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Do you look at life from the balcony or from the basement?
In reality I am guessing that most of us look at life from round about the second floor, in that for most of the time we are getting on with our daily life, getting jobs done, seeing people who are our work colleagues, friends, family and following a fairly regular routine. But occasionally we head up to the balcony to take in the wonderful views, the
brightness, and celebrate the light that being on the balcony will bring. And conversely we occasionally head down to the basement where it might be a bit dull, dark and where heaviness overwhelms us.
For some people climbing out of the basement can be a challenge, if we feel things aren’t going well in life, or we feel like we are constantly coming up against barriers keeping us down there. There are some people who quite like being in the basement and because they want company, they work hard to keep us there.
For others the balcony is a place that is constantly visited, daily, part of a routine they have to enable their hearts and souls to feel lifted, and although they don’t live their life from the balcony, they know that it is achievable and barely give the basement a second thought.
We all know people who fall into both of these categories, so if you are generally a ‘second floor’ person and want more of that balcony feeling — search out those people and spend more time with them. Don’t get dragged down into the basement ... and if you feel yourself slipping down there, grab hold of the coat tails of the balcony people and let them
pull you up and feel the light.
ONLINE CLASS NEWS
This week sees the RETURN of Live online classes. Here is the week's timetable, beginning Monday 17 August:
- MONDAY 12.30PM — LIVE IN THE JTP ZONE FACEBOOK GROUP — 45 MINS
- TUESDAY 9.30AM — LIVE IN ZOOM — 60 MINS
- WEDNESDAY 9.30AM — ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS WEEK 3 — 45 MINS
- THURSDAY 6.00PM — LIVE IN THE JTP ZONE FACEBOOK GROUP — 45 MINS
- FRIDAY 12.30PM — MINDFUL MEDITATION — LIVE IN ZOOM (THIS IS A PRE-PAID PROGRAMME AND THE LINK WILL BE SENT DIRECTLY TO ALL PARTICIPANTS). There's still a couple of spaces left — information here — if you are interested
- SATURDAY 9.30AM — LIVE IN ZOOM — 60 MINS
Links to all classes, and the Timetable, are on the members' website jtp.zone for members only. The Timetable is also available for everyone (to view) on the
weekly Calendar here.
A Wakeup Call!
I am also introducing some floating classes this week and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday I will be doing a Live Wakeup With Jane 30 minutes mobility session. These will be held at 8.00am in ZOOM and I would love you to join me — they are added extras for those who are already members of the jtp.zone. If you AREN’T a member but would like to join in, then you can buy this week's Wakeup With Jane Live classes for just £5 for the 3 sessions ... click or tap here to read more, and book.
Reformers At Home
Plus last week whilst taking a break I added a new Reformers At Home session, the video is now available in the jtp.zone for members.
Do You Want To Join Our Gang?
Remember that if you're not a member. enrolment is just £10 a month, for all our Live classes, Recorded classes, Tutorials, Pilates Surgeries, Special Events, and Exercises Of The Week. If you'd like to know more, there's information if you click or tap here.
This week I want to go through how to perform a ‘potty squat’ — this is a movement I use a lot as it has so many benefits for the body, but only if it is performed precisely.
In the video I break it down so that you know exactly where the movement should come from and what muscles you are using to perform it correctly.
It is also a great opportunity to practise using your pelvic floor muscles ... so get those deep stabilising muscles working and give this a go. If you are worried about your knees, I talk about correct alignment to protect those knees (coming from someone who has arthritis in both of my knees) plus ensuring that to check the range of movement is right for
your body and don’t go too deep.
Work at the appropriate level for your body.
Here is the video.
Healthy Eating
Keith and me were sitting watching Good Morning on ITV one day last week, and we saw the TV chef Phil Vickery cook up a lovely, healthy Tikka Masala meal.
Keith shouted out:
That's not Phil Vickery's Tikka Masala, that's mine!!!
And sure enough, when he showed me, it was Keith's recipe (give or take a few ingredients). I suggested to Keith that he might like to give his recipe to the world (or, at least, the Newsletter), so he has... below.
It's delicious... I can vouch for this personally, as Keith made it for me last night. Here is the recipe. Enjoy!
Keith and Phil's Chicken Tikka Masala
Ingredients
• 250g basmati rice
• ¼ tspn ground turmeric
• seeds from 6 cardamom pods, crushed
• 2 tbspns cornflour
• 1 medium egg white
• 400g skinless chicken breast, fat-removed, chopped
• 1 tbspn very finely chopped fresh ginger & 5 garlic cloves peeled, or 2 heaped tbspns Patak's Minced Ginger Garlic
• 1 small red chilli, chopped
• 3 tbspns tikka curry powder, or tikka masala paste
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• salt
• 2 tbspns oil
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tspn sugar (palm sugar preferably)
• large tub natural yoghurt
• 1/2 tspn cumin seeds, crushed
• 1 tspn mint sauce
• 125g wholemeal flour
• 1 tbspn olive oil
• 60ml water
• 4 tbspns fresh coriander leaves roughly chopped.
* 2 limes, one juiced, the other sliced lengthways in quarters
Method
- Wash the rice in a sieve until the water runs clear. Soak in a bowl of warm water (boiled and cooled) for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, coat the chicken by mixing together the cornflour and egg white into a paste, then add the chicken to the paste, mix well, and leave until needed in the next step.
- Place the ginger/garlic, red chilli, tikka powder/paste, onions, and 1 tspn salt into a small food-processor and blitz to a paste. Heat oil in a non-stick pan over a medium heat, add the paste and cook for 10 minutes, or until it takes on a nice colour. Add the chicken, increase the heat to high and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and sugar to the pan, bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes to thicken, stirring regularly.
- Meanwhile, place the soaked rice into a saucepan and put enough cold water in the pan to cover the rice. Add the turmeric and crushed cardamom seeds. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Strain the rice in a sieve, then serve in a bowl.
- While the rice is simmering, make the raita and chapattis. For the raita: add the crushed cumin seeds and mint sauce to a small bowl of yogurt. Stir well.
- To make the chapattis, sift together the flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Stir in the olive oil and 60ml of water, and knead dough until firm and elastic. Divide into four balls and roll each out, into a thin chapatti.
- Heat a frying pan or griddle over a medium-high-heat. Cook each chapatti for about 1-2 minutes per side until puffed.
- Meanwhile, add the juice of one lime and mix through the curry, then turn the heat off and leave the curry to cool for 5 minutes. Stir in 2 tbspns yogurt. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves over the top.
- Serve tikka masala, rice, chapattis, raita, and the quartered lime.
Have a great week folks, and remember to look out for those ‘balcony’ people...
Jane xxxxxx
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