Hello from Sally…

Hi there.

I hope you have had a lovely week. I have had an interesting week in that the universe decided to stop me in my tracks by giving me very intense muscles spasms in my lower back. If you have ever had this you will know what a challenge staying a nice person is, ouch! It started on Tuesday lunchtime at work, and by the time I got home an hour later I could hardly move.

My yoga teacher Shola Arewa  just said ‘nothing like a back problem to reassess things’, and I think she was pretty much right. I spent two days at home, just me and my ice pack, thinking about life and my work and especially about the Yoga Teacher Training program  I will be running this September. I realized that my current back problem, which the osteopath said was largely from and little rest (yes very un-yogic I know , I’m working on it!), was largely because I don’t manage my schedule as well as I could, and that I need to do less demonstrations in class and maybe ask some of my regulars to helps me out on the demo front (I will let you know how that goes). If you are a teacher, is that something you do regularly or are you in the routine of doing everything yourself and hoping everyone follows?

How to protect yourself as a yoga teacher from injury is something no one ever seems to talk about. Is it because we let our ego get in the way and don’t want to admit defeat, or that we like people to think we are beyond injury and physical breakdown?  Or is that just me? I’d be really interested to know your thoughts on this. I feel this kind of questioning and information is so important if we are to have a long teaching career, and I will be discussing it with other teachers and teacher trainers I will be working with later this year in Wales.

As I said I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on the above and anything yoga related: info@sallyparkesyoga.com

Sally Parkes teaches in London at Indaba Yoga, and will be running Laxmi Yoga Teacher Training 200hr in Wales at The Dru Yoga Snowdonia Lodge.

Laxmi Yoga

The Goddess Laxmi

Hi yogis,

I have spent that last several months thinking really hard about how and what my first teacher training manual is going to say, how it is going to reflect on the yoga tradition and whether or not I am being true to what I feel the world of yoga is to me. It has taken a lot of mental energy but it has been really wonderful to get back to the core of things. I have been so busy teaching and setting up retreats these past couple of years that it has been so easy to not reflect as much as much as I used to, so the process of writing the teacher training manual has been a big learning curve and a process that I have enjoyed and learned from.

The first thing I realised is that to be true to what I have learned over the years is that I would need to amalgamate everything that resonated with me and that I felt could be useful to others, for the training to be coming from the heart, as this is the only way to instill an honest yoga practice. Now that has been challenging! I love all yoga and to whittle down the information I want to share with future students has probably been the most difficult part. At the same time though I wanted the way the postures are taught to be different from other schools of yoga and work from the perspective of stability being as important as flexibility, but more importantly that all the eight limbs of yoga are of equal worth. And that this awareness of the eight limbs should be demonstrated on and off the yoga mat.

And so I have devised a yoga teacher training called ‘Laxmi Yoga’. Laxmi can also be spelt ‘Lakshmi’ and according to the Vedas, Goddess Laxmi is the one who has the object and aim of uplifting mankind. She is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity (both material and spiritual), light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. I doubt I need to explain why I felt Goddess Laxmi was a great symbol for my yoga teacher training course.

My teacher training start in the beautiful setting of Snowdonia in Wales on 10th July 2012. And I will be writing small blogs about different aspects of it over the next few weeks so please do have a read. I would love to hear your feed back or any questions you may have at all. I will also have more information on my website: http://www.sallyparkesyoga.com

Sally Parkes BSc, Sally Parkes Yoga

New Recipe: Vegan Spicy Vegetable, Lentil and Tofu Winter Warmer Soup

Hello lovelies,

I’ve just made this soup and I had to share it with you as its kinda nice, especially in this cold weather. This soup is low in carbohydrates, full of vitamins, has a low glycemic index meaning it will keep you going for longer as its energy is slow release. It’s also a clear soup as its dairy free to its vegan friendly and great if you are on a juice and or soup detox. And finally its cheap and quick to make. What more could you ask for?

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Much love,

Sally

New Recipe Chunky Vegetable and Kale – great for a nourishing winter lunch!

Hi Everyone,

We’ve just added another new recipe to our nutrition page. This time it’s a colourful chunky kale and vegetable soup. Kale is one of natures superfoods, rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients while the garlic and onions are good for heart heath and boosting the immune system. The beans are a good source of fibre as well as providing high quality, virtually fat free protein. Perfect on its own as a nourishing winter lunch or over quinoa, brown rice or rice noodles as a more substantial meal.

Keep an eye on our website for new recipes as well as more video sequences  and goodies in the shop. You might also like to sign up for our newsletter for updates, new retreats and classes and subscriber only offers.

We’d love to hear from you so please let us know what you think of the blog and the newsletter as well as specific areas of interest you would like us to address.

We hope to see you on the mat soon.

Much love,

Sally