Mung bean soup
In Ayurveda mung beans are highly revered as they are full of goodness, are easy to digest and they are brilliant at drawing energy downwards to assist in digestion – great for those struggling to eliminate.
Mung Bean Soup
In Ayurveda mung beans are highly revered as they are full of goodness, are easy to digest and they are brilliant at drawing energy downwards to assist in digestion – great for those struggling to eliminate.
You can also make this into my favourite, Pea and Mint soup by adding frozen peas and plenty of chopped fresh mint to taste.
For 3 servings
Ingredients
1 cup of whole green organic mung beans soaked overnight or for at least 4 hours
1 cup of mixed and chopped veg such as peas, broccoli, carrots (optional)
1 cup of green leaves such as spinach or chard (optional)
2 litres of water approx.
1 tbsp of coconut oil or ghee
1tsp turmeric powder
1-2 tsps of garam masala (go easy if your pitta is strong.
1/4tsp of asafoetida (hing)
1tbsp fresh root ginger grated
2 cloves of garlic (again go easy if pitta strong and mind already agitated)
Salt and pepper
Vegan stock
Freshly chopped herbs such as mint, basil, coriander etc to serve.
Method
Heat the coconut oil/ghee in a large saucepan and add all the spices and stir until the aromas are released – be careful not to burn!
Drain, rinse and add the mung beans and stir until they are coated with the spices.
Add the water and bring to the boil, boil uncovered for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Reduce the heat to low, add veggies and cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar. Cook until tender, approx. 20 minutes.
Add greens, grated ginger, stock and salt and pepper to taste and return to the heat for 5-10 minutes until beans are soft. Please note that adding salt earlier will make the beans take longer to cook.
Serve hot with any further fresh herbs. You can also blend for a creamy consistency.
What does your tongue say about your health?
Have you ever wondered what your tongue can tell you about your health just by looking at it?
In Ayurveda, the tongue is key in diagnosis, and an Ayurvedic practitioner can get a pretty good idea of a person’s constitution and health just by looking at it – some of you have had the pleasure of showing me your tongue for this very reason!
Image credit https://vibrationalayurveda.com/the-tongue-darshan-parksha-1. (no copyright intended)
Have a look at your tongue next time you are near a mirror. Is there a thick, white coating on it? If so, you would benefit from tongue cleaning, and can read more here
The shape of your tongue can also help you to identify your constitution:
Vata – narrow and off centre
Pitta – medium width and pointy
Kapha – wide and thick
The colour of the tongue also gives information. A healthy tongue looks clean and pink and will have very little coating. Generally, in a relatively healthy patient, there is a slight coating on the back of the tongue, which indicates toxins in the colon undigested, unabsorbed or unassimilated form.
Generally, a purple tongues indicates a vata imbalance, a rich red colour indicates a pitta imbalance and a very pale tongue indicates a dim fire and a kapha imbalance.
The colour of the coating is also significant:
Vata - dark brown/greyish/black coating
Pitta - red/orange/yellow/green coating
Kapha - whitish coating
The landscape of the tongue can reveal an even clearer picture:
Ridged edges or teeth marks around the edge of the tongue indicate malabsorption. Products like artificial sweeteners and chemicals in the diet can compromise the intestinal wall and can prevent the body from absorbing all the needed nutrition from food.
Foam on the tongue can indicate candida, a yeast-like overgrowth, which is generally fed by too much sugar in the diet.
A puffy tongue or a tongue with waves along the perimeter is indicative of stagnant lymph. Eating meals too late at night or drinking wine in the evening can create a puffy tongue.
Ulcers on the tongue can indicate a pitta imbalance and can be treated by a change in diet and medicinal herbs. Talking of such changes, this can influence taste and taste plays an important role in Ayurveda, but more on that another time.
Obviously people are individual and complex and no single sign is absolute so any diagnosis will take into consideration various other factors such as digestive function (any bloating, heart burn, acidity, acid-reflex, constipation, excess flatulence etc.) and diet and lifestyle choices, which is the reason it is important to seek help from an Ayurvedic professional such as myself, so that we can use our experience and knowledge to help you individually.
Using a tongue clearer can be a really helpful way of removing topical toxins each morning and stimulating the digestive process to prevent the build-up of new toxicity. You can invest in a tongue scraper here
Understand your tongue!
Checking your tongue each morning can be a really helpful tool in keeping track of your personal health on a daily basis. I look at my tongue each morning and throughout the day if needed, to gain an understanding of my digestive function Noticing and understanding our tongue gives us direction as to where we might need to make adjustments with our food, herbal medicines and lifestyle choices such as sleep etc.
Image credit https://vibrationalayurveda.com/the-tongue-darshan-parksha-1. (no copyright intended)
Remember Ayurveda is all about self-knowledge and self-healing, it is a preventative approach, and your tongue is just one more place to gain insight!
If you know you are out of balance and feel to heal yourself, then do reach out. Ayurveda is amazing. More information here
CCF tea
Coriander seed, cumin seed & fennel seed
Here’s a tea which can be drunk between meals to flush ama from the system, kindle agni (digestive fire) and reduce digestive disturbances such as flatulence, bloating and acidity.
CCF can also help with malabsorption so that you don’t ‘waste’ energy by eating nutrients that your body can’t absorb. This tea may also help with constipation, loose stools, UTIs, lung congestion and fluid retention.
Mix:
1tsp each of coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds with 1.25litres of water and
Simmer with 1.25L of water for at least 8 minutes. Strain and drink throughout the day between meals.
