Things we find useful, insightful and yummy and wanted to share…
Articles | ||
Leap | by Emma Docherty | |
Mindful Eating | by Emma Docherty | |
My Womb and Me | by Mayella Almazan | |
Namaste | by Jennifer Walsh-Rupakheti | |
Yoga Memories – A Poem | by Jennifer Walsh-Rupakheti | |
T.R.E.E Guide to Yoga Postures | by Jennifer Walsh-Rupakheti | |
Bottle the Good Memories | by Julie-Anne Mullan | |
It’s a Yoga Life | by Keshav Rupakheti | |
Bending Over Backwards | by Angela McArdle | |
Recipes | ||
Hot Asian Summer Broth | by Julie-Anne Mullan | |
Healthy Coconut Almond Cookie Bites | by Jennifer Walsh-Rupakheti | |
Pumpkin Cake with Essential Oil of Mandarin | by Mayella Almazan | |
Namaste Kitchen – Herby Pea Soup | by Jennifer Walsh-Rupakheti | |
Namaste Nepalese Kitchen – Roti – Flat Bread | by Keshav Rupakheti | |
Namaste Nepalese Kitchen – Achar | by Jennifer Walsh-Rupakheti | |
Namaste Nepalese Kitchen – Khir | by Jennifer Walsh-Rupakheti | |
Namaste Nepalese Kitchen – Jaulo | by Jennifer Walsh-Rupakheti | |
My Womb and Me

My Womb and Me
By Mayella Almazan
As a Mexican woman raised in a large extended family, I was never far away from pregnant women, women who had just given birth and women wanting to get pregnant (not always succesfully, may I add).
Pregnancy and labour were not unusual topics of table talk at family gatherings, however, the real interesting conversations came later, when all women withdrew to the kitchen after the meal. Away from the men, the talk turned to deeper ever so much more interesting issues for a 6-year-old: infertility, painful periods, hysterectomies, miscarriages, a huge world of emotions and things that united all of the women in my family through pain and loss but also through love.
My Grandma -and later on when she passed away my aunties and my Mum too- always had a herbal tea blend to share to ease menstrual cramps, a sobada (massage) to offer to the grieving cousin or niece, so on the whole I can say even as I child I was acutely aware of wombs. Eventually, my own period arrived as a calm, easy going affair. Nothing worth paying too much attention to. All was perfect until I left my homeland, that is.
I started to be painfully aware of my womb during my periods soon after I moved to London to study a Master´s degree. By chance, after a birthday call to the eldest of my Aunties I mentioned it to her and she told me she was not suprised. “The cold of homesickness has got into your womb, child”, she told me.
I had heard of “the cold” being a very bad thing to get anywhere inside your body many a times at home. She then went on to add, “nothing like a bit of flowers in some steam to warm you up, take you back to your centre again, bring you back home. Oh, and you mustn´t forget the oregano.” She was talking about the “bajos”, an ancient Mayan practice whereby a herbal mix is prepared and infused to steam our reproductive organs through our vagina (picture of herbal blend attached). I did as I was told and things soon not only went back to normal but the aroma of the oregano during the steam session REALLY took me back to the Mexican fields up the mountains where it grows wild.
This was the first time that I became aware of the fact that WOMBS are not just places for holding and carrying babies (although they are of course that too! ), but also places where we can store grief and homesickness. As a therapist now, I see clearly how storing all of these in our womb can at times mean trouble for some.
Since those days, I have made it my mission to guide women who have not been as lucky as me growing up in the family I did to discover the treasure of information, joy, pleasure and power contained within our womb. To be aware of their wombs, not because of cancer, or because of the fact that there is a baby in there (or there is not), or because of dis-ease, but simply because our womb is our centre. Because our womb is our home. And who doesn´t love going home ?
Pumpkin Cake Mayella Almazan
Pumpkin Cake with Essential Oil of Mandarin
(Standard and Vegan Versions)
Ingredients:
200g Ground Almonds
230g Organic -and preferably unsweetened- apple sauce at room temperature (or 4 eggs for the non-Vegan version)
175g Organic Virgin Coconut oil
85g raw honey or same amount of Agave syrup (Vegan)
150g pumpkin
1tspn ground clove
1 1/2 tspn cinnamon
1 1/2 tspn allspice
2 level tbsp baking powder
3 drops Certified-Organic Red Mandarin Essential Oil
Method:
1. Cut the pumpkin into cubes and roast in a hot oven until cooked through. Allow to cool and sit for a few hours/overnight to allow the juices to separate. Discard the juices.
2. Melt and cool Organic virgin Coconut oil
3. If using eggs, whisk them til frothy and then add the 3 drops of Certified-Organic Red Mandarin oil
4. If using the apple sauce, whisk the honey into the coconut oil and then add the apple sauce to the mix. Add the 3 drops of Certified-Organic Red Mandarin oil
5. Add the spices and the baking powder to the ground almonds and mix through
6. Add the almond mix to the egg/apple sauce mixture stirring anti-clockwise as you go!
7. For the finale, add the pre-mashed pumpkin, gently mixing it in anti-clockwise
8. Pour the mixture into a lined loaf tin (you can divide into an individual muffin tin if you prefer but don’t forget to adjust the cooking time to about 25 minutes)
9. Place in to a pre-heated oven, gas 2/3, 160c for 40 minutes then cover with foil for the remainder 15mins or until cooked.
Test with a skewer, it should come out clean.
Enjoy !
By Mayella Almazan from Yo Soy Gaia