Here's a story that I have shared before in my classes:
It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions.
After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.
Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.
The message of this story is that there will often be prickly moments when we spend more time with our families but we can develop compassion and tolerance through our meditation practice to help us deal with these challenges.
"Just Like Me" Meditation
This meditation is helpful when you are dealing with a challenging person in your life. It is also helpful to recite the lines in your mind if you are meeting new people and are feeling anxious and unsure of the situation.
Take a comfortable seat and close your eyes.
Relax your face, shoulders, arms and hands to help you feel soft and receptive.
Notice the weight of your sitting bones on your chair or the ground and your feet on the floor to help you feel grounded and steady.
Notice your breathing and allow it to fall into a relaxed and even rhythm.
Picture the person you are having difficulties with in your mind and say, either out loud or in your mind, "Just like me, this person is seeking happiness in his/her life." Pause for a few breaths to absorb this.
The next line is "Just like me, this person is trying to avoid suffering in his/her life." Pause.
Then "Just like me, this person has known sadness, loneliness and despair." Pause.
Then "Just like me, this person is seeking to fill his/her needs." Pause.
Then finally "Just like me, this person is learning about life." Pause again before you complete the practice and open your eyes.
This meditation really does help you feel a little more kindly and understanding towards that person. Try it. I'll record a video of it this week and upload it on to the Thrive Yoga classes so you can do it with me :-)
Extremely Delicious Cabbage
This dish is a great way to use up any cream that you might have left over after a Christmas meal. I used single cream rather than double, and only a splash of it, and it worked just fine and cooked a little quicker than the recipe said. It was creamy and caramelised and zingy, infused with the flavours of onion, garlic, and ginger.
Serves 2-4
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 heaped tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 medium green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
200ml double cream
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 In a very large pan, heat the butter over a medium heat until it is melted and starting to bubble a little. Stir in the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.
2 Stir in the ginger and cook for about a minute. Then, add the cabbage, stirring well to coat it with the butter and other flavours. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, until the cabbage is soft and caramelised.
3 Turn the heat down to low and stir in the cream, making sure to scrape any browned bits up from the pan bottom. Cover and continue to cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes. Uncover, add salt and pepper to taste. Then cook for a few more minutes, stirring once or twice, to let some of the liquid evaporate. Adjust the seasonings as desired and serve.
Recipe from by Emily Vikre, www.fiveandspice.com
Why Singing is Good for Your Health
I love singing Christmas carols because the tunes are so familiar and I somehow remember nearly all the words. They always seem to be pitched a bit too high for me though so I adapt them to fit my somewhat limited vocal range but that does mean I tend to sing more at home than I do in public!
Singing is good exercise for your upper body (lungs, diaphragm, intercostal muscles) and it increases oxygenation in the blood stream too. It has physchological benefits as well by boosting the endocrine system, releasing feel-good hormones which, well, make you feel good! And when people sing together in a choir there are the added benefits of community and teamwork.
This article by Sarah Rainey for the Telegraph shares some more reasons for singing your heart out, not just at Christmas, but all year round.
"After years of singing in the shower and warbling my way through karaoke duets, 18 months ago I finally joined a choir. Every Thursday evening, I head to a church hall in Marylebone, central London, where, along with 30 others – mostly women, the occasional bloke – I spend 90 minutes belting out Motown, gospel and pop classics, from Abba to Bon Jovi. I’m more of a keen amateur than a wannabe soloist, but even the odd off-key note or wrong lyric can’t detract from how good singing makes me feel. I leave every session uplifted, buoyed by a flurry of endorphins flooding through my body.
So it comes as no surprise that scientists have shown that not only does singing in a choir make you feel good, it’s got health benefits, too. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, found that choristers’ heartbeats synchronise when they sing together, bringing about a calming effect that is as beneficial to our health as yoga.
The scientists asked a group of teenagers to perform three choral exercises – humming, singing a hymn and chanting – and monitored their heart rhythms during each. They showed that singing has a dramatic effect on heart rate variability, which is linked to a reduced risk of heart disease.
