There are two types of people - those who like peppers and those who hate them. I am definitely a pepper lover and enjoy them in every shape, color and form - raw as a snack, stuffed and baked (my favorite filling is lentils with seasonal veggies), and in salads and wok dishes. In today's recipe, red peppers are used as one of the sauce components, and the result is simply fascinating.
The sauce is reminiscent of romesco, but since my version is whipped up to taste, using the ingredients I had at home (which means that half of the ingredients used for authentic romesco sauce are replaced) I don't dare call it fancy names. I believe calling it roasted pepper and almond sauce paints a good picture of this sauce.
There is nothing complicated about making the sauce to start with. Still, if you want to simplify the process further, you can use store-bought roasted peppers - in this case, choose a jar with as few additives as possible and preferably in an oil-based marinade. However, if you are planning to grill anyway, or have a gas stove, then freshly roasted peppers are the best option. I don't have a grill or a gas stove, so I baked the peppers in the oven and still got a lovely result. So in other words, the lack of inventory should not be an obstacle
Roasted Red Pepper and Almond Sauce
Cooking time: 15 min
Ingredients:
5 large roasted and cleaned red peppers
2 ripe tomatoes
4 oz toasted almonds
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
The juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper
A tiny bit of maple syrup
Instructions:
Chop up the capsicum, tomatoes, and almonds roughly, throw them in a blender or food processor.
Whizz up to a sauce. It doesn’t need to be ultra-smooth, some chunky bits are okay.
Mix in half of the balsamic vinegar and lemon juice, mix well, and have a taste. Add more lemon or vinegar, if needed, season with salt and pepper, and if you feel that the sauce needs a little extra sweetness, add a tiny bit of maple syrup too.
Keep in a sealed jar in the fridge. It will be good for up to a week.
For roasting the peppers, you can use one of these options or just use store-bought ones:
Place the whole peppers on the grill or over an open flame on the gas stove. Roast on all sides until the skin is slightly charred and the flesh slightly softened. Place the peppers in a bowl, cover and let them sit for 10 minutes. Then remove the skin and seeds from the peppers, but be careful – they are still hot.
If you don’t have a grill or gas stove, roast the peppers in the oven using the grill mode if you have it. Place the peppers on a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes on 480F. Proceed the same way as in the previous method.
By Kadri Raig
Kadri is a food blogger and yoga teacher from Estonia. She does love to spend time in the kitchen, but most of her recipes are simple and don’t take more than 20 minutes of active cooking time. She thinks that everybody can find time to cook healthy food at home, it is just a question of planning. "I work in an office full time, teach yoga 7-8 hours a week and write a blog. So if I manage to cook most of my meals, then so do you!" Connect with Kadri and enjoy many more of her delicious healthy recipes on her website here: www.kahvliga.ee.
Try this free meditation class before your delicious sauce!
Meditation: Release Reactivity with Geenie Celento
If you're feeling like you're stuck in a rut do not worry. We all have our moments, you're never stuck, and there are things you can do, on any given day, to turn the momentum around.
This is not a post to disregard or invalidate whatever you may be feeling, but rather to encourage you not to get stuck there and keep doing your best to stay bright and optimistic.
Ready to turn things around?
Try any one of the 10 things below to feel a little lighter and brighter and get yourself out of a funk:
1. Walk it Out
Sometimes you just need to move your body, to get stagnant energy that can be clouding your body and mind to move. Walking is a simple yet profound way to bring some vitality back to your being. Go walk somewhere new for an added bonus and to avoid falling into autopilot. Even 10 - 30 minutes can be enough.
2. Talk to Someone You Love Honestly
It's often easier to hide away and pretend like everything is jolly when you're feeling low. While there is no use in wallowing away in pity, there is power and bravery in vulnerability and telling someone that you've been having a harder than usual time without feeling ashamed about it. Open, honest sharing can be a really useful reminder that we're all human and have challenges, and that you're not alone. It's common to feel more connected and supported after opening up.
3. Music is Medicine
Indulge in sound. If you're feeling low, play your music loud. Give yourself whichever kind of genre you need. Sad music has a time and place. Rap can give you a confidence boost. Meditation and ambient music can help everything settle. And dance music can get your blood pumping and make you want to dance around. Enjoy!
4. Go for a Drive
Drive for the sake of driving. You can of course combine this with tip #3 for a feel-good experience to clear your head. Sometimes when we feel stuck, it can be a matter of feeling stuck geographically also. Drive somewhere, open the windows, put on music or a podcast you love, and enjoy the scenery.
5. Go into Nature
Sometimes the answers lie in nature. Go somewhere you can immerse yourself in the beauty of the natural world to slow and quiet down for a moment.
Take a moment to pause, and ask for the solutions and breakthroughs that you're wanting, while you're somewhere beautiful. Nature and moments of reflection can bring solace and a sense of connection and support.
6. Meditate
Often it's easier to look outwards to solve problems that are causing us trouble. Go within through meditation, and you might find some useful answers. The idea behind meditation is that if we get our thoughts into a better place, the benefits will ripple outwards into our lives.
7. Journal
Writing things down can bring needed clarity. Journaling doesn't have to be structured but it can be if preferred. Write about what you've been feeling, how you want to feel, or anything that feels unresolved. You can also write letters to people you love also.
8. Run
Similar to #1, movement is healing and sometimes cardio is especially powerful. It's hard to be caught up in negative thoughts or emotions when your heart is beating and your body is charging full steam ahead. Making yourself exercise until you sweat, in various forms, is one of the easiest ways to boost endorphins and boost your mood in the process.
