Happy Easter!!!! I hope you have and are having a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend with chocolate eggs in abundance, drinkypoos and of course, lots of yoga to balance it all out!!

So I know on a bank holiday we all love a drink, my personal favourite is a mimosa also known as bucksfizz. Champagne and orange juice tastes so incredibly refreshing and gives you the perfect buzz, but there is just sooooo much sugar in orange juice, it really isn't ideal on top of all the chocolate we inevitably consume over easter. I found this tip on mindbodygreen.com by Angela Hood where she mixes champagne with homemade green juice instead. Not only does it minimise the sugar content but it also combats the dehydrating effect of the alcohol, win win if you ask me. So here's the recipe;

• 2 cucumbers
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 head of romaine lettuce
• 2 peeled lemons
• 1 (or as many as you like) bottle(s) of champagne

 yummy yum yum

On a more serious note, let me mention the real meaning of Easter (before I have too many of those delicious green mimosas haha). It is an opportunity to shed the old and welcome the new. Creating space to allow fresh thoughts, dreams and essentially your full potential to enter your mind and become your new reality. There are so many exciting things in the pipeline for me at the moment and I am so excited to embrace all these new possibilities for my life and teaching of yoga! Despite the rain and lack of Easter sunshine I am staying true to the sentiment of this holiday!

In my classes I will be teaching more of a Hatha Yoga style class, finding poses and taking time in each one, finding that calming, elongated breath and taking awareness deeper to really send the beautifully positive message of releasing the old and embracing the new.  Each posture is a step on our journey to eventually find Savasana (corpse pose) and awaken with a new beginning, a clean slate and an open mind.

We will really be concentrating on three actions to invoke the change from old to new;

• 1) Detoxifying - twists and hip openers such as Ardha Matseyandrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes pose) and Tittibhasana (Firefly pose)  to allow for detoxification of the mind and to release any tension in the body.

• 2) Death of The Practice - this is allowing the things you no longer want or need in your life to disappear represented by stillness and Savasana (Corpse pose). Savasana is used to celebrate the death of the practice and allowing the body and mind to be still after experiencing so many sensations and perhaps emotions during class. Think of this as the transition between the "old you" and stepping into the "new you". We will be practicing this "stillness" after each challenging posture.

• 3) Rebirth - invigorating poses such as Wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana) and Bridge open the heart and the hips making you and your body truly ready to welcome this fresh start and open yourself up to your greatest potential!

  

Namaste to all and HAPPY EASTER!!

Raquelle :)

I would just like to shout out to two of my best friends whose birthdays are Monday 6th april;

My wonderful Grandad is 82 on the 6th april and he truly is one of the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing let alone being the head of our family and there for us all without fail through every twist and turn that life throws!

My best friend and Godmother to my little monkey Izzy. She also happens to own THE best restaurant on the Portuguese coast with the most delicious giant red prawns I have ever had the delight of devouring. Also, one of the kindest and strongest women I know. I am very grateful to have her in my life and as one of my best friends!