Surviving the mountains

The mountains can be challenging in many ways. Snow, ice, cold, skis and hard plastic boots but it seems that for me the social antics are much more painful than a tight boot. It's the cheese, wine, steak and my biggest weakness chocolate, that seem to be what people talk of most of their return from the slopes. General over indulgence, but it seems in the alps it would be criminal to deny one's self of such a feast.

Knowing these pitfalls I travel armed with an array of powders and potions to aid me through a week of hardcore skiing and epic indulgence.

Barley Grass- A powerful anti oxidant, helping keep my body alkaline despite the cheese and wine doing it's worst

Milk Thistle complex Tincture- To remind my Liver that I do care

Magnesium Ultra Muscle Ease- To help my muscles relax and restore after a long day climbing and skiing. Oh and magnesium is great for bowel movement too!

Digestive enzymes- to give my gut help when meeting things it didn't even know existed! Biocare do a good all round one and a small pot for gluten allergy suffers too

Probiotics- Udo's high potency- An army of friendly bacteria to boost my immune system and help keep damage to a minimum.

I have been trying hard to think which ones are essential and which I could leave behind but I am not sure I can choose. If I didn't love my food so much and was like a normal girl who ate 2 eggs for breakfast instead of one and wasn't tempted by the bread basket then I think Barley grass does the best all round job to keep you strong and the Probiotics serve as a life long friend not just in an emergency.

Ski hard, play hard. It really is the best holiday!

The boys asses our imminent climb....................

Please let me know if you want any more information on the potions above or if you have a miracle worker of your own you'd like to share. x

The Breath and beyond................

I want to write about something so simple we never even think about it. Something so natural we forget to use it, so easy we almost find it hard, but something so powerful it can transform any situation. 

The Breath............

It's not something we have ever been taught to do and hence tend to just do it however we started doing when we landed on this earth. More often than not our breathing is restricted by lifestyle and emotions such as fear and worry. We don't give ourselves room the breath; we don't honour that innate life force by taking time to enjoy open spaces and just breathing deeply.

Even though I have spent 10 days in silence, meditating on the sensations of the breath on my nostrils, that the last thing I do before I launch myself off the back of a mountain into knee deep powder is take a huge breath and when I am teaching my nieces to jump on their ponies and not be scared I remind them to breath, I know that I myself have not tapped into this magical source enough in the past. 

However life events have lead me to seek guidance and losing my father suddenly this January left me incurably empty, insecure and in desperate need of an opiate. Once the primary rush of organisation and duties were gone and jarring of the shock and trauma began to soften I found myself waking at 5.30am every morning in a blind panic. It felt as if I was being sucked into a huge vacuum with nothing to cling onto, I had lost my tummy on a nasty fairground ride and didn't know how to make it end or I had accidently stepped off the edge of the world into nothing but sadness.  

                                                                                              

As I lay there in bed I couldn't even move and just found myself breathing. I pulled so deeply on the breath, sucking it into every cell in my body as if I wanted to get high from it. Long purposeful breaths initially of desperation and anguish eventually turned to inhalations of strength, understanding and supportiveness. I don't know how the breath does this, but I do know that it works; it is our life force, our inspiration. Something so fundamental we have failed to see its power. 

There are always moments in the day when a few deep breaths could save our ass. From responding nicely to someone who has annoyed you or just making you feel more confident and alive in a moment of self doubt. 

So when our mothers said "Just breath" they were right.

I spend my life teaching people to breath, for an hour I tell my yoga students when to take every inhale and exhale. We move on every breath, creating a movement meditation. It can be as simple as opening your arms wide as you inhale and bringing them to prayer at your heart as you exhale. Even this basic invocation can be extremely powerful. It is an honour for me to guide my students to a more connected place. A place of clarity and calm but more importantly of centeredness and true authenticity. 

It has become wildly obvious to me over the recent years that the breath is a key and our best kept secret. A tool to relieving our suffering and anxiety as well as experiencing the fullness of bliss. 

From India to Mountainous mexico.

