Hacks for health, beauty, fitness and longevity

I recently took a health master class with one of planets top health, longevity, beauty and fitness experts, Ben Greenfield who fundamentally views the world in a new amazing way and busts all the myths and lies of the health and wellness industry. I also embarked on a period of intense training with someone who I consider to be (Yoga Journal agrees too!) one of the globes best yoga experts, Simon Park, I wanted to get to the TRUTH about many things that seem to be hidden from us in a whirlwind of commercial headaches.

I can clearly remember how my Mum, just in her late 50's started to die slowly, she lost all her muscle mass and the skin just hung over arms and legs, her back was so sore and she could hardly walk and her organs slowly collapsed dying, finally at 61. I then took a long hard look at myself at 37, I was a yoga teacher who just assumed that my profession would keep me naturally healthy but I was wrong. I was working so hard with my body and putting far too much pressure on myself to constantly achieve and grow that I was loosing my natural energy and vibrancy, I could see myself ageing rapidly and I started suffering from sore joints and I thought ENOUGH. I closed my yoga studio, changed my yoga method, changed my lifestyle and followed many of Ben's health hacks - within just a few weeks I feel more alive, more youthful, more focused than I can ever remember feeling.

Not only does Ben teach that things like 30 seconds to 4 minutes of exercise a day is way more efficient than spending time in a gym or doing 1 hour intense sessions, that one of the best anti-ageing strategy is starving yourself everyday (while you're asleep and it’s called intermittent fasting!) along with good air, that super slow workouts are much better than fast ones, he also reminded us that as we age we do not have to become elderly, that we do not need to loose our beauty and ability to repair and generate new cells. Here are a few health hacks that I learned from Ben - and remember that this isn't a vanity thing (and if you think it is, you might seriously need to check yourself on that), instead this is your right to living long, vibrantly and joyfully. Essentially, this is your responsibility for being blessed with this precious thing called L.I.F.E.

HACKS

. Ten minutes of light movement as soon as you wake-up before any food.

. 5 minute cold and hot contrast shower.

. Have a coffee or green tea before breakfast to support fat burning.

. Fast for at least 12 hours a day / 16 hours is best. So you have you last meal at 8pm and don't eat again until about 9/10am.

. Cancel your gym membership and go out and hike in nature with the people you love.

. You have to have the RIGHT kind of muscle, it's not the amount of muscle you have it's the quality and it should be lean, tight and look amazing. This will give you longevity. Ben loves slow push ups and Simon Park teaches the most mindful, precise and intelligent yoga system I’ve discovered so it might just be worth slowing down on the mat too. I can’t bear fast yoga, it makes me feel out of breath and sore and those two things are not conducive to health, beauty, fitness and longevity, be brave enough to shop around for a new teacher in town yogis.

. Squat for 30 seconds before meals to set up an inner health system.

. REMEMBER your SOUL is the most important element of your being, keep your soul healthy with good ethics, kind behaviour, gratitude, contentment and service and I highly recommend mantra meditation - you HAVE to have a method to get out of the thinking mind.

. And my personal top tip from the bottom of my heart is to realise that you are already enough, you don’t have to be constantly achieving more, getting richer, getting more status or more popularity - that is the biggest load of bullshit society has been feeding us and it’s time to break that commercial pattern and simply live our lives with ease and joy. Yes, I feel that passionate about it.

Last week, at 37 on an intensive training with Simon Park I realised my soul was light and my eyes were bright!

You are SO worth it, you are so so so so worth it.

You can take Ben’s free masterclass with MindValley here.

Love Kat xx

Serious Strength for Mums

I can clearly remember those initial weeks after giving birth with both my babas, everything ached, I felt so unstable internally and I just knew that the softness of my tummy was not in anyway serving the temple of my body or supporting my journey as a strong Mama. With my first baby, Isabella I wasn’t very educated in the workings of the body so I just started running and doing cardio to loose the weight - BIG MISTAKE!! It wasn’t long before my entire back, hips, knees were just destroyed, resulting in me feeling very down, very weak and basically sad and depressed. Over the past 8 years my knowledge has developed and with my next baby, Jacob I decided to get serious about strength, not the superficial kinda strength but the deep, internal strength that would last me a lifetime.

Over the years I’d seen my own mother loose her ability to walk about with ease due to various back problems and I felt so intensely sad for her and nobody could really offer her a solution as it was wear and tear caused by a lifetime of working hard and not caring for herself as much as she cared for others, we’d talk about it and she made me promise to look after my body which comes from healthy nutrition and… you guessed it, effort.

This November I am starting a specialised semiprivate class with 4 students max at a private location in Neguri, Getxo Bilbao every Monday at 11.30-12.30. Please don’t be scared my the word strength as strength only comes from repetition, doing something over and over - so I know it would be pointless to make the movements too intense, so instead they will be rhythmic, precise, accessible and effective for all moms of all levels.

