The Beauty of a Weekend Retreat

Last weekend I had the pleasure of leading another retreat. This time it was a weekend one, from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, and it was held at Florence House in Seaford, East Sussex right by the sea.

Although short in days, a weekend retreat can seem to offer you the gift of time in various ways:

• it presents you with the time to pause in your busy routine to focus on yourself - no cooking or other household chores to do - bliss!

• it makes it easy for you to put your yoga practice first - the 4 classes are scheduled in and, although attendance is not compulsory, you'll probably show up on the mat for each one, do more yoga than you would normally do in a weekend and maybe take your practice to another level as you try some poses that might not be so familiar to you.

• the change of scenery (and I like to choose places to stay that offer a strong connection to the natural world) offers a chance to pause and take in the beauty of what the season, and the weather, has to offer - we notice more than we normally would, really looking at what's around us and savouring the experience.

• we make new friends and reconnect with old ones as we come together with our shared interest in yoga - there is lots of conversation and lots of laughter (although there are opportunities for quiet introspection and we did do a silent meditative walk along the cliff tops, paying attention to each of the 5 senses, which was interesting).

Here are a few photos from the weekend:

our light-filled yoga room

silent walk

we found a little sheltered cove

my obigatory holiday headstand - with the Seven Sisters cliffs in the background 

Seaford Beach

If you'd like to join me at my next retreat at Florence House do send me and email and I'll send you all the details - it's taking place from 14-16 October 2016 and costs £360, to include all yoga, food and accommodation.

a view of Florence House

Well that's all good and lovely, but what about when life doesn't flow smoothly? Here are some wise words from Leo Babauta about dealing things when the going gets tough....as it inevitably will at some point...

How to Handle the Difficult Times

By Leo Babauta from zenhabits.net

Sometimes, life just wallops us against the head, deals us with such a blow that it takes our breath away.

A loved one dies, you lose a job, someone you care about gets sick, your car gets totalled, or hopelessness hits you.

What do we do when the world around us crumbles, when we can’t seem to find a way out?

The times when things are falling apart are exactly the best times to practice mindfulness and compassion. These are the times we’re preparing for, in a way, when we meditate regularly with mindfulness and compassion, during the non-traumatic times.

The times when the world is collapsing are the richest areas of exploration, and when we need the tools most.

So the way to work with these times is this:

Stay with the pain. Don’t run from it, don’t try to do anything about it, but face it with courage.

Stay with the bodily feeling, dropping below your story, and smile at it, be friendly with it, have the braveness to just be with it like you would with a friend who’s hurting.

Do it in small doses if that’s all you can handle. Do it with patience, noticing that your mind wants to run. Keep coming back, and you’ll earn trust in yourself to stay with the hard feelings.

Eventually, you see that the feelings aren’t so bad, that you can stay with them and the world won’t end, that they’ll go away like a passing cloud, that these feelings and thoughts aren’t you but just passing phenomena. You’ll start to take them less seriously, see that they’re No Big Deal, hold them lightly, give them space in your mind.

When the world is falling apart, this is the time to practice.

Your questions answered....What is a mala? 

On our weekend retreat my fellow teacher Suzie used a mala to help with the meditation we were doing. A mala is a string of beads used to help keep count during a mantra meditation (see my recent post explaining mantras here). 

Malas have been used for hundreds of years to aid focus during meditation, much like prayers beads. Traditionally made from Rudraksha seeds, there are usually 108 round beads on the string (108 is an auspicious number in yoga). There is one slightly larger bead to which a tassel is attached - this is the guru bead.

Here's how you would use a mala:

Sit in a comfortable seated position, set an intention for your meditation and choose your mantra.
Lay the beads across the right hand, resting over the middle finger, with the thumb on the guru bead.
Recite your mantra, then push the next bead along until it's under your thumb and recite again. And so on, until you have fed all the beads through your fingers and arrived back at the guru bead - you have recited your mantra 108 times. 

my mala beads

This week's recipe is .... Spring Vegetable Lasagne - the Jamie Oliver way

I made this dish for supper with friends recently. It was quite straightforward to do (even though it took a bit longer than the promised 30 minutes) and it tasted really, really good.There is cream in this recipe (single cream is around 18% fat as opposed to double cream which is around 48% fat - big difference!). I'm currently doing lots of reading into the benefits of good fats in our diets and, while I eat as healthily as I can most of the time, I feel it's ok to eat what you like every now and again and not worry about, or regret, occasional indulgences (such as a bit of cream in your lasagne).

This recipe makes a very large lasagne - enough for 6-8 portions. I used half measures of everything and served 4 with a salad and some roasted vegetables.

