Tag Archives: Sally Parkes

Relax & Restore for the New Year

Relax & Restore for the New Year

You can use props at home for your Restorative Supported Savasana

How was your Christmas? I hope it was good for you. Maybe you’re still enjoying some time off in the run-up to the new year, or maybe you’ve already headed straight back to work after having just Christmas Day off.

Either way, it’s easy to feel a bit of a slump at this time – the celebration of Christmas has passed and that phase between now and New Year’s can sometimes feel a bit ‘blah’.

The impending New Year can prompt reflection, and the altered pace of the things in the outside world can make us slow down whether we wish to or not. I suggest embracing that slower pace. Take some time to relax and restore your body and mind. One very accessible way to do this is with some restorative yoga at home. In my latest post for Urban Lucy, I’ve included a Simple Supported Savasana exercise that you can easily do at home – if you can give yourself twenty minutes a day then you can do this. And if you’d like to learn more about Restorative Yoga and its benefits then check out my Book of the Month by Judith Hanson Lasater.

And as we move into 2013, I’m really looking forward to teaching with Sally Parkes on the Relax and Restore New Year Retreat at Florence House in East Sussex Jan 11-13th. It will be a wonderful mix of Dynamic, Hatha, Restorative Yoga and Pilates.

If you’d like to join us and Bring a Friend for Half Price, then you can visit Sally’s website here for full details and to book. (Classes are suitable for all abilities including beginners.)

Florence House is situated between the stunning Sussex coastline and surrounding wild landscape and there will be plenty of time during the weekend to relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. There will also be the chance to pamper yourself with a range of treatments from expert therapist Jo Poxon.

It’s a great way to kickstart 2013 on a positive note and I hope Sally and I will see you there :)

In the meantime, however you plan you spend your New Year’s, I wish you peace, happiness, good health, prosperity and much love in 2013.

Paula
x

Changing Seasons, Changing Pace

Changing Seasons, Changing Pace

Raw Chocolate Balls on a Berry Salad - one of delicious desserts we made (and ate!) on retreat :D

Raw Chocolate Balls on a Berry Salad - one of delicious desserts we made (and ate!) on retreat :D

Between teacher training, the exciting news of officially becoming certified by Judith Hanson Lasater as a Relax and Renew Trainer, teaching, writing and the usual day-to-day I barely noticed the days getting shorter this month. But I certainly noticed it getting colder! With the clocks going back in the UK this weekend we’re officially in that yin time of year.

With the autumnal weather last weekend I was in the perfect location – a cosy farm house in East Sussex with a wonderful group of people :D. I was teaching yoga on a Yoga, Pilates and Vegetarian Cookery retreat at Marsh Farm House. I went on this retreat earlier this year as a guest and loved the experience so much that I returned to teach on the weekend!

Over the three days of yoga and learning to cook (and eat!) some delicious, healthy vegetarian and vegan food I was reminded yet again of the importance of taking time out for ourselves. It felt like such a privilege to be there in the capacity of yoga teacher and helping to facilitate the weekend.

I’m already looking forward to teaching on the Relax and Restore New Year Retreat with Sally Parkes in January! If you’d like to welcome in 2013 by restoring balance to your body and mind, then come and join us! It’s going to be a wonderful mix of Dynamic, Hatha, Restorative Yoga and Pilates at Florence House. Plus there’ll be holistic treatments on offer from expert therapist Jo Poxon. Take some well-deserved time out for you :D

Continuing Education with Laxmi

Continuing Education with Laxmi
Continuing Education with Laxmi

“Through our yoga practice we aim to bring balance into the body so we can bring balance to the mind.”
– Sally Parkes, Laxmi Yoga

I love that there is always more to learn.

I’ve just got back from a week in Wales with a brilliant bunch of yogis: Part One of Laxmi Yoga Teacher Training founded and led by Sally Parkes.

It is a year since I began my yoga teacher training journey and in that time the learning hasn’t stopped. From learning to teach restorative yoga with Judith Hanson Lasater to studying the teaching of vinyasa flow with Shiva Rea and attending numerous workshops. I’ve continued to learn from my spondylolisthesis in my own asana practice. And mostly, I’ve learned from everyone I’ve been fortunate enough to guide through their yoga practice since I started teaching.

In the Hindu sacred texts, the Vedas, the Goddess Laxmi is the one who has the object and aim of uplifting mankind.