As places are limited to 4, these classes are bookable by the new app with prepayment, just click here https://lacasadelyoga.as.me/schedule.php.

If you book and you finally can’t make it, please give me at least 24 hours notice and I will keep your class credit for you to use on another class within 14 days.

You can also hear more about the class on my YouTube channel by clicking here

Pebble Meditation for the family

Bella & I have started to do a short mindfulness meditation with pebbles or shells every night before bed, it helps Bella make sense of the stresses and conflicts that she sometimes faces at home/school/in her mind and it helps me to believe that I am capable of meeting my responsibilities with love.

We first discovered this meditation from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, the modern day Apostle of peace and nonviolence, sometimes we practice using a video with one of his monks and sometimes we make it up as we go along creating our own version.

This meditation helps us to remember that we are part of the earth and we are made of many elements, emotions and moods. The meditation also helps us both to take responsibility for the way we are being in the world, allowing us to wipe the slate clean every night and enter the new day fresh like a flower, strong like a mountain, clear like water and full of space. This moment together also helps us to bond and love one another unconditionally.

What do you need?
4 pebbles, shells, stones, crystals - something that holds the energy of the earth within it.

Method.
1. Sit comfortably and try not to worry about your little one(s) fidgeting, just make sure you feel grounded and calm and that will have a soothing effect on them.
2. Ask the children to bring their hands into prayer position and repeat the magic yoga word together 'namaste'. If you feel comfortable, children love to chant OM 3 times and SHANTI 3 times, it is OK to laugh and have fun with this.
3. Explain that you are going to do a special meditation and that as human beings we have lots and lots of layers just like onions do; while sometimes we may feel very happy, other times we may feel very sad and this meditation will help us to know that every feeling is OK and natural.
4. Close your eyes and smile and listen to the silence.
5. Take the first pebble in your hand and imagine this pebble is a flower.
Suggested words- Sometimes throughout our day we get very busy and tired, sometimes we may feel dry but it is important for us to remember we are FRESH, just like a flower. Please repeat - I am fresh, I am a flower.
6. Smile and enjoy the silence.
7. Take the second pebble in your hand and imagine this pebble is a mountain.
Suggested words - Just like a strong and stable mountain we remember that we are strong and we are stable. We are strong for our families, our friends and so that we can do all our jobs well with love. Please repeat - I am strong, I am stable, I am a mountain.
8. Smile and enjoy the silence.
9. Take the third pebble in your hand and imagine this pebble is water.
Suggested words- Just like water we understand that sometimes the waves in the ocean can be big and busy but underneath the waves, there is always an eternal ocean of calm. Please repeat - I am an ocean of calm, I am water.
10. Smile and enjoy the silence.
11. Take the fourth pebble in your hand and imagine this pebble is space. 
Suggested words- We all need space, our families need space, we need space, space helps us to remember who we are. Please repeat - I am space I feel space, space. 
12. Smile and enjoy the silence.
13. It is really nice to end the meditation by saying a big thank you to the children for meditating with you and to tell them that they are loved unconditionally. Namaste.

Bilbao Yoga Retreat Recipes

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. 

Meditation Tips for Busy Parents

A few years ago while teaching on retreat in Greece I downloaded a book which came highly recommended by my favourite online teacher, Jo Tastula, the book is called ‘Make Me One with Everything’ by Lama Surya Das. Everything in the book spoke to me but there was one section about how we can create a sense of calm and connection within our everyday family lives and not only on retreats or our yoga mats that particularly grabbed my attention.

Lama Surya Das, a great Buddhist meditation teacher, recommends a practice called 'Inter-Meditation' which kinda means instead of thinking that we can only find peace when we are away from the world or when we are alone (of course we do still need this precious time to ourselves), that we can also find this sense of tranquility when we are in the midst of our busy, hectic and sometimes challenging family and working life.

At the time when I read the book life was pretty darn sweet, Bella our daughter was 4 and was just so easy and good, Ru and I had just decided to get married and everything was flowing like a breeze - and then our new beautiful baby boy came along. Jacob sure was a gift from God, one that lovingly and naturally took all of our spare time. If I wasn't soothing Jacob to sleep or feeding there seemed to be a 100 million other things to do with the yoga studio and our daughter. Slowly but surely I went from feeling like Mother Earth to a new Mum with seriously erratic energy and then I remembered the advice from Lama Surya Das. 

Now I try to make snippets of time with the kids into my practice. For example, when I put Jacob in the bath and he's entertained with his rubber ducks I sit crossed legged on the floor watching him and Inter-meditating with him. When he's asleep I spend 10 minutes watching him and inter-meditate with him. I can honestly say it has turned mummy related chores into moments of immense love and gratitude, moments that light up my day. Of course I don’t manage to do this all the time and I accept that at times I am eractic and grumpy but it feels so good to have another path to walk along when I feel things getting on top of me.

If you fancy a go, here’s the technique:

. Inter-meditate by sitting in your kids room at night after they go to sleep. 