Why yoga?
The practice will help us to increasingly let go of things we no longer need - including behaviour patterns, mental conditionings, limiting beliefs and ways of being - which are no longer helpful. These will drop away gradually. This is the benefit of a regular yoga practice. We put in the time and effort but we begin to feel lighter, there is more stability, clarity and joy in our lives.
Why yoga?
“The success of Yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships.” Desikachar
Yoga firstly helps us to gain clarity and reduce our suffering. Then eventually it helps us to overcome that suffering and realise our true potential.
When we comment on the world being chaotic etc., we are really talking about ourselves. We need to change. It is only when we change ourselves that we change the world.
Yoga changes our life in a more positive direction. That is the potential it offers ALL of us.
Although the teachings of yoga are over five thousand years old, they’ve never been needed more than now to bring stability and clarity into our lives and to this Planet.
The very first sutra of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, is written:
Atha yoga-anuśāsanam
Atha means ‘now ‘and ‘now’ is very significant.
Yoga is practised NOW. Not tomorrow, not next week, not when we can be bothered. It means yoga is practised in this moment. It means ‘Now I am going to follow the path of yoga, now I am going to follow the teachings’.
The only reality we have is THE moment as it unfolds.
The past has passed and what we call the future is no more than imagination. The only reality we have is the moment we are in.
I need to start NOW and I need to continue in each moment, breath by breath, movement by movement and moment by moment. Yoga is not something I can pick up and put down. If I really want to enjoy the fruits of yoga, I have to make that commitment to yoga. I have to start now and each moment that follows, I need to be present.
Historically yoga was not practised alone. Any of us who have practised alone will know how easy it is to switch off, for our body to be doing one thing and our mind quite another. There is a lack of presence. The mind is usually caught thinking about the past or planning into the future. A whole thirty minutes can pass. The box for ‘yoga practice’ is ticked, but the effects are much less than when you are practising with a teacher and are encouraged into the body and to the breath.
If a guide takes me over a mountain on a particular known path, then that is going to help me enormously in navigating the mountain. So it is the same with yoga; a teacher can act as a guide in helping me navigate the path. I have two teachers for this very reason, because it would be much more challenging to navigate the path without them. They pull me up when I need pulling up, and provide a point of reference, bringing light when it is otherwise dark.
But a teacher cannot make us commit. We need to find the strength to commit ourselves, not least to a teacher, but to a practice too, we need to trust in the process.
Practice (abhyāsa) should be anything which takes our mind to a place of stability and clarity, to a state of yoga.
Patanjali qualifies this practice as follows:
Practise for a long time;
Practise without interruptions (so don’t take time off from practising, there should be a regular commitment);
Practise with a positive attitude;
Practise with enthusiasm.
He stresses that yoga is not going to be a quick fix or an easy journey. It has two main drawbacks in that it requires time and effort. However if you are prepared to put in the time and effort then many things are possible.
But you have to participate! Yoga – like Reiki – doesn’t just miraculously land on us. These are spiritual PRACTICES, they demand that we practise. Sure, we can read about them and acquire knowledge on them, but it is not until we actually practise that we experience the benefits and come to realise the potential of yoga, and even then, we do this with increasing detachment.
The practice will help us to increasingly let go of things we no longer need - including behaviour patterns, mental conditionings, limiting beliefs and ways of being - which are no longer helpful. These will drop away gradually. This is the benefit of a regular yoga practice. We put in the time and effort but we begin to feel lighter, there is more stability, clarity and joy in our lives.
It helps that the practice will make our body, mind and breath healthy. But at its essence, yoga offers us much more than this – it offers us a way of living, which supports our self -realisation, we are gifted the opportunity to see our eternal self, to literally realise that we are indeed a reflection of the highest power, that we contain the whole universe within ourselves.
The problem, particularly at the start is that it is very easy to forget the support yoga can give us. It can also be hard work – we are encouraged to look at ourself more truthfully, and release our long held tensions and the accompanying emotions and thoughts, which no longer serve us and cause a loss of wellbeing.
All you have to do is practice.
“Practice and all is coming.” Pattabhi Jois
Certainly my life has changed beyond recognition since I brought yoga into it, 20 years ago now. It is a way of life with a philosophical underpinning, not an exercise regime, albeit it can be met solely on this level. But to be truly changed by yoga, one has to surrender to it and trust in the teachings, which is the reason it is so important to be guided by a teacher, to truly know its essence.
I’m delighted to offer you the opportunity to practice, with a dedicated Yoni Yoga class for women each Tuesday evening starting 9th January, upstairs in St Martin’s Community Centre, 6-7pm. This will be a drop-in class, no need to book, £12 drop-in or buy 5 tokens in advance for £55
This is a gentle and introspective class using Tantric techniques to essentially help you to come home to yourself, to deepen into the loving guidance of your heart and the power and wisdom that comes from the pelvis. This is also a very healing session, incorporating various pranayama (breathing exercises), asana (postures), yantra (visualisation), mudra (hand gestures), mantra (sound) and a yoga nidra (deep guided relaxation/meditation).
The Friday morning Tantra class starts again Friday 5 January from 9.30-10.45am upstairs in St Martin’s Community Centre, £12 drop in and £55 for 5 tokens payable in advance. All welcome, no need to book.
I will be teaching a Monday evening Tantra class from February, 6-7pm, at St Martin’s Community Centre (upstairs).
