Yoga on Your Holidays

The start of the summer holidays..... bliss! 6 weeks with the feeling of a little more space and spontaneity to my days. 6 weeks without having to encourage my teenage son to get up and ready for school. No school run traffic. No strict timetable to adhere to. Lots of adventures doing things we don't normally have time to do. Lovely. 

If you have school-age children and you're fortunate enough to be off work too you'll know exactly what I mean. If you don't have school-age children, or you are still working even though they're not, you might notice some of the benefits too... less traffic on the roads, and a sense that everyone around you where you live relaxes just a bit.

The downside to the summer holidays is that I can easily lose my routine and everything becomes just a bit too random. So, as usual, I'm looking to bring some balance into my life and using the teachings of yoga to guide me.

This article reminds me of the importance of pausing in my tendency towards busyness, and taking some time out to just be, and the summer holidays are a good time for me to do more resting. If you'll be working and continuing to juggle all those balls in the air, maybe you could take some smaller breaks to rest and be quiet, such as stepping outside on your tea-break to sit in the sunshine rather than stay at your desk, having a relaxing bath before bed rather than watching one more TV programme or taking advantage of the light summer evenings and going for a walk after dinner rather than collapsing on the sofa.

As always, you can use your yoga practice to create some "me time". Focus on your breath and the way your body moves through the poses and enjoy a lovely long Savasana to replenish yourself if you are tired.

4 Practical ways for Women to Recover from Everyday Life Exhaustion - the radical notion of rest and why it is vitally important that we do it.

by Emma Derman Teitel via Elephant Journal 

Too exhausted to think, too overwhelmed to respond, too fast, too full, too much, not enough, it’s a lot. These are the words I hear almost everyday, from the voices of the women I sit with. So, what is it that has us exhausted, depleted, un-inspired and desperate for the next best thing to make us feel better, more alive, more inspired?

It is a deep rejection of rest.

Choosing rest is choosing to take a radical stand for the feminine. We will get very little validation or high-fives for lying in bed all day, sitting in the grass and watching it grow or closing our eyes in the middle of the afternoon. Few will celebrate our silence or our, “I don’t know what’s next-ness.” And it is rare to receive recognition as we float in the ocean of vast mystery. When we choose rest, it is easy to feel unworthy.

In stillness, it is easy to question our value. It may look as if absolutely nothing is happening. And yet in the absence of doing, we will be faced with the greatest task of all—befriending and trusting our own exquisite nature. That which cannot be spoken, that which cannot be done, that which can only be felt from the inside out.

When we choose rest, we are choosing to restore what is broken. We are mending the tapestry of life that has become painfully undone with the demand of modern life.

To rest is a radical act of dissent from the collective devotion to speed—it is to claim a space of inner freedom. When we resist rest we once again degrade the feminine. It is to abuse her, to ignore her, to call her names and to strip her of her value. It is to delude ourselves into thinking that if we do enough, eventually we will be worthy. And yet, when we honor rest, we are taking a powerful stance for the return of the feminine in one of her most glorious forms.

Sure, there are the necessary planetary shakes going on as women rise up from all corners of the earth, changing politics, starting businesses, raising families, traveling, falling in love and everything in between. And yet, for these contributions and creations to experience sustainability, we must also rest.

Four practical ways to make space for rest.

1. Give yourself a 24-hour break from talking.

With so much collective wounding in women—around holding back, not taking up enough space or playing small there is an insurgence of self-expression occurring for many of us, myself included! We live in a day and age where there are infinite platforms and channels through which to write, speak, make videos and share our thoughts, feelings and experiences. This is beautiful and I am in full support, yet no woman is designed to produce indefinitely. Many spiritual traditions, including yoga, honor and recognize the important role of silence for preserving creativity, increasing consciousness and restoring balance. Commit to a 24-hour period without talking. Depending on your work situation and/or if you are a parent, it may definitely require a bit of extra planning or you many only get a few hours, but either way, take the time, you will be amazed at what you find in the silence.

2. Take a full day off and spend it being.

So often, when we have a vacation or a break from work, the mind immediately starts crafting up brilliant plans for places we want to travel, things we want to get done, people we want to see and personal projects to knock of the to-do list. While this is all wonderful and important, it keeps our bodies and our minds in a state of perpetual doing. Operating at this pace keeps the softer, subtler and more intuitive parts of our awareness at bay and ultimately this limits our overall capacity as human beings. Being is the key word here. How can you set yourself up for being? Perhaps it is sitting outside on the grass as you savor a delicious meal and watching the birds, or maybe it is lying down in bed and watching the trees outside the window. Whatever it is, I invite you to do less and to pay close attention to what emerges in your mind, body and soul.