“Song is a form of regular, controlled breathing, since breathing out occurs on the song phrases and inhaling takes place between these,” says Dr Björn Vickhoff, who led the study. “It gives you pretty much the same effect as yoga breathing. It helps you relax, and there are indications that it does provide a heart benefit”.
Having done both yoga and singing, I’m inclined to agree. Panting one’s way through a downward dog just isn’t as soothing as a floaty aria; nor does contorting oneself into the shape of a cobra make you feel quite as good as a burst of Aretha Franklin. Yoga may supposedly be relaxing, but it’s also sweaty, tiring and often painful. Singing, on the other hand, never fails to leave me feeling fabulous. But is it really better for your heart? (Note from Deborah: I think she must do hot yoga!!!)
Over the years, scientists have found that crooning has a number of health benefits. The Gothenburg researchers proved that with singing we can train our lungs to breathe better; similarly, a study at Cardiff University in 2012 found that lung cancer patients who sang in a choir had a greater expiratory capacity than those who didn’t. Singing has also been shown to boost our immune system, reduce stress levels and, according to a report published in the Journal of Music Therapy in 2004, help patients cope with chronic pain. A joint study by Harvard and Yale Universities in 2008 went one step further, claiming that choral singing in a Connecticut town had increased residents’ life expectancy.
“Singing delivers a host of physical and emotional benefits, including increased aerobic exercise, improved breathing, posture, mindset, confidence and self-esteem,” says Jeremy Hywel Williams, who leads the Llanelli Choral Society in Wales. “While singing alone is good, singing with others can be even better.”
It explains why we Brits are flocking to choirs in our thousands. There are more than 3,000 groups listed on the British Choirs on the Net website, and the body that runs my choir, Rock Choir, has over 16,000 members in 250 communities nationwide. There are said to be more choirs across the country now than there are fish and chip shops. Gareth Malone, the preppy choirmaster credited with reigniting our interest in choral singing through his BBC Two series The Choir, helped a new generation of singers realise the benefits of making music; his Military Wives Choir had a Number One hit in December 2011.
Tom George, a Rock Choir leader in Surrey, says singing takes his members’ minds off physical and mental illnesses. “We receive many emails from members telling us how Rock Choir has helped them,” he adds. “People recovering from depression, arthritis, surgery, dealing with the effects of cancer and many other ailments find it a real tonic and have even suggested it should be prescribed on the NHS.”
Do choristers agree? David Webb, 30, part of the Amore quartet that serenaded the Queen during the Diamond Jubilee Pageant, equates singing with a session at the gym. “Using your whole body as you sing is massively important,” he adds. Rachael Brimley, 25, from Bedfordshire, whose vocal group Les Sirènes was named the 2012 Choir of the Year, agrees: “The discipline of breathing often feels like a good workout, as you are using the core muscles and focusing your energy to achieve a great sound.”
Alex Bucktin, 25, a graphic designer from Harpenden, joined a choir in March and says singing has helped her sleep more soundly. She adds: “I have done yoga and pilates, and singing uses so many muscles and so much concentration on your breathing that it exerts your body in the same way.” Suzie Jennings, 30, a London-based resource manager, says she has slept better since she started singing last year, and has noticed a positive mental effect. “A few months ago I was made redundant on the day of choir practice,” she explains. “I went along feeling pretty depressed, and while singing didn’t solve my employment issues, it made me feel a million times better.”
Choral singing has been used as music therapy in hospitals, care homes and hospices for decades. “Singing enables people with dementia to access memories and joy in times when communication is faltering,” says Sarah Teagle, co-founder of the Forget-Me-Not chorus, a charity for dementia sufferers.
Can as much be said for the downward dog? Those living in Los Angeles don’t have to choose between the two: vocal yoga is the latest trend in the US, combining the health benefits of both in a single class. Back in the UK, no such newfangled activity exists – but joining a good old-fashioned choir can provide benefits aplenty. The science doesn’t lie: singing really is better for your health than yoga. And, in the words of Ella Fitzgerald, “the only thing better than singing – is more singing”.
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