9. Get Artistic & Make Something
Paint, collage, take photos, do something you love to do or want to learn how to do. Using your hands and getting creative is one of the easiest ways to get out of your head and can be uplifting to your entire well-being. Children are happy to play and create endlessly, with no bigger goal in mind than to enjoy the process. As adults, it can be easy not to go there as frequently, but the creative flow is one of the best places to be. Let yourself there more often, simply for the sake of creating, without taking yourself too seriously or putting pressure on yourself to create masterpieces. Explore until you find artistic mediums that make you feel good and you can always browse the internet for endless instructional videos and ideas.
10. Yoga
"You're only one yoga class away from a good mood."-unknown. This is usually true. Almost all yoga classes have you feeling better at the end than you did at the beginning. If you've been feeling low it can sometimes be harder to show up on your mat but the rewards are worth it.
Showing up is sometimes the hardest thing you'll do in the class, but being able to practice gentle styles of yoga online from your home to make it easier than ever.
Poses in particular that are uplifting, are all inversions (including partial inversions like Forward Fold or Downward Facing Dog). and backbends, which are are beneficial if you're feeling low on energy or sad. They're uplifting and energizing.
11. Clean or Re-Decorate Your Space
Beautify your space, and clear your clutter. Feng Shui is about how your external living space is a reflection of your inner state of well-being and vice versa. It's all connected. If you're feeling scattered, your space will look and feel scattered (and walking into a scattered place can make you feel that way also).
Simplify and beautify your space, to feel better internally. Throw out things you don't need, or never use, and you might feel lighter. Feng Shui Your Life and The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up are two books on this subject that I highly recommend.
12. Buy Yourself a Present
Don't retail therapy your way out of uncomfortable feelings, but once in a while, getting yourself something you don't need, but that brings joy, is worth it and can give you a boost. Treat yourself! You're worth it.
13. Stop Complaining
If you've felt stuck in a rut, it can be easy for some to hide, but for others, it can be easier to dwell on it and speak constantly about why you're dissatisfied with everyone you encounter. Challenge yourself, to not complain for one week, and see how your life changes, even subtly.
14. Read a Good Book
Endless social media browsing is actually being proven to increase anxiety while reading has been shown to calm humans down. Go find a good book to read and give your mind a breather that comes from getting lost in a good book.
If you're been out of reading regularly for a while, look around for a book that you're excited to dive into. Sometimes, getting into one book you cannot put down, is all that it takes to get back into reading regularly.
15. Eat Cleaner
If you're eating nothing but garbage, you're going to feel like garbage. It's pretty simple when we think about it, but depending on where you live, eating processed food all of the time is sadly the norm and easier to do than eat healthy, in many places. You don't have to transform your diet altogether or overnight, but adding some simple foods that grow from the earth into your diet, like fruits and vegetables, can go a long way, into giving your body the nutrients you need to feel good.
Make one simple smoothie a day. There are many excellent, and easy smoothie recipes here from the brilliant ladies from the Conscious Cleanse.
Remember, you're never stuck. There are actions you can take each and every day to give yourself a boost. Look forwards, not back, and experiment with this list until you find the things that work best for you.
By Keith Allen
Practice meditation for free right now, to turn things around and stay bright!
Are you ready to mix up your week with some new workouts that will enrich your yoga practice? We’re excited to share a 6-part bootcamp from Erin Wimert, YogaDownload.com’s top barre teacher, that will have you shaking, sweating, and smiling. If you’re not familiar with this total-body fitness class, barre is a challenging workout that combines elements of classical ballet barre, Pilates, and body-weight exercises. But don’t worry: no dance experience needed.
5 reasons to integrate barre into your routine:
Strength: Barre focuses on the entire body, with a heavy emphasis on core and lower body. Instead of classic calisthenics, barre class emphasizes isometric contractions, focusing on the smaller accessory muscles that act as a girdle to the larger muscles of the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps. Working the lower body in this way aids in creating a stable pelvis and helps support the joints and spine.
Posture: Depending upon the style of yoga you customarily practice, you may or may not be used to a precise focus on alignment. Barre, with its origins from dance and work standing at a ballet barre, emphasizes elongating the spine, strengthening and opening the chest and shoulders, and will leave you standing taller after just one class. Each movement is controlled and precise and helps you improve your posture, which in turn aids you in proper alignment in your yoga practice.
Mind-body connection: Barre and yoga both share an emphasis on the mind-body connection. You cannot coast through a barre class, just like you can’t coast through a yoga class. Breath is really important in barre work to manage the high repetitions. Working the smaller accessory muscles to failure requires determination and mental focus. When your muscles are shaking like jello, you need to dig deep and use your steady breath to finish strong.
Core Strength: A major portion of barre class emphasizes using your abdominals and back to maintain proper alignment. In addition to a dedicated floor abs section, the standing barre work requires stabilization through your center to maintain balance and posture. A strong core is essential in yoga to protect the back and aid in balancing on your hands or on one leg.
Flexibility: Barre class focuses on working the muscles to failure, followed by stretching to prevent injury and give the muscles an elongated look, like those of a dancer. By working your body in a different way than you do in yoga, you create a cross-training effect, which improves your practice.
It’s always important to mix-up the way you move to prevent injury and improve physical performance. Give one or all of these excellent short classes a try this week––you’ll be glad you did.
Ready to give it a try?
This warm salad is a nice nutritious main meal that, in my opinion, does not need anything else, but for meat lovers, it can also be served as a side next to meat or fish. I occasionally do eat fish and meat, but I never add it to this salad myself. The carrots, avocado, and seeds are filling as they are. The dish is approved by omnivores, and even my boyfriend who never likes vegetables (and weirdly enough is a vegetarian) is always happy to eat two portions of this one.
