Detox and Yoga Lifestyle Retreat… next one 9-11th Sept

Jess, Colette (our lovely chef) and I arrived on Thursday (28th July) to prepare everything for our guests arriving on Friday for our first Lifestyle Yoga and Detox weekend on Osea Island.

Crossing the estuary at low tide along the bumpy ride towards the strip of land that is Osea is always an amusing experience. To think that in a few hours this will be deep water! We arrived in time to  take in Osea’s loveliness, check out the route for our silent walk and collect some samphire (seaweed) off the beach… adds a lovely salty crunch in salads!

Everyone arrived in time for the evening yoga class and were delighted at the accomodation. We were fortunate to be upgraded to the Manor House, so everyone had their own double bedroom. It’s a beautiful old house with sea views from nearly every room, log fires, roll top baths and loads of sofas for chilling.

We headed off to the Yoga Barn, situated in a field, the only sound was of the pigeons nesting in the roof. After a Yin/Yang Yoga session and a lovely dinner of Mung Bean, Coconut and Spinach Dahl, Quinoa and salads, followed by Energy Balls we were all ready for an early night.

Saturday morning, everyone was woken up bright and early at 7am with a fresh vegetable juice of apple (out of my garden!), cucumber, carrot and mint. That set us up for meditation followed by Dynamic Yoga.

After breakfast, we had some chill out time, some of the girls opting for a deep tissue massage with our wonderful therapist, Sonia Patten.

Then we all gathered again in the beautiful lounge for a nutrition talk on the Benefits off Detoxing and some Raw food recipes. It created quite a lot of discussion… organic or not? What’s the best juicer? What’s the best substitute for dairy milk? How much raw chocolate can I eat ?!!!

Lunch was great for the warm weather… Vietnamese Spring Rolls (not the deep fried variety!) Brown Rice sushi rolls, Almond Butter satay dip and Gazpacho… Yum!

The afternoon saw more down time, some of the girls braved the sea, others headed to the heated outdoor pool and the sauna and some explored the island.

Meanwhile the team were busy in the kitchen again putting the finishing touches to our fabulous Raw Lasagne and Ultimate Nutrition salad of greens, sprouts and seaweed.

The day was finished off with a relaxing Yin and Restorative Yoga class, the room warmed by the wood burner and the smell of incense! An invitation of silence was offered until the next morning.

Sunday we woke to the most beautiful sunny day for our silent walk. The English countryside really is the best in the sun. The air on the island is really special. Heavily loaded with negative ions from the salt, its perfect to soak up those positive ions that stress out the body! The island has been used for healing for many years and it was the perfect venue for our Detox and Yoga weekend.

After the walk and chatting reinstalled we stretched out with a great abs class taught by Jess and a reminder to engage our core during our sun salutations!!

The final Yoga class was followed by one of my all time faves, Nut Roast…beautiful and moist and loaded with veggies. Accompanied with an avocado salsa, spinach salad and finished off with Raw Lime Mojito Mousse.

A last few hours to soak up the sun on the front lawn and after a round of goodbyes and photos, some of the girls had to leave before the tide went out and we waved them off on the water taxi.

Everyone had such a great time and Jess and I want to thank all those who supported this first wonderful retreat… check out our next one on 9th Sept!

Check out our photos coming soon by our wonderful photographer Julia Mills – www.juliamills.com

Just back from teaching at Osea Island…

Just back from teaching at Osea Island. The Yoga studio is gorgeous, situated in a field close to nature… check it out! http://www.thelifestyleretreat.com

Our Home for the weekend!

Morning Yoga

Shakshuka- Israeli baked eggs on a spiced Pepper base.

Energy Balls – Yum!

Detoxed Yogis!

Leaving the Island in style!!

Setting up a Healthy kitchen

Making the transition to eating healthy can be challenging if you’ve been used to relying on ready meals so far, here are a few tips:

• Go through your kitchen cupboards and throw out/give away anything thats out of date or contains a list of chemical and E numbers that you do not recognise!!
• Make your kitchen a desirable place to be….decorate it, put up shelves, get rid of excess clutter that is not supportive to cooking!
• Stock your kitchen with good quality utensils. Sharp knives are essential and I would also recommend a food processor and a blender.
• Clean out you fridge and organise the shelves with vegetables, protein and condiments.
• Buy Clear jars for holding pulses, grains so that you can see what you’ve got in your kitchen.
• Invest in some cookery books!

Below is a list of the basic dry ingredients I keep in stock. They are all foods that support my health.  From there the main foods I then need to buy are vegetables and fruit.