The above, comes from the opening page of Laxmi Yoga’s training manual. This particular training has come at just the right time for me. There have been many lessons over the past year and I knew I wanted to deepen my knowledge in certain areas as well as engage in some more self-inquiry.

I have attended Sally’s classes and retreats as a student and since starting to teach I’ve had the pleasure of joining her retreat team. With a background in studying sports and exercise science, and some fourteen years experience teaching not only yoga but also Pilates and personal training to people of all ages and abilities, Sally has a wealth of knowledge. As a student I appreciate her non-dogmatic style, her passion that yoga really can be accessible for everyone and that she incorporates all aspects of her experience into her approach to teaching. So, I’m very happy for the opportunity to study with her!

Our first week in Wales was spent studying and practising at the welcoming Dru Yoga Mountain Lodge in Snowdonia, which is also home to the World Peace Flame.

Our group consists of a mix of practitioners who have some teaching experience either in yoga or other disciplines along with some completely new to teaching. What we have in common is that we are all dedicated yogis and it was wonderful to share our range of experiences over the course of our first week together.

Partner work in Warrior 2

Partner work in Warrior 2

Outside of our regular sessions and posture clinics each day with Sally, we practiced meditation with Nanna Coppens from Dru Yoga who has been teaching for over twenty years.

I got to teach a restorative yoga class for the group, which was a real joy! For some, it was their first experience of a restorative yoga practice. Another group member who we affectionately named ‘Guru Chris’ guided us through an energising Kundalini yoga session. While Neil Phillips gave us a great insight into the principles of Ayurveda.

We are studying Anatomy and Physiology with Dawn Morse. As well as being the programme leader of the Sports Therapy Foundation Degree provided by the University of Bath and lecturing in Sports Therapy and Sports and Exercise Science, Dawn has also taught yoga (including mother and baby and children’s yoga), Pilates, personal training, sports and remedial massage and injury rehabilitation… So, it’s fair to say that Dawn knows her stuff!

With our friend Fred the Skeleton

With our friend Fred the Skeleton

Though I have a deep interest in studying anatomy this is not a subject that comes easily to me. But Dawn’s approach is brilliant. We came away covering so much more than we’d imagined possible. Certain aspects were familiar to me from study I have done so far, but I’m particularly enjoying learning more about biomechanics. And I wasn’t alone here as we even spent a whole evening of study time outside our anatomy sessions watching and discussing Paul Grilley’s anatomy DVD. I’m looking forward to studying with Dawn again when we return to Wales in November.

Friday night was Kirtan Night! It was great fun and I’ve been known to enjoy a chant :D. Along the way Nanna, who led the session told the stories of Ganesha, the Gayatri Mantra and talked about the World Peace Flame Foundation. Very apt indeed as our Kirtan was taking place on the International Day of Peace. An uplifting evening all round.

On Saturday night we after dinner we watched Yogawoman together. I’m so glad that I finally got to see it! An added treat was that one of the contributors to the movie is Laxmi Yoga course tutor, Caroline Shola Arewa who we’ll meet in October.

The week whizzed by. Yet in that short space of time so much happened. For one thing, we realised we had all taken in more that we had thought. That’s thanks in no small part to Sally consciously cultivating a great learning environment. We arrived mostly as strangers but bonded as a group very quickly.

Laxmi Yogis with Sally Parkes (far right) and Dawn Morse (far left)

Laxmi Yogis with Sally Parkes (far right) and Dawn Morse (far left)

I’m already looking forward to Part Two in October where we’ll be delving deeper into the subtle body and the Chakras with Caroline Shola Arewa. And we’ll be doing First Aid for Yoga Teachers training with Julie Cleasby – a refresher for some and all new to others among our group. To follow that in Parts Three and Four, among other things, we will be learning more about teaching special populations and the business of yoga, the latter being especially crucial for anyone seriously planning to earn a living as a yoga teacher. At each stage of the course, I’ll be blogging about the experience. In the meantime, there’s studying and assignments to be done before we meet again in October, so I’d best get on with my homework! :D

Moving with the Flow, Moving with Awareness

Moving with the Flow, Moving with Awareness
thingsweforget.blogspot.cpm

Find joy in the present - image via thingsweforget.blogspot.com

“ Live with awareness for the sake of ourselves and others.” – Sarah Powers

So far it’s been a yin yang summer.

