Archive for the 'Body' Category

On food and how I move.

Published 10/04/2018 Body , Growth , learning , Uncategorized , Yoga Leave a Comment
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I promised this some time back but – well you know – life kind of gets in the way of life sometimes.  Curve balls, commitments and chores seep their way into all the spaces of your day and all those things that are not so important on your todo list take a bit of a backseat.  This blog has had to take a bit of a demotion to my not so important list for a while but hopefully a revival is on the cards

This particular post has taken it’s sweet time in coming to fruition.  Some things just have to mull about in the brain for a while before they are ready to be committed to the big wide world.  Prompts and prods over the last week or so have given me the push to put pen to paper (which isn’t really the case but you know what I mean)

I regularly, and by that I mean probably twice or more a week, get asked what I eat and what I do to look the way I do at 53.  Well thank heavens these poor people only see me prepped and ready for class in yoga pants that I swear put everything back in it’s proper place.  However, they all want to know so I’m going to tell them and anyone else who is listening.

Firstly I move. A lot!  I do yoga 7 days a week.  I teach classes 6 days a week and you will find me on my mat doing my own practice every day unless work gets in the way.  If that happens I just do as much of my class as I can.  Over the week this probably works out to between 1 and 3 hours per day.  Not every day is three hours but an hour is my minimum.  Personal practices vary between vigorous (inversions and arm balances ) and just rolling about on my mat stretching this way and that depending on current curve balls and state of being.  I teach vinyasa and when it comes to yoga you don’t get much more vigorous than that and classes will leave you in a happy sweaty heap.

So I’m strong and flexible but mostly I get on my mat because it fixes my head and my heart…. both of which need a whole lot of fixing.

What do I eat….

A lot of potatoes….and pasta.

When I say a lot of potatoes I really mean it.  Potatoes – good old fashioned Irish white potatoes (Irish on my father’s side) are the foundation of my diet.  I love them baked, wedged, roasted, chipped – just not mashed! I will cook three or four medium sized potatoes just for myself at most meals. It is possible I will come back as a potato in my next life!

At home I am predominantly plant based.  This means that 80% of what I eat comes from plants).  I don’t eat meat at all and don’t have any dairy at home.  Eating out I’m a little more relaxed and don’t cry if there is some feta in my salad.  I do have one general rule.  If it needs to tell me on a packet what it is I don’t eat it.  I eat real food. A carrot is a carrot and it doesn’t need a label.  Processed food is a no no!

So average day – actually every day – starts with sugar and wheat free muesli with added seeds, raisins and rice milk.

Then around 9 (I might have a small coffee addiction) I’ll often be found having a croissant at VovoTelo to keep me going.

Lunch time varies depending on classes and meetings.  Favourites are pasta with mushrooms and tomatoes from VovoTelo or a baked potato and curried lentils from Nouriti.

I often get in late from class so tend to make things that are either quick or can last a few days.  Three bean chilli is one of my go to meals.  I’ll have this with two or more baked potatoes or rice.  Sometimes I’ll make a quick pasta dish with tomatoes, peppers or mushrooms depending on what I have in the house. Always plenty of onion and garlic and a healthy helping of pesto.  Lentil stuffed peppers with wedges is another firm favourite but my all time best meal is an abundantly large tray of roasted vegetables (including lots of potatoes of course).  Best things to add to this are brussels spouts, carrots, beetroot, cauliflower, broccoli and sometimes I’ll throw in a can of lentils at the end.  Saturday evenings are made for trays of roasted veg and Netflix!  I have a few apps on my phone for recipes.  Forks over Knives and Yummly having proved themselves to be the best for me.

….I love coffee, matcha green tea and try to drink plenty of water.

….I drink alcohol rarely, if ever, and don’t drink any soft drinks.  Water is my soft drink.

….I don’t have a sweet tooth.  Dislike cakes of any sort and ice cream but you might find the odd ginger biscuit in my house.

At the end of the day you have to put good stuff into your mouth and you have to move your body. Potatoes and other carbs are not your enemy.  Being lazy is your enemy and eating rubbish is your enemy.

Get moving and eat real food people…oh and meditate!

 

Happiness is……a secret

Published 05/04/2016 Body , Life , Uncategorized , writing 4 Comments
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I made a promise to myself a year or so ago when my life fell apart and all that I knew was no longer.  I promised myself that I would be open to possibilities.  That what landed in my lap was perhaps meant for me, despite my own curious dubiousness, and that I would explore what ever came my way.  That I would let life unfold just as it wanted. That I would release my resistance to outcomes and live in the moment. That I would enjoy those moments and treasure each and every one of them however heavy or light they felt.

I am proud to say that I have done just that.  I have braved weddings on my own, seen more movies than ever before, flown around the country visiting friends and agreed to work that I never, ever, imagined myself doing.  The rewards have been great and I am thankful for each and every opportunity to explore both the external world and my own inner self.

So when a week or so ago a dear friend messaged and asked me if I would like to go to Secret Sunrise I agreed, without even a moments hesitation and without even being fully aware of what it was.  I then moved on with my days and having marked the event in my calendar let it rest far in the back of my mind. I had just returned from a long weekend away in the far off provence of Limpopo when she messaged to remind me that out outing was imminent.  I have to admit I did emit a rather large sigh.  Despite my efforts to move out of all my self imposed comfort zones I am still a lover of routine and am deeply attached to my own personal space and alone time. I had just spent five days away with people and had a deep desire to sink back into the coziness of my world.