Pulses and Beans

Aduki beans, Black beans, Puy lentils, Brown lentils, Split Peas, Chickpeas, Mung beans

Nuts

Almonds,Brazil Nuts,Pinenuts,Walnuts, Hazelnuts

Seeds

Pumpkin, Sesame, Hemp, Sunflower, Poppy, Chia

Wholegrains

Brown rice-short grain and Basmati, Oat Grouts,Jumbo Rolled oats, Quinoa, Amaranth, Millet, Barley, Soba noodles, Wholemeal Pasta, Brown Rice wrappers

Flavours

Pesto,Miso,Tamari,Nut Butter, Tahini, Pesto, Tinned Tomatoes, Coconut Milk/Cream Block, Kallo Stock Powder, Ume Plum seasoning, Balsamic vinegar, Apple cider vinegar, Japanese Mirin, Seaweed, Seasalt, Spices, Black pepper

Oils

Olive, Hemp, Sesame, Coconut

Sweeteners

Xylitol, Agave, Maple syrup, Honey, Dried Fruit- Dates, Apricots, Raisins, Goji Berries

Healthy Chocolate Truffles

• 100g Brazil/Pecan/walnuts Nuts soaked for 2 hours
• (choose your favourite!)
• 50g Soaked Dates.
• 1 tbsp Organic Cocoa Powder ( plus 2tbsp extra)
• 1 tbsp Coconut Butter (optional)

Blend and form into balls, roll in the extra cocoa powder if desired, chill, eat !

Scarlet Quinoa Salad

• 1 ½ Cups Quinoa soaked
• 2 Beetroot , peeled or scrubbed and diced
• Rind of ½ lemon
• 2 cups Vegetable Stock

Dressing
2tbsp ex V Olive Oil, 2tbsp lemon Juice, 2tbsp Chopped Chives, SP

• 100g Feta cheese diced
• handful Pumpkin Seeds

Place first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer until liquid absorbed and Quinoa soft, approx 8 mins Remove from pan and add dressing. Serve warm or cold sprinkled with Feta and Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin and Coconut Chickpea soup

• 450g/1lb Butternut Squash peeled and diced
• 1 Tsp Coconut Oil
• 1 onion peeled and diced
• 2 Cloves garlic peeled and crushed
• 2 tsp Thai Red curry paste (optional- for more spice!)
• 6 oz cooked chickpeas
• 1 Tin Coconut milk
• 200 ml/7floz water
• 2 tsp Marigold Vegetable Stock Powder
• Juice 1 lime
• Seasalt

Saute the onion and garlic in coconut oil for 5 minutes. Add the Butternut squash and the curry paste (if using) and a pinch of seasalt and continue to cook with the lid on the pan for another 5 minutes, adding a dash of water to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the coconut milk, chickpeas, water and stock powder. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the pumpkin is cooked then remove from the heat. Puree in a blender and add the lime juice. Check the seasoning. Add more water for a thinner soup. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh coriander.

Almond Butter Spinach

Dressing

• 4 tbsp Almond Butter
• 1 Clove Garlic crushed
• 1 tbsp Tamari
• 1tbsp Lemon Juice

Combine dressing ingredients in a food processor add 250g spinach and blend until almost smooth. This can also be made by hand by finely chopping the spinach.

Transitioning to a Healthy Diet

Do you want to lose weight, eat more healthily, improve your digestion or banish a food intolerance?

Transitioning to eating a healthy diet seems to becoming more and more challenging. Confusing nutritional advice, time pressures and the abundance of fast foods are creating a nation of people suffering from malnutrition!

Often it takes a digestive problem, weight gain or illness to trigger the desire to create more mindfulness around eating.

Getting started can be challenging when its accompanied by resistance to giving up favourite comfort foods and its important to continually remind yourself of your motivating factors.

My belief is that a healthy diet can be achieved quite easily once the intention is firmly in place to make it a lifestyle change. Quick fixes just don’t work. The diet industry is making billions from this fact.

Action needs to follow great ideas so once you have committed yourself to making changes to your diet follow these easy guidelines to help your transition.

Goal Setting
Choose the time of the week/day that is best for you to quietly have the time for yourself to organise your goals around eating/exercise and get clear about what you want to achieve.

What do you want in your life? What are your needs? What needs to happen in order to achieve them? When would you like to achieve them by?

Make your goals realistic, write them into your diary and tell as many people about them as possible! Ask for support from close friends and family.
Maybe you’re goals include booking a nutritional consultation or a personal trainer to help you get on track!

Menu Planning and Shopping
It’s a good idea whilst setting your goals to include some menu planning and write a shopping list. Preparation is key to success! Find the times in your diary when you will go shopping. Work out which nights will you definitely eat in, which days look busy and need extra planning, if you have more than 3 social engagements in a week where you know it’s going to be difficult to control your eating maybe you want to space them out.
PLAN and ORGANISE! Make yourself a priority! Make a date with yourself!

