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Wednesday, 5 November 2014
REVIEW OF OUR TUSCAN DETOX & PILATES RETREAT 2014
10 MINS BLAST FOR TUM, BUM & BINGO WINGS!
A 10 minute blast for tum, bum and bingo wings! Easy to do at home,
the gym or even on your lunch hour.
1. TUM
- Lying on your back with an imprinted spine (engage your core, draw your lower ribs down towards your hip bones, a very slight pelvic tilt so that your back is flat on the floor – avoid jamming the lower back into the mat)
- Lift your legs up into a tabletop position (legs in a 90 degree angle, knees above hips) and your fingers to temples
- Inhale to drop the chin, exhale and slowly lift your head and shoulders up off the mat. Avoid jamming the chin to chest – look towards knees
- Keeping your body still and chest open, exhale and slowly rotate and draw your left rib down towards your right hip and extend your left arm as you reach up towards the right knee.
- Alternate sides.
2. BUM
- Lying on your side with head on bottom arm. Make sure your heels, hip and shoulder are in line, with a gap between the waist and the mat. Knees bent to 45 degrees hip flexion, 90 degrees knee flexion
- Squeeze the heels together and slowly lift the top knee to hip level. Hold it at the top for at least 5 seconds and then slowly lower
- Repeat for 1 minute with a 30 second hold at the top.
3. BINGO WINGS
- Sit on the floor with your knees bent, feet on floor, hands on the floor below your shoulders with fingers pointing towards your body
- Lift your hips off the floor and slowly bend your elbows straight behind you, hold at the bottom and slowly extend the arms back to straight (but don’t lock the elbows)
- NOTE: keep your shoulders away from your ears
- 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions
Monday, 3 November 2014
RAW VEGAN CARROT CAKE WITH A CREAMY CASHEW LEMON FROSTING
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Cashew lemon frosting:
1 1/2 cups cashews
Juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons liquid coconut oil
2 tablespoons raw honey/date syrup or 1 teaspoon of xylitol
Water, as needed
Carrot cake:
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped into small
chunks
1 1/2 cups oats
2 cups dates
1/2 cup dried coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
To make the frosting: blend all ingredients in your blender
until smooth, adding water as needed. Put in the fridge.
To make the cake: process the oats into flour in your
food processor then throw the rest of the ingredients in the food processor and
process until it all begins to stick together.
To assemble the cake, press half the cake mixture into a
small spring form pan (about 4 inches). Gently take this out and put on a
plate, then put in the freezer until it's solid. Do the same to the remaining
half of the cake mixture. Spread about 1/3 of the frosting onto the top of one
of the cake layers. Put it in the freezer until the layer of frosting is hard.
Place on the other cake layer and frost the entire thing, I let it set in the
fridge overnight.
Friday, 17 October 2014
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
GUEST BLOG by Sunita Passi - a renowned complementary therapist, trainer and meditation expert
I recently met a very special lady called Sunita Passi who taught me a wonderfully calming and relaxing mediation. Sunita is a leading writer and practitioner offering bespoke coaching for individuals in meditation www.sunitapassimeditation.com
Feeding mind and spirit with meditation
‘In an age where people are time poor and anxiety and stress levels are rife, meditation keeps us in balance when the world around us is out of synch’ Sunita Passi, meditation expert
In today’s fast paced world, engaging in a meaningful relationship with your own mind and training it to perform optimally yields a multitude of health benefits for the body and soul. More and more seasoned individuals are recognising, as part of their well-being programme, they want to experience something different, beyond exercise, group sport and massage, a deeper experience that helps their mind disconnect and recharge, not just their body.
This is where meditation can come in. But it is all too easy to believe that meditation is a simple form of stress busting, that requires no physical workout and a bit of peace and quiet in which to breathe deeply and concentrate on ‘nothing’ in order to feel profoundly relaxed. In fact, it can be virtually impossible for the uninitiated to calm the monkey mind and the constant noise that we hear on a daily basis. It takes practise to reach a state of heightened awareness and inner peace that meditation helps us to achieve.
While different forms of meditation are practised the world over, the roots are most closely associated with the temples, caves and monastaries of the East (India , China , Japan ) and Near East (now termed the Middle East ) where the techniques were refined by Asian monks and yogi’s, and then filtered to the layperson. But meditation also appears, though less conspicuously and in slightly different form, in the Judeo-Christian tradition as prayer. The differences appear to lie more with the goals, purposes and styles. And though meditation involves and shift from thinking and doing to just ‘being’, [in brief, could you explain the main changes of meditation from thinking and doing, to just being?] our forbears had a headstart on you and me as their lives were simpler, their thinking more rudimentary and their connection to nature and the sacred far stronger.
