In researching yoga poses for a student who wants to rehabilitate her wrist, I discovered that that the best way to prevent injury to the wrists is to develop a strong core! By having a strong core if you should fall the impact will be absorbed better by the entire body rather than the wrists. She going to be soooo pleased!

So this reminded me of this great balance which is not as hardcore as Navasana (full boat pose) but will work your core effectively.

Sit in Dandasana with legs out, checking the sit bones are anchored on the earth. Bring the soles of the feet together. On an inhale lift the feet from the ground. Keep lifting through the breastbone in order to prevent the back rounding. Keep the shoulders relaxed and try and stay here for five breaths but if it is too intense come out and take a restorative pose on your back.

I love stretching my back out in Humble Warrior. Because it is an inversion blood is rushing to the head so it is a deeply calming pose whilst being challenging.

From a wide legged standing position turn both feet and the body to the left as you exhale soften and bend the left knee. Keep the groin open and protect your knee by checking that you can see your big toe. Gently encourage your left knee to move towards the little toe side.

Interlace your fingers behind your back. Inhale to expand your chest and lungs.

As you exhale, continue to keep your heart open and gently bow forward. Your left shoulder may lovingly nudge your left leg even further to the left as you release your pelvis and drop deeper into the pose.

As you exit this pose, stay mindful that this deep stretch places potential stress on the knee and lower back if you stand up too quickly. Make sure you gradually straighten the left leg and keep yourself grounded with your back leg as you rise on an inhale.

Well I am not sorry the plastic challenge is over, it was a challenge that I failed almost everyday! The struggle to find fruit and veg, seeds and nuts not in plastic was pretty overwhelming and made shopping miserable. Even on days when I didn’t leave the house plastic seemed to often present itself amidst layers of packaging in parcels. I spent a great deal of time having dilemmas such as whether to go organic but have the product in plastic. Or driving to a range of shops such as bakers, farm shop or greengrocer increased my carbon footprint, rather than if I had just driven to the supermarket. I often used to buy refills as they had less packaging but inevitably that seems to be made of plastic!

So what have I learned? ….I will keep vigilant about excess packaging and I will email Supermarkets to ask about their policies on plastic and discover if they are looking to try materials such as the cornstarch cellophane or the seaweed plastic rings that are compostable or biodegradable.

We must keep things easy for people e.g paper bags or compostable bags should be given out where plastic bags are currently given away by shops (or sold for a minimal amount). Shops like Marks and Spencer should have scales at every till point to weigh loose produce.

I feel I must end on a postive note. I intend to flag up good packaging regularly and hope little by little things will change!

I have found this challenge almost impossible, every time I shop there are little bits of plastic that I hadn’t thought about such as the plastic rings between cans of drink! But there are solutions if we choose them! Read this article about biodegradable plastic rings www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/edible-sixpack-ring-beerssaltwater-brewery-we-believers.html

I was annoyed with myself for forgetting my glass Flaska bottle last night at yoga, but I promise to re-use the plastic cup I had to use instead. However it brought about an interesting discussion and a fellow yogi told me about the website http://www.trashisfortossers.com check it out!

Went to the market stall to avoid the bananas in plastic bags in M and S and before I could produce my cloth bag the guy had whisked the bananas into a plastic bag! Explained to him what I was doing and why it was important to reduce plastic. He helpfully told me if I felt bad I could burn the bag when I got home!!

Bought a pizza base and a water filter jug, both in cardboard boxes, so dismayed to find they had hidden plastic inner wrappings. WHY?!

Finally bought some Malteasers as a gift (as they are Fairtrade) but they too had a plastic wrapping! Again why? The boxes are sealed, isn’t that good enough?

Without Abel and Cole would have been going very hungry this month. Delicious carrots which this week were in a bag that looked like plastic but was actually made from cornstarch and is completely compostable! 

Sadly the tomatoes come in a plastic box, luckily it will get a re-use as a compost repository on the draining board.

Popped into Marks and Spencer, you can’t take loose bananas and tomatoes through the basket only till so faced a long queue, must say very tempted to put fruit back and walk out! Why do bananas, asparagus and courgettes have to be in plastic?

In the evening went to Bruce Springsteen concert at Wembley (which was fab) but from an environmental point of view terrible every drink in plastic. as the crowds flocked out the was a sea of plastic. I do hope they recycle!

So today I needed shopping I especially went to the market to get fruit and veg in paper bags but then of course there was no organic produce! I also needed seeds and nuts ( being 90% vegan a much need protein source) there seems no alternative to plastic bags! Any suggestions? I got some lovely plants on the market but the pots they come in don’t seem to be recyclable, however I did re-use three to support tomato plants in a gro-bag  (which had been purchased pre-challenge). Finally I went to the farm shop so I could get frozen veg in bags that can be re-used.  But all of this did take a great deal more time than going to the supermarket! We need to make it easy for people to make good choices!

Yesterday was easy at home aside from running and yoga. Today a trip into the village…. I chose some biscuits in a cardboard box not thinking of the plastic inside! Similarly I bought Co-op dishwasher tablets in a cardboard box but the tablets are in plastic! I have tried Ecover but they seem to get stuck in our dispensing mechanism. Any ideas gratefully received! Finally at our lovely bakers (Ravens) we bought bread and rather than having it sliced and placed in a plastic bag we had unsliced in a paper bag. The only downside of this is we eat much thicker slices!