Finally, approachable raw food recipes that don’t require 1-week to prep time to soak, sprout and dehydrate your dinner. I like her non-dogmatic approach and suggestions for non-raw foodies to heat recipes. I had a sinus infection and did a cleanse and ended up craving raw foods so I picked up her cookbooks. Not a seasonal or local eating plan during an east coast winter, but these raw meals feel nurturing and embody what winter lacks- sunshine, juiciness and energy. I’m addicted to the strawberry mylk! There are a ton of nuts in these recipes- even the drinks. I may have eaten more calories than my regular plant-based, seasonal, whole foods eating style. But if you follow the SAD (standard american diet), eat packaged foods, high-sodium snacks, and/or meat, you will drop pounds with Ani Phyo’s recipes while loving your meals.
AcroYoga: Intro to Acrobatics Workshop explored the colors and shapes we embody.
We colored inside and outside the lines.
Our highest expression was found in the mantra- “there are no mistakes- only opportunities”.
We accepted the creative process as free of blame and judgment.
And through this lens found chances to be heroic spotters, fly with ecstatic freedom and voice joy.
It’s easier to see somebody else’s mistakes/error/wrongs/bads.
When we stop, we open to a new range of possibilities:
co-creating colors, palettes and textures that haven’t been experienced before.
One of the highest creative forms is love. In the words of Hafiz:
What Is the root of all these words?
One thing: love.
But a love so deep and sweet
It needed to express itself
With scents, sounds, colors
That never before existed.
~Hafiz
Tatsoi is my new favorite vegetable for Fall. Tatsoi is like chard and spinach had a baby. A leafy, crinkly, green, tat soi is tasty raw or cooked. Add it to salads, soups, and stir-fries for extra flavor. It’s nutritional profile is excellent. It provides us with vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, folate, fiber and phytonutrients.
I wasn’t sure what to do with it and adapted this super simple and extra tasty tat soi salad from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Tat soi salad will keep in the fridge for a couple days.
Ingredients:
1 head tat soi
2-3 small scallions, finely chopped
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons brown rice vinegar
¼ – ½ teaspoon sea salt
ground pepper to taste
Wash and cut tat soi into 2 inch pieces and place in big salad bowl. Add scallions.
Dressing: mix oil and vinegar, add salt and pepper. Pour dressing on greens and mix (I use my hands for extra love)
Let sit for 30 minutes to marry flavors before eating.
6-8 servings.
As nature changes to vibrant, vivacious colors then fades and sheds in preparation for winter hibernation during autumn, the transitions can make us feel less grounded and leave us more susceptible to illness. To create balance in the fall, I also shed my excess outer layer, get rid of clutter and settle into cuddling, unfinished projects and self-nurturing activities like eating more disease-fighting foods and cooking in cast-iron pots.
My mom got me a set of cast-iron cookware for my birthday. Cast-iron is a great fall cooking method. Heavy, earthy, steady, metallic cast-iron pans are grounding and warm.
Yes, they are clunky and unrefined looking but cast iron has 3 health benefits that makes the weight workout worth it:
1) Cast-iron pans release iron into foods. *The enamel-covered cast-iron pans, i.e. the pretty colored one, will not have this iron-enriching benefit
2) A well-seasoned cast iron dish is naturally non-stick, without the use of chemicals
3) You can cook with less oil
Other benefits:
1) they heat more evenly, so your foods cook at the same rate.
2) They are inexpensive. The pricy brands tend to be the enamel-covered pans.
3) They are long-lasting, forever pans. My parent have had the same deep dish cast iron pan since I was a kid. I remember my mom baking my favorite bread in it and my dad making corn beef hash in it.
4) Cleaning it is a breeze, no scrubbing, wipe it out and make sure it’s dry to prevent rust and you’re good to go!
5) They work on the stove top and in the oven, making a versatile cooking dish.
Uddiyana bandha practice is associated with the sustenance of our physical state as well as our emotional and mental aspects. Uddiyana supports digestion and metabolism. It is the most advanced of the elimination sequence and is the preparation for nauli- a stomach churning/massage technique that make you able to digest poison (:
Contraindications: Do not perform uddiyana bandha if you are pregnant, have high blood pressure or glaucoma Tips: Practice uddiyana bandha only on an empty stomach. Uddiyana is done on an external breath retention only
Cow Back
Start on your hands and knees in a table top position.
