably the nicest that I saw on the strip. The selection of bars and restaurants on The Promenade were the least dated and had a good variety of food and drinks etc etc. blah blah.

Another decent group of food and drink is the New York New York complex, I knew as soon I saw it there’d be good food there. A Burger from Shake Shack tempted me, but I am well and truly vegetarian now inside as I went in to order it, got in line and then just felt myself walk right back out again.

My first night there I got sucked into the madness and had a couple too many drinks, lost money on the slots, and did Karaoke (Beyonce – obv). All night I sought after good live music but all I could find was old man Americana or cheese charts. Gambling wasn’t super appealing to me after losing $40 Lickity split.

The next day, I made the most of my big hotel bed and TV and spent the morning horizontal watching South Park – After spending all that time in the shared room Hostel I was so happy to have my own bathroom, my own mirrors and my own space! Finally I could regain my true introvert leanings and not talk to anyone for a few days whilst in Vegas. And that is just what I did.

I ate some good food, saw some amazing street performances, watched the fountains and got fried in the desert heat.

Overall I wasn’t that impressed by Vegas vibes but the Strip is something to see in your life for sure, these Hotels and Casinos are masterpieces in lighting and architecture.

I didn’t hear any music I loved (i.e. hip-hop or soul or house) so that kind of ruined the buzz for me.

What was great though is the cheap hotel rooms! (Look out for the resort fees; they can trip you up if you aren’t aware of them.)

Song of the day – MoS Def (Kali)

California….

Knows how to whisper in your ear and tell you

You’re a star.

Related to an incident whereby a well known Movie actor was a damn hot mess around Venice Beach being slightly Stalky… A victim to the bizz

Hostel life and FOOD (Venice, LA)

  Venice Beach Hostel is actually pretty cool. If I had a private room I would be more than happy with this place for a longer holiday or a short stay. It is an old building with loads of little hidden places to chill in, aswel as the common and kitchen area. The patios are perfect for people watching the characters of Venice from afar. The staff aren’t particularly friendly, which doesn’t seem to be news to anyone but oh well, I suppose we don’t need LOADS of chit chat but smiles are always worthwhile.

I keep saying to myself I am going to cook some stuff, there is a kitchen, but such good food is all around and I can’t help but dip into here and there. I suppose I am treating this leg of my trip as a holiday so indulging in the local foods is nesc.

My first stay in a shared dorm hostel is going swimmingly. I enjoy the comings and goings and managed to bag myself a sick little semi private nook off the main room. I can still hear and see the life but I can keep back. My purpose for this trip is to go inward so it is nice that I can have the best of both worlds.

I do, however, have savage blisters, weirdo tan lines and clothing that isn’t really perfect for the everchanging ‘Grey May/June Gloom’ climate but it is A OK. I am managing to explore a lot, and bonus’ for the sandy beach that runs miles! I get to keep pressure off my blisters by walking in the sand and still cover fair ground.

In my room has been a Swedish girl who was on a ‘pretty expensive trip’ to get her tattoos finished. She told me how her mum used to work in Venice Beach as an Aerobics instructor so back in the day so was kind of part of the Venice Beach muscle mania situation! Very cool.

2 girls from Norway arrived on the same day as I did and they were very cool. Super chill, had been a bit more around Cali and were just about ready to get back home after studying English since Christmas.

2 Brit girls blasted through the doors and hung out for a couple of days. They were disappointed by the US club culture (fair enough – Imho yank establishments are not up to the game of making a night last past 2am!). It was nice to have a quick little blast of banter and homie vibes, one of the girls was off to the land of the Kiwis and the other was sticking around these parts for a while longer.

FOOD

Seed Kitchen is the winner so far but Trattoria, EWR hotel and a vegan juice factory place along the beach are all fair opponents. Café collage is where I had a mean omelette sandwich (my dad was puzzled too, don’t worry) and lucky for me, this omelet did not include cheese! woo!

 

I had brunch at James’ beach, a bit more of an upmarket establishment ( pretty la dee da – Lot’s of Ralph Lauren and Hollister around) Service wasn’t particularly great, I asked for no cheese in my omelette and it came dripping in cheddar but they did switch it out super quick so that worked out all good. The lady next to me ordered the French toast, which was MASSIVE! But looked incredible.

My summary of Venice Beach food wise and accommodation wise is there is something for every budget for sure! If you are feeling a bit Nancy then you can for sure spend it up here, but if you are like me and doing the whole thing on a string then you can eat good cheap and sleep ok cheap.

Having been here 5 days, I am so ready to move on to the last hoorah of my holiday part of the trip.

You will find me in the desert if you need me…

Viva

Las

VEGAS

Bish

Fallen Angel’s Delight (Venice Beach, LA)

Funny how I feel at ease down here at Venice Beach huh?

     

Beach, Sunsets, Skaters, Yoga, colorful characters, strong sense of community and a genuine feel of love down in these parts. Oh and dispensaries all over the damn place, not my vibe at the moment but still interesting to see how the new capitalist business of weed is booming.