Jo teaches two Hatha classes a week, please view the calendar below for specific class details.
“Yoga is good for man because the physical body improves, the nervous system improves, the mind improves, the intellect improves—so, how can yoga not be good?” Desikachar
Navigating change
The winds of change are definitely here, we’re at the end of Autumn after all, the Vata time of the year, when the elements of air and ether are at their strongest, ushering greater movement in our lives.
People tell me that they love change but I beg to differ. Even the Yoga Sutras (sutra II.15) tells us that our greatest suffering (dukkha) occurs due to change (parinama).
Sure we love change once it has happened and we can be assured of a happy and positive outcome but the process of change, of moving from one state of being to another, of stepping into the unknown without any guarantee of what might happen next – will we enjoy the new job? Will it work out moving in with our partner? Will we love the new country ? – All of these things can be potentially positive but there is always a moment, always a doubt, a last minute questioning whether we have made the right decision and wouldn’t we be better to maintain the status quo?
This because change brings fear and fear can cause us to resist change.
The mind LOVES certainty. The mind LIKES to ensure safety. The mind will do ALL it can to protect us even if that protection keeps us stuck, scared to make changes and move forward in our lives.
The mind also seeks to find evidence from our PAST to validate its resistance to change, and it LOVES to IMAGINE a FUTURE, usually from a worst case scenario perspective. The mind flip flops frequently between the past and the future and forgets to focus on THIS moment, NOW, when everything is OK. You’re OK aren’t you, right now, reading this?
Our life actually is one of trying to be OK.
Always we are making decisions based on our motivation to be OK. Sometimes the decisions don’t work out as intended, sometimes our judgment is clouded because we don’t see clearly (Per Yoga Sutra I.6, the first of five activities of the mind is correct perception - sometimes we don’t perceive correctly – the second activity is wrong understanding/mistaken knowledge – we don’t understand correctly). Furthermore we can easily delude ourselves (Avidya, ignorance, appears as a klesha, an affliction of the mind, see Sutra II.3), especially if we are confronted with something scary, like change.
However, life is one of constant change, we cannot avoid it; every day the planet is turning, every day the sun sets farther south or north than it did the day before, every day the moon is in a constant process of movement from full to new and new to full, every day In our own lives we move from morning to midday, wake to sleep, birth to death. Even one second turning into the next brings miniscule (or sometimes huge) changes - we are a different person to the one we were ten years ago and no doubt we will be different in ten years’ time from how we are now.
The change of any season is a great way to observe ‘change’ at work but especially now in Autumn. Supported by the increase in air and ether (and the resulting wind), the trees drop their leaves and those leaves return to the earth, where they started the first signs of life in the first place. As the trees move from full-life to a state of dormancy and hibernation throughout the winter period, they are preparing to burst into life again in the Spring. If they didn’t do this, the trees would waste valuable energy and nutrients trying to survive in conditions which do not support them.
So it is with us too. In this Autumnal time of year, by its very nature, Vata is all about movement and we are being asked to create movement in our own lives by letting go to create the space (remember Vata is space/ether and air) for the air to blow the new in - think of the heart chakra, represented by the element of air, sometimes we have a change of heart, sometimes something touches our heart and this changes everything.
Our suffering arises when we resist this process, when we hold on to our leaves when they are ready to drop, when we listen to our head rather than our heart, when we stay stuck in unhealthy relationships, jobs and friendships, when we keep feeding the same unhelpful and limiting mental patterning (habits, thought processes and behaviours), when we cling on and keep doing what we have always been doing because we THINK we know what’s best when all the time our body is screaming at us to let go and rest.
How best then can we navigate change?
Acceptance is key 🗝
But acceptance can take time. We need to accept that we need to make changes in our lives. Spiritual Life Coaching is really helpful here.
More often than not we know we need to make changes, but we don’t always know what changes to make or how to make them. Often the change that needs to be made is internal, setting ourselves free from our conditioning and habitual thought processes and behaviours, healing old wounds and shifting core and limiting beliefs, letting go of outmoded ways of seeing the world and ourselves, changing perspective, as if awaking for the first time.
Having someone help and hold space for us while we navigate all of this is incredibly helpful. Worksheets are provided between sessions for us to consider our limiting beliefs, our relationship with our body, our emotional state, our mental patterning, and the option of considering our diet and lifestyle from an Ayurvedic perspective too, as well as being supported by various spiritual practices including yoga and various breathing and relaxation techniques.
If this resonates, if you know you need to make changes but fear is getting in your way then do reach out and we can discuss how Spiritual Life Coaching may help you.
2. Cultivate greater faith 🙏🏽
Faith is the antidote to fear.
There is a wonderful Vedic chant from the Rig Veda called Shraddha Suktam, which is chanted to strengthen faith. The chant contains a verse, “Shraddha devanadhivaste” which translates as faith is our protection - it really is!
Faith gives us the strength to make changes in our lives, to choose differently, even when there is no certainty of outcome, when we are asked to step into the unknown.
3. Yoga practice 🧘🏻♂️
To cultivate greater faith we might delve deeper into our yoga practice, getting on our mat and taking conscious, comfortable, slow and steady breaths, lengthening into our exhalation, practicing asana (postures) in a steady and comfortable way, taking time to rest, engaging in a Yoga Nidra to work with a Sankalpa (intention) and take us deeper into the body.