With a certain amount of weariness my alarm was set for four thirty in the morning and rise I did on an extremely hot and humid morning at the end of March.  We arrived at the city centre location only divulged the day before (hence the name Secret Sunrise) and were each presented with a set of headphones and guided to some stairs leading to the roof of the building.  There on that roof was a veritable wonderland of vegetables and flowers.  A rooftop garden so sweet it would take your breath away.  Recycled items turned into glorious flower containers, a giant chess board, a bus stop and fruit tress abundant with their offerings.  A fairy tale world in the most unexpected of places.

Headphones on we were guided though an hour of dance, meditation and unbridled joy.  To begin with I found myself hesitant. Unsure and self conscious. After all here I am on a rooftop at six o clock in the morning, dancing to music no one else can hear, waiting for the sun to make it’s easy way into the day.  Then I remembered my promise to myself.  To just let life unfold and enjoy all the moments that came my way.  I looked around me and saw nothing but sweet smiles.  The energy and joy was infections and it took only one or two breaths before I too found myself floating around the garden in a state of pure happiness.

I was breathless.  Something that started out with a sigh of regret at my eagerness to say yes turned out to be one of the happiest hours of my life.  The sheer pleasure of moving my body without a care in the world was exhilarating.  Catching my breath as the sun showed it’s sweet face over the roof tops I was deeply grateful to be there in that moment.

So this is how the story goes.  Be open to everything. Release your resistance to the outcome.  Let life unfold.  This was a true lesson from the universe and a very sweet reminder that pure joy comes in the most unexpected ways.

How the universe gave me a lesson in humility

Published 15/07/2015 Body , Growth , learning , Life , teaching , Uncategorized , writing , Yoga 1 Comment
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Last week I was taught a big lesson in humility by the universe.  Life lessons are rarely easy and often sent to us with such impeccable timing it is hard not to laugh at the synchronicity of it all.

I arrive at the national gym chain where I teach my yoga class.  I go to the studio to prepare my music  (I like to do yoga to the likes of George Ezra and Phillip Phillips).  I plugged in my iPhone, rolled out my mat and glanced at the clock.  Exactly seven minutes before class is due to start.  I love the number seven and was feeling pretty good about life.

If I have not already managed my own practice that day I like to spend a few minutes before class warming up so that I can at least touch my toes!  I also like to spend that short time thinking about what I will say at the beginning of class.  It is nice to start the lesson with a few words about some aspect of yoga philosophy.  I decided that I would talk about how there is no room for ego in yoga.  How it is about your own particularly journey back to yourself.  That it does not matter what the person on the mat next to you can do.  That you should not compare yourself to them.  I have a deep belief that ego is a very dangerous thing and responsible for so much of our worlds destruction so it is a matter close to my heart.  Now I say this but somewhere in the back of my mind is the awareness that there is a degree of ego attached to teaching.  There you stand in front of people, knowing something they do not and being able to physically do things they can not.  I am acutely aware of this and yet it still sits there in me.  I admit I get a kick out of the fact that I am probably well past my half way mark in life and able to do things with my body that most of the class cannot do despite being decades younger than me.  I hope I use it to inspire but I suspect that at times it feeds my ego.  It is a human thing.

Inhaling deeply I stretched up in Tadasana (mountain pose) and folded forward to Padahastasana reaching to place my hands flat on the mat in front of my feet. Something I do every single day at the start of my practice.  As I did this I felt a sharp and rather excruciating pain in my lower left back.  I collapsed onto my knees and muttered some exceptionally non yogi words under my breath. Actually I think I said them quite loudly! I tried to stand and could hardly straighten up.  I am sure you can imagine some of the very unpleasant things that were being uttered by me at this time.  I stayed on all fours and tried to roll my spine.  This was not good.

Only minutes to go and no time to call in another teacher.  Deep breaths Niki.  Deep breaths.  Keep calm and carry on. The doors open and bright eyed students appear with all the eagerness of the sun making its way into a new day.  Meanwhile my eyes are watering as if I have been peering into that sun for far too long.

I welcome everyone and go with what I had planned for this particular class.  I inhale deeply and talk of ego and how there is no room for it in our lives…and so we begin our practice.  I was able to do forward bends and most of the balances, however there was not even the tiniest hint of hope that my back was going to go past the vertical.

Humility.  I explain to the class that I had hurt my back and how yoga teaches us to be aware of our bodies and surrender to what they cannot do and rejoice in what they can.  I then tuck my ego firmly where it should be and ask a student to demonstrate all the poses that are quite frankly completely inaccessible to me right now.

Believe me when I say this was not easy. I admit I had to dig deep to find that humility.

Those guys upstairs must have been listening to my every thought and delivered that message to me with astonishingly beautiful timing.

What have I learnt from this.  I have learnt to show a certain tenderness to those students that find poses difficult.  I have learnt that I too must surrender to what my body cannot do and love it for what it can.  Most of all I have learnt that lessons will come to you at a time when you least expect them and you might not always like it but you really have no choice but to be as graceful as you can possibly be in that moment.

We are here to learn and grow.  To always try and be a better person tomorrow than we are today and   to try to do that with as much grace and kindness as we can muster.  When we don’t be sure that the universe will come along and give you a big flat slap as a reminder.

 

 

 

 

 

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