Virtually Swimming the English Channel in Aid of Heart Research UK Part 2

 As we reached a third of our goal, my Dad was taken off the ICU and moved onto the ward.  So to celebrate this milestone let me share with you my top three things that are getting me through this mammoth swim.

1. Sound Baths

Over recent years I have fully embraced the Sound Bath in a whole variety of styles, from Gong Baths, Himalayan Crystal bowls and even Harp and Song.  The deeply calming and meditative nature of the sound journey is a perfect way to reset and recharge exhausted muscles that have been swimming kilometres.

After looking into people who practice these types of meditations, I was excited to learn about Sarl Sound Healing. Neeta and Tim are certified sound therapists, musicians, and audio engineers who know sound inside out—musically, technically, and scientifically.

Our Relaxing Sound Bath at Meanwood Community Centre, complete with homemade herbal tea, allowed us to rest, relax and tune out the noise. As we settled down with cosy blankets, sheepskin rugs and weighted eye masks, Neeta calmed our nervous systems by bringing together healing frequencies with a variety of instruments that included Himalayan crystal bowls, Gongs and many more.

2. doTERRA Deep Blue Essential Oil

The soothing Deep Blue blend from doTERRA is designed to comfort and cool aching muscles (and joints) and provides targeted comfort to your back, legs and feet. Including a blend of Rosemary, Copaiba, Eucalyptus and Peppermint, this pure oil is used internationally by athletes...and now me. 

3. The Cornish Seaweed Bath Company Organic Super Nutrient Body Oil

You may know The Cornish Seaweed Bath Company best for their amazing range of haircare but I wanted to extol the virtues of the super luxurious and gorgeously smelling Organic Super Nutrient Body Oil. It's quick to absorb, which is perfect for post-swims, and is known to deeply hydrate and nourish. 

Better yet, this oil is not only great for dry skin but is also anti-aging by boosting collagen. It's a win win and a must-have in my swim bag.

We're over 80% of the way there with our Swim The Channel fundraising efforts, so for now we'll just keep swimming.

 

Virtually Swimming the English Channel in Aid of Heart Research UK Part 1

 My mother and I have challenged ourselves to swim the length of the English Channel in aid of Heart Research UK. You can read about the why on our JustGiving page, but on this blog I want to share updates of our progress, and,  if I pick up any hints and tips along the way, I'll drop them here. In case anyone else wants to take on the virtual channel swimming challenge.

As someone who only swims casually and rather sporadically, this was going to be quite some challenge. Yet it turns out that one of the biggest sticking points early on was actually deciding where to go swimming in the first place!

The full virtual channel swimming challenge is 22 miles, which for those of us who don't work in old money, is 35.406km. Put plainly, this was going to take a lot of lengths....and the likelihood of us getting bored of looking at the same four walls was pretty high.

So we decided to keep changing those four walls and sometimes scrap the walls altogether by adding some variety to our swims and trying out different pools around West Yorkshire in the process.

For the first swim, we took it one further by choosing the Swim2Music session at Bramley Baths. After all, what better way to kick off our virtual channel swimming challenge than by paddling to power ballads.

I had been wanting to visit Bramley Baths for some time now, as this historic gem is the last Edwardian bathhouse in Leeds. Having opened its doors in 1904, Bramley Baths was originally built as one of eight bath houses in an effort to improve public health in the time of a cholera outbreak.  

Back then, the bath house included a Russian Steam Baths as well as twenty slippers baths but over the years, it has had many reincarnations. During the Great Depression of the 1920s the pool was emptied and the space became a dance hall (today, we got the best of both worlds with melodic bathing) as well as hosting a variety of different events from Wrestling during WW2 and even rolling skating tournaments. 

Through constant reincarnations, community support and a little bit of help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Bramley Baths was a perfect place to start our marathon swim. The question is, where to next?

Here we come a wassailing

I love an old folklore tale as much as the next person, maybe more..After all, like I said in my Cumbrian tales blog, I am a second-gen hippie…. so whilst, as school choir girl, I would quite happily sing ‘Here we come a wassailing’ without the foggiest idea what a wassail was, I am now rather intrigued to find out more and impart my new knowledge onto you dear reader. As with all good English folk traditions, this one comes with cake!

The pagan festival of Wassailing, often thought to date back to the Anglo-Saxon times, has a lot of significance in rural areas and took place in the depths of a bleak midwinter, either on Twelfth Night or on Old Twelvey Night (17 January) according to the Julian calendar.

I guess that it’s a lot like us now marking Blue Monday in the calendar (around mid-January) as the most depressing day of the year. Or rather, as I like to think of it; Brew Monday, the perfect excuse to drink copious amounts of tea.

What is Wassailing?

This celebration, often taking place in orchards, was all about communal hope, good cheer, banishing bad spirits and trying to get the good spirits to bless the fruit trees and ensure a good harvest the following season.

Toasting the Apple Trees

All of this was done by causing a noisy riot around the apple trees, singing songs, dancing and drinking lots and lots of cider. A communal ‘Wassail bowl’ was used in the past for this ritual but I don’t think that would stand up to health and safety these days.

It wasn’t just the apples and pears that were celebrated during the Wassail. It was also symbolic for encouraging health and fertility, not only for the humans but also the animals.

In many places, Wassailing also took place within the barns and stables as livestock were also blessed for a good year to come. Farm hands would do this by dipping sprigs of rosemary in the Wassail bowl and then sprinkling cider on their heads - all while singing their praises.

Why Wassailing?

The word Wassail comes from the Old English ‘was hál’, meaning ‘be hale’ or ‘good health.’Another popular Wassailing tradition was house calling  - a lot like carol singers- where revellers would go from house to house, spreading good cheer by singing and offering good wishes in return for food and, more commonly, cider. 

                                            

                                        The Wassail at Eat Riddlesden Hall, Keighley

Besides copious amounts of cider, no wassail celebration was complete without a rich, hearty Wassail cake, often served warm. I’ve adapted this traditional recipe, much to the horror of actual Wassail goers by replacing cider with apple juice for a non-alcoholic version.

Non-Alcoholic Wassail Cake:

Ingredients:

• 225g eating apples (peeled and chopped)
• 110g raisins
• 110g walnuts
• 225g apple juice
• 170g butter
• 100g honey
• 4 medium eggs
• 200g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a square tin. (or round)
• Add the raisins and apple juice to a pan and bring to the boil, simmer for a few mintues to allow the raisins to plump up before adding the apples, walnuts and removing from the heat.
• Cream the butter and honey.
• Sift together the flour and baking powder. Gradually beat in the eggs
• Fold in half the flour, then half the cider mixture. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about an hour, or until golden and firm.

Serve your moist spiced cake with a warm apple juice, cider or a cup of tea.