We might also enter into prayer - See Sutra I.23 where we are introduced to the concept of Isvara Pranidhanadva, an ultimate being, God, Universe and later, Sutra II.1 defines Kriya yoga as being the yoga of action with three key components, namely Tapah, which means heat/purification, doing something positive like getting on our mat, Svadhyaya, which means self-reflection, such as reading spiritual texts and seeing how they we can incorporate the teachings into our life and Isvara Pranidhanadva appears again as a reminder to surrender, appreciating the notion that we are not in control, that the world does not revolve around us, thus encouraging us to accept our place in things, that there is something higher.
The Yoga Sutras also reminds us in the first chapter (sutras I.13 and I.14) to develop a steady and balanced practice, which takes place over the long term, without interruptions, with a positive attitude, with enthusiasm and thoroughly if we can expect to see any positive changes.
We are basically reminded that there is no quick fix, that we are in this for the long run, NOT just when things are critical but all the time, so that the challenging times, like when we experience change, do not have to end up putting us into a critical state of mind – practicing regularly reduces our suffering.
Explore the first three chapters of the Yoga Sutras with Emma, discussing various sutras and considering how they might be relevant to your life. Each session lasts 60 minutes and can be enhanced by a regular yoga and/or Reiki practice to help support general healing and personal and spiritual development.
4. Spiritual practice 👁
We can expand our spiritual practice beyond our mat, to make all of life an opportunity to cultivate greater faith and help us manage change. We might visit sacred sites, spending time outside in nature, sitting against a tree, taking walks on our own by the sea, reading spiritual books, attending spiritual groups, studying spiritual subjects.
Spiritual Life Coaching can assist in helping you cultivate an authentic and consistent spiritual practice.
5. Reiki 👐🏼
Reiki not only supports our ongoing healing but also promotes our spiritual and personal development. Reiki helps to release energy blocks which will help to free us from the effect of previous trauma and the resulting mental, emotional, physical and energetic patterning that continues to inform our daily life.
In this way, Reiki helps to restore wholeness, positively changing the way we relate to ourselves and others, while increasing our energy and helping us to see our life more clearly. It is extremely helpful through periods of change, when we know something needs to shift, but we don’t quite know how to make it happen.
Becoming attuned to Reiki can also help as you can lay your hands on yourself.
6. Ayurveda 🌿
Staying grounded will help immensely too. Ayurveda offers us many options to help ease anxiety and fear when it arises, eating warming stews, curries and soups, using our hands to consciously prepare food or hands in the earth gardening, massaging our whole body with coconut oil and then lying in a warm bath (adding dead sea salts is really helpful too).
There are herbal medicines we can take too, albeit these need to be prescribed individually for our specific needs.
7. Positive thinking 🔋
As stipulated in Yoga Sutra II.33, when we find ourselves disturbed and not sure of the best way forward, we can look at it from the other side, so we cultivate looking at things from a different perspective to try to resolve doubt and the lack of clarity. This can be like thinking, ‘well what will happen is I don’t do it versus what will happen if I do’. Or put ourself in another person’s point of view.
Thus if we are stuck in an attitude of fear or resentment, we have to positively cultivate the opposite. This involves working with the mind to see things differently, especially when we are stuck.
At such times we are encouraged to divert attention, reflect on potential consequences, take a step back to ask for advice, practice yoga and in such times seeking help from a teacher is invaluable. Spiritual Life Coaching can help enormously as referenced above.
8. Loosening the grip 🌏
We take on habits, or a habitual thought process, and at the very beginning it might serve us in some way, keep us safe for example. But after some time, this way of being and living no longer serves us and it is time to let go and change, make new healthier habits or thought processes. The trouble is we humans are very good at grasping and attaching ourselves to there being one way. It is this inflexibility that ends up causing our suffering.
If we can loosen our grip – aparigraha, the fifth yama or ethical principle/relationship to the world around us as noted in Sutra 11.31 means non-grasping, non-possessiveness, non-attachment – then in theory we can flow more easily moment to moment, adapting to change as it arises, allowing our transformation, and actually arriving in the present moment, experiencing it exactly as it is without needing to react to it.
9. Going with the flow 🌊
Sutra II.3 refers to the ‘kleshas’, the afflictions including attachment/desire (ragas) and aversion/hatred (dvesa) and how we alternate between the two, wanting and rejecting, liking and disliking, and how this causes unsteadiness in the mind.
If we can just let go of our preferences, then we can find greater equanimity. This is particularly relevant if change is forced upon us, sometimes we just need to go with it, let go of our preferences, to be shown that there may be another way – more often than not, redundancy, for example, while a shock, can be a blessing in disguise, presenting new opportunities.
10. Bach Floral Remedies 🌸
Taking Bach floral remedies, the one for fear (Mimulus) or shock (Star of Bethlehem), or overwhelm (Elm) or the Rescue Remedy to help support generally.
11. Spending time with positive people 🪷
When we are navigating change, it is very helpful to spend time with people who are supportive of this.
More often than not people come from a place of self-service and they can be threatened when we make changes in our life, not least because they fear losing us (and their grip over us), but also because we indirectly encourage them to come out of their potential denial about the state of their life.
Many people like to put their head in the sand and they prefer it is those around them to do the same, so they don’t have to face their reality.
12. Feeling into it 🫀
It can be really helpful to feel our fear and anxiety as they arise. To understand its root – which is more often than not, around our safety.
Remember FEAR as False Evidence Appearing Real and challenge it – where is the evidence that we will end up homeless, unwell, dead etc?
For more help please do reach out. The more comfortable we can be with the change, the easier it is for us to weather it when it appears in our lives.
