Going With the Flo

A lot can happen in 2 weeks. In my last post I wrote about my sadness at the death of The Furry Guru and how I was adjusting to life without my canine friend.  Then this happened......

Enjoying the autumn sunshine

This is Flo.  She is a little cross-breed (looking at those ears I would guess there's some Chihuahua in there somewhere) and she's about 4 years old. Already named Flo, I came across her on a rescue website and thought she looked very sweet and would tick all our doggy requirements. We've had her for almost 2 weeks now and, although she was very timid and overwhelmed to start with, she's just starting to relax and get used to her new environment. I'm looking forward to introducing her to yoga and gardening and will share her progress with you from time to time here on the blog. For now, we're taking it slowly and trusting that it will all work out ok. We're going with the Flo flow. 

Surveying her new garden

52@50 no. 15 - Aerial Yoga

A small group of intrepid yogis and myself went on an adventure recently to experience Aerial Yoga. Although I'd heard about it, I'd never done it before, so when a student mentioned that she'd read about it and would like to try it I set about finding somewhere we could give it a go.  We teamed up with a company called Flying Fantastic who offer classes in circus skills, trapeze, hoops and aerial yoga at a number of venues in London.  

In an aerial yoga class, silk hammocks are rigged to ceiling beams and dangle about 3 feet from the floor. Doing yoga poses using the hammocks provides support for the body, and it's especially helpful for practicing inversions as the hammock takes your weight so you don't have to. It offers the possibility of going deeper into more familiar poses too. The possibility. For the first-time aerial yogi it's all a little insecure and unstable. You have to trust the hammock to support you even though it's swaying gently in mid-air. You have to let go and trust.  

Although we were on the edge of our comfort zones at times, it was fun and a new experience and I'm going to do it again. It's like trying most things in life - the second time it feels a bit more familiar and you feel a bit more confident and a bit more able. As the founder of Ashtanga Yoga, Sri K Patthabi Jois was known for saying "practice, practice and all is coming!".  

Getting a little deeper into a backbend

Flying!

Savasana - relaxing all wrapped up in a cocoon

This Week's Video... these two short videos are a reminder of how adaptable us human beings are... be inspired ...

Talking of trust and support, and new things to try.... How about Acro Yoga? 

Or challenge your balance like never before with Slackline Yoga.... At 2.35 minutes into the video, she's doing Kneeling Bow Pose. We did this pose a few times in class this half-term... it's hard enough to balance on the floor, let alone on a slackline! Awesome!  

This week's recipe... Tomato and Coconut Soup

We had this soup at our retreat last weekend at Florence House in Seaford.  It's tomato soup with a twist - the addition of a tin of coconut milk gives it a different flavour and makes it creamy. It's really easy to make and hardly any washing up! Bonus! I'm using my Nutribullet to blend soups at the moment. Although I bought it to primarily make green smoothies, it works really well and blends a nice smooth soup (and again, very easy to wash up).  

You will need...

1 medium onion
3-4 sticks of celery
1 tablespoon of oil for frying
2 teaspoons of vegetable bouillon powder
2 tins of tomatoes
1 tin of coconut milk
1 teaspoon of sugar
(Serves 4)

And here's how to make it:

Roughly chop the onion and celery and fry gently in the oil until soft and the onion is translucent.
Stir in the vegetable bouillon powder then add the tinned tomatoes and coconut milk.
Add a teaspoon of sugar to reduce the tartness of the tomatoes.
Simmer gently until everything is soft.
Blend.
Add some seasoning to taste. 

This week's musical offering....

Labrynth by Peter Jack Rainbird - a lovely track to accompany an evening wind-down of some slow, relaxing seated stretches.  

91 days without The Furry Guru

3 months. 3 months have passed since The Furry Guru died. 13 weeks. 13 weeks without my friend. 91 days. 91 days of learning to re-shape my life without him. 

He was a part of every part of my day. The first thing I did in the morning - say hello to Digby and let him out in the garden. The last thing I did at night - say 'night night Digby'.  My days were shaped around him. Get him in from the garden before I taught a class. Let him back out as soon as I had finished. Take him for a walk every morning. Back in the garden when we returned for the walk.  Afternons were spent in quiet companionship. He would be on his bed by the patio doors where he could keep an eye on his garden and on me working on the computer or doing my lesson plans. Or he would be on the front door mat where he could keep an eye out for the postman or other possible intruders. His favourite thing was to be in the garden with me, rummaging around (but never digging holes), especially if I opened the gate that led to the compost heap. He was convinced there were rats there and spent many hours waiting patiently for one to appear (he never caught one though). 