In the last 12 years I have yogered all over the world and each experience has been a learning one. Some painfully so, others more mild but each has its teachings. This week I found myself in the mountains of Chiapas, a beautiful region in south east Mexico, rich in mayan culture and home of many indigenous tribes each speaking their original native language. I could have spent months exploring and have purposefully left things to see so I have to go back. Apart from the stunning Mayan Pyramids, incredible dense jungle and fascinating people I discovered a wonderful yoga teacher in the heart of San Cristobel de las Casas.
Vaidya Srimati Kuntidevi has a small studio in her garage with beautiful turquoise and white tiles floors, bright yellow boardered windows and a Ganesh Shrine. Mahalakshmi is a treasure, with 3 hours of yoga morning and evening. From Iyenga and Kundalini to Ashtanga and Vinyasa aswell as Dosha and Yoga Therapie This beautiful Hindu lady has everything covered, she teaches all the class with such grace and gentleness even if the Vinyasa class is one of the fastest I have ever done. The hi speed Hindi music also gave me the giggles, it was just such unusual circumstances, to be in the mountains in mexico doing ankle circles to up beat Bollywood tunes but quickly there was no time for giggling (although a smile remained) and even breathing had to be carefully monitored as we were launched into the quick step of yoga, springing from Warrior 2 to standing split, dropping back to warrior 1 and then launching into a one armed headstand. The instruction was minimal and of course in Spanish(Via India) so when I was facing the back of my mat in Ardha Chandrasana it was a flexi feat to try and see what my next more would be.
But amongst all the madness I loved it. Her sequencing was fun, interesting and innovative and my body felt as if it had come home. We opened and closed every joint, stretched every muscle with never a moment to worry or wobble. It was a wonderful excersize in harbouring the mind and clearing stagnant thoughts. There wasn't time to think about errands, feel bad about late bill payments or missing boyfriends and that is exactly why yoga is so powerful. Above and beyond touching our toes we have a desire to feel present. To do things consciously and not always be thinking about something else. Yoga helps you live in the present moment. To be alive and aware in your body and mind, it's an invigorating practise that sheds light on every corner of your life. There really is yoga for everyone, fast, slow, chanting, acrobatic or even on a paddleboard!( check out Kimberly Bragg- Depasquale's Love Life Paddle)  I guarantee there is a style that will suit you. If you do find yourself in Chiapas you have to go to Mahalakshmi on Cuahtemoc 24A but you will probably find a great place a little closer to home. Just be sure to find a teacher that you feel comfortable with and a style that lights a spark in you and compels you to go. And let me know who you find and where so we can spread the love.

x

Traveling bugs

For me travel bugs have come in many forms. The first is obviously the desire to travel. Catching the travel bug from a recently returned friend, seeing a long sandy beach draped down the side of a bus or watching a film and longing for the fun and vibrance of a new city. But there are also the bugs you catch while in these divine destinations and these are not so enticing or romantic.
I am writing from Mexico City. An exotic sprawling city, thats life and energy exudes change and growth. It is an exciting place to be. It's people are kind, warm and hard working. Those fortunate enough to have had a good education bring passion, energy and determination to everything that they do. Maybe they know that they are the ones to drive this change. They are the ones to make Mexico be recognised as the affluent country it is. There is a buzz. Art, education, finance and technology all emerging together. The diversity makes for a fascinating dynamism. And I somehow wish I had found this place sooner.

But I guess the right time for me is now so I am trying to embracing every moment on this magical path. The good and of course the not so desirable.  Like many travelers, foreigners and world wonderers I have found myself with a different kind of travel bug. One that somehow impregnates your intestine and leeches on the good things in life.
It was noticable enough to know I wasn't well but not bad enough to stop me partying! In fact Vodka did wonders and Mezcal on an empty stomach practically made me feel like new. But alas at gone 30 a life of alcohol straight up and no food is not conducive to language learning or even living. In 10 days my yoga practice was non existent and I spent most of my afternoons trying to catch up on sleep deprivation as the only time I seemed to feel well was between midnight and 5am. I was unwilling to admit I was sick and take antibiotics so limped plassidly along until finally I met a wonderful Yogi called Amado  www.muktayoga.com.mx
He said the first thing I had to do was take Eskopar, a rather nasty bright yellow opaque sap that would kill the ameba or parasite and probably reduce the content of my colon to a pulp. Then I needed to eat local yogurt so my gut would be filled with friendly Mexican bacteria to help me fight future bugs. It made total sense. I had religiously taken my probiotic (friendly bacteria in a capsule) but of course needed something more indigenous, just like one eats local honey to help prevent summer allergies.
So although I am a huge believer in probiotic and am sure it supported my immune system enormously, stopping me getting dangerously sick, we need to think local. get yourself accustomed to the native bugs so your body builds the right immunity.

I love how our bodies adapt but sometimes they need help and we must each take responsibility for our own health, gaining knowledge and respect for the world we are living in, beastly worms and all.
You should use a complex probiotic with at least 3 strains of bacteria for maximum immunity. Culturelle and  Bio-Kult by Protexin are two of my favourites.