Warming, Ayurvedic, vata-balancing recipes:
Happy Equinox!
Happy Equinox! We are now on the wane down to the winter solstice on Friday 22 December, while the moon is on the wax to full this Friday 29 September. Interestingly it was at half moon as I stood watching sunset on the west coast of Jersey on the Equinox, having watched sunrise on the East coast this morning. If ever an Equinox was about balance then it is this one!
Known as Mabon, this festival marks equal day and equal night and the second harvest festival. It is a time for gratitude, acknowledging all that we have in our life, for the successes of the summer crops in all its many guises, and a time for letting go of that which is no longer required in our lives.
I have been reading a really interesting book on holding space. How easily we can hold space for others but not for ourselves. This is not true of everyone, obviously, but there are some of us who err towards making sure everyone else is OK and forgetting sometimes to take care of ourselves too. It seems to me that the equinoxes gift us the opportunity to witness these imbalances. The seasonal cold which comes in to release excess pitta and kapha in the body is indicative of this as it slows us down. Now, really, is the time to go within.
In our yoga practice we are encouraged to focus on movements that help to keep us grounded as the vata (air and ether) energy of autumn takes over from the pitta (fire and water) energy of summer. Simple practices calm vata and help us to focus on our breath, calming and relaxing our nervous system and supporting our need for letting go into the deeper parts of self that this transition to the winter solstice and the inner darkness encourages.
On a spiritual level, going inwards is of course a return to our true self, purusha, beyond the masking of the ego-self and all the ‘posturing’ which we might do in our lives. Through our yoga practice, we are trying to let go of the doing and proving so we can just ‘be’, connecting to higher and expanded levels of consciousness.
The concepts of purusha and prakriti comes from the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy, which believes that the universe is made up of two realities. These two forces are purusha and prakriti, male and female, unchanging and changing, divine and natural.
According to this philosophy, we are made up of a balance of purusha and prakriti. Our body, mind, thoughts and actions are prakriti, always subject to change, and thus the challenge of the spiritual path lies in connecting back to our unchanging core, our essence, our soul, which is purusha. The idea is that our bodies change, our minds and ideas and perceptions change, but the core of who we are remains the same from birth to death. The spiritual path therefore, is about connecting to that which doesn’t change and to let go of the things that do.
It is very easy to identify ourselves with all that we do or think - I am a yoga student, I am a mum, I am a Reiki practitioner, I am spiritual etc, but according to the concepts of purusha and prakriti, all of these conceptions are prakriti, subject to change, unreal and not who we truly are in essence. Recognising and realising who we truly are, in essence, at core, means letting go of all our attachments to the perception of ourselves as physical and mental beings. Thus we let go of criticising our bodies, because our physical body is not our spiritual self. We let go of giving ourselves a hard time for ‘not being good enough’ because from a spiritual perspective, our essence ids exactly as it should be. We let go of criticising others too, and instead recognise the divine in them.
Our body, thoughts, beliefs and the roles we play throughout our life is transient. They all make up a whole, but our true self, is the core of the whole self.
On this path, we are encourages to find balance. Not only between the masculine and feminine energies inherent in each of us, but between stability and change, real and unreal, spirit and nature and stillness and the creative force.
We can consider balance in our life from this perspective. Where do we focus our energy, on prakriti or purusha and can we find a balance between the two?
We can also apply this concept to the seasons and to the manner in which these will influence our life and our opportunity to connect more fully to our internal self. The summer, for example, is all about being out there, it is active and fun and can disrupt our ability to go within. The winter, on the other hand, slows us down, encourages us to hibernate and access deeper realms within ourselves. And autumn is the transition between the two, a gradual retreat. This means softening and leaning into the ground, of letting go, rather than having to push ourselves out.
I’m certainly keen to flow with this energy, quieten down, go within and tightening boundaries accordingly.
The equinox was indeed a gift, and no doubt the full moon will help us see more of what needs to be forgiven or let go of ahead of the wane ahead.
Love Emma x
Forest Bathing!
Forest bathing, also known as ‘shinrin-yoku’, was first developed in Japan in the 1980s after scientific studies were carried out by the Japanese government. The results of the studies showed that two hours of time spent mindfully exploring in a forest could reduce blood pressure, improve concentration and memory and lower stress levels (through reducing cortisol, the stress hormone). They also discovered that trees release chemicals called phytoncides that have an anti-microbial effect on human bodies, which boost the immune system.
As a result of these findings, the Japanese government introduced ‘shinrin-yoku’ as a national health programme. Since then, forest bathing has begun to become popular elsewhere. The National Trust in the UK, for example, recommends forest bathing as a way to unwind and feel refreshed. This has been backed this up by science, with academics from the University of Derby in 2018, discovering that when people connect to nature, this significantly improves their wellbeing.
I was first introduced to the idea of forest bathing by Dr Diana Beresford-Kroeger who holds a bachelor of science in classical botany, a B.Sc. in medical biochemistry, a master’s degree in plant physiology, a PhD in cardiac ischemia (damage due to low levels of oxygen in the heart), and a diploma in general surgery together with a fellowship in the effects of radiation on biology systems. She has published in the top medical journals in the world, such as the American Heart Journal.
Diana has also written a inspiring books and filmed a documentary called, Call of the Forest: The forgotten wisdom of Trees. The documentary explores the most beautiful forests in the northern hemisphere and shares the stories behind the history and legacy of these ancient forests while also explaining the science of trees, and the irreplaceable roles that they play in protecting and feeding the planet. Not only do they provide oxygen for us to breathe - forests are known as the lungs of the world – but they also provide us with medicine to promote our wellbeing.