The creaminess of the avocado, crunchiness of toasted seeds, and earthiness of carrots combined is a perfect plateful for a little chillier summer night. Like many of my recipes, this salad uses a ton of coriander. If you are one of those who don’t like it, feel free to substitute for arugula. But if you have only tasted coriander for a few times, I recommend to give it another go as it is one of those flavors that needs a little getting used to. I remember when it wasn’t my favorite, and today I add it to almost every recipe!
If you can find them, this recipe benefits from using multicolored carrots – purple, white, orange… Unfortunately, I only have regular orange carrots in my garden this year, so my salad does not look as exciting as it could look, but it still tastes fantastic!
I have used a little feta cheese because the tanginess is beautiful here, but if you prefer the vegan option, just omit it.
Warm Avocado and Carrot Salad
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4
2 pounds carrots (in different colors, if possible)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 + 2 tbsp olive oil
Dried chili flakes, to taste
1 tsp coconut sugar
½ orange
½ lemon
Mixed seeds (I used poppy seeds and sunflower seeds this time)
2 ripe avocados
A handful of coriander (or substitute for arugula)
Some feta to sprinkle on top
Salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 390 F and bring a large pot with water to boil.
Scrub the carrots and peel, if you feel like it (I usually do not peel fresh carrots). Cut the larger ones lengthways to halves or quarters, leave the smaller ones whole.
Cook the carrots in boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain and let them steam dry.
At the same time, crush the spices with mortar and pestle, then add the vinegar and 2 tbsp of olive oil and mix to a homogenous paste.
Mix hot carrots with the paste and cook them for 25 minutes in the oven until they are softened and crisped up a little. Add the halved citrus fruit to the pan too.
As long as your carrots and citrus are baking, toast the seeds on a dry pan. Peel and cut the avocado.
Once the carrots are done, carefully squeeze the juice out of the orange and lemon to a big bowl, add the rest of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
Place the carrots to the same big bowl, add avocado, seeds, and a handful of coriander – carefully mix again.
Serve warm, and if you want to, crumble some feta cheese on top.
In more ways than one, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed our sense of normal. These days, more people find themselves working remotely as the virus continues sweeping across the globe, forcing many establishments to shut down their offices.
Most children are staying at home as well and logging on for their classes rather than catching the school bus. There are also fewer opportunities to get out and socialize with friends and family. This means that many of us are stuck at home all day long. Unfortunately, all this time spent inside can lead to increased issues with your health.
Our work environments changed so drastically and quickly it’s no wonder that people are beginning to feel both the mental and physical effects of long-term isolation. Luckily, yoga is here to help. Yoga, paired with other health-positive changes, can help soften the strain that COVID-19 has put on all of us.
If you require a reset, here are some useful tips to help get you started as you adjust to working remotely.
Yoga to the Rescue
In a time where COVID-19 has made it unsafe to live as we once did, yoga is a perfect outlet. Beyond work-related stress, there is also tension stemming from the fear that you or a loved one might get sick. This, on top of all the other stressors such as closed schools and financial uncertainty, is mentally and physically draining.
To get through this unique time, it’s worth making an effort to utilize yoga, mindful meditation, and deep-breathing exercises more often. Practicing yoga has also been shown to reduce cortisol, the hormone that causes stress, and increases GABA, which is a brain chemical that can produce a calming effect. Meditation can also help take your mind off of the never-ending stream of bad news and focus more inwardly. Whether you’re a beginner or yoga veteran, there’s a pose out there that can help you get through these new stressors of life.
Invest in Your Workspace
At the beginning of this pandemic, you could argue that your hastily put together home office was perfectly fine and functional. You may have not felt the need to invest in your home office because this was only supposed to be a short, temporary situation. As we have all witnessed, the COVID-19 situation only grew more acute. This means that for the last four months you’ve likely been working in an office completely inadequate for your work and health needs.
This can negatively impact your health in several ways. If your chair is old and unsupportive, your back and posture are likely to suffer. If your desk is too small or seriously lacking storage, you often end up unorganized and stressed out trying to track down important documents. To start making the most out of your home office, and cut down on those negative side effects, you’ve got to create a better workstation and routine.
Creating a more ergonomic workstation doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. Start by addressing your top-priority needs and work your way down. A few great ideas to begin with are:
Computer Chair: Switch to a chair that is easy to adjust and provides support in the right places. A proper backrest can better support the lumbar curve on your lower back which helps relieve pressure on your vertebrae.
Monitors: Our eyes can take a beating when staring at computer screens all day long, which can lead to headaches and blurry vision. Adjust the lighting on your computer’s monitor or switch to night mode. And make sure it’s around 20 inches away from your face so your eyes aren’t working as hard to focus. Avoid strains in your neck by keeping your monitor at or below eye level as well.
Distractions: To keep your productivity up, set up a routine, and stick with it. This is where yoga can play a key role in your workday. Each day or whenever you’re feeling anxious and distracted, take ten minutes to do some low-impact yoga stretches that improve focus and productivity. Not only will this help with concentration but excessive sitting is harmful to your health so it’s a great excuse to get up and moving.
Get Some Fresh Air
By now, you might be feeling as though going outside, meeting up with loved ones, and heading out on some wild adventure is a thing of the past. Despite most cities removing their shelter in place orders, many of us still stay inside most of the day. However, there are many scientifically-proven benefits of spending time outside such as decreased stress, higher-quality sleep, lowered blood pressure, and enhanced creativity.
