Hello friends, I just wanted to share a beautiful prayer for self-love that I read last week to the participants of my recent, Serious Self-Love Webinar. The prayer is by Don Miguel Ruiz, a Mexican author of Toltec spiritual wisdom, and it just literally blows my heart open. Please read it, live it, breathe it in and breathe it out - it’s magical and so so true. Love you xx

Prayer for Self Love by Don Miguel Ruiz

Today, creator of the Universe, we ask that you help us to accept ourselves just the way we are, without judgement. Help us to accept our mind the way it is, with all our emotions, our hopes and dreams, our personality, our unique way of being. Help us to accept our body just the way it is, with all its beauty and perfection. Let the love we have for ourselves be so strong that we never agin reject ourselves or sabotage our happiness, freedom and love.

From now on, let every action, every reaction, every thought, every emotion, be based on love. Help us Creator, to increase our self-love until the entire dream of our life is transformed, from fear and drama to love and joy. Let the power of our self-love be strong enough to break all the lies that tell us we are not good enough, or strong enough, or intelligent enough, that we cannot make it. Let the power of our self-love be so strong that we longer need to live our life according to others peoples opinions. Let us trust ourselves completely to make the choices we must make. With our self-love, we are no longer afraid to face any responsibility in our life or face any problems and resolve them as they arise. Whatever we want to accomplish, let it be done with the power of our self-love.

Starting today, help us to love ourselves so much that we never set up any circumstances that go against us. We can live our life being ourselves and not pretending to be someone else just to be accepted by other people. We no longer need other people to accept us or tell us how good we are because we know we are. With the power of our self-love, let us enjoy what we see every time we look in the mirror. Let there be a big smile on our face that enhances our inner and outer beauty. Help us to feel such intense self-love that we always enjoy our own presence.

Let us love ourselves with judgement, because when we judge, we carry blame and guilt, we have the need for punishment, and we lose the perspective of your love. Strengthen our will to forgive ourselves in this moment. Clean our minds of emotional poison and self-judgement so we can live in complete peace and love.

Let our self-love be the power that changes the dream of our life. With this new power in our hearts, the power of self-love, let us transform every relationship we have, beginning with the relationship we have with ourselves. Help us to be free of any conflict with others. Let us be happy to share our time with other loved ones and to forgive them for any injustice we feel in our mind. Help us to love ourselves so much that we forgive anyone who has ever hurt us in our life.

Give us the courage to love our family and friends unconditionally, and to change our relationship in the most positive and loving way. Help us to create new channels of communication in our relationship so there is no war of control, there is no winner or loser. Together let us work as a team for love, for joy, for harmony.

Let our relationship with our family and friends be based on respect and joy so we no longer have the need to tell them how to think or how to be. Let our romantic relationships be the most wonderful relationships; let us feel joy every time we share ourselves with our partner. Help us to accept others just the way they are without judgement, because when we reject them, we reject ourselves. When we reject ourselves, we reject you.

Today is a new beginning. Help us to start our life over beginning today, with the power of self-love. Help us to enjoy our life, to enjoy our relationships, to explore life, to take risks, to be alive, and to no longer live in fear of love. Let us open our heart to the love that is our birthright. Help us to become Masters of Gratitude, Generosity and Love so that we enjoy all of your creations forever and ever. Amen.

On Bilbao Yoga Retreats, our healthy weekend breaks in the north of Spain, the essence I have always wanted to create is: HOME - home within yourself and home all around and that is why I designed a menu full of dishes that not only nourish you with their fresh, locally grown ingredients but also for the nostalgic feeling of a loving grandmothers cooking. You can read the full recipe for our Vegan Shepherds Pie below.

I’d also love to share with you a special weekend retreat that I have planned for the end of February. If like me, February is a month in which you have to work extra hard in order to keep your inner light burning I have designed a beautiful Self-Love weekend from Thursday 28th February to Sunday 3rd March, one that will specifically support you on your path to health and ease of body and mind. Whether the sun shines or the rain falls we will work on enlivening radiance on a cellular level. Just drop me an email with any questions you may have. And the recipe! Enjoy.

Vegan Shepherds Pie with sweet potato mash

For the pie filling

1 tablespoon of a nice olive oil

1 leek finely chopped

1 parsnip, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 celery stick, sliced

1 tablespoon herbes deProvence

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 teaspoon Marmite

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 x 400g of lentils (we like to use canned lentils for this particular recipe)

150g frozen peas

salt and pepper

For the topping (feel free to add cheese if you aren't a vegan!)

4 sweet potatoes chopped into small chunks

1 teaspoon of vegan butter

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

20g dil, roughly chopped

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the leeks, parsnip, carrot, celery and herbs.

2. Add the garlic and half the balsamic vinegar. Season and cook for 10 minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes. Add the remaining vinegar, Marmite and a slash of water. .Simmer for 20 minutes, adding a little more water if needed to loosen the sauce, crush the tomatoes with a spoon.

3. For the mash, bring a large bowl of salted water to the boil, add the sweet potato chunks and simmer for 15-20 minutes until you can feel the potatoes soft. Drain and mash with the vegan butter. Season and store through the mustard and dill, keeping stirring until the potatoes are at the texture you like (remember most guests don't like lumps!). Put to the side.

4. Preheat the oven to 180/gas mark 4. Drain and rinse the lentils and add to the tomato sauce. Add the peas and cook for a further 5 minutes before transferring to a baking dish. Spoon the mash over the lentil mixture, ensuring it is completely covered with a generous topping.

5. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving with a loving sweet smile.