This summer marks a year of leaving the ‘security’ of my old job and beginning the journey of yoga teaching. I’d known long before that I wanted to take this leap and share my love of yoga, but I held myself back for a number of reasons (i.e. excuses) – my postures not being Cirque du Soleil enough, not looking the way a yoga teacher is ‘supposed’ to, worrying other people might think I’d gone ‘la-la-woo-woo’, and a teeny matter of being terrified of speaking in front of groups… Then along came my mate Redundancy to give me the firm kick in the posterior I needed.

Judith Hanson Lasater, when I trained with her earlier this year, joked that yoga teachers are the most “go-go-go” people she knows, often scheduled to the hilt.

I relate to this. I have always had workaholic tendencies, though I’ve increasingly spent the past months being all go-go-go. Working seven days a week most weeks (not only teaching, admittedly), out of necessity to make ends meet. I believed. But when your mind believes one thing it’s funny how the wisdom of the body tells you very clearly not to believe your thoughts!

A number of physical signs stopped me in my tracks, telling me I had to start doing things differently. (Like actually taking a day off occasionally.) So, I followed my gut instinct and did something that seemed illogical. I gave up a part-time job.

But I have faith that when you let go of one thing you clear the way for something new. And funnily enough… I’ve been having a number of serendipitous experiences.

In June I did a wonderful intensive training with Shiva Rea. The timing, though I did not realise it then, could not have been more perfect. One thing that particularly struck me, within learning about the essentials of teaching vinyasa flow, were the reminders about moving with the flow of life off the mat too.

Then this month I was lucky enough to attend a workshop with Sarah Powers – yin yang yoga and mindfulness meditation. This was certainly not my first experience of a yin practice, though it was my first (and hopefully not last) experience of practicing with Sarah Powers, and the timing seemed pertinent. On the mat we were invited to meet our limitations during our yin practice. To see where we resist and, to recognise the resistance rather than resisting resistance. Sarah talked about ‘implicit resistance’ and how we may manipulate a situation to tell ourselves, “I’m fine”. And she also talked about compassion (karuna) towards our habits of aversion towards the uncomfortable situations in our lives. In turn, this allowed me to think about where I resist off the mat too and how, indeed, I had ignored my own internal signals over the past months. I recognised how little compassion I had been showing myself in that time.

For our mindfulness meditation practice, using the breath (observing it rather than controlling it) as a tool to anchor to the present moment, Sarah talked about developing the observing mind, seeing what happens when we observe resistance, pleasure and so on.

“If you can’t listen to the breath, then you can’t listen to the subtle internal messages.”

It was in paying attention to my internal messages rather than listening to my ‘logical’ thoughts that I realised I had to change what I was doing and how I was doing it.

All of these things were reminders of what I already knew deep down, internally. But how often do we push these kinds of feelings aside in favour of what seems logical?

In talking about her own practice Sarah mentioned how it is amazing to notice when you don’t practice for a few days that everything turns into ‘thoughts’ and assuming that our thoughts are reality. Again I was reminded of Judith’s words during training – “Watch your thoughts but don’t believe them.”

So, in paying more attention to those internal messages and becoming more aware I’ve been finding some more clarity. That is not to say it is always comfortable, but I am practicing showing myself compassion along the way. It is a continual practice – usually compassion for myself has seemed to come last on the list. For how many of us has showing compassion towards ourselves seemed challenging or selfish? But it’s a little bit like the oxygen mask analogy. You know, when airplane cabin crew take you through the safety procedure and the little film tells you to put your oxygen mask on before assisting others with their masks? Self-compassion is not selfish. This applies whether it’s during our asana practice or our day-to-day life. Yes, all this may seem obvious, yet I feel grateful for the good and the ‘bad’ over the past months, which has led me to this point.

Related to this, where I have decided to move with the flow – to let go of worrying about what may or may not happen in the future and focussed on the present, unexpected opportunities have somehow appeared just when I’ve least expected it. And again, at every turn, I am incredibly grateful!

One such opportunity is officially joining the retreat teaching team at Sally Parkes Yoga. I am excited to be hosting a retreat in October at the wonderful Marsh Farm House in Sussex. Why not take a break from your frenetic pace and join me in feeling the joy of moving with the flow. But in the meantime, don’t forget to enjoy the present moment!

For retreat details please visit www.sallyparkesyoga.co.uk.

Peace and Good Chocolate in Sussex

Peace and Good Chocolate in Sussex

Tasty Team Effort - Vegetarian Sushi made by our fair hands :)

You can tell the food is good when the dinner table falls silent.

