Poems always give me a deep and rich sense of connection to all things. They have a wonderful way of helping us to become present and stop for a moment........I always try to share a poem I love with another...they feel too precious to keep for oneself...here are a few of my favourites.....enjoy.
When I Was The Forest
By Meister Eckhart
When I was the
stream, when I was the
forest, when I
was still the field,
when I was every
hoof, foot,
fin and wing,
when I was the sky
itself,
no one ever asked
me did I have a purpose, no one ever
wondered was
there anything I might need,
for there was
nothing I could not
love.
It was when I
left all we once were that
the agony began,
the fear and questions came,
and I wept, I
wept. And tears
I had never known
before.
So I returned to
the river, I returned to
the mountains. I
asked for their hand in marriage again,
I begged—I begged
to wed every object
and creature,
and when they
accepted,
God was ever
present in my arms.
And He did not
say,
“Where have you been?”
For then I knew
my soul—every soul—
has always held
Him.
...................................
IN MY SOUL
By Rabia
In my soul
there is a temple, a shrine, a mosque, a church
where I kneel.
Prayer should bring us to an altar where no walls or names exist.
Is there not a region of love where the sovereignty is
illumined nothing,
where ecstasy gets poured into itself
and becomes
lost,
where the wing is fully alive
but has no mind or
body?
In
my soul
there is a temple, a shrine, a mosque,
a church
that dissolve, that
dissolve in
God.
.....................................................................
Raw Chocolate Recipe
Another inspiring practise that I very much enjoy is making my own chocolate..... I gave up refined sugar a few years ago, as I was finding that the 'highs and lows' of blood sugars was not supporting my well being. Since giving it up I have found that I am more emmotionally balanced, have more consistent energy thoughout the day and the part of the mind that always desires something is much quieter, as the 'sugar cravings' have dropped away.
So having a very sweet tooth I have become much more creative with making my own chocolates, cakes etc without sugar.
Raw cocao is very high in magnesium which helps to decrease tension in muscles...so is therefore a perfect support to your yoga practice.....
So here is a basic recipe for raw chocolate, there are many different variations but I like this one. I include carob as I find the cocao powder on its own is too stimulating, like caffeine.
Half a cup/3 heaped tablespoons of raw cocao powder
Half a cup of/3 heaped tablespoons of carob powder (try to use the organic one as its sweeter than the non organic)
2 tablespoons of agave nectar
2 tablespoons of coconut butter or cocao butter
Mix, carob and cocao powder,
Heat coconut/cocao butter; either directly in a saucepan on a very low heat or putting butter in a glass bowl and heating it over a saucepan of boiling water.
Mix in melted butter and agave.
Taste...add more agave if you like it sweeter or more butter if it feels a little dry.
Either press into ice cube moulds (the soft rubbery ones are ideal) or roll into small balls, or line a small tuperware with clingfilm and then press mixture into the bottom.
Put in fridge for at least an hour for hardening and enjoy.
I often add variations such as vanilla essence, a few drops of orange essential oil, or grated orange zest, ground almonds, maca, lucuma or other super foods. If you are putting more dry ingredients in you will need to add more melted butter and agave.
Enjoy experimenting......
There are many different websites to get ingredients from. I use Tree Harvest who seem to have a very ethical policy. Tel: 01531 650764