3. Give yourself a tech detox.

I will be one of the first to raise my hand with gratitude, appreciation and love for my technology.

And yet, too much tech can quickly tip any woman over the edge. There are an infinite number of apps, ideas, articles, websites and inspirations to plug into, yet constantly turning our attention outwards means that we are missing an entire universe of experience within ourselves. The inner world is our most fertile soil. It is from here where all original insight arises. So, give yourself the gift of turning off the cell phone, closing the computer and attuning to your inner world. You will be amazed at the colorful and complex world that is waiting for you.

4. Notice the spaces between.

Commit to noticing the pauses before the actions for an entire day. Feel the gap before the key unlocks the door or starts the car. Feel the space before food enters your mouth or the stillness before your finger hits the computer key. We go through thousands of tiny transitions each day, see if you can be more conscious of what is happening before each new action. The symphony of life can easily create the illusion that something is only happening when the tempo is fast and the beats are audible. And yet, there would be no symphony without the silence, there would be no beauty to the sound without the gaps in between. From the ripe and pregnant pause is the very origin point of life itself. From emptiness emerges form, from stillness arises inspiration and from the void brilliance ascends.

Unplug the phone, close the laptop, walk outside or find your way to the bed.

Rest dear woman, your soul will thank you.

Are you going to be travelling over the coming weeks? Maybe you're off to foreign climes for your summer holidays or travelling for work. This article from Om Yoga magazine offers some tips for taking your yoga practice with you.

Yoga for Travellers - how yoga and travel can teach us to live better, more mindful lives, both at home and while we're away by Jennifer L Ellinghaus

I love yoga. I love travelling. And the amount of yoga retreats taking place around the world suggest I'm not the only one. But how do you combine yoga with your travel experiences, whether backpacking or flying to business meetings? And why would you want to mix them anyway? Well, its entirely possible to take your practice everywhere, and learn to take yoga off your mat and into your daily life. Here's how:

1. Now is your chance

If you've regularly attended yoga classes over the years but have not developed a self-practice, travelling is a great time to do this. I first started my 'home' practice years ago on holiday in Morocco. I had read somewhere that it's better to practice for a short time each day than for an extended period once a week. So I decided that if I couldn't do yoga for 15 minutes each day when on holiday, when could I? We can all do a few sun salutations, a twist and spend some time in Savasana or 10 minutes a day quietly watching our breath. I admit it was some time before sheer determination to get up early and practice became a routine as customary as brushing my teeth. So rather than putting unrealistic pressure and expectations on yourself, start with just 5 minutes; your practice will soon grow.

2. When the going gets tough

Travel can be tough on the body, and the mind. Long haul flights, overnight trains and buses with limited legroom, carrying a heavy pack, sleeping in beds of varying firmness and quality, all cause pressure in different ways. Overall, my body generally feels better when I'm away from computers and long periods spent sitting, but you might find that different parts of your body hurt from the usual ones. Fortunately, yoga can make a big difference. Your practice doesn't need to be complicated, just get on your mat and see what happens. Once you start you will find you intuitively move your body in the way that it needs to. Even a brief daily practice will sort out those aches and pains, and make you ready for your next day of adventures.

3. Things do go wrong

When travelling, as in life, things don't always go to plan. Your train breaks down, you miss your bus, the monsoon rains make it impossible to do anything. Yoga philosophy kicks in at this point, teaching us to use these times as an opportunity to stop, pause, breathe and be truly present in the moment. Try taking a few breaths: couldn't you do this more in your everyday life? We rush around all the time at home in our 'real' lives, why do it on the road as well? Is it really the end of the world if you catch the next bus, watch the monsoon or read your book? Wouldn't you love to have more time to pause at home? The more often you spend a small part of your day on your mat to familiarise yourself with stopping, breathing and stillness, the more you'll be able to access and implement these practices in your day-to-day life.

4. Be your best you

The beauty of socialising when you travel is you can play with the person you are, and try being more like the person you'd like to be. There's no reason why you can't nurture the qualities you would like to develop in yourself in this safe environment. You will never see most of your fellow travellers again, so who cares what they think? I've had many conversations with other travellers about how they actually 'like' themselves more when they travel. We become, perhaps, the person we want to be - more patient, more grateful, more sociable. Wouldn't you like to be a person who frequently says hello to strangers, who takes the time to speak to and help people, who is constantly grateful for their wealth, health and life? Like yoga, travel can teach us to be better people, if we make the effort to notice the lessons around us. And the more we practice yoga, the better we become at observing ourselves, so we can promote the qualities we like and accept the qualities we don't.