Food Diary
This is one of the best tools (if you’re honest with yourself !) that can guide you and show you where you are eating well and which areas are more challenging. Eg you may look back over your week and discover that you find it a struggle to eat healthy snacks or that you do well all the way up to that 11pm choc attack! You may see that when you eat at home you nearly always choose healthy options but when you socialise it goes to pot.
Keeping a food diary helps you reflect back on our weeks eating behaviour and see those areas that need greater mindfulness and planning.

Alongside the food diary, indicate where you have energy slumps or digestive problems to pinpoint which foods could be the culprit. Also take into account your lifestyle… you may not need to change your eating…. stress/emotional issues could be the problem.

I follow a 80:20 rule when it comes to eating. In the week you’ll find me eating mung bean dahl, quinoa and salads etc but I love social eating and that will definitely include wine and maybe a dessert. Keep it in balance and make eating a divine experience!!

Super Salads!

Summers abundance of fresh foods creates endless variations of salads. Fresh foods are essential as they provide us with digestive enzymes that help us to break down our food. We can make these in our bodies but our ability slows down as we get older. They also provide us with essential nutrients and vitamins which can be destroyed if they are heated in cooked foods.

When the weather is warmer our bodies enjoy the cool energy of raw foods. Try to make your salads from scratch. As much as possible choose locally sourced and organic to maximise nutrition and reduce toxins. In terms of maximising nutrition, picking home grown is best. You only need a windowsill to be able to keep you in salad leaves all through the Summer!

Here are a few of my faves!!

Summer Quinoa salad

• 2oz Quinoa
• 1 tomato
• 2oz Feta
• 1/2 Avocado
• basil leaves
• mixed salad leaves

All mixed up with:

1/2 Lemon Juice, 1/2tsp Umemboshi vinegar (has a tangy salty seasoning from plums) or Balsamic and 1tsp Virgin Olive Oil.

Spinach Salad

 Dressing:

• ½ Small jar Almond butter/Tahini
• Juice of 1 lemons
• 1 tbsp Tamari
• 1 clove garlic

1 bags baby spinach

Add all dressing ingredients to a food processor, blend then add spinach and pulse gently until spinach is roughly chopped or the consistency you prefer.

Oriental Salad

• 1 Cup Cooked Puy lentils
• 1 Cup chopped spinach
• 1 cup chopped mint
• ½ cup chopped coriander
• Half a Cucumber diced
• 1 bunch spring Onions finely sliced
• 4 Finely diced tomatoes.
• Optional- ½ Cup chopped Almonds

Dressing:

• Juice 3 Limes
• 2 Tbsp Rice Mirin (Japanese Sweet Rice Seasoning)
• 2 Tbsp Maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp Tamari

Combine all the ingredients, add the dressing and sprinkle with chopped almonds and a last sprinkle of fresh herbs.

Detox

Just back from Turkey. I’ve been teaching nutrition classes for the Fasting company www.jivahealing.com. It’s always amazing to see the transformation that people go through when fasting. A deep internal cleanse shifts old blockages on a physical and mental level leaving the body energised and functioning at its optimum. Well worth the self investment!

Jiva runs week long juice fasts in the UK and abroad. Yoga and massage are available to enhance the process and the nutrition classes give you the information to continue a healthy lifestyle. The therapists are excellent and experts in their fields.

If you are considering doing a fast for the first time it’s worth preparing for it with a preliminary detox. This will allow the body to start cleansing gently and will help reduce the common cleansing reactions which often occur during fasting.

I am running a Yoga Detox weekend break at Osea Island July 29-31st. A relaxing weekend in a stunning location offering Yoga, Core conditioning, Cleansing Diet including Juices, Nutrition class, Massage, Sauna, Outdoor swimming and plenty more. See www.thelifestyleretreat.com for more information.

Here are my maintenance detox tips that can easily assist the body’s natural cleansing.

• Drink freshly squeezed lemon and warm water first thing in the morning
• Drink at least 2 litres mineral water throughout the day
• Buy a body brush and brush towards the heart 5 mins per day before you shower to increase circulation.
• Exercise until you sweat! At least 3 times a week.
• Sweat it out in a sauna/steam room at least once a week.
• Eat wholefoods from nature and ditch the takeaways!
• A tongue scraper and flossing keeps your mouth smelling sweet.
• Use your full lung capacity, taking long deep breathes.
• Detox your mind with 10 mins of meditation or self reflection time every day. I like do this first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
• Avoid stress!