The next time you’re finished with work for the day, try grabbing your yoga mat and heading outside. Find a spot that you can safely distance from other people on and enjoy the sounds and sights of the outdoors while you stretch. Start with some stress-relieving poses such as Standing Forward Bend or Rabbit Pose. Then try targeting specific areas such as your back, which even in the best of office chairs can still ache after a long day at work. Downward-Facing Dog and Extended Triangle are classic poses that feel amazing and help with back pain.
If you want a break from yoga, going for a simple walk around the neighborhood is also a great way to get you moving and enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer. Bring a journal with you and take a small break to jog down some of the thoughts you had while walking around. It can be very therapeutic to write down your fears, worries, hopes, and dreams, especially while the sun is setting and the sky is full of those magnificent colors. Whatever you like to do, just get outside and enjoy the healing properties of the great outdoors.
Working remotely more is just one side effect that COVID-19 has had on our way of life. The year 2020 has certainly been a rollercoaster and we’ve still got a few months to go. This year, perhaps more than ever before, it’s important that you find more ways to keep your body, mind, and soul healthy. Yoga is one solution but there are others you can also utilize that can help make this trying time a bit easier to manage.
By Frankie Wallace
Frankie Wallace is a freelance writer from the Pacific Northwest of the United States. She writes about a variety of topics, but manages to spend her free time tending to her garden and cuddling with her cat, Casper.
External sources: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/06/coronavirus-is-taking-a-toll-on-workers-mental-health-across-america.html https://eberlestock.com/a/blog/10-scientifically-proven-benefits-of-being-outside-for-your-mental-physical-health https://valleyoaks.org/health-hub/the-relationship-between-covid-19-anxiety-and-yoga/ https://online.maryville.edu/blog/a-guide-to-creating-an-ergonomic-workstation-for-studying/ https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-cortisol#1
Iyengar yoga is a type of yoga that was developed by B.K.S Iyengar - and also named after him. He was one of the people who was partly responsible for bringing the modern practice of yoga to the Western world.
B.K.S. Iyengar was born in 1918 in Bellur, India. B.K.S. Iyengar practiced yoga for over 85 years, but began his study under his guru, T. Krishnamacharya - also sometimes known as the Father of modern yoga. B.K.S Iyengar brought the practice of yoga to the western world in the 197’0’s and wrote the book Light on Yoga, which has been a book many yoga students across the world have studied for generations.
Iyengar yoga is identified by being similar to the classic Hatha yoga traditions, but with lots of attention on the technical alignment and proper posing. This helps keep the mind drawn inward, but also connected to reality.
Iyengar yoga focuses on three different aspects - timing, alignment, and sequencing. In particular; timing, the poses are held for long periods of time. You are encouraged in Iyengar yoga to find stability in a pose, and only then, intensify the depth of your posture. This will help your strength and flexibility. Alignment typically means to stay in the yoga pose while still maintaining your body's boundaries, and not pushing it past that.
In Iyengar yoga, you may often use props to assist with your asanas while reducing the risk of injury. Alignment can help to bring balance to your body and mind. Finally, sequencing means the order of poses are practiced. This allows a structured progression and helps your body to open up to some of the deeper poses.
You’ll be in good hands in your first Iyengar class - teachers have to undergo a very in-depth three-year training before they are allowed to lead a class. This is due to the very strong emphasis Iyengar has on the body's proper alignment.
Iyengar was developed after B.K.S Iyengar started practicing yoga as a child due to poor health. He found that with a daily practice, the health benefits in his body were evident. This started his knowledge of anatomy and gave him a therapeutic approach to yoga practice.
Iyengar advocates the use of props such as blocks and straps to help you gain the correct alignment for your individual body. Some of the unique benefits to Iyengar include better physical health, better posture, tension release, and boosted energy, which is why it is suitable for everybody.
Iyengar yoga typically gives an in-depth demonstration of poses, and helps to teach users both the doing and how to do the asanas. Teachers will demonstrate poses, to help show pupils the correct alignment and shapes. This helps you to be safe in your practice and gives a better understanding of the pose from the start. Be prepared to learn and listen to instructions!
As mentioned before, Iyengar is an alignment-based practice. You may be asked to align your body in new or different ways. This is so you can examine how your body's alignment is, and gives a holistic edge to your practice. Your teacher may provide verbal or hands-on adjustments to guide you into the correct alignment for each pose.
Progression is important in Iyengar yoga, and when you start out there can be a lot to learn. To excel at Iyengar, it expects a knowledge of sequencing, physiology, asana and pranayama techniques as well as an understanding of the philosophical aspects of yoga. If you have never tried Iyengar before, make sure you practice a beginners class, and only move up a class if you are ready.
Iyengar classes typically include inversions, such as shoulder stands and headstands. It’s important to listen to your instructor and attempt these poses safely, keeping your body aligned. You’ll work up to these poses by strengthening your arms and shoulders in easier classes first.
If you’re struggling to get into the poses, use props! Iyengar yoga advocates the use of props - in fact, B.K.S Iyengar was the originator of many of the props we still use in yoga classes today. Straps, bolsters, and bricks are just a few of the props you might find in an Iyengar yoga class. You can use props to deepen your poses, and help your understanding of the pose and alignment, or to help you get into a certain pose. Props help you to explore poses in new and different ways.
Iyengar yoga is one of the most popular types of yoga out there. The popularity has spread through the teachings of B.K.S Iyengar and his family. There are teachers across the world who specialize in Iyengar.
