I’ve created a FREE 60-second tutorial to get you started … plus extra variations and deeper instruction exclusively for PremiumPatreonMembers.
Torpedoes are a full body exercise that can ease you back into a full body workout if you have been away for a while or you wish to add new variety to an existing routine.
My instructions and strategies make them accessible to everyone regardless of your age or ability whether you are injured or pregnant. (Remember to consult your doctor before taking on new exercises.)
You can watch my 60-second tutorial on YouTube. Here’s the link for ease.
Lynda’s Inferno 777 Daily Workout Torpedoes Made Simple
If you’re curious, Premium Membership gives you variations, modifications, and deeper instruction.
I’ve been *doing* feedback for decades. I didn’t always get it right in the early days. But I’m kind, considerate and constructive.
What I’ve learned:
1. If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.
2. Read it back – how does it sound? Will it be perceived and received in the way you intended it? Read and delete. If it’s verbal feedback perhaps record it and listen back (please don’t send it!!) before you have the actual conversation!
2. Less is more. Don’t overwhelm the recipient with your verbal/ written tirade – however well-meaning you are. This is challenging if you work in an environment where your feedback is written as much for your recipient as for your accreditors, assessors or quality control!
3. Be constructive and positive. If you think there’s an issue with what they (the recipient of the feedback) have done, first acknowledge as many positives as possible. There is always a positive … unless you are a pessimist and/or an energy vampire. In which case you are in the wrong business.
4. There really should be no negatives – perhaps say “I can see what you’re doing with blah and one recommendation/suggestion might be to do blah…
5. Never compare!
I’m Lynda. I’m me. What I offer is what I know my students and clients like: a safe space to play like a child, a safe space to have fun, a safe space for the freedom to be and the freedom to grow. With a safe space comes freedom. With freedom comes curiosity. With curiosity comes the breakthrough(s) – epiphanies, eureka moments.
Comparison is the killer of joy, the crusher of confidence and stifler of creativity. I nurture creativity and I offer you the right to be you.
6. The recipient should never have a sense of “but” because it gives them a feeling that you’re going to say something awful and crushing. This means they won’t hear the positives. No buts. Trust me. If you have imposter syndrome you will only look for or hear negative feedback. 😳🥹😬 Let’s build ourselves up!
The story of the swan:
They came to class lost, lacking confident, feeling sad, low, depressed. I remember saying to them “Do what you can, you’ve already done the hard bit – that was getting to class. Anything else is a bonus. Little by little you will get stronger. I believe in you!” After just one class with me, I thought there’d been a bodysnatch and personality switch: a skip in their step, a glow in their aura and a beaming smile. The next time they grew even more, showing strength, resilience and a big kind heart. They realised that they were free to be themselves in my class – because I am me.
I know what I can offer, coach and nurture. Take it or leave it.
Neither I, nor you, can be for everybody but there are plenty of people we can be for.
I choose to work with the energies that vibrate highly with me. I choose me and I’m doing me and being me. My very best self.
I used to have a desk in the university staff room at work. During Lockdown someone helped themselves to my two china mugs. People insisted they must be somewhere and that I’d find them. I never did.
At the end of last academic year we were asked to clear our desks for renovations to make the office bigger. To accommodate new staff. When we returned there were no personal desks. We hot-desk.
In the yoga studio I used to practice in a different spot every day and then I realised that I didn’t have to …and neither did anyone else.
A safe space is a place where I can go. I can be. I can belong. My space.
I even have a place in the yoga studio changing room. My spot.
Hiding in plain sight. Surviving in spaces where I don’t belong. Spaces where I am not welcome. School as a student. The BBC as a journalist. University as an academic.
My spots – the yoga mat, the changing room bench, and the university canteen are my safe spaces.
Finding a spot within the bigger unwelcome space is how I survive. It’s how we, the outsiders, thrive.
I’ve been consuming raw cacao. Sometimes with turmeric and always as a chocolate treat.
This recipe is the result of a few experiments – a delicious mix of organic ingredients:
Apparently, this can last for 10 days … not mine 10 minutes, maybe!
Lynda Smith
Ingredients
45g raw organic cacao powder
60g raw organic cacao butter
50g Desiccated coconut
125g organic dried dates
125g chopped mixed nuts
50ml hot water
Method
Soak the dates in the hot water for 15 minutes.
Blend in a food processor. I use a high-powered blender which takes 10-15 seconds. There’s no need to over process. The dates just need to be mashed into a paste.
Gently melt the cacao butter over some hot water. Do not directly heat the butter and do it gently. The butter will melt really quickly.
Chop the nuts. There will be some finely chopped nuts amongst the small chunks but this is perfect for soaking up the cacao butter.
Mix together the dates, cacao, nuts and cacao butter.
Roll into bit-sized balls.
Cover with desiccated coconut.
Place on a tray and leave to cool in the fridge for 60 minutes.
Looking around online, apparently this can last for 10 days … not mine! Gone too quickly!
I tried experimenting with bread recipes four times over Lockdown and the previous three had not been good.
Mind you, one of them was ok, though – it was more like a ciabatta. But what I wanted was a plain, simple loaf of bread and here it is:
Ingredients
500g white bread flour
30g fresh yeast (7g quick rise dried yeast)
10 floz tepid water (36°C)
10g (1 dessert spoon) brown sugar
40g butter (melted/softened)
7½g (1½ teaspoons) of salt
Notes:
2 minutes in the food processor is about 10-12 minutes by hand
You want a nice elastic mixture – don’t over-knead it
If you’re using dried yeast – follow the instructions on the packet.
Method
Dissolve the sugar in 10 fl oz of hot water and leave to cool to about 36°C
Leave the fresh yeast to reach room temperature
Mix the yeast into the tepid sugar solution
Melt/soften the butter
Mix the flour and the salt in a food processor (using the dough tool)
Add the melted/softened butter to the flour and mix (in the food processor)
Turn the food process on low (no.1) and pour the yeast and sugar liquid into the flour, butter and salt mixture.
It will form a nice ball.
Process/mix for 2 minutes maximum
Grease your surface, put the dough ball onto the surface.
Place a largebowl over the top of the dough and allow it to proof for an hour or until the dough doubles in size
Do not put in the oven as the yeast will proof too quickly
Knock out the air and put it back into the food processor for 1 minute maximum
Roll out and put into a greased loaf tin (there’s enough for two small loaves)
Leave to proof again for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size
Preheat the oven at 200°C (fan assisted)
Place a roasting tin with water at the bottom of the oven
Carefully sprinkle the dough with flour and score thinly with a sharp knife – be careful not to deflate it (I’ve not managed to score without deflating so I don’t bother!)
Place the dough (in the loaf tins) into the oven and cook for 30 minutes
Take out and leave to cool
Another note: this is delicious as toast the next day – if you can get it to last that long!
Lynda's Inferno 