Individual eating plan

I’ve written this all out once today and for some reason it wouldn’t publish! Annoying…let’s try again.

A well-known yoga teacher, Ruth White, once met Iyengar and asked him, ‘What should I be eating?’ He gave her a playful slap and replied, ‘How should I know?’ In other words, we each of us need to work out our own nutrition according to our own needs. Yoga is a journey of self-discovery and it will help you see clearly and to intuite what nutrition will serve you best. All serious yoga teachers are vegan or vegetarian. The first rule of yoga is AHIMSA, non-violence, and this must be obeyed.

I have honed my breakfast down to perfection over a period of many years. It includes kefir, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, flaxseed, ginger, walnuts, cider vinegar and honey, and blackstrap molasses. It suits me, but each person has to work out what suits them.

This is, of course, also true about the exercise you take, and the work/rest schedule that you set up. If you have any queries, take them into your yoga practice – take them on to your mat.

OM Shanti Shanti Shanti

And Breathe

Just take a moment and tune into your breath. Breathe in…breathe out. Breathe in…breathe out. Now imagine that when you breathe in, your breath comes from a very long way away. And when you breathe out, your breath goes to a place a long way away. Do this several times. Now focus very gently on just your out-breath. Focus on it so softly that it’s like a feather touching a bubble. Nothing else…just focus oh so softly on the out-breath. Just stay with that sensation for several moments…

Begin to deepen your breathing. Consciously breathe in and in and in and in, until you’re totally full. And then breathe out with a long, loud sigh. Repeat twice more.

Well done, you’re all set. Off you go, back into your day!

Lots of love, light and blessings, Carole xxx

OM Shanti Shanti Shanti

Dental health/Mental health

“You clean your teeth to promote dental health. You practise yoga to promote mental health”. This rather wonderful saying was brought to my attention yesterday by a friend.

Coming back to yoga, returning to the breath, taking time out to sit quietly, these are all very simple steps towards equilibrium. Yoga practitioners may not have all the answers to our current difficulties on the planet, but they do have the tools to live alongside the questions.

A good yoga teacher uses communication and repetition. Good yoga students employ hearing and doing. Talking and listening are both concerned with the throat chakra. Right now, there is less opportunity to communicate. Wearing masks has caused us to talk less. Meeting on Zoom or Skype brings a delay to conversation. Socially distancing, and being back in lockdown, means that we are not meeting others and interacting. The throat chakra is having a rest…or is it becoming blocked?

All yoga practice removes blockages – whether these are on the physical, mental, emotional or energetic level. Yoga keeps the throat chakra healthy with postures, with pranayama practices, with chanting and with listening. As a yoga student, you are given permission to relax. You are given permission to have this space and time to yourself. You are given permission to find balance and to come back to contentment and well-being. You listen, you understand, you do.

Chanting for me is one of the best tools to use when I’m out of balance. OM Namo Narayanaya; OM Mani Padme Hum; A-U-M; the Gayatri Mantra. After half-an-hour of repeating OM Namo Narayanaya on the first Sunday of every month, I feel deeply happy. Not just balanced, not just content, but deeply happy. I return to that state of union, that oneness, a place where I merge with all that is.

Speech is incredibly powerful. Those who speak for separation, alienation, negativity are hugely damaging. Those who speak for joining, union, inclusivity, and love will heal us all. They will heal the planet.

It is important for us all to choose who we listen to. It’s important for us all to choose our words carefully. Yoga shows us the way to mental health, world health, people health. The pyramid of Giza is the throat chakra of Mother Earth. Egypt, with its wealth of history and learning, is where Mother Earth communicates. Unrest in that area is said to be cries for help. Let’s promote ease, not disease. Let’s promote rest, not unrest. Let’s promote unity, not division. Let’s promote positivity, not negativity. Let’s understand that speaking our truth, quietly and clearly, is serving everyone right now.

OM Shanti Shanti Shanti