december Newsletter 2023
WELLNESS…
Hello Everyone,
We hope this finds you and your loved ones healthy and preparing for a loving, joyful, nurturing holiday season. As this time can feel overwhelming, we invite you to embrace practices that help bolster your physical, mental and emotional health.
Taking a few minutes to practice a strengthening or a restorative yoga sequence (like the ones we are posting @curryyoga) can feel quite empowering and nurturing. Taking five minutes to practice deep breathing can calm our nervous system and bring us back into our bodies. Drinking more fluids (ex. warm water with lemon) can strengthen our immune system.
If the world of wellness feels like too much, just take small steps and tune into what works for you. Notice how certain practices make you feel and edit accordingly. Consistent attention to your wellness practice is empowering and will help you feel balanced as you navigate life’s highs and lows.
It is also important to acknowledge. Acknowledge what you are already doing for your health, it is something to be proud of. Acknowledge how you have been feeling as you come to close this past year. Acknowledge what wellness practices or habits you would like to implement in the new year and how you would like to feel in 2024. What are the habits you want to focus on? What are the habits you want to let go of?
We wish you vibrant health and inspired goals and dreams.
With Love,
Christina and Andrea
HIP OPENERS…
I walk around my city a lot and I often return home feeling my hips and legs are a little tight. Here are my three favorite poses to stretch and lengthen my legs and hips - I add these three poses into nearly every practice.
1. Paschimottanasana
This posture stretches your entire back body, including the calf muscles, hamstrings, inner thighs (adductors), and the muscles along the spine. As with most forward bends, it can bring a sense of calm to your body and mind. The pose is often referred to as having a “grounding” effect since it literally connects you to the ground.
2. Baddha Konasana
Buddha Konasana is a therapeutic hip and groin opener. Because it stretches your inner thigh muscles (adductors) and the front of your thighs (quadriceps), it can help you recover after running. It’s also a helpful pose for people who spend a lot of time sitting in chairs.
3. Eka Pada Rajakapotasana
Pigeon pose works as a hip opener and forward bend, stretching your thighs, groin, back, piriformis, and psoas. The leg extended behind receives a stretch for the psoas and hip flexor. On the other side, the rotators and outer hip are stretched. It is a good antidote to sitting for long periods. It prepares you for seated postures and backbends.
Give these a try and tell us how you like them!
RECIPE…
I love this EASY Tuscan inspired recipe so much! It is creamy, satisfying and so healthy - It is hands down my favourite winter dish this year. You have to go with the Italians for these super simple and nourishing seasonal recipes.
I found this recipe on IG @natsnourishments
Fagioli all’olio with sage and roasted butternut squash or pumpkin
Ingredients:
1 jar of white beans
1/2 a butternut squash or pumkin
3 sprigs of sage
5 large cloves of garlic
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C. Chop your squash/pumpkin, I leave the skin on but you don’t have to. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven for 40 minutes until the edges are carmelized.
Meanwhile, take the sage leaves off one of the sprigs and gently fry in olive oil until crisp. Remove and set on a paper towel. Mince the garlic and add to the sage oil and fry for a minute or so before adding in the beans with all their juices. Add a splash of water and season with salt and pepper. Throw in two sprigs of sage and simmer until thick.
Once thickened, remove the sage leaves and top with roasted squash/pumpkin, lots of olive oil and salt and pepper.
Enjoy!