Make your own almond butter

Making your own almond butter is super easy, if a little time consuming, and best of all you know exactly what's in it. Almonds are a great source of  vitamin E, fibre, B vitamins, magnesium, copper, manganese, calcium and potassium as well has essential fats. 

I use almond butter for many recipes but my kids enjoy spread onto toast and for dipping celery and apple into. Deliciously creamy, add it to your oatmeal or put into yoghurts or smoothies. 

I begin by lightly toasting almonds - I prefer the end flavour but this is not a necessary step.

Next place into a blender (use the metal blade) and switch on. Now depending on the blender you use this could take around 20 minutes so if you feel your blender may overheat switch off and give it a rest. I generally give mine a five minute break halfway through.

The mixture will being to look like breadcrumbs - you are on your way!

As the almonds release their oil the mixture begins to get creamy - using a plastic spatula gently push the mixture back to the bottom (you may need to do this several times).

When the mixture begins to clump together like a dough you are almost there - keep going!

It should end up beautifully creamy. Place in a jar in the fridge to set and enjoy.

Raw vegan brownies (only 4 ingredients)

These brownies are my go-to snack when I have my sweet tooth head on. With only 4 ingredients they are super quick to make and ready to eat in only 60 minutes. Oh and did I mention they are crazy good too?

I use medjool dates as they are extra sweet with a yummy caramel like taste.  A fantastic source of fibre they also contain potassium, magnesium, copper and manganese. Packed full of nutrients a regular addition of pecan nuts in the diet help decrease LDL "bad cholesterol" and increase HDL "good cholesterol" levels in the blood. The raw cacao powder is rich in antioxidants, EFAs along with other essential vitamins and minerals such as vitamins B and E, magnesium, calcium, sulfur, zinc, iron, copper, potassium and manganese.

The liquid sweetener can be of your choosing. I did use Agave for this batch (I don't always) but you need to weigh up the high fructose content against the fact it is low glycemic sweetener; it's personal choice and I tend to regularly vary my ingredients. Maple syrup or honey would work just as well.

To make a big batch (you can half if you wish) take: 

8 oz pecans

10 oz medjool dates

3 tablespoons of cacao powder

2 tablespoons liquid sweetener 

Place nuts in a food processor and blend until they become crumbly. throw in the other ingredients and blend until it is well mixed and sticky. Place on a baking tray or silicon loaf tin and freeze until set (usually around 60 minutes). Store in the fridge. 

Try Loving Kindness this Valentines

“There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness”. Dalai Lama

You can’t have failed to notice it’s Valentines. The shops have been full of heart shaped chocolate boxes, novelty gifts and overpriced roses for weeks.

How do you feel about today? Do you practically wrestle the mailman to the ground in an attempt to extort any envelopes which may contain cards declaring undying devotion?  Maybe you automatically hold your breath each time you hear a car outside (it could be a flower delivery)? 

It can be a fun day for couples who totally embrace the romance and celebrate whole heartedly but if you have wildly different ideas than your partner, the day inevitably ends with one, or both parties sulking in a corner. When people can’t communicate honestly regarding their assumption as to what the day will hold is it any wonder their needs aren’t met?

If you have unrealistic expectations for Valentines and equate gifts and cards with validation that you are indeed loveable, then maybe you are lacking self love and no amount of cute bears holding hearts is going to fix that. It’s inevitable that you will end the day feeling let down and disappointed. 

Loving kindness is a meditation practice that helps you develop altruistic love. By practicing regularly you can free your mind from old, negative, self-limiting thought patterns which govern your emotional state and cultivate compassion both towards yourself, and your fellow man.

Buddha once said "Hatred cannot coexist with loving-kindness, and dissipates if supplanted with thoughts based on loving-kindness.”

Studies have shown that being compassionate towards others may be one of the best ways to improve health and well-being, increase positive social connectivity and lower blood pressure. Best of all loving kindness can be practiced anywhere from coffee shops to traffic jams.