5. Embrace your freedom

Yoga isn't about complicated postures. For me, it's more about being prepared to have a go: to face whatever scares or challenges me, without trying too hard or wanting it too much. It's about developing our intuition and learning to trust that our instinct will guide us in the right direction, whatever that direction may be. It is about being grounded in order to be free and understanding how this grounding facilitates freedom, both during our asana practice and in the world. It is this groundedness, developed through my yoga practice, that enables me to enjoy the freedom of travel and whatever the world offers me, without feeling unsettled or unstable (most of the time anyway). And, rather than detract from your holiday, yoga will add to your experience, much as in day-to-day life, complementing your travels by providing valuable opportunities for reflection and learning about yourself, other people and the world. Let yoga enrich your travels and your life as much as it has mine.

Eagle Pose on a mountain top 

Barbequed Butternut Squash

As a vegetarian, barbeques can sometimes be challenging! Shop-bought veggie burgers are often tasteless and home-made ones, although yummy and full of healthy ingredients, have a tendency to disintegrate into the flames! Halloumi (Cypriot cheese made with sheep's milk) is always reliable and delicious and I love, love, love it. Another option is to barbeque butternut squash. As I write this it is pouring with rain (my garden is happy!) and a barbeque is definitely not an option, so I have cooked the squash on a baking sheet in the oven first for 20 minutes and finished it off in the griddle pan, which gave me that same results as barbequing it.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash (choose one with a longer "neck" rather than a rounder base, as you can cut more discs before you reach the seedy part).

1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
Salt and black pepper
Herbs of your choice (I used fresh Rosemary and dried Thyme)

Mix the olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and dried Thyme in a cup. Wash the squash and slice the neck into discs. You can leave the skin on in you want to - it's very nutritious - but if you don't like it's slightly chewy texture you can peel it first. Brush the discs with the marinade and place on the barbeque. Grill until the flesh is soft and the surface is brown and caramel-y. Serve on a salad or in a bun.

Here's a nice restful meditation for you to practice. Perfect when you want a little time to yourself to rejuvinate.

A Little Bit of Maya (and Oprah) to Help You on Your Way

Last week in my yoga classes I offered the following quote:

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better."  

It is good advice for your time on the yoga mat doing your physical practice, and off it, as you continue to grow, learn and evolve your spiritual practice. 

The quote is by Maya Angelou, poet, author, actor, dancer, producer, director and all-round wise woman, who died last year aged 86. 

I've loved her way, and her work, from the first time I saw her on the Oprah Winfrey show. She was all about being the very best person you can be. She was about freedom, love, being bold and doing the right thing. She has a lot to teach us. In this video Oprah shares what a powerful influence Maya Angelou has been on her life and how she passes on Maya's wisdom to others.

https://youtu.be/fx447Shhttps://youtu.be/fx447ShQLeEQLeE

I've shared my favourite poem of hers "Still I Rise" before but it is so very wonderful that it warrants another showing. Here she is, with her fabulous energy and accent, encouraging us to get back up again after we have been criticised, let down or challenged.  

If you'd like to know more about Maya Angelou and her extraordinary life you can take a look at her biography here. 

Creamy Pea Dressing

I'm eating lots of salads at the moment, which feels good and healthy but I always have a little concern about the dressing I use as they often contain hidden additives and are high in calories. This Creamy Pea Dressing is an easy way to get good flavour and lots of nutrients without any dairy products or added chemicals. 

Peas have high nutritional value with lots of Vitamins A, B-complex and C and contain minerals like calcium, potassium and zinc. Impressive levels of Alpha-Linoleic Acid make peas an anti-inflammatory whole food.

You don't have to use fresh peas, frozen peas work well and they are frozen immediately they are picked so retain their freshness, vitamins and minerals. You could blend in some herbs too for added flavour. This is a US recipe so amounts are in cups - I used a tea cup as my measure.

 Ingredients:
1/2 cup green peas (fresh, or frozen and thawed)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

In a blender, combine all the ingredients and puree on high speed; thin out with 1 tablespoon of water, if needed, until desired consistency is reached. Dressing may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Easy pea-sy!! Sorry, couldn't resist!

