Relax Your Mind Meditation

Choosing to take a little time out to prioritize rest in a world that celebrates busyness and consistent hard work is not easy. It requires mindfulness, self-awareness, and a commitment to create a little space every now and then.

You dedicate so much time and energy into dance, focusing on the intricacies of steps and skills, on top off life outside of the studio..

Try weaving in little pockets of rest into your day. They all add up!  Try this 2 minute 30 second meditation occasionally to find moments of calm and ease amidst the noise.

Reflective meditation

A short mindful meditation.. It’s so easy to start a new week thinking about all that you have to do and look back at where you fell short this last week – this often causes us unease and anxiety. With this meditation we take a moment to reflect on what we did do well and cultivate a confident feeling heading into a new week. .

Morning Meditation – ease into your day.

How about you ease into your day cultivating calm and ease? At times I personally can wake up a little anxious thinking about all that I have to do that day, or immediately jump online and scroll through my phone. I find when I start the day with a meditation practice, setting an intention for the day ahead that I am then calm and focused. First thing in the morning is truly my favourite time to practice mindfulness. And this practice is super short, just 3 minutes! Remember – it’s the small daily improvements and habits that lead to stunning results.

Mobility challenge. Week 3. Intro.

We are now on week 3.. New mobility flows and activations coming this week, bringing more awareness, mobility and strength to our bodies 🙂

Assessment 4. Thoracic spine mobility.

The Thoracic spine (mid/upper back) mobility is very important for achieving good posture. With working on our thoracic mobility we can improve our posture, body language and promote better breathing patterns.

Pesto Risotto. Perfect post dance meal.

I especially wanted to share this recipe because thanks to the edamame beans and chickpeas, it is really high in protein – so it is a perfect post class / performance dish to help with recovery! It makes it a nice satisfying / filling dish as well. And because risotto can keep well in the fridge for a few days and can also be frozen – it’s a good one to make in bulk.

You’ll find a list of ingredients below, and you’ll notice this can be plant-based, dairy free, and gluten free. Please remember that many of the ingredients are optional. For example you can absolutely make this without the spinach, parmesan, lemon juice etc. Even the tomatoes and chickpeas are ‘add-ons’! But this does make a gorgeous risotto with a lovely combination of flavours and textures ????????

Ingredients (makes ~4 portions):

•300g arborio (risotto) rice
•100g green pesto (you can get gluten /dairy/wheat free)
•~800ml veg (or meat) stock. Note that you might need more depending on your rice!
•1/2 onion, roughly chopped
•3 cloves of garlic, crushed/minced
•Juice of 1/2 lemon
•Olive oil / spray
•600g cherry tomatoes (1/2 chopped)
•1 tin chickpeas (drained, rinsed, dried and ideally de-shelled)
•2-3 tbsp paprika (or another spice / flavour)
•35g parmesan (you can get plant-based equivalents)
•90g spinach
•150g edamame (or cooked soya) beans

Tips:

•There are different types of rice that can be used for risotto, so make sure to follow the instructions for the rice that you buy. The arborio rice I typically use only needs about 20 minutes to cook, but some need longer. That also means that you might need more stock to help it along – so just bare that in mind!

•This usually makes 4 portions for me, but of course just divide the ingredients up for smaller portions. And even when making for 4 portions (as above) you probably won’t use the whole tin of chickpeas. But I just tend to do them all as roasted chickpeas also make a great little snack as well, or can be added to salads and soups too. So just pop what you don’t use in a Tupperware!

•When roasting the chickpeas, it is important that they are really quite dry so that they become nice and crunchy rather than soggy. So once they are drained, I tend to pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel/cloth, or just leave somewhere to dry for a while first. And taking a bit of time to de-shell them first also helps with the texture (plus it’s quite satisfying!)

Enjoy,

Dr Meghan Brown x