The meal is asparagus and pea risotto expertly whipped up by chef, Lucie. The dinner table is in the dining room at the beautifully cosy and charming Marsh Farm House near Arundel, West Sussex.

It’s not my usual Friday evening. I am on Sally Parkes’ yoga and vegetarian cookery weekend retreat. Just moments ago the table was buzzing with chatter and then…. the food arrived!

I love yoga and I love food, so what better than to combine the two? I’ve been lacking inspiration in my own cooking and with certain food sensitivities revealing themselves last year, working out how and what to eat has at times been a challenge. When I heard about this retreat it sounded like a perfect opportunity to come away with some new recipes (and eat some very tasty food, of course!).

Added to this, being on a tight budget, getting away on a yoga retreat seemed like a pipe dream, but the added beauty of this was it being a pocket friendly weekend away in pretty surroundings – great for those of us who want a retreat experience but aren’t able to jet off to far flung places.

As we tucked into our risotto, the itinerary for the weekend was explained. There would be yoga early (but not too early!) on Saturday morning, before breakfast. Then after some free time we’d have our first cookery workshop where we would make our lunch and later on, help to make the dessert to accompany our dinner.
All the recipes in our workshops would be vegetarian, as with all the meals at Marsh Farm over the weekend. Lucie said she could also offer alternatives, taking into account any additional dietary requirements (vegan, wheat/gluten free etc.) – perfect! It all sounded good, but one pressing question remained – could we get the recipe for that risotto?

Saturday Afternoon Sushi
I awoke feeling incredibly rested on Saturday morning and noticed something different.

Birdsong.

Actual ‘not being drowned out by city traffic ‘ birdsong. I hopped out of bed to check out the view of Marsh Farm’s garden from the window and in the field beyond I spotted a… horse! Getting this excited by ‘nature’ showed me just how overdue this break away from the city was. Just as well I was in the ideal place for some rest and renewal.

During a hearty breakfast from the range of options on offer (I went for the gluten free bircher muesli), I soon realised that the catchphrase among us for the weekend would be, “Can we get the recipe for this as well?”
With a bit of a wander around the garden I could appreciate, up-close, the all the spring blooms out in force and the Alice in Wonderland-style hedge, which made me smile.

Taking advantage of the gorgeous weather, we brought our ingredients out to the big garden table where Lucie taught us how to make vegetarian sushi – much easier than I expected and a lot of fun. Now we knew how to make California rolls with the best of ‘em. We rewarded ourselves by eating said sushi out in the sun.

Our free time after lunch allowed for exploring the ‘secret garden’ I had failed to spot earlier around the back of the farm house, while some of the group took a walk to the village. I opted curl up with a book – something I rarely allow myself time to do at home. So, I sat in the garden with my horsey friend from earlier over the fence for company.

Our afternoon cookery workshop was making chocolate orange and avocado tarts – every bit as delicious as they sounded! And vegan too.

Sally’s mellow yoga class before dinner was the perfect way to round off the afternoon. Sally’s classes welcome beginners and cater for all abilities so it was lovely to see the range of ages and yoga experience among our group from regular practitioners to those whose first ever yoga class was that weekend.

Some yoga nidra from Sally put us all in a sufficiently chilled state for the evening and our delicious meal of shepherd-less pie with wilted greens.

Oh. And chocolate orange and avocado tarts.

Happy taste buds all round.

Sunday Spelt Scones
Sunday morning brought more gorgeous Sussex sunshine, so after breakfast I stepped out into the garden, feeling the dew underfoot and taking the opportunity to soak up the stillness. A real reminder of how little I (like many of us) allow myself to pause during my day-to-day hustle bustle. Another bonus of this retreat: having some time and space to reflect.

Our last cookery workshop: surprisingly quick and easy to make spelt, sundried tomato and spinach scones. They accompanied our roasted tomato and lentil soup, roasted vegetable salad and carrot and sultana salad for lunch.
After we were all packed up and ready to go there was a surprise. Some of the chocolate orange and avocado tart filling was left over! A few spoons came out to help rectify that situation. Chocolate is a terrible thing to waste, after all…

Before we said our goodbyes, a learned member of our group of yogis translated the Latin phrase above the door in the dining room: “Divine help remains with us always”. I often feel in need of divine help in the kitchen! But Lucie’s explanations and demonstrations throughout the weekend made all the recipes so accessible. And with store-cupboard advice and even tips on knife skills too, I came away feeling that I could recreate all the recipes with confidence.