Beginning a practice of loving kindness can initially feel uncomfortable. It can feel unnatural to offer ourselves love which is precisely why we should and what better day than today to being a journey a self-love?

You can find audio for our Loving Kindness meditation here. 

The lost art of letter writing

“To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart”. Phyllis Theroux

I was deep in my morning meditation when I heard the post drop onto the mat. I was in no rush to collect it. It had been a long time since I received anything other than a bill or statement in the mail. 

Imagine my delight therefore to receive a beautiful hand written letter from one of my closest friends. Crafted on proper stationary I was touched by her heartfelt words and also by the time and effort she had taken to let me know how much she appreciates our friendship.

When I was at school I used to eagerly await the postman every morning. I had numerous penpals and savoured every word written to me eagerly replying as soon as I could. Gradually as I got older, and became more reliant on technology I somehow, sadly, stopped writing to people properly.

Texts and emails are a quick, easy way of keeping in touch but there is something special about receiving an unexpected letter in the post. I am going to make a conscious effort to do my bit to resurrect the lost art of letter writing. Here are five reasons why you should too: - 

Letters can be preserved - the letter I received this morning is now safely tucked away inside my gratitude journal where it will bring me joy each time I reread. 

Letters form a connection - the writer really connects to the recipient. It’s like love in an envelope.

Letters are a mindful way to communicate - emails and texts are easily sent without thought and often regretted afterwards. Taking the time to find stationary, write a letter, buy a stamp and walk to the postbox gives you plenty of time to reflect on your words.

Letters are personal - you know the writer has sat and thought about you specifically. Totally different to being copied in on an email or being sent a mass text.

Letters will survive - ever felt the wonder of looking through your grandparents old photos and letters; discovering who they were and the world that existed before you were born? Letters preserve a sense of history that technology can never recreate.

So whatever your weekend plans are - why not incorporate writing a letter to someone you care about? This small gesture could really make their day.

What I learned from meerkats

"The moment is always Now".

Nothing makes me happier than spending time with my family and experiencing new things in life so I was more than a teensy bit excited yesterday to get to hang out with the (allegedly) tamest  meerkats in Britain.

I was preempting my gratitude journal that evening would be full of family, love and laughter (which it was) but I had to add an entry to the meerkats for a great reminder on how to approach life with complete wonder.

My youngest son had velcro trainers on and the curious animals spent huge amounts of time investigating how this worked, undoing them, doing them back up and moving aside to let others have a go. The joy as they played together and jumped onto our laps for cuddles was contagious. When their food came they stopped what they were doing and totally absorbed themselves in the task of mindfully eating, savouring every mouthful. No chance of them automatically consuming their food, not really noticing the flavours while multi tasking as humans often do.

I went to bed last night thankful for the chance to observe these cute creatures living in the moment. It is something I will never forget.

Life after Facebook

“What matters is what we do with the life we have.” Carrie Ryan

I don’t profess to understand how anything works. I am in constant awe of the technological advances of our world and how the distance between us seems to be ever diminishing. With a large proportion of my family living overseas, and having moved away from my birth town myself, I was so thankful to Facebook when I initially became a user. At any given time I could fire up my laptop and check out all the recent news and photos. Despite the miles separating us I felt close to my loved ones. It was official - Facebook made me happy, and had I sustained checking in every now and then it probably would still continue to do so.

I can’t pinpoint when social media became a huge part of my day, every day but it became so easy to access. I bought a smartphone initially due to my love of music, my iPhone saved me carrying around an iPod and a mobile. I installed the Facebook app ‘just in case’ I ever wanted to catch up with recent posts without logging on. Who was I kidding. It became impossible for me to get through the day without constantly checking who was doing what. I didn’t want to miss anything and it seemed everyone was having so much fun, I wanted to be part of that.