I’ve stumbled on tons of curbside photo-shoots, a commercial being filmed at the skate park starring the skaters I had watched the day before. There is definitely chat of upping their insta games to get these commercials, Big Bucks!

It seems that everywhere I look the divide between money and broke is becoming more aggressive. Big developers are monopolizing homes on this coast too! All too familiar. London has the same, as does New York. We are all living on this planet so we can’t we just Be? Instead of always trying to make more more more. These same developers are working alongside the police to help ‘clean up the community’ i.e exterminate the homeless population and folks who don’t have a whole lot.

If we just keep moving these people on where do we expect them to go?! Why can’t they live down here by the beach with pleasant surroundings?

Rant over. For now!

AirBnb, Kundalini Yoga and a food chain I can get down with!

Luckily, my driver was the nicest guy ever so by the time I arrived at my AirBnB (or Air RnB as my mum loves to call it – lol) all was good.

Room, Host and Bed was A*. I would highly recommend Kym and her place if you are in the area. I think the area is worth a couple of days but I was feeling the beach so I kept it movin.

Hollywood isn’t pedestrian friendly, and walking around the neighborhood wasn’t very pleasant. I am all about feet as transport and whilst there are sidewalks, the number of cars speeding past you is quite unnerving. Energy from the constant traffic is a bit whoa.

A massive up to my time spent in Hollywood is that I got to connect with one of my mum’s school friends, Amanda. Amanda moved to LA at my age and never looked back. She is mad successful and has her own salons in LA and Mexico. Go Girl! (Needless to say – hair was lush)

Amanda introduced me to Kundalini Yoga taught by Tej, the very real and grounding guide at Nine Treasures Yoga. Situated in a Martial Arts studio, so sitting on the floor for 2 hours was made lovely and childlike by the heavily spring floor.

Kundalini is something I’ve had mild experience with. Lauren Fecarotta at Greenhouse Holistic in Brooklyn sometimes started her classes with some very interesting kundalini inspired flows. These were the classes that really pushed my practice forward.

I once had mad courage with a handstand and held it for a few seconds! One of the first yogi handstands I had tried had been projected forward by this energy that I put down to those few starting intentions.

In Tej’s classes we chanted a lot, which felt amazing to project my voice in such a safe and inclusive environment. We also had discussions of how to help others and dedicated many of our meditations and chants to people outside of the room. Some were friends and family of my classmates which I thought was lovely.

These classes gave me a new perspective on my practise. I am looking to expand my Yoga practise beyond the physical workout element and move it towards an opening exercise. Opening of my joints and energetic pathways and also for my mind. It was extremely informative being part of such an experience that differs from my regular practise, and threw up all sorts of mind responses. I was faced with my impatience, my judgements, and dispassion for some of the stories I was told. Back to practising mental peace for me then… Where did I put my copy of Power of Now??? 

Anyway, cut back to Hollywood. I had some amazing food at The Veggie Grill, which I think could be a chain in California. I had the Bombay Bowl and it was amazing! All the veggies I could have asked for with a gorge coconut milk sauce. Lush lush lush.

Defo visit if you are in the LA area, but make sure you drive! It was nice to walk around the immediate neighborhood I was staying in to look at all the cool cars and houses. To buy a house in this leafy neighbourhood was anything from £1mil upwards!

I couldn’t wait to get down to the beach and away from breathing in car fumes. All I had to do was decide on a Hostel and grab some Trader Joe goodies for my transition from Bottom of the Hills to edge of the sea!

Stevie Spesh – Song of the Day!

I woke up this morning- after drinking one glass too many of red last night and perhaps too much food on my solo dinner excursion-  to this gorge song!

my dad had sent me a little message this morning with it in!

So cute, love him so much.

More about my crazy dinner in another post!

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Here I go again on my own…(Hollywood)

Having no distractions or phone or Internet or family or friends or dogs or cats etc etc lead to my creative brain waking up and going into overload!

This is why I love to travel, especially alone.

Lyrics, melodies and observations came flooding out of me. Furiously I scribbled about love, music, life and dreams that I had forgotten all about. Most of the scratch was free writing and wouldn’t make a whole load of sense to anyone. What started as lists and aims ended with damning realizations regarding the cloud I had allowed myself to live under. This cloud is what lead me to this point. I felt the only out was to escape on a plane.

I am obsessed with notepads and little books for this very purpose. Once you start writing, releasing the expression of your soul, all of a sudden you know why you have been feeling this or feeling that. You have to find ways to look in the mirror that doesn’t focus on reflecting.

I had to have many words with myself on that plane journey. The chat went from cursing out my knee jerk escapism to comforting my inner child that was, truthfully, just scared of what was on the other side.

The West side.

Hollywood.

Before that though, Harassment by Airport security!

 

‘This is not your home’ – They literally love saying that.

 

Planet Earth is my home and the last time I checked LA was hangin on in there like the rest of us.