Plan your New Year’s Resolution

Dear Yogis,

Happy December 1st. Have you thought about your New Year’s Resolution? Start early so you get a good lead-in. Be up to speed by January 1st 2024!

I’ve been wanting to give up oat milk for a while. I can’t bear the tetra Pak; the price and the ingredient list/emulsifier. To that end, I got a MioMat to make plant-milk at home. The almond milk doesn’t go with my cheaper-than-cheap instant coffee, and the oat milk met sudden, immediate death-by-drain. However, the cashew cream is nice on porridge and, if mixed half-half with silken tofu, it’s maybe ok in coffee, with filtering. (Second New Year Resolution, go Back to Black.) When Wimbledon comes around again, though, I’ll be ready for the strawberries.

I’ve been delaying writing a review about MioMat but there are so many adverts out there for plant milk makers.  Is it the answer to prayers? Will it make me produce less waste and be a better yogi in the world? I don’t think a plant-milk maker is an immediate solution to all problems but it’s the start of discovering another way to obtain kitchen ingredients and stop the tetra Pak madness.

Anyway, investigate your NYR.

Classes

Let me encourage you to come to the long Saturday morning class, 8.30 – 10.00. We can really get passed the standing postures and explore the full range of seated postures. Come and explore.

Another announcement… My Monday morning early spot has become free so, from the New Year, I can either start a class in my studio (given that the Friday class gets so booked up and people commonly work from home on Mondays and Fridays) or a corporate class could slide in and take the space. Let me know what you think? What would suit you?

Here’s a round-up of all classes: Monday and Tuesday = stretchy class at 7.00pm, Wednesday = Ashtanga at 7.00pm, Friday morning = Ashtanga at 8.30am and Saturday morning = Ashtanga at 8.30 – 10.00am. You can book here.

Yoga in The News

NDTV has: They're Practising Yoga, Says Brother Of Man Trapped In Uttarakhand Tunnel. ‘All 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel are practising yoga and other exercises while rescuers work to create an escape route, according to Jaymal Singh Negi, brother of Gabbar Singh Negi - one of the men stranded for 12 days.’

The Telegraph has: Even the toughest men can benefit from yoga – here are five positions to get you started.’ With his shaved head and muscular physique, I can see why he sometimes gets mistaken for a fellow prisoner rather than the teacher: “Sometimes when I’m standing there before class, someone will ask me what I’m in for,” he admits.’

The Irish Independent has: Irish women 'feel guilty about prioritising themselves'. “There’s still that thing where people think yoga is for hippies. I taught yoga in a girls’ school in Ballyfermot, and they said they didn’t want to do it because yoga is for people who want to live in the woods and go barefoot. I’m trying to break that taboo”.

The Statesman has: Desk Yoga: Relieve Stress and Boost Productivity. This article suggests chair postures for you. Nice! You could also introduce Yoga-at-Work!