Well done to all of you who added to the number of beautiful trees in Beacon Park on Tuesday!
The Dru Flowing Tree is a wonderful balance for helping slow down your breath, calm the mind and open your heart to the beauty of nature all around. We were so lucky to be able to practice once again in glorious sunshine - the weather is smiling kindly on us for this outdoor class!

Coming up next week: the 7-stage Cobra, Dog OR the Earth Sequence, depending on the weather...

The Burntwood class will be working with Surya namaskara over the next four weeks, adding layers of depth each week. We will also learn techniques to improve our core strength, experience the power and poise of the Warrior Poses and due to popular request, learn Shoulderstands - with variations for everyone!

The salutation to the sun, Surya namasakara, is one of the best yoga sequences you can learn. It stretches and tones the body's major muscles, joints and organs while also stimulating spinal health through  numerous forward and backward bends. It can be performed quickly for an aerobic cardiovascular workout or be done slowly, with reverence, slow breath and total awareness to become a meditative yet rejuvenating practice. Incorporating it into your daily life will bring many physical, mental and emotional benefits. Promise!

Inspired by the beautiful bright moon we have seen the past few nights, we will be doing the Moon Sequence tonight, to settle down our emotions and bring a feeling of relaxed serenity to our lives.
And please remember to bring along some blankets for Viparita karani - a simple inverted lying pose to help you really relax and revive afterwards!

The sun peeked its head out for just a few hours today, but it was long enough for us to have a wonderful yoga class in Beacon Park - birds singing, sun hot on our backs, grass cool under our toes. Thanks so much to everyone that came along. Let's all cross everything for good weather again next week. Hope to see you there! 

Thanks for these Janine!

In a saucepan, fry a finely chopped onion for 5 minutes. Add 2 cloves finely chopped garlic, 350g mushrooms and fry for another 5 minutes. Drain off any fat and add 1 teaspoon of chopped rosemary, 3 level tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper and a teaspoon of soy sauce. Stir well and leave for 5-10 minutes. Turn into a dish and serve hot or cold with toast or pitta bread.

Line a flan dish with wholewheat or ready made pastry, prick the base all over and bake blind for 10 minutes. Fry or steam 450g chopped leeks. Mix together 2 eggs, 50g grated cheese, 5mL milk, and season with salt and pepper and some herbs of your choice. Add the leeks to this mix and pour into the flan. Sprinkle another 50g grated cheese over the top and bake at 200C for about 35 min until firm on top. Allow to cool slightly to firm up before slicing and serve with a big crispy salad.

In a large bowl, grate 100g cheese, 2 large carrots, 1 small onion and half a green pepper. Melt 50g margarine and add to the large bowl. Beat 1 egg and add to the mixture. Stir everything together well then press into a swiss roll tin and cook for about 20 minutes at 190C, until slightly golden on top. Cut into slices and serve hot or cold. Good for sunny day picnics with a salad!

My family also eat a LOT of Jamie Oliver recipes, as they are quick, no-fail and yum yum yum. Check out Pasta Bianco and Risotto Bianco - delicious with some roasted veg, his 30 Minute Meal Rogan Josh and any of his soups, at jamieoliver.com/recipes. Now that it's finally BBQ weather, watch the enthusiastic video on this site of Jamie barbequing lots of different vegetables in the pouring rain! Just add some olive oil, fresh bread & salad and you have an easy outdoor meal!

As promised, here's one of my family's favourites...

Peel and dice a butternut squash into 2cm cubes. Put it in a baking tray with a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of rosemary, 2 cloves of garlic and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Add a finely chopped onion, give it all a good stir and roast at 190C for about 30 minutes.
Once the pumpkin is nice and soft, stir in a 250g tub of ricotta cheese.
Pour a thin layer of Dolmio Lasagne Tomato Sauce over the bottom of a baking dish and cover with lasagne sheets. Then layer the pumpkin mixture, tomato sauce and lasagne sheets until all the mixture and sauce are used.
Finish with a layer of lasagne sheets.
Cover the whole dish with a jar of Dolmio Lasagne White Sauce (or your own if you are clever enough to make it!) and sprinkle over some grated parmesan and cheddar cheeses.
Bake in a 190C oven for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and bubbling.
Serve with a big green salad and enjoy!

You all looked like you enjoyed the walking meditation last night, so I thought I would post some notes on the technique if you want to try it for yourselves:
- breathe in in 4 short bursts, counting by tapping your thumb to each of your fingers on the left hand
- breathe out in 4 short bursts, counting on your right fingers
- match each part-inhalation or exhalation to each step you take, starting with your left foot

Breathe in this way for 5 minutes, placing all your awareness on the air entering your nose, waking up your brain. It works best if you walk quite quickly.

For the next 5 minutes, you can then take one long smooth inhalation lasting 4 steps and a long exhalation lasting for 4 steps also.

For the third five minute period, you can chant as you walk "With every step, and every breath, I'm getting stronger and stronger." These words go well with the four steps in and out but you can of course change the words to something more appropriate for you if you like.

Now go out in the sunshine and enjoy!

I hope you have all had a lovely week off - lots of rain for the garden and lots of sunshine for us!! Tomorrow we will continue with our theme of Balance, using Vajrasana for core strength & focus, and Natarajasana for grace and beauty! If the sun continues to shine we will begin with a walking meditation so fingers crossed!