You don’t need to go to Japan to enjoy the benefits of tree bathing though. You can enjoy the benefits even here in Guernsey, in one of our pine forests. As Dr Beresford-Kroeger writes, “Go outside and find yourself a pine tree…Take twenty minutes out of your life in the company of these evergreens at noontime. They produce three aerosol molecules called pinenes. Inhale deeply in the presence of one of these trees and the T-cells of your circulating blood will immediately increase, boosting your immune system for free. This effect of one visit will last for thirty days. This is true for men, women, and children. A strong immune system is always your secret weapon.”
These are wise words and timely too as we try to strengthen our immune systems with the threat of mutation of coronavirus still very real. The answer is simple, get outside and find your way to the Guet or the pine forest at Pleinmont or Jerbourg. Go at noon and sit under a tree, then wander around, enjoying the forest environment, hug a tree if you can. If you can’t get out to a pine forest then perhaps inhale pine essential oil instead. Derived from the needles of the pine tree, the scent of pine essential oil is known to have a clarifying, uplifting and invigorating effect.
Furthermore, pine essential oil has antibacterial, antiseptic, decongestant, diuretic, stimulant, antiviral, anti-rheumatic, deodorant, expectorant and antifungal properties and is useful in protecting the body against harmful germs. In the process it positively effects the mood by clearing the mind of stresses, energising the body and helping to reduce fatigue, enhancing concentration/clarity and promoting a positive outlook. You can add a few drops of the oil to a diffuser to scent a room, or add a few drops to a tissue and inhale from that.
It’s not just the aerosols secreted by trees that make a difference to our wellbeing, but simply being in nature. Many of us live disconnected from nature suffering from stress, depression and anxiety. We underestimate the need for a solid foundation in our lives, laying roots that nourish and sustain us, connecting us to the earth and living with the awareness of the ebb and flow of the passing seasons and the moon cycle and planetary shifts. We only have to witness the mighty oak tree to understand the value of first establishing roots from which we grow, deepening our connection between earth and sky.
Like trees, we sometimes need to shed our leaves, let go of the leaves we have grown, and create new ones that are more aligned to our life in the next cycle. The tree does not hold onto its leaves confused and indecisive, it does not grip on when it needs to let go, there is a gentle grace that comes from knowing its place in all things and the cycle of all life, birth and death, earth and sky and everything in between. The sun and the moon know this too, rising and setting, waxing and waning, not holding on when it is time to change and transform.
Many try to force things to happen in their lives without first establish their foundation. In yoga there is no point rushing to the advanced postures until we have first practiced those that will allow us to establish a solid foundation, for example. In everything, we need to start at the beginning, we need to ensure there is solidity to that which we are creating, like a house requiring foundations, a tree requiring roots, so we too, must begin at our base and work our way up from there.
Too often in life we’re rushing though, always rushing from one thing to the next. We don’t always allow the grounding, the opportunity to be quiet, silent and establish our base. We are focused on outcome alone, and forget that there are steps which must be followed to allow the outcome to manifest. People flit from one healer to another, when the results don’t come quick enough, desperate to improve and get better, and understandably so, but forgetting that it’s takes time to heal.
It's the same with dreams, they take time to come to fruition. Some set up their own businesses and hope for results over night, undertaking copious manifestation exercises, willing and wishing and chopping and changing their offering, one re-brand after another, as they try to make a name for themselves, yet forget that they need a grounding and a foundation, that we cannot rush these things, not if we expect them to have any longevity, it takes time for seeds to grow.
As we spend time in nature and create a deeper connection to it, so we begin to notice more of our own nature, that we are the micro of the macro – more often than not, the way we treat ourselves is a reflection of the way we treat our planet. The more we can cultivate greater respect and love for self, the more we respect and love our planet too. We start to appreciate nature and the need to protect it, trees especially for providing us with oxygen to breathe and an ecosystem and home for many species.
My friend, Jo de Diepold Braham, who used to live on Guernsey, has recently established The Children’s Forest, a project to help encourage more children back to nature, sitting together around a central fire and envisioning a forest, before turning their vision into a reality. Here’s the link to lovely little video about this project, about planting their vision, which will undoubtably inspire you to get grow trees and get into a forest, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5g6jrbb5GA.
It inspired our ‘Plant A Tree Project’ which we are hoping to launch in Autumn, offering free seedlings and baby trees for children to plant and tend to in their gardens, more information here, https://www.beinspiredby.co.uk/plant-a-tree. I have also recorded a Children’s Yoga: Journey into the Children’s Forest video, which you are view here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8CsjwiFVoY. The key though, is to get outside, into nature and allow nature to work her magic on you.
Tell me about Ayurveda
Over 5,000 years old, Ayurveda is the most ancient and authentically recorded health system in history. It was created by yogis who spent their lives studying nature and the human condition. Meaning ‘the science of life’ it is exactly that, viewing health in four dimensions of physical, sensory, mental and spiritual and is centred on preventative medicine and bringing a person back to balance.
Energy plays an important role in our lives. We need energy and vitality to be able to live our life in a healthy and harmonious way. We get energy from nature through the sun and other natural elements. Ayurveda believes that there are primary functional energies in our bodies that are aligned with the elements of nature. These three forces of energies are known as the doshas in Ayurveda and include vata, pitta and kapha. The entire system of Ayurvedic healing is directly related to these three doshas.