Enjoy these Iyengar yoga classes, right now, at home, or on the go with the YogaDownload app!
Introduction to Iyengar Yoga with Dana Hanizeski
Iyengar Yoga: Deep Release for the Hips & Legs with Dana Hanizeski
“If the foundation is firm, the building can withstand calamities. The practice of Yoga is the foundation, so that the Self is not shaken under any circumstances.” – B.K.S. Iyengar
With the world in a tumultuous state these days, it’s more important than ever to fortify our inner strength and foundation. Iyengar Yoga is an excellent path to create more stability. Along with Pattabhi Jois, B.K.S. Iyengar was one of the two most famous students of the Father of Modern Yoga, T. Krishnamacharya. Both teachers are credited with bringing their interpretation of the Eight-Limbed Yoga Path to the West. If you love Vinyasa Yoga, thank Ashtanga Yoga founder Pattabhi Jois because Vinyasa flow is a derivative of his style. Iyengar went in another direction.
The author of Light on Yoga, one of the most revered yoga books, developed his style due to necessity from his own experience as a sickly child. As a result, he experimented with props like blocks and straps and integrated them into a slower alignment-based practice. Iyengar believed yoga was for everybody regardless of physical or mental challenges. He created a yoga practice where significant time is spent in each asana (physical posture) with props to support those with limited flexibility. Imagine spending a sixty-minute class focusing solely on Trikonasana (Triangle Pose).
Through extended holds with detailed alignment from the feet to the crown of the head, students learn to quiet their mind and gain more clarity and calm. Instead of flowing with the breath in faster-paced classes, Iyengar aims to slow you down to truly develop awareness of physical sensations and penetrate deeper into the mind’s capacity. Iyengar was unique in that he wanted his students to master the physical postures before teaching pranayama (breath control) because pranayama is more advanced. His books Light on Pranayama and Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali delve deeper his shared wisdom.
The therapeutic aspect of Iyengar’s teaching helps students rehabilitate from injury and rebuild their physical fitness. Just as Iyengar used props in order to build his own strength and flexibility, he recommends props for students to find an accessible and safe practice. He believed that props allow you to progress further because you aren’t risking injury by trying to achieve a particular alignment.
This week, you can deepen your understanding of this style of yoga with two classes from Dana Hanizeski, and a new class in Spanish from Noemi using the Iyengar chair. Desiree Rumbaugh, an Iyengar certified teacher, also shares an Iyengar inspired class where you will learn healthy mechanics in postures.
Enjoy these Iyengar yoga classes in both English and Spanish!
Iyengar Yoga for the Hips& Legs with Dana Hanizeski
Strengthen, Protect, & Heal the Lower Back with Desiree Rumbaugh
Guerreros Usando Silla with Noemi Nuñez
It’s peach season here in Colorado, and it wouldn’t be summertime in Colorado without some fresh peaches from our local farmer’s market. In honor of one of our favorite stone fruits, we thought we’d share a recipe today that is just ‘peachy!’
Nothing says summer more than biting into a fresh, juicy peach, and this green smoothie recipe is the perfect way to use all those perfectly ripe peaches that start popping up in local farmer’s markets this time of year.
Peaches are a relatively low-sugar fruit, so they won’t spike your blood sugar and leave you crashing in a few hours. Peaches are also high in dietary fiber to help keep you regular, and a great source of immune-boosting Vitamin C.
This smoothie recipe is a great intro to green smoothies – it’s perfect for green smoothie newbies and kiddos. It really does taste like peach pie in a jar!
We hope you enjoy this yummy green smoothie! Make sure to share it with your non-smoothie loving friends – who knows, you might have some green smoothie converts.
With love and summer peaches,
Peach Pie Smoothie
Yield: 1 quart
2 cups water 1 banana 1 cup peaches 2 cups spinach 1 tsp vanilla
In a high-speed blender, add water, banana, peaches, spinach and vanilla. Blend until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!
If you liked this recipe, we invite you to join our online community! As a welcome-gift, we’ll send you our Green Smoothie eCookbook, a collection of more of our favorite easy smoothie recipes!
We also share new recipes, free live calls with us, and more healthy lifestyle tips, plus let you know when our next group cleanse is coming. Welcome! We’re so glad you’re here.
Jo Schaalman and Jules Peláez are co-authors of the book The Conscious Cleanse: Lose Weight, Heal Your Body and Transform Your Life in 14 Days, a best-selling, step-by-step guide to help you live your most vibrant life. Together they’ve led thousands of people through their online supported cleanse through their accessible and light-hearted approach. They’ve been dubbed “the real deal” by founder and chief creative director Bobbi Brown, of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, beauty editor of the TODAY show.
Life begins and ends with you. It is all too easy to use time to rattle off numerous reasons why life is harder, tougher, sadder or more challenging for you. Why waste the time though!
We each have the same 24 hours in our days to make use of. You and you alone get to choose how you will spend them.
If you dedicate 8 to sleep and 8 to work, you still have 8 to fill and fulfill. That’s 56 untapped hours each week. A whopping 2952 hours a year waiting for you to tap into and utilize their potential. How do you choose to spend them?
A reminder though, you can not bank or store them, so spend them wisely.
Sure, sitting in a corner, hiding from life, and passing blame is one option. Bending to conformity, shying from self expression and breathing beige is another. I encourage you to explore the third option though. Let’s have a look at what is behind door number 3 shall we?
What if you owned your life? You were 100% connected and committed to you. You live large. You embrace change. You are you - whole heartedly, unwaveringly and unapologetically.
Life is your creation and your responsibility. Everyone else is busy “doing” their life, they don’t have time to “do” your life for you.
