Summer Fruit Pizza

Take advantage of the abundance of fresh, juicy summer fruit with this exotic fruit pizza. Fruits are bursting with vitamins and minerals and by eating them when they’re in season, you get them when they’re at the peak of their nutritional content. This is a healthy dessert with no added sugar that’s great fun for kids to make and was invented by 11 year old Tamal. What a great way to get kids to eat their fruit!

Summer Fruit Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 large pizza base
• ¼ cup sugarless peach jam
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp lemon or lime juice
• ¼ cup crystallized ginger, diced into tiny pieces
• A selection of sliced fresh summer fruit. Choose from mangoes, bananas, peaches, plums, nectarines, grapes, dragon fruit, star fruit, blueberries, strawberries, lychees.

Method

• Lightly toast the pizza base in the grill.
• Spread with peach jam and then top with slices of colourful fruit.
• Sprinkle with crystallized ginger and then drizzle with maple syrup and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.
• Grill for 10-12 minutes, until the pizza is lightly browned.
• Slice and serve. Yum!

For many more tasty vegetarian recipes like this one visit our website.

Enjoy!

Amara

Australian School of Meditation and Yoga

Come and celebrate Christmas with us

We would love to have you come and celebrate Christmas with us. We believe that Christmas is best when shared with friends and family.

The festivities will include:

Meeting old friends and new

Beautiful chanting

Songs of Praise

Video presentation of the teachings of Jesus

Sumptuous vegetarian feast

A joyous mantra rock dance

When: Sunday 21st December

Where: Albert Waterways Community Centre

Cnr Hooker and Sunshine Blvd, Mermaid Waters (Behind Pacfic Fair)

To help us with meal preparations, please RSVP by Sunday 14th of December

Phone: 5554 5440
E-mail: asm@onthenet.com.au

This year we have hired a much larger hall to comfortably accommodate everyone who would like to come so please invite all your family and friends.

Hope to see you there.

Namaste,

Amara and all the teachers and crew at the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga.

Discover Meditation Courses

The year has flown by and there are only three more Discover Meditation courses left to run in 2008. Time seems to be flying by far too quickly, so make sure you mark the dates in your diary early as Christmas is just around the corner and social calendars will be booking up. At this time of year, people really need meditation and relaxation in their lives as it is a very stressful time of the year and extremely busy for most of us.

Meditation calms the mind, nourishes us spiritually and gives us inner resources to deal with the busy-ness of life. Unfortunately if we don’t make the time to meditate a priority in our lives, time will pass us by, and before we know it, another year is over and we still haven’t put any time aside to meditate and relax. People who make the effort to maintain a regular meditation practice right through the Christmas period always comment on how much more relaxed they felt and how much better they were able to cope with the stresses of life.

Mark these dates in your diary and make meditation a priority in your life:

Mermaid Beach
10.30am Wednesday 3rd and 10th December
7.30pm Thursday 4th and 11th December

Nerang
11.45am Friday 12th and 19th December

“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance.
Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back,
and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”
Buddha

That time of year again

Well here we are again, almost at the end of another year! As you know the teachers and volunteers at the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga work very hard all year without a break, so Christmas is a time when we close the centre for three weeks to give us that much deserved break. It gives us all time to organise our programs for next year, relax, revitalize and rejuvenate.

The last program for the year will be our Christmas gathering held on the 21st December and our first program back in 2009 will be our Sunday Spiritual Gathering on the 11th January.

The programs at Southport finish Thursday 11 December. The 2009 program starts Monday 12 January.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all the teachers and volunteers at the Australian School of Meditation.

Amara

Instructor

Australian School of Meditation and Yoga

Head over heels with Triangle

After practising yoga asanas (exercises) by 8 years I have recently discovered how good a triangle pose can feel. My new love for this pose has urged me to write a post for you guys letting you know why all of a sudden I can’t get enough of Trikonasana, the Triangle Pose.

For years I was doing this pose all wrong and forcing myself too far into this stretch just to look ‘right’ or ‘good’ at it. Now I realise how much of an injustice I was doing myself. The key to a great and comfortable stretch in the Triangle is to emphasise length and space in your body. Keep both sides of your torso long, swing the hips to one side and reach out to the other, keeping the upper rib cage tucked into the spine. When I focus on these things the stretch feels great. I am not worried about reaching right down to my bottom foot and I am definitely not leaning forward. I feel that as soon as I start to lean forward I loose the great stretch that I could be getting.

