As Spring arrives we  naturally turn our minds to ridding ourselves of the unnecessary, to clear space to enjoy the spring and summer joys to come. This is not at all unlike what we do every day in our yoga practice. Yoga is a daily "spring cleaning" ritual. We arrive on our mat to release ourselves from the outwardly active aspects of our daily life as well as the even more active swirling of our inner life. This is never truer than in the Detox Flow class where our practice is carefully planned to optimize physical and mental cleansing.

Those of you who are familiar with these classes know that they leave you with a feeling of being wrung out and re-set. There is a good reason for this. The class begins with sun salutations to boost the flow of lymph which is important in removing toxins, bacteria, etc, and the slightly warmer room encourages muscles to lenghten and promotes a gentle sweat to involve the skin in the detoxification process. And finally, the postures of this series are carefully planned to open the body to receive new blood flow, compress the organs to squeeze out old and stagnant fluid, and twist the core to effectively "wring out" the body.

We tend to think a lot about the junk that is accumulating in our homes and too often forget what is accumulating in our body tissues as a result of toxins in the air, processed foods, personal care products, cleaners, etc. The list is long and our organs are overtaxed. Detox Flow yoga works to assist our bodies natural processes of elimination so that we can be strong, healthy and enjoy our lives.

Most importantly however, Detox Flow classes also focus on cleaning out the mind. You can eat the most nutritous diet, exercise daily and still be physically and emotionally unfit if you fail to address stressors and negative thought patterns that have possibly the largest negative impact on your health. This brings us back to the often talked about mind-body connection and is probably why yoga is so effective in healing such a wide range of emotional and physical ailments.  

So this Spring take some time out of closet organizing and cleaning, and direct your Spring Cleaning energy towards yourself, you are worth it!

Detox Flow Classes are at 5:30pm on Tuesdays & 3:00pm on Sundays at the Mount Pearl studio and at 5:30pm on Wednesdays at Torbay Road.

It is spring and love is in the air, or maybe it is just the arugula in this month's recipe. Famous since Roman times for it's aphrodisiac qualities, this easy-to-grow green is also a super food, full of fiber, vitamin C,A,K, iron, potassium and more. It is believed to improve blood quality and boost liver function, making it also a fitting focus for this months theme of cleansing and detox.  

This recipe is an all time favourite of Emily Grace Sopkowe of George Town Bakery fame and I can't think of a better place to suggest that you go to pick up the crusty bread to use in this flavourful soup. Make lots because you won't be able to have just one bowl!

Ingredients:

2 pounds of potatoes

3-4 cups of vegetable stock

1-2 carrots

4 ounces of arugula (or baby spinach)

1 loaf of stale high quality (crusty) french bread

6 thinly sliced garlic cloves

4 tbs of olive oil

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Instructions:

Dice the potatoes and bring to a boil in a sauce pan with the vegetable stock and salt, simmer for 10 minutes. Dice the carrots and add to the mixture along with the arugula leaves. Allow the mixture to simmer for 15 more minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. Then add the cayenne pepper, salt & pepper to taste along with chunks of bread. Remove from heat and let sit as you saute the garlic in the olive oil and add a little to each serving.

Notes: You can use other greens as well, I like to combine arugula with baby spinach. You can also use any kind of "crusty" bread.

Enjoy!