Take charge, have ownership, and accept responsibility. Stop naming and blaming and start living and loving.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but make sure they are good ones. If you cant even make unique mistakes how are you going to get unique results?
Make errors that are unique and are the outcome of trying something new and untested. The bigger the risk the bigger the reward.
Surround yourself with loving people, who will dust you off, confirm how much you failed, but then send you straight back into your life to try again.
Be different for the right reasons. Get noticed for being boldly different rather than not blending in enough. Be seen for being you, gloriously you.
Let your heart guide and drive you. Dream in color. Live in highlighters.
To get more in life, you have to give more, be more.
Read, write, play, create, explore, taste, wander. Avoid straight lines and step sideways, on diagonals, introduce curves and weaves. See a backwards step more like a cha cha, rather than a set back.
Live to the corners of your life. Breathe to the shadows of your lungs. Express freely and fully.
The only guarantee in life is that it will end for you on this planet. Each hour you live, you are one hour closer to that happening. You are the youngest you will ever be right now. Life only exists in the present.
So go out and live it. Get dirty, make a mess. Taste the sunshine and drink the rain. Talk loudly and laugh a lot. Sing, dance and be merry. Cry, feel and be real. Use your good crockery and wear your finest threads. Be honest and be raw. Be vulnerable but be courageous. Love. No boundaries or barriers. Just love.
Live a beautiful life.
By Amy Booth
Amy is a yoga and pilates teacher and personal trainer in Brisbane, Australia, where she runs a cute riverside studio and a personal training business. In addition each year she runs yoga and hiking retreats.
To find out more: Website: www.ambertreeyoga.com.au Instagram: @ambertreeyogaandretreats Facebook: Amber Tree Yoga and Retreats
Want to shift your perspective to start living a beautiful life? Meditation and yoga can help. Practice either for free, right now!
Release Reactivity with Geenie Celento
Head Up, Heart Strong with Christen Bakken
If you’re familiar with practicing any visualization or law of attraction techniques, dedicate some time and energy into manifesting how you want to feel, who you want to be, and how you aspire to carry yourself. Do this as much, if not more than, solely focusing on what kinds of external things you wish to bring into your life.
If you’re not familiar with manifestation, it's essentially using your imagination and visualization techniques to focus on and see experiences you'd like to have in your life, in your mind, and you'll be more likely to attract such experiences into your life. This article and this Meditate to Manifest program will give you a greater understanding of these concepts more in-depth, and explain how what you think about, makes you magnetic for the things you draw to you.
And while it's wonderful to use the power of your mind to attract external things that can enhance your life, like a beautiful home, a loving partner, nice clothes, or a car you love, a deeper lasting happiness always comes from something within.
You can fall into the same traps using law of attraction techniques, that some people fall into in everyday life. It’s the trap, of believing true happiness comes solely from material things outside of ourselves. It can be easy to get more caught up on acquiring things and external notions of success, more than you focus on cultivating inner harmony, well-being, and self-care, but fulfillment is an inside job.
This is not an article to dissuade anyone from using their imagination to attract real, touchable, and feel-good things into their world. Keep doing it. It’s real, fun, and helps build your confidence in your manifestation abilities. Plus, you deserve to enjoy and appreciate things you love in life! Objects, experiences, and people can enhance one’s life experience and overall well-being.
This is more of an invitation to use your imagination to also attract how you want to feel, how you treat yourself, and the qualities you want to exude.
Don’t just see yourself in a house with nice stuff. See yourself in that house with nice things you love, as the most confident, healthy, relaxed and grateful version of yourself that you can possibly imagine.
What are some inner traits that you want to develop into your character?
Here are some qualities you may want to embody:
Want to put it into practice? Here’s a few minute exercise, to visualize your ideal future self.
Visualization Exercise
For an easier time focusing, close your eyes, and then, with your imagination, see an ideal version of yourself, about 3-5 years from now yourself, however you’d like to see yourself. Notice yourself from the outside. See yourself, as your most confident, healthy, vibrant, centered, and peaceful version of yourself.
See what you look like, how you carry yourself, and observe your energy. Spend a few moments, enjoying looking at yourself kindly as your ideal self, living your best life.
You can even make eye contact with your future self you are observing. Feel yourself both observing, and embodying this energy of your ideal self. When you feel ready, open your eyes.
Journal
If you like to journal, write about this visualization exercise. Write about what you saw or which inner qualities you want to see more of in yourself. Putting a pen to paper to write down things you wish to attract, can be a powerful catalyst in helping them come to fruition. List the character traits or ways of being you wish to embody. For example, "I feel healthy and happy", is a simple yet profound thing to spend time focusing on, and attracting into your reality. For better results, write these statement down in the present tense.
What you can see in your mind, you can live in your reality, especially if you believe it. Enjoy!
Want to try? Immerse yourself into law of attraction, with this 5-day meditation and visualization program from anywhere!
Are you living the life you’ve always dreamed of or do your intentions and goals seem out of reach?
In order to manifest our dreams, first we must be clear about what we want. What we focus on expands, so discover what you truly desire and direct your attention toward it, with energy and intention.
If you are new to meditation or haven’t meditated in a while, one of the first things meditation teaches you is how distracted your mind is. Usually, we have the same series of thoughts circling on repeat in our brains. If we can learn to quiet the distractions and focus our attention toward what which we wish to manifest in our lives, we can take the first steps to our ideal future.
Meditation encourages you to quiet the distractions and doubts in order to make space for clarity. When we practice the discipline of consciously shutting out the negative thoughts and external interruptions, our mind quiets and stills. In that stillness, clarity or discernment has the chance to take root.