You will need:

A bunch of spring onions
6 cloves of garlic
700g asparagus
500g frozen peas
300g frozen broad beans
Large bunch of fresh mint
300ml single cream
1 lemon
300ml vegetable stock
500g cottage cheese
2 packets of fresh lasagne sheets (12 sheets total)
Parmesan cheese
Fresh thyme (or a pinch of dried thyme)

Here's how to make it:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• Heat the oil in a very large saucepan. 
• Finely slice the spring onions, crush the garlic and fry gently for a few minutes.
• Trim the pointed tips off the asparagus and put aside (they'll be going on the top of the lasagne later). Trim the other end and slice into small pieces. Add to the pan and fry gently for 5 minutes.
• Add the frozen peas and broad beans, season with salt and pepper and add the chopped mint leaves.
• Stir in the cream (but keep a couple of spoonfuls aside to mix in with the topping later) and the grated zest of half a lemon.
• Cook gently for a few minutes then mash everything up using a potato masher to create a bit of texture. Cover with the vegetable stock and bring to the boil before adding 250g of cottage cheese.
• Stir and cook gently for a few more minutes.
• Then remove from the heat and spoon a quarter of the mixture into a large, deep dish. Layer a lasagne sheet on top of the mixture, followed by a generous grating of parmesan cheese.
• Repeat the layers of vegetable and lasagne sheets until you have used all of the filling and then top with a final sheet.
• Mix the remaining 250g of cottage cheese with the remaining cream and spread over the lasagne.
• Drizzle olive oil over the asparagus tips then place on top of the lasagne.
• Sprinkle on some thyme, some more parmesan and a final drizzle of olive oil.
• Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes until the topping has browned and you can see it bubbling. Check halfway through that the lasagne isn't too dry and the edges aren't curling up. If it is, add a little water and press the edges back down again.
• Serve with a salad.

This week's musical offering is Long Time Sun by Snatam Kaur. I played this in the Restorative Class at the retreat - so beautiful and so relaxing :-)

This week in the garden.... Everything is growing so fast and everywhere I look there is something that needs doing! I haven't managed to get outside for more than 1 hour to do a spot of weeding in my very overgrown cut-flower patch... sigh...  However, I have booked myself in for a day in the garden on Sunday! Come rain or shine I will be out there and I will hopefully have a little bit more to 'show and tell' next week :-)

A shot of my diary for this weekend

A bit about anatomy... spotlight on the psoas muscles

I often talk about the psoas muscles in my yoga classes, and how important it is to stretch them out, especially if you sit for a large part of the day. But I find it quite hard to describe these muscles as they're deep within the body, right up close to the spine descending down through the pelvic bowl to join to the inner thighs. As you can't see them at all or manipulate them with your hands getting an idea of their situation can be a little elusive. I've just come across this great graphic (from www.bandhayoga.com - a great website if you're interested in anatomy) which shows you the psoas muscles (collectively called the iliopsoas) in clear detail - I hope it helps you picture it now. Below it are pictures of two postures which are really good for stretching the psoas muscles out - do them regularly and you'll improve your posture,stabilise the spine and therefore ease low back pain.

1) psoas major 2) psoas minor 3) iliacus 4) iliopsoas (at tendon attachment to the lesser trochanter)

Finally, here's an inspiring video showing how you don't need anything to be a certain way before you start yoga. I often hear people say 'I'm too stiff and inflexible to do yoga'. I try and tell them that, if they just start from where they are and keep practicing the poses, the magic of yoga will happen - transformation occurs as a side-effect of a regular practice.

Sahasrara Chakra, Smoothies and a Simple Trick to Make Meditation Easier

We made it to the top!  We've reached the seventh chakra - Sahasrara (or Crown chakra). This chakra is located at the top of the head and it connects us to our higher consciousness. When off balance there may be depression, inability to learn, rigid thoughts, confusion and fear of alienation. When in balance we live in the now with a strong trust in our inner guidance. Physically the Sahasrara is associated with the central nervous system and the brain, and also the pituitary gland and pineal gland which orchestrates all the endocrine glands in the body in their secretion of hormones.

The seed mantra for Sahasrara chakra is Om, and the colour is violet or sometimes white. Meditation is the most helpful way to balance this chakra (scroll down for a really good article and 2 short videos that might help you with your meditation practice). 

The affirmation for the crown chakra is:

I am connected to the wisdom of the Universe. I seek experiences that nourish my spirit. I am grateful for the good things in my life. I am open to letting go of my attachments. I live in the present moment.