Benefits
On the out-set you may feel:
• More relaxed
• Less stressed
• Personal inner space
• More internal harmony at a deep level
Over time, with commitment and effort you may feel:
• A freeing of negative emotions
• Increased awareness
• More brain energy, leading to a reservoir of knowledge
• More receptive to new ideas
• A tingling sensation, leading to a more blissful state
• Eternal peace and contentment
• A growth of nobler goals to achieve in life
• You may even acquire a new vision for your life
• An awakening of joy, hence a development of your natural capacity for well-being and happiness
When is meditation right for you?
First you need to ask, do you have a desire to:
• Deal with stress, anxiety, tension, or even a medical problem such as insomnia or hypertension?
• Pursue a more balanced lifestyle, in order to sustain inner wellbeing and / or are you looking for help with self-regulation?
• Free up your imagination and become more creative?
If the answer is ‘yes’ to any of these, then meditation is right for you.
Self help
‘The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life’ Sogyal Rinpoche, Tibetan Dzogchen lama of the Nyingma tradition.
Here are some meditations to carry out at home
Grounded meditation
Focus on the vibration of your spine (or root chakra) with the sound ‘o’ (rhymes with ‘so’), repeat this sound silently or audibly three times
- Stand with feet about hip-width apart, arms by your side or extended out in front, palms down, eyes closed or downcast
- Inhale
- Exhale and gently bend your knees a few inches, inhale and straighten the knees
- Continue slowly bending and straightening your legs in co-ordination with your long, slow, deep breaths
- Each time you bend and straighten your legs, feel yourself becoming more grounded. Surrender to the support of Mother Earth
- Continue for one to three minutes
- When complete, remain standing, or if you prefer, slowly lower yourself to a comfortable seated position
- Close or lower your eyes and focus on the following thoughts:
- ‘I am grounded and balanced
- I am safe and secure’
Breathe into being
1. Sit/relax comfortably with your eyes closed
2. Breathe deeply
- Inhale and exhale a few times
- Breathe naturally while you focus on the following idea: breath is a deep well into which we can tap, drawing forth whatever we need to bring ourselves into wholeness and balance
3. Settle into your body, and ask yourself what brings wholeness and balance to your life
- Wait for an image or idea to arise. Be still with that vision or thought for a while
- Observe your breath
- Breathe and allow your mind to flow freely
4. Start to become aware of the present moment as you finish. When you are ready, slowly open your eyes
Tuesday, 2 September 2014
GUEST BLOG: Hip & Healthy's Top 5 Healthy Havens in London
Happy September to all my readers! I am so excited to have been asked to be an ambassador for my favourite online wellbeing magazine, Hip & Healthy and I hope I do them proud!! Their gorgeous editor, Sadie Macleod has kindly offered to share with us their top 5 healthy havens in London:
After pounding the pavements of the Kings
Road. Find refuge at The Good Life Eatery, located on Sloane Avenue. They have
a wide variety of cold fresh pressed juices as well as healthy snacks and a
delicious menu to choice from. Plus their Ronaccino (not always on the menu) is
to die fore – A nut mylk frappacino perfect for perking you up in this hot
weather. 59 Sloane Avenue, SW33DH. www.goodlifeeatery.com
Super chic and deliciously vegan, Raw is a
T-Total restaurant set in up-market hotel La Suite West. What it lacks in
alcohol it more than makes up for in superfood smoothies. Enjoy an energizing
and immune-boosting drink on their outdoor terrace before moving inside for
some seriously gourmet vegan fare – most of which is raw (obvi). Deliciously
Ella is a fan! 41-51 Inverness Terrace, London, W2 3JN. www.lasuitewest.com/raw-vegan-restaurant-london
This amazing café, located in Kingly Court
in Soho, is the perfect place to meet a friend for a juice and a catch up. It
is situated next door to TriYoga, so you could attend a class and then head to
the café to relax and refuel in a natural, healthy way. Plus they have a Hip
& Healthy Smoothie on offer! Be sure to give it a try and get our cleanse guide half price!
Kingly Court, Soho. www.retreatcafe.com
Set in one of our most coveted chic
department stores, Harvey Nichols, the Detox Kitchen offers an array of
delicious juices and healthy, dairy-free veggie food. We have a particular soft
spot for their vegan, sugar-free brownies, which are best enjoyed with a hot
drink teamed with one of their nut mylks… #yum! They also have just opened a
restaurant in Soho’s Kingly Court. Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge. www.detoxkitchen.co.uk
Possibly one of our favourite places to go
right now, Nama offers an array of delicious vegan dishes all of which looks as beautiful as it tastes. The
smoothies are expensive but worth it and our top tip here would be to book your
table to avoid disappointment. The
vegan, raw lasagna is divine followed by a vegan “bounty bar” from their fridge
for desert. The perfect place to go with friends and family for a light lunch
or quick evening meal. 110 Talbot Road, London. www.namafoods.com
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