Leo Babauta has written another great post on his blog zenhabits.net. It's about what to do when you're feeling stuck ....

6 Things to Know About How to Get Out of Funk Town

By Leo Babauta from ZenHabits.net

Sometimes you just aren’t motivated, maybe you’re feeling depressed (as opposed to full-blown clinical depression), maybe you just don’t have the energy to focus on work.

We’ve all been there from time to time, and the good news is, we’ve all climbed out of this funk to some degree.

I’ve found there are two main factors to finding yourself in Funk Town:

• You have low energy, from a lack of sleep, overwork, an illness, or overdoing the exercise (you know who you are).

• You get into a negative thinking spiral — one self-doubt leads to another, one bad thought about your life leads to another, until you no longer believe in yourself.

These two factors often work together — usually when I’m jet lagged, or just went through a family crisis, or am severely sleep-deprived, I start down the negative thinking spiral.

Here’s the first thing to know about how you’re thinking during this slump: don’t believe any of your thoughts.

That’s because your mind, when it gets tired and negative, enters a childlike state — not the “let your mind be childlike and playful” kinda childlike, but more like, “Gimme what I want or I’m gonna throw a tantrum” kinda cranky, selfish, petulant child. This is not your best self, but a self that is suffering and just wants to be comfortable. That’s completely understandable.

Here’s the next think to know about this slump: You shouldn’t listen to the urges and thoughts of the childlike tantrum-throwing mind when you’re in Funk Town … but do listen to the needs. Your childlike self wants to rest, doesn’t want to do too much work, is tired and maybe needs some comforting.

Comfort yourself when you’re suffering. Not with food but with love. Give yourself rest when you’re tired. Make fixing your sleep a top priority. Go to bed earlier, turn off all screens, let yourself unwind, meditate while in bed, make sure there’s no TV or other lights on, and get some great sleep.

Weirdly, it also helps to get active. Take care of sleep, and don’t overdo your activity, but if you’ve been working from home or stuck in an office a lot, it’s often better to get your body moving — go for a walk, play a sport, do something active with friends.

A third thing to know: When you’re in Funk Town, don’t believe what your mind thinks about yourself and your work. It will say, “I don’t want to do that!” or “I can’t do that” or “I’m not good enough” or “I don’t care about that anymore.” None of that is believable, simply because the mind that’s saying these things is in a state of panic and fear and extreme discomfort. That’s not a believable mind.

Instead, notice these thoughts, then tell yourself, “I’m just suffering right now. I’ll figure this out when I’m in a calmer state of mind.”

Once you’re in a calmer state of mind, feeling better, then take assessment of your work. You might find you still love it, or if you don’t, you might calmly find another path that’s even better.

A fourth thing to know: It helps a lot to talk to someone else, who has an outsider’s perspective. Talk to a friend, a spouse, a parent, a co-worker, anyone. I can’t stress this enough — don’t be too proud to reach out for help.

A fifth thing: Once you’ve taken care of your rest and your health, you should do some work. Not a ton, but some. Put in some diligent effort, get a little done. Just enough to feel good that you did something.

It also really helps to start clearing your plate a little, if you’re overloaded. Start saying No to work instead of Yes all the time, as a friend of mine did recently when he was in Funk Town, and you’ll feel some relief.

Finally a sixth thing to know: It’s OK to be in Funk Town now and then. We all do it, so you’re not alone at all. It’s human to go through ups and downs, to not always be on a high of amazing psychitude. We sometimes doubt ourselves, sometimes get really tired, sometimes suffer. Don’t worry about being in Funk Town. You’ll get out of it, and because of your experience in Funk Town, you’ll be stronger and wiser and ready to take on the next challenge with renewed gratitude.

On Beauty

Last weekend I was away taking a group of students on a yoga retreat. We were staying in an country house in the heart of the East Sussex countryside. The house is old and quirky with a unique history, and the garden is magical and slightly wild. Our yoga space was a beautiful yurt which provided us with a quiet circle in which to do our practice, enabling us to feel connected to each other in a peaceful way.

We ate healthy, vegetarian food, made new friends and took time to relax, restore and replenish. It was a beautiful weekend. On my return I found I was looking at familiar things in a different way, noticing beauty in the ordinary. Every thing and every one of us is beautiful in it's own way - we just need to look outside of the stereotypes that our culture presses upon us. 