The crown chakra is depicted by a 1,000 petalled
lotus flower opening up to receive enlightenment

The essence of each chakra

Your questions answered....Have you ever wondered why, when we've finished our lovely relaxing Savasana, we always roll to the right side? Well, here's why it is nearly always practiced this way - the physical reason and the energetic reason:

The heart is slightly to the left side of the chest cavity so, when we roll to the right, it remains on top, therefore experiencing a little less pressure. Pausing here allows the blood pressure to readjust and we then push up to sitting slowly so we don't get dizzy. 

However, if someone does experience dizziness due to low blood pressure when coming up from Savasana they might need to turn to the left side instead, as their venous return might not be enough and that would therefore make them feel dizzy. Turning to the left would increase the blood flow from the vena cava (on the right side of the heart) into the right atrium and prevent dizziness. (I had a little help from my well-thumbed copy of Anatomy of Hatha Yoga by H. David Coulter here.)  

It is also recommended that pregnant women lie on their left side as the liver is on the right side of the abdomen, and lying on the left side helps prevent the uterus pressing on this organ. It also allows for the best blood flow to the fetus, uterus, and kidneys. 

The energetic reason is concerned with the Nadis. According to yogic philosophy there are 72,000 of these channels or pathways of energy that run through the body. The primary nadi runs up the spine and is called the Sushumna. Either side of this central channel are the Ida nadi on the left and Pingala nadi on the right. The Pingala is related to the the active, solar, masculine right side of the brain and body and the Ida is related to the passive, lunar, feminine left side. When we roll to the right, the left nostril remains uppermost and open so the energy flows freely through the Ida nadi, encouraging the quiet, passivej, relaxed energy to remain with us after Savasana. 

These are the reasons we roll to the right after Savasana but they are both very subtle and nothing bad will happen to you if you roll to and lie on the other side! In yoga we tend to honour the traditions and the way it has been taught for so many years because to change it and do it "our way" starts to dilute it and make it feel a little more casual. The discipline and rituals of yoga help us find a deeper sense of meaning in our practice and our life and, when we honour the traditional way of practice, (like human beings in every culture have for centuries) we connect to something much deeper than ourselves.   

I have a third reason too - everyone rolling the same way meaning less bumping into each other and disturbance of that lovely feeling after Savasana :-)

Here's an article which might help you with your meditation practice:

A Simple Trick That Makes Meditation Much, Much Easier

by James Brown  via Mindbodygreen

Imagine your mind is like a glass of Coke (stay with me here). There's the foamy head with all those millions of bubbles—analogous to the surface of the mind. It's that frothy layer of useless, distracted thinking where we're trying to pay attention to too many things and doing a bad job in the process.

Settle just below that foamy head and the difference is striking. The foam has become dark, brown liquid. But guess what? There are still lots and lots of bubbles. Settle a little deeper in the glass and you still have lots of bubbles but they start to become fewer and bigger. Settle deeper and you find still fewer and bigger bubbles. And when you get all the way to the bottom of the glass, you find those big, fat, juicy bubbles as they begin to coalesce and rise up from the bottom. There are bubbles all the way down.

And so it is with your mind. There are thoughts all the way down. Because as it turns out, your mind is for thinking thoughts. That is the nature of the mind. Vedic meditation, the practice I teach, is not the process for running around on the surface of the mind trying to pop all the bubbles.

We sit, close our eyes, and begin to think our mantra, and the mind begins to settle beneath of the frothy surface. We quickly get to a place where we can actually witness how many thoughts we have. (When you're lost in the froth, you can't even do that!) Then we come back to the mantra and settle a bit more. And so on. Sometimes we can settle so far that we get beyond the mind itself to touch that space between or beneath the thoughts. We transcend the mind itself.

But we never reach that space in consciousness simply because we tried to (in the same way that we don’t become the best listeners by trying to listen so hard our ears fall off). We get there because we allow it to happen. And we find that when we simply open ourselves up to whatever is happening in meditation—without wishing we had fewer thoughts, without worrying that we're not doing it right—we settle much faster. It's an easy, effortless practice. And the only thing we need to do to be doing it "right" is to do as little as possible.

It’s a much easier way to meditate. And it works better too.

This week's recipe...is my current favourite green smoothie recipe. This is lovely and creamy and almost like a dessert. Nice to think that something so tasty is so good for me...

Smoothies are good medicine - they are an easy way to get your vitamins and minerals and, unlike juices, the provide you with lots of fibre too.

I have a super-duper blender called a Nutribullet which whizzes everything up really quickly but an ordinary blender will do the job almost as well - just keep blending until you're happy with the consistency. The smoothie might be a little more fibrous but it's nutritional benefits will be just as good. 