When life feels challenging, it can be tough to feel grateful or believe your dreams will come true. Applying manifestation principles before or during your meditation helps. In order to progress, it’s vital to focus on the positive. Cultivate gratitude for what you do have in your life. Recognize that your thoughts work like a magnet so, the more you focus on things you want in your life, the closer they become. Learning to release a focus on the negative things you don’t want frees up energy to apply toward your desires. Your mindset is everything.
We don’t always have control over external occurrences. We only have control over our attitude, our actions, our small bubble in the world. It’s more important than ever right now to focus inwards and build our inner strength and resolve. By meditating specifically to create a positive morning or day or life, we are taking steps toward creating our personal experience. We also learn to release that which we cannot control and focus on what we can.
This week, we’ve got five meditations from different teachers, each with a unique take on manifesting the life you want. Try them all and see how you feel!
This recipe is absolutely beautiful and even my partner, who is vegetarian, and at the same time, definitely doesn’t like cauliflower, is a big fan. I am confident that once the food is served nicely, it tastes better too, so today I put on my artist-glows and set a beautiful plate – something that I usually don’t do at home if it is only two of us eating. So maybe this is what made the difference, but for me, this recipe is delicious in any shape or form!
I especially like that if the cauliflower is roasted like that in the oven, it keeps the structure and integrity of cauliflower. Of course, it is nothing similar to a real steak, but in my humble opinion, it is better! Paired with the silky smooth mash and topped with dukkah, pomegranate, and coriander, it is a very nice dish that I would happily even enjoy dining out (but since it only takes a little over 30 minutes to cook I still rather prepare it myself).
I did not share the preparation for coriander oil in the recipe part, because this is just too simple to call it a recipe – just take a bunch of coriander and blend it with a little bit of salt and oil until you have the texture you like. I also didn't share the dukkah recipe with you, but this is only because I have shared it with you already, and you can find it here.
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Cauliflower Mash
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2
1 large cauliflower (I used green Romanesco, but any kind will work)
Oil, for frying
½ cup coconut milk
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
To serve:
Dukkah spice mix (Use store-bought or prepare your own. Recipe here.)
Cilantro oil
Pomegranate seeds
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 200C/390F and cover a baking tray with parchment.
Cut the cauliflower in half, and then cut out thick (about 1-inch) slices so the core will hold them together. If the heart is very tough, feel free to peel it, otherwise, save as much of the cauliflower as possible – it is all delicious!
Heat a drop of oil on a frying pan and sear the cauliflower on both sides until nice and golden – it takes around 2 minutes on both sides. Season with salt and pepper, transfer to a baking sheet, and roast with a fan on for about 20 minutes until they are done. Halfway through the cooking time, turn them carefully.
Meanwhile, chop up the rest of the cauliflower and add it to the same pan you used to sear your steaks. Sear them lightly for a few minutes, season with salt, add ½ cup of water, cover with lid and simmer for 10 minutes. Once it is tender, transfer to a heat resistant bowl and blend with coconut milk and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve, divide the mash between plate, add the cauliflower steak straight from the oven and top with dukkah, cilantro oil, and pomegranate seeds.
Practice yoga for free, from the comfort of your own home, before your delicious meal!
25-Minute Full Body Yoga with Keith Allen
Spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle likes to remind whoever is listening that we are not our thoughts, nor are we our emotions. We are the awareness behind these two. However, amid the chaos of life, we can often forget this simple yet powerful statement and allow our thoughts and emotions to run wild.
A wild mind can only lead to an imbalance in mental wellness. Anxiety, depression, and panic attacks are some of the negative mental states we can experience when mental wellness is inexistent.
Rather than going into full panic mode, you can choose to find positive tools that can help you achieve a more balanced sense of self. CBD and yoga happen to be two of these tools.
While yoga has been around for thousands of years, CBD is new to the scene. Yet it has already made a name for itself with influencers on Instagram and other social mediums. Short for Cannabidiol, CBD is found in the Cannabis plant, similar to marijuana.
The difference between CBD and marijuana is that you won’t get high on it. You will not experience mind-altering moments either.
So why are many people raving about CBD?
Well, despite its more subtle function, CBD is known to ease stress — the instigator of anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. Studies have shown that CBD can be helpful when it comes to PTSD treatment, muscle pain, nausea relief, insomnia, inflammation, acne, and psoriasis.
Yoga comes with a significant list of benefits too. This ancient practice is known to lower blood pressure and relieve chronic pain. It can help with flexibility and muscle strength and encourage better breathing and posture. Most importantly, it helps with stress, anxiety, and depression. Together, CBD and yoga can help you attain stillness — the most crucial state you can be in when faced with our modern, chaotic world. The following are five ways you can achieve mental wellness when combining CBD with yoga:
Create a strong body-mind connection.
Distractions are prominent every second of the day. Even when we are alone in a room, we can indulge in distractions by picking up our phone out of habit. CBD and yoga can help you sharpen your focus so that you can feel more centered and present. You can do this by taking a drop of CBDMEDIC CBD oil before heading to yoga class. The oil will make you feel more at ease, so you can find it easier to experience deeper focus while practicing different yoga positions.
Alleviate physical pain.
While yoga has been proven to be an exceptional workout that helps heal the body, you may still experience joint or muscle pain during your workout. CBD can help you enjoy your yoga workout by reducing your pain. CBD encourages your body to produce natural cannabinoids, whose function includes providing an efficient anti-inflammatory response to help you with your sore muscles.
