#mindful week

To finish up #MindfulWeek we wanted to share one of our favorite recipes that we enjoyed for our Mindful Eating lunch earlier this week. This Spiced Pumpkin, Spelt and Goat’s Cheese Salad was utterly delicious, and it achieved at least two of the Mindful Eating Principles; namely putting plant-based foods at the center of a meal, and making sure there is plenty of color and variety. You can see more of what we ate below the recipe.

Spiced Pumpkin, Spelt, and Goat's Cheese Salad 1/3 cup / 50g whole spelt 14 oz / 400g peeled and deseeded pumpkin (any squash works well here) 1/4 cup / 65 ml olive oil ½ teaspoon sea salt ½ teaspoon Spanish smoked sweet paprika (pimentón dulce) ¼ teaspoon hot pepper/dried chilli flakes ¼ teaspoon ground allspice 1/3 cup / 50g unsalted cashew nuts 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar 4 oz / 100g soft goat’s cheese 4 handfuls of wild arugula/rocket freshly ground black pepper Serves 4

Put the spelt in a large saucepan with plenty of boiling water.

Set over high heat, bring back to the boil, and cook for about 30 minutes, until just tender yet firm to the bite. Drain well and set aside.

Preheat the over to 350F (180C/Gas 4).

Cut the pumpkin flesh into large bite-sized chunks and put in a bowl of the oil, salt, paprika, red pepper flakes, and allspice. Toss to coat the pumpkin in the spiced oil.

Tumble the pumpkin onto the prepared baking sheet and pour over any spiced oil from the bowl. Cook in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, scatter over the cashews, and return to the oven for 8 – 10 minutes, until the cashews are golden and the pumpkin tender. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Combine the remaining oil and vinegar in a small bowl. Put the spelt, spiced pumpkin, cashews, goat’s cheese, and arugula/rocket in a large bowl and gently toss to combine, being careful not to break up the cheese or pumpkin too much. Pour over the dressing and season well with black pepper.

Mindful Eating by Rachel Bartholomew & Mandy Pearson is available here.

We’re feeling pretty stress-free in the office as we reach the end of our #MindfulWeek after trying a range of exercises, from paying attention to the world around us and learning to live in the moment, to following the mindful eating principles, and a mindfulness meditation on our commute. This morning we wanted to turn our attention to the workplace in order to continue our calm and productive mentality throughout the following weeks. Here is a mindfulness exercise for sitting tall at your desk – a great way to release tension and relax the mind at work.

sitting tall

My neck and shoulders are the areas that are the first to stiffen. When I pay attention to my posture at work I can see why. My shoulders are scrunched up and my chin is jutting out as I stretch my head towards the computer screen. When I notice how I am sitting, there is an instant softening and letting go. If we can check in with our posture at our desk or in a meeting, we can notice our own habitual patterns. Remember that it is only when we bring something into awareness that we have the capacity to do it differently.

So often mindful living can be dismissed with four little words: “I don’t have time…” But mindfulness really can slot into everyone’s daily lives. Whether it’s following these Mindful Eating principles, or taking a daily mindful minute, you can adapt your thinking to live more mindfully. In the exercise we’re sharing today, Stephanie Brookes offers some meditation tips to transform your daily commute from stressful to stress-free.

THE MINDFUL COMMUTER

Making our way from A to B may sound simple, however, the daily commute can often take its toll on our well-being. If we are lucky enough not to have to take transportation to our place of work, we can count ourselves fortunate indeed. The issue we all experience with commuting is that it is a tiresome activity, often lengthy in duration, and your personal space is likely to be taken up by your fellow commuters. It’s never going to be a relaxing journey, but it can be given a mindful overhaul so you can integrate a worthwhile activity while getting to your chosen destination.

On the train, I often notice people reading a book, magazine, or listening to their music, and all these activities have their own meditative benefits. However, if you find yourself without anything to occupy your time, I suggest the following mindful exercise, which is ideal if you are traveling on public transportation.