As well as close friends and family I hooked up with old school friends, work colleagues, gym buddies. My virtual world was growing larger and larger but I felt my real life was becoming increasingly insular. The more I connected to people online the more disconnected I felt from reality, from myself. I found myself reaching for my phone as soon as I woke up and Facebook was always the last thing I looked at in bed at night, it took me ages to get to sleep, my mind would be full of status updates.

I began to feel lonely. The majority of my friends are on Facebook and catching up over the phone seemed to be a thing of the past. Getting married, having a baby, new job - important events where once people would excitedly telephone around seemed to be announced on their wall instead. If I was having a tough day reading about ‘the greatest night out EVER’, started to bring me down. Not that I begrudged anyone having fun but I felt separate, like an observer, seeing life but not actually part of it.

One day last year, I took my son to the park. I sat on a bench and watched him racing around laughing. Glancing around me every single parent was hunched over a mobile phone or tablet completely missing the joy their child was experiencing in that moment. I felt a sinking feeling as I realised how much time a week I must spend scrolling down my news feed rather than being engaged with the world before me. Facebook would always be there, my family wouldn’t. It was time to make a change.

When I got home I deleted the Facebook app from my phone and can honestly say the benefits have been huge. I continue use Facebook professionally (yes this blog will appear on there too) and still think it is a great tool, used in moderation. My day once again begins and ends with meditation. I sleep better, am more energised and feel totally connected and at peace with myself. I am calling my friends on the phone and meeting up with them more with a renewed appreciation of our friendship. Those important to you will always remain in your life regardless of whether or not you ‘like’ their statuses on a regular basis. 

Every now and then when I am online I sometimes choose to log on, there are pages I enjoy and people I genuinely care about, but it is a choice, no longer an unhealthy habit at best, an obsession at worst. 

This is my personal experience, millions of people participate in social media daily with no detrimental effects. Social networking is great if you enjoy it and don’t feel any negativity from using it but with Social Media Addiction fast on the way to becoming a recognised condition and purportedly harder to quit than alcohol and drugs, please be mindful of your usage.

Coping with chronic pain

“Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional”.

For the last few months my health has steadily deteriorated (my story). Increased pain and a decline in my already limited mobility has been a true test of my faith.

I don’t mean faith in the religious sense but a real challenge to the belief I have that I can manage chronic pain through a blend of meditation, mindfulness, diet and other natural methods.

It is important to me to feel in control of my condition and not the other way around. I don’t like using labels, it’s so easy to get caught up in the definition of who you think you are. 

Eckhart Tolle once said  “Once you have identified with some form of negativity, you do not want to let it go, and on a deeply unconscious level, you do not want positive change. It would threaten your identity as a depressed, angry or hard-done by person. You will then ignore, deny or sabotage the positive in your life. This is a common phenomenon. It is also insane.” This often applies to medical conditions too. It is easy to fall into the “I have ………….. and therefore I cannot ……………. and will never …………..”.

I shall never give up on trying to improve my health but I no longer try to resist it causing me further emotional distress. I have a quiet acceptance  now, a peaceful place inside of me that is always there, waiting for me to reconnect at any time, no matter what my external circumstances are.

I think only those who have experienced chronic pain can have some understanding of how it feels. That said, everyones personal journey is unique. There may not only be unrelenting pain but there can also be anger at your body for letting you down, to the universe for letting this happen, towards loved ones for not understanding instinctively. Throw in a good dose of fear into the mix “is this ever going to improve?”, “am I on a downward spiral again?”, the stress of which causes muscle tightness and pain in different areas as sensitivity is heightened. General function is then reduced further and unhelpful thoughts and emotions such as “I am a burden” surface and once you are on the negative thought train it’s hard to get off. No wonder it’s exhausting. 

I feel such gratitude for all I have learnt the past few years. As much as I love teaching my general meditation workshops I am looking forward to launching my programme for chronic pain later this year. It has been a real experience finding methods that work for me and it will be a real privilege to pass them on.