On the evening of Friday 1st July we noticed that he wasn't quite 'right' and was breathing very rapidly. An x-ray the next morning revealed a tumor mass that was pressing on his heart. We took him home in the hope that we could have a last few days with him but, although we had a lovely afternoon sitting in the sunshine in the garden, he had deteriorated very quickly and he was finding it difficult to breathe. It was very obvious that to spare him from any more distress we had to make our final journey to the vet and say goodbye. It was all very sudden and such a complete shock. We had no idea that there was anything wrong with him and maybe he didn't either. 

He was a quirky, independent, straightforward little soul and he lived a wonderful life. One day I'll be able to think about him without feeling the pain of loss but for now I just miss him. I loved him and I miss him. My yoga practice teaches me that this too shall pass. That it will get easier. It teaches me that it's ok to be sad and to just sit with the sadness. I try not to go back into the past too much and look for the sadness but there are so many reminders. Everything I do reminds me of him.  There's something missing when I'm in the garden now. There's something missing as I go about my day. For 10 years our days were entwined and it's going to take a while ....  Night night Digby.

The Furry Guru in one of his favourite meditation spots

52@50 no. 14 - 'I Have a Dream' Day - an introduction to The Trust Technique 

I attended an animal communication workshop last weekend. Ironically, for the first time since I was 5 years old, I don't have a pet. Over the years I've had cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, horses and of course a dog. Many of my animals were victims of human cruelty - horse no. 1 was rescued from the meat market, horse no. 2 from neglect, cat with 3 legs was shot by someone with an air rifle, rabbit no. 2 had a disabled back leg, rabbit no. 3 had no ears - someone cut them off!, but all of them regained their trust in humans and led happy lives.  I don't think I did anything special for them but I did offer them all a calm, relaxed home with a regular routine - no dramas or uncertainties, just kindness and as much understanding of their species as was available to me at the time.  But I wish I had known about the techinque I learned about on this workshop. I will certainly use it with future animals that I might own to offer them an even more peaceful life.

James French is an animal communicator. He works with many types of animals including dogs (and lions and bears!) but he has a special rapport with horses.  His Trust Technique is a sort of meditation, producing such a peaceful state of mind that the animal relaxes completely.  The introductory day offered an in-depth explanation of the technique and some instruction on the meditation method itself. It was held at Mane Chance Sanctuary, a haven for rescued horses just south of Guildford in Surrey. Although they do not own the Sanctuary, James and his wife have based themselves there for the last few years and helped with the rehabilitation of most of the horses. They offer training courses for people to learn the Trust Technique and become practitioners themselves, and they work with people to overcome issues and problems with their pets so they can learn to trust humans and relax and enjoy life again. 

It was a truly inspiring day and I learned a lot about animals and our conditioned ways of thinking about them.Take a look at the video below which is a snapshot of the Trust Technique and shows the possibilities of learning to understand our animal friends on a much deeper level.

This week's recipe... Carrot and Parsnip Rosti

Whilst on the subject of animals, you might have noticed that I only share vegetarian recipes.  I've been a veggie for 31 years now, having decided I could not condone the farming and destruction of animals for meat - I want no part of the suffering and fear that inevitably come with that. I love the creativity of vegetarian cooking and I especially enjoy simple, easy recipes that I can prepare quickly. Yoga has taught me to eat mindfully so I try to appreciate the colours, textures and smells of what is on my plate and have gratitude for the abundance of delicious, healthy plants available to me. 

This recipe comes from this week's Waitrose free paper that you can pick up at the checkout. It often has good recipes and this one is no exception.  The recipe in the paper makes 8 patties, but I have halved it to make 4. 

You will need:

1 large carrot

1 large parsnip

three quarters of a teaspoon of ground cumin

1 small egg (beaten)

30g flour (oops, forgot to include the flour in the picture below)

salt and pepper

handful of chopped corriander (I didn't have any so left it out and it was fine) 

Olive oil for shallow frying

And here's how to make it...

• Grate the carrot and parsnip and mix together with the cumin and coriander. 
• Season well then stir in the flour and the beaten egg. 
• Mix well and divide into 4 patties. Squeeze and squash them down a little so they stay in shape.
• Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and place the patties in to fry gently for a few minutes until they are golden brown, then turn them over to to do the other side.
• Drain on kitchen paper and serve - great with a salad for a quick and healthy lunch. 

This week's musical offering... Lokah Samastha by Deva Premal.  I play this in class regularly but this live version is a little different.The meaning of this mantra is explained by Deva at the beginning of this recording and is shown in the picture below too.  

And finally, if you're feeling up for it, a video that will tug at your heartstrings...

I saw this film a year or so ago but it cropped up again this year as one of the short films in the Banff Film Festival. It's a moving tribute to a special dog - it's sad, beautifully filmed, gently humorous and full of love. You'll need some tissues... Take a deep breath.... Ready?... press Play....