Breath deeply. As you inhale, arch your back into cow back, sending your heart between your arms and looking up. Think of stretching the front of your spine.
Asyou exhale, round your back, like a Halloween cat. Bring your chin to your chest and empty your lungs completely.
Keep matching the movement to your breath. Inhale, cow back. Exhale, cat back. Tip: Focus on your exhalation, you can even exhale through your mouth, with sound and exhale until there’s no more sound and you feel your lower belly tones/hollows.
As you find your rhythm, tune in to the natural pauses at the end of the inhalation and the exhalation.
Downward Dog
With your next exhalation, stretch back to downward dog. Continue the breathing practice in this pose.
Keep your chin moving towards your chest and your gaze to your belly.
Inhale- lengthen the sides of your body
Exhale- hollow your lower belly, move your navel towards your spine
Inhale- expand your ribcage, while keeping your belly still.
Exhale- hollow your belly more.
Inhale- keep your navel drawn in and expand your ribcage
Flat Back
Bow
Step or hop your feet forward, between your hands.
Inhale- and place your hands on your shins, flat back.
Exhale- fold into your legs. Take a bow
Inhale- flat back, keep your belly drawn in
Exhale- bow and draw your navel to your spine.
Tip: As you move to uddiyana bandha, keep your belly still, and your direct your inhalations into your chest, not your belly. This is a fiery technique, different from a cooling and calming abdominal breathing exercise.
Uddiyana Stance
Step your feet outer hip width apart, bend your knees slightly and place your hands on your thighs, just above your knees.
Keep your spine horizontal, arms straight, knees slightly bent.
Keep your chin down, gaze at your belly
Uddiyana
Inhale- lengthen your side body, from hips to armpits
Exhale- all the air out, until your feel your lower belly lift and tone
Keep the air out- without taking in any air, expand your lower ribs as though your were inhaling and draw your navel to your spine, creating a vacuum effect.
Inhale – relax your belly
Exhale- empty everything out, lower belly tones
Hold the breath out- expand your ribcage as though you were inhaling and draw your navel to spine
Inhale – release your belly
Go for a third round.
Inhale and stand up.
Prana means life force in Sanskrit. Our breath contains our life force. Our first breath signifies the beginning of our life and our last breath marks its end. In classical yoga, pranayama is translated as control of the breath (prana-yama). In modern, Tantric traditions pranayama is translated as freeing the breath (prana -ayama). The benefits of pranayama include greated oxygenation of your body, stress-reduction, reduction is the symptoms of allergies and asthma, and a meditative state. Lie down and follow the guided yogic breath below (13 minutes for both).
I made this guided relaxation from my favorite savasana spot – the porch. It’s an urban relaxation- the outside sounds are all part of the experience. It’s easy to meditate when everything is calm and peaceful, but the practice is to find peace in the noise and the chaos.
Find stillness inside, even when there is noise and chaos outside, Lie down, get comfortable and give it a try.
I had the opportunity to take Jess Lazar’s class at Flow Yoga Center today and it was Awesome. Besides great music, she did a great guided meditation through the chakra centers. She generously taped it for me. Use it to tune in to all the gifts that you embody. Listen here:
I’m gearing up for a 14-day cleanse and extra excited. Fall is the season of change. In the Fall I have many projects going, some left unfinished from Summer, and I tend to lose my grounding. Then it’s Halloween, quickly followed by Thanksgiving, which rolls into Christmas-Kwanzaa-Chanukah-Festivus, that gives way to New Year’s Eve and by then connection to self is lost and I haven’t completed my goals for the fall. Does this cycle sound familiar? Bouncing between alcohol, cookies and little sleep; feeling low-energy and bleh, so quickly turning to extra sugary foods and caffeinated beverages to energize until your body shuts down from running on adrenaline, sugar and caffeine and maybe you end up in bed, sick. There is another way! It’s possible to set a routine early in the season to keep our immune system supported.