I’d arrived frazzled on Friday but returned home feeling frazzled no more, armed with some inspiring recipes and memories of delicious food, laughter, great company and of course, lovely yoga.

Straight to the Core

Straight to the Core

Ever since confirmation of my spondy, in seeking advice on how I might work on addressing this, one word (even from some fellow yoga teachers) has repeatedly come up.

Pilates.

I’d wanted to do some more Pilates since Tilton House but never got round to it. Now I’m in a situation where I know that strengthening my core (in particular the TA muscles) will help to support my lumbar spine.

I turned to one of my yoga teachers, Sally who is also a very experienced and knowledgeable Pilates teacher. It was at Sally’s retreat at in the summer last year where my interest in Pilates was re-ignighted.  I took classes for a while several years ago and always felt that yoga and Pilates complemented each other.  But as ever, life got busy, work to took over and Pilates (and yoga, for a while) fell by the wayside.

I was so grateful when Sally kindly said she would guide me through some Pilates moves I can do at home.  Not least because I know she is a great teacher, but also because I know she is patient and kind.  (I remember an experience of a Pilates teacher barking at me like a drill sergeant in a scenario which apparently wasn’t a bootcamp style class.  That didn’t really work for me…).  In my first session with Sally it took me some time to get re-acquainted with Pilates breathing on some of the exercises, which does differ from how we breathe in yoga.  I really appreciated Sally’s patience then!

I am also seeing a wonderful yoga therapist who after my initial assessment explained that, in yoga terms, my prana was being depleted down the front side of my body between my ribs and my pelvis.  Aside from working with my yoga therapist on correcting my posture from my feet upwards (as even the way I naturally stand has been putting additional pressure on my lumbar), there is a significant focus on the front body being able to support the back body, thereby allowing the back body to rest.  So, she mentioned working on the TA muscles (and Mula Bandha) in my very first yoga therapy session too.

I’m finding that combining my yoga therapy exercises along with the Pilates exercises Sally is showing me are really complementing each other. It does take dedication to practice regularly but just a few weeks in I am already noticing a positive difference in how my body, and mind, feel.

Sally is kindly going to monitor my progress over the next few weeks or so, gradually building on the exercises where appropriate, so I’ll be charting my progress here on the blog too.

As I work on my own physical therapy I am looking forward to seeing what I learn along the way and consequently being able to share some of this experience while I grow as a teacher too.

I’m feeling good about 2012.

You had me at “Yoga in a Yurt”…

You had me at “Yoga in a Yurt”…

View of the South DownsI’m sitting in a calming country house courtyard, reading and enjoying the warmth of the glorious Sussex sunshine on my face when Miko the cat appears and decides my lap is the perfect resting place for the afternoon.  It’s not how I usually spend my Saturdays but I could get used to this…

It’s the second day of Sally Parkes’ blissful weekend yoga retreat at Tilton House.  I practice Astanga with Sally and I credit her with helping me get past my fear of this style of yoga.  It’s also with Sally’s guidance that I got into my first ever headstand in my life. Ever. So, when Sally mentioned her retreat and I realised I was actually free that weekend I leapt at the chance to go.  To be honest though, as soon as she mentioned we’d be doing yoga in a yurt I was there!

Friday – Yoga Nidra and Yummy Cashew Cream

Sally collects a few of us from the station and I meet the first of the lovely fellow yogis I’ll be hanging out with over the weekend.  On the drive through Lewes I already feel myself starting to de-compress from a stressful few weeks.

On our arrival at the instantly impressive Georgian house we are warmly welcomed by Polly and Shaun who run the place and Willy who is also a very knowledgeable gardener.  We meet a few other residents too – cats Miko, Maui and Hector, and gentle Weimaraner, Barclay.

Shaun gives me a quick tour of the house which was once home to economist Maynard Keynes – a key figure in The Bloomsbury Group – and his ballerina wife Lydia Lopokova. From the bright open kitchen, to the library, courtyard, conservatory and gardens (complete with hammocks on the lawn) there are ample inviting spots for quiet reflection or to curl up with a book.  In fact, I note there are many books all over the house available for guests to read.  Shaun shows me the room I’ll be staying in – the welcoming Mezzanine with one bed located up a ladder (bagsied by my room-mate).  In fact, the beds look very comfy indeed and I note that there’s a good selection of books here to flick through as well. There’s also a stunning view of the South Downs from the window and I spy a couple of horses in a field just beyond the house.