You will need:

A large handful of spinach
A quarter of a cucumber
Half an avocado
A ripe banana
A ripe pear
An apple
One cup of liquid - I used Coconut milk but you could use water.

(You can add little extras to make your smoothie even more nutritious - I add a teaspoonful of wheatgrass powder which is full of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and chlorophyll.)

Here's how to do it:

First, blend the spinach with the liquid. 

Then add the other fruits and veggies and blend again. 

Add more liquid to thin it if necessary 

Drink your medicine. 

Here's a helpful guide from www.simplegreensmoothies.com. Their website is full of tips and recipes - everything you need to make great smoothies.

This week in the garden.... as part of my 'create space' theme for the new half-term I'm carrying on with the weeding and dividing and, bit by bit, it is all starting to look a bit clearer. However, it's been a busy week with the new term of classes and I haven't had as much time to spend out there as I would have liked.... ah well, there's always next week ....

First pick of the year - forsythia and alkanet

This week's music offering.... I didn't play any music in most of my classes this week as part of my 'create space' theme for the new half term so there's not much to choose from. However, I did play this in Savasana during one class so ..... this is Home by Drala. Enjoy. 

And finally, two short animations about mindfulness and meditation .... Namaste and thanks for reading.

Third Eye Chakra, Thai Red Curry, Chanting Mantras and Dividing Plants

This week you find me in the laundry room, up to my third eye in washing! I'm on Easter holidays from yoga classes at the moment and holidays mean that all the mats and blankets get washed. There are approximately 48 blankets and 37 mats! Washing them is no problem (if a little time-consuming), as they go in the washing machine for a 15 minute cycle, but drying them is a little more challenging, especially with these April showers! The Studio is full of temporary washing lines and my fabulous Pulley Maid drying rack is continuously draped with multi-coloured yoga kit! But oh, it's a lovely feeling when they're all done, clean, dry and perfectly folded ready for the new term.

The Easter holidays haven't been all chores though. I've been up to some interesting adventures - as I'm not living according to my class timetable I can be a bit more spontaneous. I've enjoyed some yoga classes myself - it's lovely to be the student for a change and be told what to do. I went to Red Hot Yoga in Guildford and I'll definitely be going back. Situated centrally, just off North Street, they have a full and varied timetable of classes to enjoy. 

I've been running in the evenings too.  For years I've run first thing in the morning as my body definitely feels lighter and more energised when I run before eating, but I've been out a couple of times now at about 6pm. It was lovely and peaceful down at Bookham Common, with a different light and energy.  I noticed lots of things at that time of day that I wouldn't usually have seen - lots of herons sitting on their nests high up in the trees, the swans swimming silently on the ponds and the early evening light shining on the silvery down of the pussy willows.

My running is rarely competitive but on Sunday morning I was up early to participate in the Richmond 10k race. It was nice and flat (!) and took me along the path by the side of the Thames. I really enjoyed the new perspective and the extra boost of energy and adrenaline that running in a race offers.  

Did it! And got the T-shirt!

Having two sick family members is heightening my awareness of just how precious life is. It's making me want to go and see lots of places and do lots of new things because you just never know what's around the corner - figuratively, as we cannot know for certain what the future holds, and literally as I found out on Sunday when I did a tourist walk around Little Venice in London. I've lived in and around London all my life, yet I'd never walked along the Regent's Canal. It was a very interesting guided tour where I learned many things about the canals and waterways of the UK.  And I saw views I've never seen before too. I'm definitely going to do some more of these tourist walks - there are lots of them. You can take a look here at www.walks.com to see the weekly schedule if you'd like to discover more about London too. 

View of Little Venice looking towards Regent's Park

I like this proverb which tells us that it doesn't matter what we choose to do to with our time on this planet as long as we keep moving along our own path. We are all different and like doing different things - we don't all want to climb a mountain. But what is important is that we don't stop looking, learning and exploring this amazing world and our precious life:

Our journey through the chakras continues with the spotlight this week on the third eye centre, Ajna chakra.

The sixth chakra is located between the eyebrows, and it connects us to our insight and intuition. When off balance there may be moodiness, daydreaming or mistrust. When in balance we feel open and focused. We feel a deep spiritual connection, strong morality and we can easily determine between truth and illusion. Physically, Ajna Chakra is associated with the pituitary and pineal glands. The pineal gland secretes melanin and seratonin, necessary for a good night's sleep. It has a similar structure to the retina of the eye and new research suggests it might be photo receptive and able to sense light. The pituitary gland orchestrates all the other endocrine glands to do their jobs of producing hormones.