In your current position, whether you happen to be sitting or standing, try and find that moment of personal calm by focusing on your breath. As it is likely to be noisy on the train, bus, or subway, you may not even be able to detect your breath, so focus on what you can pick up on. Can you feel the air as it touches the tip of your nostrils? Or maybe you are following the rise and fall of your chest? Spend a few moments finding your rhythm in order to help you feel more calm and centered.

After a few minutes of focusing on your breathing, expand your awareness to where you currently are in your space and become mindful of how your body is positioned. This exercise is all about becoming more aware of “you.” When we commute, we are often swept along with the other passengers, and sometimes it feels as if we're just following the crowd. But if you can bring your “self” into clearer focus, you will become more mindful of your journey, so you will be kinder to yourself, and equally more conscious and considerate of your fellow commuters.

To conclude: This exercise can be carried out for the duration of your commute, or you may decide to practice for five minutes and then carry on reading your book or listening to music. You can mix and match this exercise to fit your needs on any given day.

Meditation Made Easy by Stephanie Brookes is available here.

Today, as part of #MindfulWeek, we turn our attention to food (as we often do in this office!) and take a look at the mindful eating principles recommended by Rachel Bartholomew and Mandy Pearson. If you feel like you’ve tried every fad diet under the sun and can’t seem to maintain the diet (or a healthy and happy body weight!) then these principles might inspire you to try a new approach to eating. Not only are they simple, achievable and commonsensical, they offer a way for you to enjoy food again. By putting you in control of what you are eating, encouraging a fascination with food and helping you to discover what constitutes healthy food for you, this mindfulness approach will nourish you from the inside out.

The Mindful Eating Principles

1. Eat three smaller meals and three snacks daily. Avoid becoming ravenously hungry. Aim to eat every 2-3 hours.

2. Choose whole, unprocessed foods, which are as close to their natural state as possible.

3. Make your meals and snacks as complex as possible by simply combining foods from different food groups: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

4. Include color and variety in your daily diet

5. Make friends with fat by including more beneficial unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in your diet and less saturated fats.

6. Make plant-based foods the star attraction, rather than the supporting act

7. Drink plenty of fresh, filtered water.

8. Eat breakfast as soon as possible after you wake up.

9. Plan your meals and snacks in advance, so that you can choose your food rather than it choosing you.

10. Allow yourself the foods you really love, in moderation.

All this week on the blog we are celebrating Mindfulness practices with #MindfulWeek. You can enter our competition to win a Mindfulness Book Bundle, and all week we’re sharing simple tips and exercises on Instagram and Twitter, so you can see what we’re up to! We’ll be sharing some longer exercises, as well as recipes over here on the blog. Here’s the first of these, taken from Living in the Moment by Anna Black. This activity is all about looking at things, really seeing and making a connection with the world around you. It’s the perfect introduction to mindful being. Relax into it, and simply be…

I love drawing portraits and when you draw someone’s face you have to really look at them and see them. You are not judging the length of a nose or the size of an ear, but noticing how a certain line aligns with this one, or a particular angle comes down from another, and so on. When you draw someone you need to get up close to them and you feel a connection.

The following practice does not involve any drawing, but it does require looking. Your subject could be another person, a pet, or an inanimate object, such as a flower or a stone, or even a view from a window.

Take a position where you can see your subject clearly, and settle into your seat.

Connect first to the breath and then the body.

Begin looking ahead at the subject. Just open your eyes to whatever comes into your field of vision.

Notice any urge to turn your head in search of something more interesting… but if you do, just bring your head back in the same way that you escort the attention back when the mind wanders. Notice any thoughts arising and let them go or label them as “judging,” “planning,” “past,” or whatever is appropriate.

Rest your eyes on the subject, perhaps letting them roam without turning your head… from time to time, becoming aware of the breath like a radio playing in the background… moving the attention backward and forward in a way that feels right for you. Finish by focusing on the breath.