There are understood to be five elements in nature - earth, air, water, fire and space/ether - which are contained within the three doshas. Vata comprises air and ether, pitta comprises fire and water, and kapha comprises water and earth. Our biological existence is a dance of the three doshas and life is a multi-coloured tapestry of their movement in various plays of balance and imbalance, coming together and going apart. These three powers colour and determine our conditions of growth and aging, health and disease.
Essentially the doshas impact on us on two primary levels. Firstly, they are the factors that produce the physical body and are responsible for its substance and its function, for example our tissues are mainly kapha or watery in nature, the digestive system is mainly pitta or fire and the nervous system is mainly vata or air. Secondly, one of the three doshas predominates in each individual and becomes the basic determinate of his or her particular constitution or mind-body type.
However the word ‘dosha’ (which is Sanskrit) translates as a fault or a blemish and indicates the factors that bring about disease and decay and where we are therefore out of balance. Ayurveda will therefore seek to establish the dosha, or imbalance and treat to that, thereby allowing more of the natural constitution to reveal itself. In this way Ayurveda seeks to discover the causative factor for loss of wellbeing and will focus initially on restoring digestive function as this is believed to be the seat of all imbalances and disease.
Healthy digestion is therefore fundamental to wellness in Ayurveda and to establishing strong immunity, an open and loving heart and a peaceful and calm mind. If the digestive system is out of balanced, the digestive fire is not functioning properly, then this will create a loss of physical and mental wellbeing which will negatively impact on the immune function, let alone the mental state of an individual and their experience of themselves and life.
As Ayurveda seeks to restore digestive health, diet is always considered, together with life style factors that may also be contributing to a loss of wellbeing. Like attracts like and we will often be attracted to those foodstuffs and activities that will enhance imbalances. We may also be living a life that isn’t true to our life path (dharma), and this will show up as physical and mental illness that cannot be effectively treated with modern medicines but can be helped by Ayurveda.
A person can possess just one predominant dosha, have two equally dominant dosha or have all three doshas in balance. Here follows a rough guideline for how the doshas apply to different people:
Vata traits
· Tall or very short, thin and bony with good muscles
· Tendency to do many things – make things happen
· Quick learner
· Flexible
· Quick moving and actions
· Oval, narrow face and smaller eyes
· Dry, rough and thin skin texture, dry and thin hair
· Variable appetite, tendency towards constipation
· Poor endurance and easily exhausted, with bursts of energy
· Stiff joints
· Light sleep, possibly interrupted, dreams full of movement
· Poor circulation and sensitive to the cold.
· Intolerance to pain
· Forgetful and disorganised.
· Sociable and imaginative
· Drawn to creative activities
Anyone can experience vata imbalances, though the vata-dominant individuals are more prone to them.
· Signs of a vata imbalance include:
· Dryness of skin, hair, ears, lips and joints
· Dryness internally, bloating, gas, constipation, dehydration, weight loss
· Dry and lightness of mind, restlessness, dizziness, feeling ungrounded
· Roughness, especially skin and lips
· Cold – poor circulation, muscle spasm or constriction, asthma, pain and aches, tightness.
· Excessive movement, anxiety, fidgeting, agitation, muscle twitching and palpations.
Pitta traits
· Medium height, average build, often athletic.
· Warm skin texture
· Intelligent by nature
· Loose joints and good circulation
· Moderate immune function
· Thin and oily hair
· Good stamina levels.
· Strong metabolism and a healthy appetite (tendency towards ‘hangry’
· Tendency towards anger, intolerance, impatience and jealousy
· Tolerant to pain
· Subject to mood swings
· Sensitive to hot weather
· Motivated and goal-orientated
· Strong leadership skills
· Organised, private and have good will power.
· Tendency towards inflammation.
Anyone can experience pitta imbalances, though the pitta-dominant individuals are more prone to them.
· Heat increases in the body and causes discomfort.
· Inflammation in the body that can lead to joint pain.
· Stomach heat increases leading to heartburn, acid reflux, and ulcers.
· Diarrhoea or impaired digestion.
· Mental heat increase can cause excess anger, irritation, and frustration.
· Increased sweating and body odour.
· Increased hunger and thirst.
· Headaches with burning pain in the head.
· Sore throat with infection.
· Giddiness and/or hot flushes.
· Heaviness or tenderness in the testicles/breasts.
· Becoming judgmental and perfectionist tendencies.
Kapha traits include:
· Large, well-formed frame, usually short but can be tall and large
· Cold and damp skin texture
· Thick and lustrous hair
· Firm joints
· Moderate circulation
· High immune function and high endurance
· Often relaxed and calm
· Have a strong pain threshold and a strong will power.
· Tolerant, composed, patient, calming and forgiving
· Metabolism tends to be slow, making them sluggish
· Prone to respiratory disorders
· Heart disease is a risk they face
· Needs motivation, otherwise can get depressed
· Caring in nature and shows empathy
· Emotional over eating
· Stubborn, possessive and greedy
· Trusts others
· Wise and mature
· Happy
Anyone can experience kapha imbalances, though the kapha-dominant individuals are more prone to them.
