Vitality Brunch Pop Up

Yesterday I attended the first ever Vitality Brunch pop up event hosted
by Primrose’s Kitchen and Alice Cowen from Fitness DNA at the beautiful Came
House just outside Dorchester courtesy of Rags MacGregor.

A frosty tranquil start for a morning of empowering a new consciousness

I’d seen the event pop up on my Facebook newsfeed from
Fitness DNA’s page, as soon as I read the activities for the morning, I knew I
had to sign up.

• Meditation and Sat Kriya 
• DNA Circuit Training and Stretch
• Thermomix demo 
• Brunch 
• Primrose’s kitchen recipe secrets 

The last time I’d driven down to Came was for the annual
Dorchester Show as a teenager jumping my unpredictable Warmblood called Wizard
in the BSJA classes, so it was lovely to be back in familiar surroundings pushing myself
into the unknown.

Parked down at the stables I walked up the frosty path and
met Alice from Thermomix and her friend who’d come down from London the night
before. We were greeted by Primrose and Alice who were putting the final
touches to the rooms which gave us a chance to warm up by the open fire in the
gorgeous sitting room.

Once all of the nearly 20 guests arrived we moved into the
most beautiful chandelier lit room overlooking the Came Estate. Views like
these make you feel so grateful for living in Dorset. 

Sitting cross legged in a circle Primrose explained what was
coming up, and gave an overview of meditation. We started with a short
mediation closing our eyes and focussing on the now letting thoughts flow in
and out. Which is pretty difficult to switch off to start with and then lots of
thoughts pop in. I think most of mine involved thinking about my holiday in
Fuerteventura in two weeks’ time! We then had to introduce ourselves and share
our intentions for the year whether it was to be fitter and healthier or for myself
focussing on me and worrying less about pleasing others – letting the real me
come out.

Primrose explained about a powerful yoga pose called Sat
Kriya which we could practice daily for 3 minutes a day to help de-stress and
focus on the now. It’s a pose which done regularly helps to heal, regenerate
the body and give you energy. As an amateur yogi it’s a bit tricky to explain
so here’s a fab link online I found. After a minute of the ‘sat’ ‘nam’ chant
there were lots of giggles, I’m sure with practice it’s easy to build up to the
3 minutes.

Sat Kriya Pose

We then had a quick break before starting our circuits with
Alice from Fitness DNA. I’ve had the pleasure in knowing Alice since I was very
little going to school together at both Sunninghill and Leweston, riding/competing
horses together and sharing lifts at the weekend back to University in Bristol.
So, for me it was great to see Alice who totally rocked the class, empowering everyone
and giving words of encouragement to those who might not find exercise so easy
or like me needed a kick up the bum to work a bit harder!

We paired up with someone of similar fitness levels and my
partner in crime was the lovely Pippa from In the Bag PR. We had to work our
way round about 10-12 stations spending 30 seconds concentrating on that
particular exercise. And then once we completed one circuit go round again and
move onto a different exercise. In total we completed about 24 different
exercises working the whole body from squats, planks, lunges, weight lifts,
press ups and not a burpee in sight! I think Pippa and I spent the whole session
giggling, catching up and swearing through some of the routines but we both
bossed it!! After some mat work concentrating on the abs and a good stretch it
was time to move onto the foodie bit.

Action shot of The Bridge – by the looks of my face, I’m in pain – so it must be working!

Mid circuits

Enjoying a good stretch

Alice (centre) demonstrating the importance of a good stretch

We were given a shot of lemon and ginger to drink for
boosting the immune system and increase metabolism. It was very sharp and best
downed rather than sipped, but you felt that it was definitely doing some good
to the body.

Moving into the dining hall, Alice from Thermomix gave a demo
on how you can use this amazing kitchen appliance which is 12 different appliances
in 1. It made my NutriBullet seem like a mere child compared to this techy
gadget. Alice showed us how you could make butternut squash and turmeric soup
as well as almond milk from fresh. We then got to taste everything. The soup
was delicious, I’d never thought about adding turmeric before. The almond milk
was okay, I must admit if I have almond milk at home I wouldn’t drink it on its
own as I’m not the biggest fan of almond’s..

Alice demonstrating Thermomix

Brunch…. was amazing all using Primrose’s recipes

Vitality Brunch

Blueberry & banana chia pudding

Smashed avocado with chilli & lime on paleo bread

Raw vegetable, pickled ginger & quinoa sushi

Butternut Squash and Tumeric Soup

Almond milk

Primrose ran another segment after brunch telling us about
the power of fermentation through sauerkraut – German for sour vegetable. Which until that morning I’d
never heard of. We were given a bowl with finely cut red and white cabbage and carrots
(there was also a bean sprout – I think!). We had to massage the ingredients
with our hands helping to drain out the fluid before putting them into a glass
jar to take home with us. The jar can sit in the kitchen for 5 days and then
eat on toast, with a salad or on its own. There are endless health benefits of
sauerkraut you just have to look at google – including increasing digestive
health, boosting circulation, stimulating your immune system, giving you energy
and protecting against cancer.

Sauerkraut

My little pot of sauerkraut fermenting away

The Vitality Brunch was an excellent way to escape the norm
of day to day life, think about you, what you eat, the processes you use and
exercising or ‘empower a new consciousness’.

Lots of great tips and hints I’ll take away from the
day. It was jam packed and great value for money at £49. I look forward to another collaboration soon between Primrose’s Kitchen
and Fitness DNA. To make sure you don’t miss out here are some handy links:

Primrose’s Kitchen:

Website www.primroseskitchen.com 

Facebook – PrimrosesKitchen 

Instagram @PrimrosesKitchen 

Twitter @PrimrosesKit 

Fitness DNA

Website www.fitnessdna.co.uk 

Facebook – Fitness DNA

Instagram @DanaandAliceFitness

Twitter @DNAFitness2

Lara Jane Thorpe – Lara took some fab foodie pictures & posted them on
Instagram @LaraJaneThorpe