The mantra of Ajna Chakra is Aum and its colour is indigo. It's affirmation is:

I am calm and clear. I open to the wisdom that is within me. I trust my intuition and follow it. I am connected to my higher self. I am the witness. I envision a world of peace and beauty. I release all attachments to wanting it my way. I see.

Your questions answered - what is a mantra?

A mantra is a word or sound that is repeated over and over again to help with concentration during meditation. Mantras can be repeated silently to oneself, or spoken or sung out loud (scroll down to listen to Tina Turner and even further down for Deva Premal). They are soothing and repetitive and encourage relaxation of the nervous system. They help to quieten the mind by giving it something to focus on.  Some yogis are given a mantra by their guru while others choose one which particularly resonates with them. Whilst many mantras are Sanskrit words, such as Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (which means Om, peace, peace, peace) or Gate gate, Para gate, Parasam gate, Bodhiswaha (which means Gone, Gone, Gone beyond, Gone utterly beyond, Oh what an Awakening), you might prefer to choose a simple English phrase such as "love and light", "I breathe in, I breathe out" or "health and happiness" to repeat to yourself during your meditation. 

Listen to Tina Turner sing the Peace Mantra "Sarvesham Svastir Bhavatu"  

Om Sarvesham Swastir Bhavatu, 

Sarvesham Shantir Bhavatu 

Sarvesham Purnam Bhavatu, 

Sarvesham Mangalam Bhavatu 

May auspiciousness be unto all; 

May peace be unto all; 

May fullness be unto all; 

May prosperity be unto all.

This week's recipe is for Thai Red Curry. It comes from Cookie and Kate, a wholefood blog that posts lots of healthy vegetarian recipes.

To serve 2 you will need:

• 1 cup brown jasmine rice or long-grain brown rice, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
• 1 small white onion, diced
• Pinch of salt, more to taste
• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger (about a 1-inch nub of ginger)
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 1 red pepper, sliced into thin 2-inch long strips (this recipe is quite heavy on the peppers, so you could use less and add in something else like baby sweetcorn)
• 1 yellow pepper, sliced into thin 2-inch long strips
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into ¼-inch wide rounds 
• 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste bought from the supermarket 
• 1 can (14 ounces) full-fat coconut milk
• 1½ cups packed thinly sliced kale (tough ribs removed first), preferably the cavolo nero variety if you can get it 
• 1½ teaspoons coconut sugar or turbinado (raw) sugar or brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce (I used reduced-sodium tamari)
• 1½ teaspoons rice vinegar
• Garnishes: handful of chopped fresh parsley or coriander, optional red pepper flakes, optional sriracha or chili garlic sauce

Instructions:

• To cook the rice, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the rinsed rice and continue boiling for 30 minutes, reducing heat as necessary to prevent overflow. Remove from heat, drain the rice and return the rice to pot. Cover and let the rice rest for 10 minutes or longer, until you're ready to serve. Just before serving, season the rice to taste with salt and fluff it with a fork.

• To make the curry, warm a large skillet with deep sides over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add a tablespoon of oil. Add the onion and a sprinkle of salt and cook until the onion has softened and is turning translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, while stirring continuously.

• Add the peppers and carrots and cook for until they are fork-tender, 3 to 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the curry paste and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.

• Add the coconut milk and kale to the pan along with ¾ cup water and 1½ teaspoons sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the peppers, carrots and kale have softened to your liking, about 5 to 10 minutes.

• Remove the curry from heat and season with rice vinegar and soy sauce. Add salt to taste. Divide rice and curry into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh parsley or coriander and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, if you'd like. If you love spicy curries, serve with sriracha or chili garlic sauce on the side.

In the garden, I'm continuing to tidy up and do some much needed weeding. I'm also starting to dig up plants that I want to move to different flower beds and there are some perennials that can be divided to make more plants. Today I've cut a deciduous grass in half! It sounds harsh but it will be just fine - it will flourish and thrive! It had got too big for it's spot and by dividing it I get a new plant for free! 

I dug it up carefully with a fork, took off all the old dead foliage, then I cut it in half with a saw. Then I replanted half back into it's original hole and put the other half further along the border. I watered them in well and they're now ready to sprout fresh new spring growth.

Before....

During... (although that looks like another tuft of grass
in the bottom right corner, it is in fact my supervisor,
The Furry Guru, checking I'm doing it right)

,,,, and after.

This week's musical offering it a track I regularly play in class. It's called Gate Gate and it's by one of my favourite artists, Deva Premal. It starts quietly and builds to a slow rhythm - a great track to do some warming up and a few rounds of Sun Salutation to. 

And finally, this week's inspiring video comes from Soul Pancake. It's about making connections... I love it!