For the moment I have chosen Mexico City as my home and after an unpleasant experience, I am rejoicing as my body finally succumbs to loving it as much as my mind and spirit.
So now I can sleep at the right time and party when I choose to, with or without the Vodka!
x


  

Feeling fabulous

It has been 7 days since I embarked on what seemed like an epic journey but it has been easy and enjoyable, so much so I am considering keeping it going for a little longer, mad as it may seem. But I have learnt some invaluable lessons, not just that life doesn't revolve around sweets but that we really need very little food to sustain ourselves and that in some way less really is more.

In the Indian culture they believe in fasting and keeping your food intact low, not just because it is sometimes scarce but because it takes up a lot of your bodies energy that could be used for other things. If your body is digesting food for 6 hours a day it has limited time to heal, repair, cleanse, or even rest. Eating less or fasting for one day a week gives your body a break, some well earned down time, allowing you to feel the subtleties in life and not be weighed down by your gut.

I of course don't mean you have to for go your roast lunch or pudding and never eat a 3 course meal again but just sometimes remember how over indulgent we can all be and  think about honoring our bodies rather than stuffing them full of things our brain is telling us it wants.
It is not starvation or continuously eating less than the daily recommended calories, just be conscious, grateful and appreciate the complexities of what our body is having to do when it uses food as fuel. That food is vital and delicious but we never over fill our cars, it would just be a waste.

All that said I am so looking forward to not being on "detox" Luckily  my rebellious streak hasn't kicked in to convince me I need peanut butter and jam on white bread for breakfast even if I do love it on occasions, so I am hoping to make a smooth transition back to the real world and enjoy everything I eat with a new conscious calmness, chocolate brownies and all ;-)

Ancient super food of the Aztecs

I feel amazing, I can't explain how satisfying it is to be healthy and enjoy it. I have done deep cleanses in the past that have left me feeling deprived and restricted and while this is obviously not a free for all, it allows me to live my life while being consciously healthy. There have been the odd headache but usually through lack of water and some hunger pangs but really only because I was eating an excessive amount before.
Today I felt good, light and fresh. I barely got hungry even at meal times and had no desire to eat anything nasty.
I had the most delicious breakfast of Chia seeds soaked in Almond milk with blueberries on the top.
Chia seeds are an amazing source of Omega 3 and anti oxidants as well as being high in Protein and a great source of fibre, making them good for the heart, mind and body. In the UK we are just discovering the wonders of the Chia seed that the Aztecs used as a superfood so long ago. You can sprinkle them on cereal, on your toast, in salads or soups and even in baking to add great nutrition to your cakes and biscuits.   A good excuse to have a cheeky slice of banana cake, Sugar free of course.
Day 3 is said to be a turning point when you settle in the the healthier rhythm, with less desires for salt and sugar. Your system begins to re balance itself and find an alignment. Really enjoy this time of centering and grounding so you can access it when needed to or bring it into your life more permanently. xx

Persistence & Pot holes in my Preparation

It has been a busy week of Yoga training and teaching but my preparation has not gone too badly, there was a cheeky Green & Blacks Butterscotch chocolate slip on thursday but it was delicious and I obviously needed the magnesium hit! I even shared it with my father on our way back from swimming who said it was the best thing he had eaten and was I sure he was allowed it! He has learnt so well!

Just eating supper early has made me sleep better and feel lighter, so I am hoping next week will not feel so dramatic. I have decided to have a little help from the Raw fairies! They are wonderful wizards that prepare healthy, balanced meals for however many days you need. No starvation, no hassle and NO nasties.
They have an array of options to help us on our way to a clear mind. A days worth of food consists of juices for breakfast and mid morning followed by a large salad for lunch and a salad and healthy vegan protein option for dinner. They even make delicious non brain fogging puddings for when the desire calls; sadly I won't be implementing them this week :-(

Non the less I am looking forward to an early rise, a grounding yoga practice to keep me stable and connected and a refreshing juice to start my week of treats. (Detox sounds scary and horrid so have decided to change my perception and call it a treat). You probably think I am crazy when I say I am genuinely excited at the prospects of a mind body cleanse to propel me in to spring, coming up a new, like a shiny white snow drop!!
Morning juices are an easy and great start to the day. I love a green juice
Think 2 Celery sticks, 1/2 cucumber, handful of spinach and parsley with an apple and a squeeze of lemon. But any green veg will work so feel free to doctor it to your taste. You will be surprised how delicious it is. If you can't make it at home get your local health food store or juice bar to do it. Never be shy from going off piste, the delicious fruit ladened smoothies look great but don't leave you feeling so holy.
So whether your week consists of an extra green juice a day, early suppers, no alcohol or you are saving it as a brilliant idea for later I will be supporting you in spirit and hope you have a good one. x