. Let a feeling of absolute love and appreciation wash over you. 

. Let go of all the things you need to do just and allow the tension to melt away. 

. Bring your attention to the breath and the sensations in your body. 

. Let the breath become very gentle and relaxed, maybe focusing on lengthening the exhale, keep looking at your gorgeous baby/child and allow your heart to keep feeling a wave of unconditional love. 

. Watch your children’s chest rise and fall with every breath and begin to breathe with them. 

. As you breathe with your child notice how everything feels calm, like there's nothing in the world as important as this very moment. 

. Take this feeling into the challenges and the noise and remember to breathe through it all. 

Blessings to all you gorgeous parents.

,

Effortless Detox

Throughout December it seems we all resign ourselves to feeling better in January and words such as ‘detox’ float around in future context, but the truth is you are always naturally detoxing - naturally and more effortlessly than we may have previously believed.

If there’s one thing I think it’s absolutely vital to understand when it comes to health it’s that your wonderful amazing body is the very best, most intelligent machine that ever has or ever will exist; it loves you unconditionally and is continuously working so hard to naturally detoxify and heal your system keeping you radiant, efficient and strong. When it comes to detoxification your body has your back and during the festive season it seems so fitting and wonderful to take a moment to support the body on its quest for health by following a few simple and free techniques (I’ve written my favourites below) or perhaps scheduling a Detox Date which is pretty much like reaching your arms out wide in gratitude to the spring of wellbeing that always flows within you.

Ways to support the natural intelligence of the body: 

1. Intermittent Fasting (while you sleep). No, you don’t have to go without food for a week, you basically just need to NOT eat when you sleep - easy right? Nature is so clever you see, at night time she intended for you to fast and that’s why she blesses you with sleep. By giving your body a chance to do its job by not overloading it with food and drink late at night it cleans itself just like you might need to stop cooking in order to clean the kitchen, it’s the same theory. If you eat your evening meal at 20.30 just make a commitment to not eat again for 12-13 hours, until around 09.00 the next morning. It might mean cutting out the before bed snack but when that means more radiance - who needs that unnecessary snack all the time?

2. Water. It’s easy, nobody ever said you couldn’t enjoy a glass of wine or cup of coffee but make water your favourite drink and help the natural filtering systems of your body. I am trying to drink 2 ltr of water every day at the moment, some days I do and others I don’t but I feel so happy knowing that something so simple and FREE like water is helping me to glow.

3. Move. Your body is alive: the breath, the blood, the organs, your thoughts - they are all moving around doing their job, not one single part of your internal being is lazy and when we join them in this dance of health we support harmony.

Detox Yoga Dates with me: 

Through yoga, as we move, breath and affirm we allow oxygenated and nutrient-rich blood to flow to the organs and positive thoughts and feeling to flood the mind, we also enjoy the added benefits of detoxing from over-thinking, stressing, planning, using technology, talking and noise. When you leave a yoga class you have a special feeling that other activities don’t quite match (for me anyway) - not only do you feel like you've worked your entire body you also feel lighter, happier, calmer, it's like you're just being the best version of YOU.

I have designed a few yoga options to choose from including a 2 hour workshop and a weekend retreat:

1. December Detox. Sunday 30th December 10.00-12.00 at La Casa del Yoga.  
   2. January Detox Retreat. One weekend on Bilbao Yoga Retreats from January 10th-13th, please note the program run over Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. Thursday is a travel and settle day.

I hope this blog post reminds you how AMAZING you are and inspires you to support the temple of your being this christmas and forever.

If you would like to book the above events please go to the contact page.

GLOW Granola Balls and an important life lesson

At long last, here is the recipe that so many of you have been asking for. Aira, the amazing chef who has been rustling up GLOW worthy goodies for our yoga retreats, weekly classes, and workshops for several years now, has just TODAY revealed her secret recipe to me.

We serve lots of yoga snacks from peanut butter energy balls, to raspberry cookies, apricot granola bars, avocado brownie, sweet potato brownies but these little Glow Granola Balls are all her own creation and therein lies a very important life lesson: have you ever noticed that it's truly the things that come from your own creative heart that are the most successful in your beautiful life?

Follow your own sweet song and keep supporting your beautiful inner journey with healthy, glow worthy snacks such as these…

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of almonds

1 cup of walnuts

Half cup of pumpkin seeds

Half a cup of sunflower seeds

Half a cup of Goji berries

Half a cup of raisins and sultanas

4 tbsp of almond butter

2 tbsp of honey

2 tbsp of corn flour

2 tsp of coconut oil

METHOD:

Pre-heat the oven to 200c and add 2 tsp of coconut oil to a non-stick oven dish.

Now place the almonds and walnuts into a strong food processor and grind into tiny pieces. Add the grounded nuts and other ingredients into a big bowl and mix together. Using your hands roll into balls that can fit in the palm of your hand. Place the balls on to the oven dish and cook until brown.