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Hoisin Tofu, Cucumber, Leek, Tomato and Lettuce Sandwich – Vegan

One of the eight limbs of Yoga, Yamas, includes Ahimsa – Compassion. Many Yoga practitioners choose a vegetarian or vegan diet as a way of living a more Ahimsa lifestyle. Compassion for all living beings and compassion for one’s self by eating healthy food.

It can sometimes be difficult to come up with tasty vegan sandwich ideas, here is one I came up with and really enjoyed.

Hoisin Tofu, Cucumber, Leek, Tomato and Lettuce Sandwich (Serves 2)

Ingredients;

1 block of tofu

4 Romaine Lettuce leaves

1 Beef tomato

1/3 of Cucumber

1/2 of a Leek

A bottle of hoisin sauce

Bread of your choice

Method;

Slice the block of tofu into 4 and place under a high grill until browned

Finely slice the leek and cucumber. Cut four slices off the beef tomato.

Divide the leek and cucumber between two of the slices.

Place two slices of the grilled tofu on each sandwich. Put as much hoisin sauce on as you like!

Then place the sliced tomato and lettuce on top and finish off with the other slice of bread and enjoy!

I use Tofoo brand of tofu. It is very tasty and is made in the traditional way using seaweed rather than chemicals. Our local Tesco stock it.

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British Wheel of Yoga Congress 2017 – Day 2 & 3

Day 2 started with a 7am Ashtanga Mysore Practice session with Scott Johnson and Andy Gill. Scott and Andy split the room in half and one side did their own practice and the other side were lead through a good chunk of the Primary Series. Both teachers gave fantastic adjustments and instruction and I came away with many tips to help me in my home practice. I wish Scot and Andy taught nearer to the Wirral! I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for workshops and weekends with them. If you live in or near London I’d recommend practicing with Scott and Andy, here is the website for the studio; Still Point Yoga London

Next up, after breakfast, was a session introducing the Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs course given by Alison Trewhala. We covered and experienced postures to ease lower back pain and also anatomy and common back ailments. We picked up some great tips to be able to help our own students with lower back pain. Check out the website here; Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs

Jay Lakhani was a guest speaker and delivered a thought proving talk entitled “How Yoga can be redefined as harnessing nature external and harnessing nature internal to reveal the divinity within.”

After lunch Paul Harvey led a tribute to TKV Desikachar and the British Wheel of Yoga AGM followed. The NEC presented a video of all of their hard work over the last 12 months. They have been doing outstanding work and I felt very proud to be a member.

After a wander round the market place to visit all of the stalls, we had a session with George Watts on lesson planning. The session was fun and gave us lots of new ideas for lesson planning for our students. George is a great inspirational teacher and has a wonderful website with lots of free resources on it; George Watts. We attended a second session with George on Yoga Business Planning which was just as eye opening. The sessions with George were a real highlight of the weekend for us, learning lots and coming away with a to do list! Plus George was a thoroughly nice guy who is vegan and into permaculture!

The evening brought “British Wheels Got Talent” in the main auditorium. This included a demonstration of Acro Yoga, see the pic above!!

Day 3 started with a 7am gentle Yin Yoga session led by Karen Jones a teacher form North Wales, not too far from us! It was nice to connect with and meet a relatively local teacher. The perfect start to the day and a nice gentle way to wake up to the day ahead.

After breakfast was another session with Michael Chiswick, this time focussing on teaching Autistic children and those with complex learning needs. A practical demonstration is worth a million words and we practiced a typical session which was very beneficial. Q and A followed and Michael imparted some of his wealth of knowledge on this area. He has been teaching children for many years and is clearly an expert in this area.

The last session of the weekend was an Ashtanga Workshop with Scott Johnson and Andy Gill. The time flew by as we explored extension and contraction in the body relating this to the sun salutations. Also a great experimentation with sifting weight into the hands from down dog, as Scott said treating your “Hands as Feet.” Lots learned and lots to absorb.

A final lunch and closing session draw to an end a wonderful intensive weekend. We made lots of new friends. The theme was Transformation and the week certainly was transforming. We are already looking forward to next year!

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British Wheel of Yoga Congress 2017-Day1

Hey Everyone, we are attending the British Wheel of Yoga Congress at Warwick University. The campus looked beautiful as we arrived in sunny weather, all of the daffodils still in full bloom.

We attended a fantastic session delivered by Michael Chissick on “How to Use Yoga to Transform Children’s Social Skills and Self Esteem.”

Michael led us through a fun session where we pretended that we were school children participating in a yoga class. Michael has a wealth of experience in this area and has been teaching yoga to children for many years. We learned the importance of interaction  to build self esteem and also class control. Applying the sun salutation in a fun way and incorporating posture based games was inspiring. We will certainly be checking out David’s book and stall in the market arena over the weekend. The session showed us how with imagination and a sense of fun our knowledge and experience as Yoga Teachers can easily be adapted to teach fun and rewarding sessions to children.

Here is a link to Michael’s website Yoga At School

After a welcoming address officially opening the Congress weekend, there was a very inspiring talk from Fazilah Bazari, a yoga teacher from Papua New Guinea. Fazilah has taken yoga to extremely deprived and dangerous areas to help aid real change in peoples lives.