After getting settled a few of us wander across the lawn, past the hammocks, fire pit and up a little path through the trees to discover… The Yurt!  It’s actually, bigger than I’d imagined and from the inside it looks a bit futuristic with the pattern made by the wooden supports across the ceiling.  I can’t wait to practise in there.

As everyone gradually arrives it soon becomes clear that the group gathered for the weekend is a lovely bunch of people. There are varying degrees of yoga experience among us, from regular practitioners to the quite new to those who do the occasional class, DVD or self-practice when they can.

Our welcome yoga class in the yurt with Sally is beautifully calming, allowing us to recover from the Friday afternoon traffic and trains we’d endured to get there.  By the end of the class there is the feeling that we are most definitely officially on retreat!

Our first class is followed by our first meal.  We gather around the table in the garden for a delicious bean chilli with cashew cream.  The food for the whole weekend was a revelation!  So hard to do justice with words.   Everything was vegetarian or vegan and expertly prepared by resident chef, John who catered to the various food requirements among the group.  Speech is replaced by lots of satisfied noises around the table with one lady determined to get that cashew cream recipe by the end of the weekend.

As darkness begins to fall we make our way back to the yurt, now comfortably full from dinner for some Yoga Nidra.  The yurt is transformed with candles and blankets.  Sally talks us through an incredibly relaxing sequence.  (I think I might have actually fallen asleep part of the way through…) We wander back to the house snugly wrapped up and pleasantly sleepy. Time for bed.

Saturday – Massages and Meditation

I wake up early on Saturday morning having had my best night’s sleep in weeks.  (That Yoga Nidra is magic!).  So, 7.45am Dynamic Yoga doesn’t feel like a rude awakening.  And I always love practising to a bit of music in the morning.

Sally takes us through an invigorating sequence.  There is lots of laughter among the group (Sally’s giggle is quite infectious) and I really like that Sally doesn’t teach in a forceful style, as can sometimes be the case with dynamic practices like Astanga.  It means that the postures feel more accessible for everyone and Sally offers modifications along the way for whoever wants to use them.

After a hearty, healthy breakfast including a tasty green smoothie made by Sally, some free time beckons, so a few of us go for a walk.  With the help of some directions from Shaun we head up the flint path round the corner then climb upwards to find the sea.  Along the way we pass horses, sheep, cows and I think I even spot a couple of grouse (I’m a city girl – I get very excited about these things and being surrounded by green!)  It is such a gorgeously bright, sunny Saturday morning – one of those days where it feels like the colour dial on the world has been turned up to ‘full’.

We work up such a sweat getting up to the top of the hill that we almost expect a round of applause from the sheep in the field for making it.  But it is worth it – the expansive views of the lush Sussex landscape are incredible – a perfect backdrop for the paragliders we see, and in the distance there is a clear view of the beach at Seaford and the English Channel.

We make the downhill walk back to the house in time for Pilates.  My last Pilates class was a good few years ago.  It’s not quite the same as yoga and I find I have to be really conscious of my movements.  The class is challenging yet enjoyable and it reminds me of why I used to like Pilates so much.  It makes me think about getting back into it.

The ‘Tilton Leaf Salad’ which accompanies our red pepper soup at lunchtime prompts me to explore the vegetable garden at the house during free-time that afternoon.  But not before making sure I get a piece of Carrot and Cardamom cake for dessert…

The vegetable garden is delightful and well-stocked, from artichokes and peas, to tomatoes and rhubarb, some of which most likely makes its way into the scrummy rhubarb and ginger trifle we have for dessert that evening.  (Do I sound pudding obsessed?)

After a bit of chill-time reading outside I peel a reluctant Miko from my lap for my afternoon treatments with the lovely Natalie.  We go for a bit of a walk around the gardens to discuss the treatments and I also learn that Natalie will be guiding us through meditation that evening.  I go for reflexology, an aromatherapy massage and a holistic facial.  All complete bliss.  I float into 6pm yoga – our third class of the day – a few minutes late.  Some of the guys are surprised I showed up at all after my marathon treatment session.  Little do they know I rarely miss any yoga opportunity!

Our Saturday night dinner of beet burgers with that rhubarb and ginger crumble is yet another winner.  That confirms it – I really need to be more inventive with my cooking at home.

