My California Serenity 🌸

I attribute a lot of my personal growth to the two years we spent living in California 💫 It was here that I adopted my yoga practice, replaced nights at bars with nights under the stars, and really started getting to know myself 🥰

These are some of the places that brought me the most powerful moments of serenity 😌

🌸1 &2. Ventura Coastline (cover photo & first photo). The ocean has always been my happy place (ocean lovers, let’s be friends!) and the huge stretch of coastline from Santa Barbara to Malibu is pure, endless bliss. I would often stop here on my way home from work to breathe in the salty air, go for a refreshing dip, or watch a stunning sunset

🌸3. Desolation Wilderness. We went on a short 3 mile backcountry camping trip in this area near Lake Tahoe, and stumbled across this gorgeous lake. There was no one around for miles, so we set up our tent and hammock and enjoyed a peaceful night to ourselves in the glow of the lake

🌸4. Ojai Meditation Mount. This hidden gem was located right next to a horse barn I was working at part-time (horse lovers, 🙋🏼‍♀️). The gardens there make you feel immediately at peace, with plenty of little meditation nooks like this one to sit and ponder (or not ponder 😌) at

🌸5. Starry night skies in Big Sur. If you google some of the best places to see night skies in California, you’ll get Joshua Tree and Death Valley as top results. We’ve been to both of those places, and they do have incredible star gazing, but nothing has ever come CLOSE to this sky in Big Sur. Maybe it’s because there wasn’t another soul in sight, or maybe it’s because we could hear the ocean waves crashing below us - whatever it was, we were completely awestruck in this moment. I had this powerful sensation that all was right with the world, that all was right with me ❤️

🌸6. Ojai hiking trail. We hiked this short trail a few times in the spring, just to admire this view from the top of the mountains, river, and flowers. What a beautiful world we live in 🥰

🌸7. Santa Cruz. We were just passing through this little surf town and decided to stop and find a place to watch the sunset. And what a sunset it was. Curled up in a blanket on the beach, watching the entire sky turn fiery, I couldn’t help but feel pure serenity

🌸8. Death Valley. We will tell ANYONE who will listen to go to Death Valley in the winter. We love it so much, we spent two consecutive New Year’s here. The other-worldly-ness, the vastness, the beauty - you can’t help but feel how small you are, and how big and full of promise this world is. In this particular area, the silence was actually deafening. I’ve never experienced anything like it, and it was an amazing and insightful experience

🌸9. Antelope Valley. We came here during a super bloom, and found this secluded spot amongst the wildflowers. The warm breeze carrying the floral scent, the vast field of flowers - it was a sure recipe for peace🪻

🌸10. Another starry night in Big Sur. This time, we had just pulled off the side of the road to pitch a tent. I did some sunset yoga, and we admired how the moon, stars, and sun collided over the ocean. Again, I was filled with this powerful sensation that all was right with the world 🌎

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