The dark months of the year, from Autumn Equinox, September 23, 2011 to the Spring Equinox, March 20, 2012 are a time for introspection and self-reflection. A gentle cleanse, focusing on whole foods that nurture us, seasonal and local foods that align us with nature’s rhythm and daily reflection to help us define, refine and actualize our self-vision, is an ideal way to move into autumn and stay connected to our whole, vibrant beings.
The Fall for You! Cleanse is through Flow Yoga Center: flowyogacenter.com, and includes daily support, menu plans, shopping lists and recipes. We’ll meet, greet and share, hopefully do yoga together (Flow is offering a $25, 2-week pass to non-members during the cleanse). Our first meeting is on the Fall Equinox to discuss and prepare, and the cleanse begins Monday, September 26 and ends October 9. I’m hoping to do a virtual cleanse later in the season, so please let me know if that interests you.
Below are additional resources of other means of cleansing and grounding in the season of transition and greater inner-focus.
*The Writing Diet by Julia Cameron is a book I found at the library. I haven’t read it yet but Cameron is the author of the hugely popular Artist’s Way and this seems like a writing cleanse! It’s perfect for a introspective, self-reflection, svadhyaya cleanse (:
*Yoga Journal is offering an online 7-day cleanse. Visit http://falldetox.yogajournal.com/
* Enjoy a mindful, cleansing meal: Green Rice
This nourishing and gently cleansing dish is simple and flavorful. It’s full of antioxidants, immune boosting medicinal mushrooms, protein and minerals.
1/4 medium-sized red onion, chopped
1.5 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil
10-12 shitake mushrooms, sliced
1.5 cup brown rice
3 cups water
1 tablespoon mirin sweet vinegar
1 tablespoon ume plum wine vinegar
2 tablespoons spirulina
1.5 tablespoon fresh, chopped cilantro or other green herbs in season
NOTE: 1 tablespoon tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) can be substituted for the 2 tablespoons vinegar
Stove top Method:
1. Add rice, water and ½ tablespoon oil to a medium pot
2. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat. Cook until water is absorbed, (~25 min.s)
3. Meanwhile, in a saute pan, heat remaining oil on low, add onions. Cook, stirring frequently until glassy
4. Add mushrooms, cook, stirring frequently
4. When rice is cooked, add mushroom mixture, vinegars and spirulina. Mix and garnish with fresh herbs.
Rice Cooker Method:
1. Add coconut oil, mushrooms and onion to rice cooker and turn it on.
2. Let simmer until onions start to turn glassy, about 5 minutes
3. Add rice and water. Let cook
4. Once cooked, mix in vinegars, spirulina and herbs
This blog from Pigtail Pals especially resonated with me this week. I have been struggling with how to move forward with my dream for creating a non-profit that increases nutrition and health literacy for people in my community and also provides an outlet for me to share the science-based nutrition information that I receive daily. The seemingly Galioth-like endeavor has left me feeling full of self-doubt. I do remember those mornings of waking up knowing I could do anything and all my dreams are possible! My mantra to get back on track is “Success is mine, in any way that I imagine it”.
Read on for you own dose of awesome!
There was a time when you were five years old,
and you woke up full of awesome.
You knew you were awesome.
You loved yourself.
You thought you were beautiful,
even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks inside your grubby sneakers.
You loved your body, and the things it could do.
You thought you were strong.
You knew you were smart.
Do you still have it?
The awesome.
Did someone take it from you?
Did you let them?
Did you hand it over, because someone told you weren’t beautiful enough, thin enough, smart enough, good enough?
Why the hell would you listen to them?
Did you consider they might be full of shit?
Wouldn’t that be nuts, to tell my little girl that in another five or ten years she might hate herself because she doesn’t look like a starving and Photoshopped fashion model?
Or even more bizarre, that she should be sexy over smart, beautiful over bold?
Are you freaking kidding me?
Look at her. She is full of awesome.
You were, once. Maybe you still are. Maybe you are in the process of getting it back.
All I know is that if you aren’t waking up feeling like this about yourself, you are really missing out.
My name is Vanessa King. I am a yoga teacher and nutrition specialist dedicated to practices that empower & uplift. This space is to offer inspiring finds and ask "How Many Ways Do You Celebrate Yourself?"
Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes by Ani Phyo