A little later we have our meditation class with Natalie. She teaches us about the Metta Bhavana – the Buddhist loving kindness meditation – and guides us through practice.  I’m really grateful to Natalie for this – I’ve struggled with meditation so far but I feel the Metta Bhavana is something I can take with me and build into my day.

 

Sunday – “If I’d known all it would have taken was balls and Bob Marley…”

The walk across the dew covered grass to Dynamic Sunday morning yoga reveals that some of us are feeling a little less energetic than the day before.  I think it’s a combination of that ‘wanting to stay in bed on Sunday morning’ feeling and not really wanting to go home later. There are still a lot of laughs in class though and we even manage a bit of headstand practice.  By the end of the class we’re all much more bright-eyed. And ready for breakfast (of course).

That morning there’s time for a bit of chilling out with the Sunday papers and enjoying some more sunshine before Pilates.  The weather for the entire weekend could not have been more perfect.

When we get to the yurt and see the balls we’ll be using as props it is funny how everyone instantly reverts to a child-like state and starts playing.  We’re definitely more alert than we had been at 7.45am.  Then Sally puts some Bob Marley on for us practice to and we perk up even more.  “If I’d known all it would have taken was balls and Bob Marley, I would have done this before,” Sally jokes.

Still warm from the oven corn-bread accompanies our soup for lunch.  Some of us are a bit wistful that the yummy fruit tart with cashew custard will be our last dessert of the weekend.  Any chance we might be able to recreate some of what we’ve had at home?  A few of us managed to corner John the chef about some of his ingredients.  And my fellow yogi succeeded in getting that cashew cream recipe.

The last couple of hours whizz by all too quickly, but there’s time for a quick wander up the path to Charleston Farmhouse – home of The Bloomsbury Group – to look round its quintessential country garden before we have to go.  There are farewells and some exchanging of contact details before Polly kindly gives us a lift to the train station.

On the train back home I am feeling fully restored.  I’d been looking forward to this weekend so much because it would be a long overdue break. I had an inkling it would be good but the retreat way surpassed expectations.  A few of us talked about coming back for future weekends, so hopefully there will be more trips to Sally’s retreats to come.

Eating Animals… Or Not

Eating Animals… Or Not

“There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little…”

                                                                                                                                                        -         The Bhagavad Gita

I’ve been on a bit of a journey with the way I eat over the past few years.  My body has become much clearer about what it does and doesn’t like being put into it. And this seems to have occurred in tandem with developing a regular yoga practice. Sometimes I rebel (for instance, my meals for the duration of the Royal Wedding weekend featured way too much of my beloved cake) but I usually end up suffering for it because my body tells me afterwards loud and clear that it is not happy.

As a child of immigrant parents I am an NBC (Natural Born Carnivore) or so I have always believed.  When I was growing up, meat was the most important (and expensive) bit of the meal and, consequently, we were expected to eat ALL of it.  So why do I increasingly feel less inclined to eat meat? 

This isn’t a sudden development at all – it’s actually been roughly a couple of years in the making – a ‘leaning-in’ process that I can’t claim was conscious in the beginning.      

So, the ‘meat thing’ is all part of this trying to tune into what my body seems to want.  Or rather, not want. Though I’ve not had meat on my grocery list for the last couple of years I’m not vegetarian – I’ve eaten fish a handful of times this year and there are times when I have eaten meat too.  I’ve recently realised that the only (three) times this has occurred in the past several months have been:

a)  To placate my mother, who can’t get her head around the not eating meat idea.  Her response when I went to visit her and she tried (as usual) to give me some food:

Mum: “Oh.  Well have some of this chicken-stir fry instead.”

Me: “But chicken is meat, Mum.”

Mum:  “It’s not really though, is it…?”

Me: “Hmm.  A bit like Simon Cowell isn’t really a millionaire.”

I’ve struggled with this one as I don’t want her to feel rejected. Like most mothers she is constantly concerned about whether her children are eating (no matter how many years they have been ably feeding themselves). Food is Love after all…

b) To not feel like a nuisance if I’m round at other people’s homes and they have gone to the trouble of kindly cooking for me.  I haven’t even worked this thing out in my head yet, so how do I explain it to someone else? 