Nowhere, in my humble opinion, is beauty more apparent than in the natural world. Perfect in it's imperfections, nature reminds us time and time again that there is beauty to be found everywhere we look if we choose to see it. Bindweed, by it's very name, is a weed that we want to eradicate from our gardens, but if you take a closer look you'll see that the flower is truly beautiful. Maybe we could do this more often and learn look outside of conventional opinions of beauty and see it within ourselves too. 

Beautiful Bindweed

This lovely article speaks for itself:

50 Reasons Why You Are Absolutely Beautiful

by Linnea Jensen-Stewart via Elephant Journal 

Beauty is this word that is often thrown around conditionally.

It’s another category that can sometimes feel esoteric. To me, beauty is a celebration of everything in our lives—even the stuff that we shove deep down in hopes of never seeing that “ugliness” again—it’s the organic substance that fuels our gorgeous smile, and breathtaking laugh. Beauty in its rawness can’t be faked.

1. You are beautiful when you are afraid to do something, and you do it anyway. 
2. If you have been to hell and back, your resilience is beautiful.
3. Beauty is a daring action. One that is built on your authentic intention instead of being attached to the outcome.
4. Asking questions—especially “why?”—is always beautiful. Why? Because curiosity is beautiful. 
5.  If you can string words together into a sentence, and you’re brave enough to let someone else read it, that’s beautiful.
6. Flat stomachs are beautiful, absolutely, but big, soft bellies are beautiful, too.
7. It is beautiful to speak another language. It is beautiful to try.
8. Beauty is putting paint on canvas, or strumming a guitar, or capturing a stunning moment in a picture, or dancing with your eyes closed.
9. Creating is always beautiful.
10. Your eyes are beautiful. Nobody else has eyes like yours. They are deep and authentic and instantly recognizable.
11. Beauty is being brave enough to embrace your feelings- the good, the bad, and the ugly. To open yourself to the possibility that there is something magnificent there. 
12. Remember the time your best friend called you crying? Because only your voice could calm her down? That was beautiful.
13. Beauty is laughing so hard your stomach hurts and you’re yelling, “Stop! Seriously, I’m peeing!” Yes. Peeing your pants can be beautiful.
14. Beauty is not letting ignorance be mistaken for truth. Even if you’re the one in the dark.
15. Beauty is calling someone out for saying something hurtful, even if you weren’t the one getting hurt.
16. Your legs are beautiful. No, really. They are. Admire the curve of your calves, the muscles in your thighs, the peaks and valleys of your knee.
17. Letting go of a toxic relationship? Ah, what a beautiful relief!
18. You are beautiful when you rock out so hard at a concert that your neck is sore the next day.
19. Intelligence is beautiful.
20. Humor. There is nothing more beautiful than laughter.
21. Compassion is very, very beautiful.
22. Beauty is wearing an outfit so fierce that when people compliment you on it you say, “I know, right?” and then, “Oh, I mean, thank you.”
23. Strong opinions are beautiful.
24. Respecting other people’s strong opinions is beautiful too.
25. Beauty is your hometown, whether you love it or hate it, because it helped shape you who you are.
26. Beauty is telling a joke only you think is funny and laughing so hard nobody can hear the punchline.
27. Walking away from a relationship –Platonic or romantic because you know its the only way to truly love them is to stop trying to change them, and let them be who they are. That is most beautiful.

28. Deep breaths are beautiful.
29. Listening is beautiful. Choosing to respond instead of react- even if you don’t want to hear it- trusting that there is always something valuable in someone else’s words.
30. Your bare face in the morning is beautiful. Ask the people that love you. It’s true.
31. The way our bodies tell the truth—we blush when we are attracted to someone, we blink twice when we lie, we get sick when we’re pushing our mental limits—is beautiful.
32. Having faith in someone else’s word, because we know we’ve been true to our own. That is beautiful.
33. Beauty is being comfortable enough with someone else to be silent. As the character Sherry Anne in the movie Best In Show put it, “We could talk or not talk forever and still find things to not talk about.”
34. Beauty is being able to walk gracefully in high heels.
35. Beauty is digging your bare feet into the sand.
36. Beauty is sitting very still with your thoughts.
37. It is beautiful to find the strength to ask for help when you need it. No matter how successful you are. We all feel like we’re drowning sometimes, and we would all be glad to pull you from the rapids.
38. Beauty is loving your pet as much as they love you.
39. Beauty is a fresh flower in your hair.
40. The physical remnants of our life experiences—stretch marks, scars, wrinkles, and sun spots—are beautiful.
41. Wisdom is beautiful.
42. Humility is beautiful.
43. Beauty is the sweaty satisfaction of a hard workout- moving your body in the way it was meant to.
44. It is beautiful to finally tell someone your secret.
45. It is beautiful to turn the worst night into the funniest story- the ability to see the humor in the darker, sometimes neglected parts of our life.
46. Beauty is being able to truly enjoy the food you eat.
47. It is beautiful to be grateful to all the strong people who came before you: the ones who raised you, the ones who fought for your rights, the ones who were burned at the stake because they were too powerful.
48. Giving birth is beautiful. (Messy, but beautiful.) Rebirth– as many times as necessary- is also beautiful.
49. Freedom is beautiful. You are free to fill your life with the things that make you happy. You have a choice.
50. Happiness is beautiful. Never be ashamed of being happy.