Triangle Pose not only increases flexibility in the legs, hips and spine but also increases mobility through the lower spine. You can feel an amazing stretch from the hip to the ribcage. It is great to ease backache and keep the spine supple.

Find a step by step guide with pictures on the Australian School of Yoga and Meditation website showing how you too can get into a great Triangle Pose. If you have any questions or queries about the pose ask one of our experienced teachers at your next class or you can email me @ amara@asm.org.au. Don’t forget to read the cautions before you try the pose.

Best of luck,

Amara

Instructor

Australian School of Meditation and Yoga

Words of Wisdom

The yoga tradition is a holistic and balanced approach to living. Especially in the western world when we think of “yoga” or someone that is good at “yoga” we think of a person who is flexible like a gymnast. The yoga lifestyle encompasses much more than flexibility. The ancient science perfectly combines strength, stamina and flexibility with a tranquil mind and inner peacefulness. Very simply yoga can be broken into three areas, each complementing the other; meditation, breathing techniques and yoga asanas (exercises). A healthy, balanced diet, hygiene, cleanliness, simplicity and higher thinking are also important elements.

Here are some of my favourite quotes that represent the concept of simple living and higher thinking:

Insights from Jesus

(from the Holy Bible)

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ...

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Insights from Buddha

Better than a hundred years of ignorance is one day spent in reflection. Better than a hundred years of idleness is one day spent in determination. Better to live one day wondering how all things arise and pass away. Better to live one hour seeing than one whole life beyond the way. It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or demons, heaven or hell.

Insights from India

There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.

Mahatma Gandhi

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi

The petty mind thinks, ‘This is mine. That’s for others.’ Whereas men of noble thought consider the whole world as one family.

Chanakya

Insights from China

He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

Lao Tzu

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.

Lao Tzu

Insights from Western Philosophers

The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different. Hippocrates

Until mankind can extend the circle of his compassion to include all living things, he will never, himself, know peace.

Albert Schweitzer

Enjoy this food for thought. To read more check out our website or stay posted for more to come.

Amara

Instructor

Australian School of Meditation and Yoga

Our November Mini Yoga Retreat @ Burleigh

Sunday saw the Fradgley Library Hall at Burleigh Heads filled to the rafters with yogi’s and yogini’s for our Mini Yoga Retreat day. The regular 10:30-12:30pm yoga session overfilled with students, so a group of us went down to a shady park and enjoyed the cool ocean breezes and fresh air as we stretched. The outdoor class is so popular with the students that they are asking for it each week. Feedback that I have received is that the difference an outdoor class makes is incredible. Nothing beats the fresh energy that our body absorbs when we are outdoors in nature.

Friends of ours joined us to lead us through some kirtan, beautiful chanting of sacred mantras with musical accompaniment, a very simple and beautiful way to meditate. Kirtan relaxes the body and brings peace of mind and joy to the heart. Mantra can also be chanted on beads and added to the breath. To learn Japa and Mantra Meditation you can visit the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga website.

Margaret spoke briefly about the physical, mental and spiritual benefits of the ancient yoga system and how ultimately yoga is a spiritual quest. She explained various limbs or rungs of the yoga system and how they assist the yoga practitioner on their journey of self discovery or self realisation.

Lunch was very simple but extremely tasty, mung dhal and Turkish bread. Writing it like that just doesn’t do it justice though. Honestly, it was one of the tastiest dhals I have ever tried, and almost everyone there agreed with me. Over lunch a group of us threw around great tried and tested recipes that we have collected over the years and shared healthy cooking tips and information.

Ready for a siesta, we got something better. One of our resident massage therapists guided us through a face and scalp massage. We learnt simple and effective massage techniques that we can use on friends and family to help them de-stress and unwind. We all felt truly relaxed and uplifted afterwards.

For those who didn’t want to leave, the Sunday Spiritual Gathering at 4pm gave them an excuse to stick around a little longer. Intimate and cosy, the beautiful yoga chanting created an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity. Everyone involved had a fantastic day and look forward to the retreats starting up again in January.

Keep an eye on the website for upcoming events in 2009.

Take care,

Amara

Instructor

Australian School of Meditation and Yoga