You can read more about the work that Fazilah has been doing here Yoga Unites

The second session we attend was with David Tierney and was on “Core Stability and it’s Role in Yoga.” We looked at all the different muscles that make up the core and targeted them with specific exercises. Then we brought mindfulness to our practice of yoga postures with acute detail to the core and its support in the postures.

Off to bed early this evening as we have a class at 7am tomorrow!

Namaste

Paul & Steve

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Tips for your first yoga class

We share with you our top tips for your first yoga class. This may be your first yoga class or you may be returning to yoga? That’s great news and we’re excited to have you join our friendly class! We love yoga and the benefits (both physical and mental) that come with practicing yoga and we are excited to share this with you.

However you may be uncertain as to what to expect from the class which is natural of course when trying anything new!

Tips for your first yoga class

So here is some useful information for your first class that will hopefully put your mind at ease:

What do I wear?

  • Wear loose, comfortable clothing. A t-shirt or vest and joggers or shorts are typical clothes worn during class.
  • When doing the poses you will have to take your socks off. This is for safety reasons (socks on yoga mats can be slippy!) but it also allows us to feel more grounded during the practice by having our feet in contact with the mat.

What do I bring to class?

  • All you need to bring is yourself! If you have a yoga mat then bring that along too, but if you need a mat we will have some available.
  • For comfort you might want to bring something warm to wear and/or a blanket for the relaxation part of the practice if you want but these aren’t essential. Although the room will be comfortably warm you may find that you feel cool as you relax as the breathing and heart rate become slower. Also, you might want to bring a cushion to sit on for the breathing practice but again this isn’t essential. (Tip: a rolled up blanket is also perfect for kneeling to protect the knees)
  • Bring a bottle of water if you’d like in case you get thirsty at any point.

Can I eat before class?

  • It’s okay to have a small snack 15-20 minutes before class but it isn’t recommended to eat a large meal up to 2 hours before doing yoga (so no three course meals or Chinese banquets before class! What you do after class is entirely up to you though!)

What do I do during a yoga class?

  • Our typical class will incorporate a short period of breathing practice to settle the mind and prepare our mind, body and breath for the physical posture work.
  • We will then move onto warming and mobilisation postures before moving onto stronger postures. Everyone will be included because we explain and demonstrate how each posture can be modified to benefit any student regardless of ability, experience, shape or size. A modified version of a posture has exactly the same benefits as full expressions of the postures.
  • Often there will be a theme to the class, and/or or one or two peak postures which we work towards during the class.
  • The physical posture work will be followed by a guided relaxation. There are many different relaxation techniques that can be used. Guided relaxation is an excellent method of helping us manage stress and calm the body and mind.

If you have any more questions about what to expect from your first class please let us know! Further information is provided in the student resources section of our website under ‘Info for new clients’.

We look forward to welcoming you all to class!

Links

Book a place at one of our yoga classes in our Shop

https://www.bwy.org.uk/

 

 

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Vegan Recipe – Chilli Avocado, Garlic Mushrooms and Pine Nuts on toast

Vegan Recipes & the 8 Limbs of Yoga

A vegan recipe fits in with the 8 Limbs of Yoga. One of the eight limbs, the first limb in fact, Yama, includes Ahimsa – Compassion. Many Yoga practitioners choose a vegetarian or vegan diet as a way of living a more Ahimsa lifestyle. Compassion for all living beings and compassion for one’s self by eating healthy food. I will occasionally post a vegan recipe on this blog that I have created myself.

Chilli Avocado, Garlic Mushrooms and Pine Nuts on toast – delicious vegan recipe – Serves 2

Ingredients:

500g Mushrooms – whatever type you like, I used ordinary white mushrooms but have used mixed forest mushrooms in the past

3 Ripe Avocados

100g Pine Nuts

4 Slices of Brown Bread

1 1/2  Teaspoons of Garlic Granules

3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon of Chilli Powder

1/2 Teaspoon of Smoked Paprika

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

Cut in half the avocados and scoop out the inside into a bowl. Mash the avocados with 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil, 1 teaspoon of Chilli Powder and 1/2 teaspoon of Smoked Paprika. Add salt and pepper to taste and feel free to add more chilli if you like it spicier.

Chop the mushrooms and fry in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat for approx 10 minutes until they are starting to brown. Towards the end of cooking the mushroom add the 1 1/2 teaspoons of Garlic Granules and cook for a further few minutes.

Toast 4 slices of bread. Place two slices on each plate and divide the avocado mixture evenly across all slices. Divide the mushrooms evenly on top of the avocado.

Using the same non-stick frying pan used for the mushrooms, place the Pine Nuts in the pan and stir continually until they start to brown and toast. Then evenly divide the pine nuts across the mushrooms. Serve and Enjoy.

Feel free to use less Pine Nuts, I love them and like quite a few!

Vegan Recipe
Chilli Avocado, Garlic Mushrooms and Pine Nuts on Toast – Enjoy this delicious vegan recipe!

Check out our other vegan recipes here: https://pauls93.sg-host.com/category/vegan-recipes/

If you are interested in Veganism check out the website of the Vegan Society: https://www.vegansociety.com/

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