With the lack of my former protein staples of meat and fish in my diet I feel like I still haven’t got a proper handle on how to balance my nutrition.  It’s been a lot of trial and error along the way.  I was surprised to learn a while ago that I wasn’t eating enough (though my body has changed a lot over the past couple of years I am not exactly sylphlike…) and then I had a recent issue with iron deficiency so I really want to make sure I am being healthy.  So, when I saw that my yoga home was hosting a workshop on nutrition with a focus on vegetarianism and veganism I knew I wanted to go. 

What followed was a fun, informative two and a half hours mixing asana practice with Sally and discussion on how best to approach a vegetarian or vegan diet with nutritionist / heath and fitness coach, Mark Hughes

For our asana practice there was an emphasis on twists and other postures to help stimulate the digestive system such as apanasana (wind-relieving pose), dhanurasana (bow pose) and paschimotanasana (seated forward bend).  Then came the time to talk about one of my favourite subjects: Food.

We all had questions ranging from what to do about getting enough protein?  What about vitamin B12 and vitamin D?  What about getting enough iron…?  As I listened to Mark I realised that I had been implementing a fair amount of the tips he was giving us over the past couple of years.  Things like cooking with coconut oil, incorporating good fats and taking spirulina, for instance.  I found that reassuring. I now see it’s probably not a coincidence that my stopping taking spirulina was followed by a significant dip in energy levels and a diagnosis of iron deficiency. 

At the end of the two and a half hours (including a relaxation at the end where I was so chilled that I almost fell asleep!) we went off armed with our little nutrition packs from Mark and yoga for digestion handouts from Sally.   And Mark kindly said he would email us all with details of some of the supplements he talked about.

I’m really glad I went along.  It was great to have certain things reinforced as well as learning a few new things along the way.  And it helped me feel a bit more confident about going down the path of nourishing my body without eating animals… no bad thing.  Plus, it seems that even my mother might be coming round. When I went to see her the other week she offered me some lamb and I politely declined.  Then she uttered the words:

“Oh. Well have some of this Quorn stir-fry instead.”

Astanga

Astanga

I have just begun Astanga classes at my yoga home.  This is not my very first experience of The Primary Series.  I had a brief introduction years ago on a series of beginners’ classes with Leela Miller.  Leela was incredible, but I never went back beyond those classes.  I felt so intimidated by my surroundings and by the other people in the room who really didn’t appear to be beginners – they looked like ‘real’ yogis (or at least, the perception I had of what yogi’s looked like) – I certainly didn’t.  I felt so embarrassed and out of place.  In some ways I wish I’d had the courage to go back to those classes because Leela was such an amazing teacher, but at the same time I think I just wasn’t ready yet.  My head was in a different place then. 

Some months later, I got myself a copy of David Swenson’s  practice manual and tried bits at home, where no-one else would see me, but it all still seemed so impossible.  Over the years I felt that maybe I should get rid of that spiral bound-tome taking up space on my shelf – it wasn’t like I ever used it, after all.  But something inexplicable always stopped me giving it away to the local charity shop… Then quite randomly, a friend bought me John Scott’s book, ‘Ashtanga Yoga’ as a present one Christmas.  Maybe they knew something I didn’t?

Anyhow, I am currently a handful of classes in and one thing that hasn’t changed since that beginners course all those years ago is that I am not very ‘good’ (for want of a better word). Not good at all. 

So why, this time, do I keep going back?

Oddly, I feel that not being able to do so many of the postures is partly why I now like it. I think it has some different things to teach me.  Like taking myself less seriously…

“Did you just give up?”  My teacher, Sally jokingly asks.  Her question snaps me out of my thoughts and I realise that’s exactly what I’d just done.   Moments before I’d watched Sally demonstrate Supta Konasana and instead of attempting it along with the rest of the class I was just sitting on my mat thinking about how my body was not going to be able to go there.   What was I doing?  If I adopted that attitude for every posture not yet available to me (don’t even get me started on Navasana…   ) then I’d be sat motionless on the mat for the majority of the ninety minutes.  So, I give Supta Konasana a go and…  I find myself flailing around like a beetle on its back.  I look ridiculous.  And I laugh. 

And it’s okay. 

This is the start of the journey.  With dedication and patience maybe one day the impossible will become possible, as I have just begun to experience with Shirshasana, for instance. It was with Sally’s guidance that I recently got into my first ever headstand, against the wall, after years of terror around this pose.  However, the big lesson for me here was about how I choose to show up in my practice.  If I can stay honest and sincere on the mat along the way, and have the courage to keep going even when my ego tells me otherwise, then that feels like a greater achievement than whether my body can bend into all those shapes.