Excess mucous in the body
Slow/sluggish bowel movements
Increase in body weight
Thick white tongue coat
Sinus congestion
Depressed metabolism
Fatty accumulation in the arteries
Mucoid diarrhea
Pre-diabetes
Cold/cough/runny nose
Hay fever
Cold sweats
Excess urination
Excess ear wax
Oily skin and hair
Poor sense of taste and smell
Lethargy and drowsiness
Ayurveda also uses elemental medicine to balance out imbalances in earth, fire, water, air and ether in the body. As mentioned above, Ayurveda places great emphasis on helpful changes to diet (with consideration of the six tastes and whether a food stuff has a heating or cooling effect on the body), lifestyle factors (including exercise, rest, yoga, meditation), massage and herbal medicines to bring a person back to health, and keep them there, promoting natural immunity and a more balanced and harmonious state of being on all levels.
To find out more please see here - https://www.beinspiredby.co.uk/ayurvedic-consultations
A celebration of moving with lightness
We’re waxing down to the dark moon in a few day’s time and don’t I know it! I haven’t read too much about this new moon yet but what I did read confirmed to me that yes, this is a heavy one. In truth it feels like they’ve all been heavy this year, it is a heavy year, and from what I gather it’s not going to get any lighter just soon.
If ever we need to be reminded that we live in a world of uncertainty then this year proves it and as much as I might try to create some certainty in my life, arranging retreats and workshops in advance, I know that the arranging alone does not make them certain.
The practice, the yoga practice, the chanting practice, the reading of the ancient texts, the listening to the Sri Lankan monks, the Reiki, all of this, well it changes things. Everything changes. I was reading a lovely blog post about this yesterday and quoted from it in class. Even one yoga class will change us in some way, how can it not. But being changed is not easy because always we have to let go of our idea of how life should be lived and who we are, beyond the stories, narratives and titles we use to define ourselves.
I’ve not found that easy this year. I feel almost as if the roots have been lifted, my very foundations shaken as I have repeatedly questioned who I am and what exactly I’m practising and teaching, let alone how I’m living and how much of this is from my conditioning - most of it! On the one hand this is deeply liberating. but on the other it is very shaky and very unstable because I have to find a new way to be that might be more aligned, not just in terms of relationship with self but relationship with society too. The latter is almost trickier than the former.
I feel that each moon cycle has ramped this up a little, shone more lights into those places that I haven’t been able to see previously and there has been very little let up from one shift to another, one pattern showing up to another and all so much woven together.
There was a respite for a night spent on Sark, requested by my eldest for his birthday, his soul needing the peace as much as my own. It was magical as always, Sark air, the most incredible night sky and the rising half moon, cycling, no cars, peace, glorious peace and good friends to sit and chat with, a beach to ourselves to potter and swim. I died and went to heaven all in this lifetime.
There as a definite case of Sark blues returning back and into the thick of other people’s dramas and neuroses because we are all of us being squeezed.
I found my mat with renewed need today, and found my breath and a long yoga nidra. There was mediation and self Reiki later, and a need to come back to the texts, to something grounding. Then I thought maybe what I needed was to watch some yoga practised and I found this most beautiful video, which has warmed my heart and fed my soul and sorry if that sounds’s gooey but it was much needed and worked a treat - look at it, just BEAUTIFUL!!! It reminds me that it is worth it. The going against the flow, the doing things differently and all because my heart said so.
If your heart is saying so too then you’ll know that it’s not easy and that there are days when you just want to stay in bed and be done with it, when you might just throw your hands in the air and say that you’re done with it and join the treadmill again. But other days, when you are not so weary, when your children have slept and are not draining all your patience and energy and you are feeling inspired, that you don’t doubt it.
I don’t ever really doubt it, I just become tired by the challenges to almost help me deepen my faith in it. Then I’ll watch a video like that, or I’ll read this extract and I’ll feel strengthened by it, a bit like an angel card that says it exactly as you feel it, as if the universe really is able to commune with you, and it is, it is, it is. There is no such thing as a coincidence, the signs are everywhere, we’ve just got to open ourselves up to it:
“Freedom from the Known is one of Krishnamurti's most accessible works. Here, he reveals how we can free ourselves radically and immediately from the tyranny of the expected. By changing ourselves, we can alter the structure of society and our relationships. The vital need for change and the recognition of its very possibility form an essential part of this important book's message.”
I might just have stumbled across this book at just the right time, and what fascinates me the most is the fact I have finally stumbled across it, because Krishnamurti has been mentioned to me many times previously but all of a sudden tonight from nowhere, yet from a place of longing for something to shine a light, I find his name popping into my head and then I find my way to this book and this quote that means so much already. What force does that? Brings us to that which we need to connect? It’s not gravity and it’s not magnetism, so what is it, love? Divine? It’s amazing whatever it is.
So this is the video that I was watching that was like a light and gives me more strength to continue in the direction that my self practice has been taking me, with a little more lightness…and shining a light on those aspects of self that struggle with this, the linear, masculine and will based parts of me that have been so used to pushing my life forward over the years, of always trying my hardest to achieve come what may…come what may?! I’m pretty sure there’s a more gentle way. I see it in this lady’s practice and it inspires me on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvSBeujJKAo
Peace. That’s the word that keeps coming to me. Our inner peace. Reconciling all aspects of self, the right, the left, the active, the passive, the achiever and the complacent, the being in the middle of it all, the unknown and being OK with that. I’m pretty sure that the more lightness we can find in our movement on our mats, the less certain we are of form and more we allow the body it’s own beautiful expression, the more too our lives will be shaped by that lightness.
Enjoy the squeeze of the dark moon and her insights, and the new moon lightness that should follow…
xx
This recipe has been inspired from The Good Stuff by Lucinda Miller