Beautifully Yummy and Summery Cocktail (alcohol-free)

I recently went for a meal at Giraffe restaurant and had a wonderful pineapple and coconut no-alcohol cocktail called a Wavebreaker. It was really good, like a Pina Colada, and reminded me of holidays. I thought I'd try to replicate it at home and it was a success. It's really easy, and way more healthy than most cocktails. Pineapple juice contains large amounts of Vitamin C, and contains an enzyme called Bromelian which is anti-inflammatory, aids digestion, and is also a natural anti-coagulant, helping to slow blood clotting. 

The coconut milk is very low in calories, and contains no added sugars. I've been using Alpro coconut milk for a while now as a milk substitute, not because I'm lactose intolerant but for ethical reasons. I've never felt comfortable with the dairy industry and mass produced milk and all the animal welfare horrors it entails. Coconut milk obviously avoids these and the production of it uses less water, land and generates less CO2 than dairy milk so it feels a better alternative for me. 

Here's what you'll need to make a Wavebreaker:

Pineapple juice (make sure it is pure juice, not a juice drink which has added sugars/sweeteners, or you could make your own juice for even tastier results)
Coconut milk (I use Alpro Coconut from the chill counter in most supermarkets)
Fresh mint
Ice

And here's how to make it:

Put some ice in your glass.
Fill the glass half-full with pineapple juice, then fill to the top with coconut milk.
Add some mint (crush it first to release the flavours).
Stir with a straw.
Take outside and sit and drink it in the sunshine for that holiday feeling :-)

Take Some Time to Relax and Have Beautifully Soft Feet 

It's so important to take time to look after yourself. We can be very good at looking after others, either at home with our families, or at work but there's a tendency to not be so good at doing it for ourselves. 

Yoga practice helps, giving us space to feel how the body feels and the opportunity to reconnect with the soul. It gives us time to pause, and we get to press the reset button before we go on with the rest of the day, hopefully with a little less stress and tension and a little more clarity and positivity. 

This simple, natural foot spa is a lovely treat, especially in this hot weather when your feet might be a tad sweaty!! You'll need a bowl of warm water, some Epsom Salts if you have them (you can buy them in Boots or a health food shop), a couple of drops of lavender oil, and some whole almonds. If you have a nut allergy you can use sea salt to scrub your feet instead but you will need to use a moisturiser afterwards. 

First, grind your almonds in a food processor until they are like coarse breadcrumbs. Don't grind them too finely or they'll lose their "scrub" quality.

Then fill a clean washing up bowl with warm water and add a tablespoon of Epsom Salts. These are high in magnesium and are a good muscle relaxant so will feel great for achy feet if you've been standing or walking all day. Add a couple of drops of lavender oil (and maybe some lavender flowers if they're growing in your garden) then sit and soak your feet for 10 minutes. Bliss!

Then take a scoop of the ground almonds and rub all over each foot, scrubbing hard to remove dead skin and rough patches. Almonds are high in Vitamin E which is healing, anti-inflammatory and moisturising so their natural oils will leave your feet feeling really smooth and soft.

Finally, dry your feet gently with a towel. If they still feel dry you can moisturise them with a little bit of coconut or almond oil. 

If you have any of the almonds left over you can keep them in a tupperware for a couple of weeks and use them as an all-over body scrub in the shower (try not to get them too wet in the pot or they'll go off more quickly). They also work miracles as a hand scrub too.

  

Here's a great fun video entitled "All About That Base" reminding us about the importance of a strong foundation in our practice. It shows all sorts of people doing all sorts of yoga poses with a smile on their faces - beautiful :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yZ75hcjRyHs

Have a beautiful weekend.