Enhance your state of bliss.
Yoga is known to increase our sense of happiness, but this feeling can leave us as quickly as it came. With CBD as part of your yoga session, you will be able to prolong this positive feeling. Bliss is generated by Anandamide, a neurotransmitter, which, much like all neurotransmitters, is quickly broken down by the body. However, CBD has been found to slow down the enzyme that breaks down Anandamide, thus prolonging that state of bliss.
Tune in to your body.
While exercising is important for our mental wellness, some workouts can cause damage or pain, especially if we are not in tune with our bodies. Combining CBD and yoga can help prevent this. CBD is known to activate the vanilloid receptors in the body. These receptors help us regulate our body temperature and sense of pain. CBD can also help you tune in to your body and assess in a more mindful way how far you can push your body.
Create a deeper experience.
When your mind wonders, you are missing out on what the present moment is offering you. Combining CBD and yoga is a way to eliminate this “monkey mind,” so you can endure a more enhanced experience. Take one deep breath, in and out. Even in this short moment, you must have felt your presence and the aliveness of your body. Now, imagine how much more deeply you can experience yourself in the present moment when CBD and yoga help you focus on your breath flowing in and out of your body, as you pay attention to your muscles and bones.
Deeper experiences are what you should aim for, not only during yoga but even in the everyday moments. You can only experience these deep and rich experiences when you are truly present. CBD and yoga can help you become better in this practice, and you will find yourself remembering to be more present, even in the chaotic moments.
While both have positive traits, yoga and CBD should not be used as substitutes for whatever you feel is missing in your life, which is causing you an imbalance in your mental wellness. Prioritize being present by accepting the present moment, even if it is not what you want. Only by accepting the present moment can you make the right choices and create a healthy mental state for your whole being.
By Crystal Wilson
Crystal Willson is a full-time content marketing specialist. She has been closely monitoring the cannabis industry trends for quite some time. She has worked in various domains before the cannabis industry. On her off days, she likes to spend her time with her family, lift weights, and reading novels.
Practice yoga now for free from the comfort of your own home!
Yoga for Weight Loss: Your Body is a Temple
The second chakra, also known as Svadhisthana, or sacral chakra. This chakra covers the region of the reproductive organs and lower abdomen and back. As an intuitive, I see this as the emotional center of the body. This is the chakra that stores the information around how we are feeling, and what is going on for us emotionally.
One of the most common scenes I see playing out when doing energy work on the second chakra are the themes of what I call emotional competition and emotional judgment. What I mean by that is, the emotional space houses all of the emotions you have, but oftentimes our emotional body wants to compete with “good” vs. “bad” emotions. Many people have given anger, shame, sadness, and some of what we perceive as negative emotions a bad rap. The more we label those emotions as bad or wrong and try to push them out of that space, the more that second chakra will then snowball those emotions.
We all enjoy having joy, peace, happiness, and relief in there, and rightfully so, but the emotional life hack here is that all emotions are invited to the party we call a balanced and harmonious second chakra.
The easiest way to “heal” anger is to validate it, because in reality it is not the anger that needs the healing, it is the programmed traits, expressions, and reactions that arise within us when we feel anger that want to transform.
The best way to heal grief, to look at it and give it the much-needed validation and recognition it deserves. Grief doesn’t require examination, but it does need to be seen and heard before it’ll clean out the container you hold within to the truth and capacity of your joy.
Look inside and greet that anger or sadness like a friend. Ask if it is your emotion or maybe if it belongs to someone else.
Embrace the emotions and create dialogue within yourself. A balanced second chakra would be energetically set like a forest or a garden. It is more than one tree or plant that makes the forest or garden beautiful. There are many plants that create diversity and allow it to thrive, same for the emotional space. When you bring joy, anger, grief, shame, acceptance, love and more, all into harmony, magic happens.
When identifying fear within that emotional space, recognize that while fear can serve a purpose, it can also be like an invasive weed that takes over if left unattended.
I know a fun practice I like to use when setting the intention of getting a healing on my second chakra during my practice on the mat is to notice which spots in my hips and low back feel sticky or tight. When I inhale I focus solely on the inhale and become completely present with that uncomfortable space in my body. When I exhale I sometimes see stored energy of my past energetically leaving my body, and remain present with the exhale.
Another great way to play with doing energy work on your second chakra is to imagine a color or some colors that feel good in that sacral region from just below the rib cage, and down towards the navel. You can play with visualizing vibrations that are no longer serving you release from your body and dissipate, creating space for a balanced second chakra.
As much as we invest in reworking perceived negative emotional patterns in our lives, remember to soak up and bask in the one that feel yummy too, enjoy the giggles, the joy, the delicious food, funny movie, honest conversation, loving cuddles, sensual touches, or exciting news. These are all vital to experiencing balance in your second chakra.
By Angela D.
Practice yoga for your second chakra, now!
Sacral Chakra Flow with Cicily Carter
"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." -Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
True happiness and beauty come from within and yoga is a powerful tool to help you shine your own light. When the external world feels heavy or hard, it can be easy to forget all the light and strength inside of us. Yoga reminds us our light is always there––we may have to work to shed the layers of darkness to uncover it, but we have the ability to choose positivity, no matter what. We create our own calm within any storm.
In yoga philosophy, specifically the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali reveals that to progress on the path of yoga, we don’t fight the darkness, we introduce light. In the second Pada on practice, Patanjali outlines the three primary benefits of the physical postures or asanas, as resolving dis-ease, creating lightness of body, and stability. Then, the Sutras on Pranayama, breath control, II-49 through II-53 detail how the regulation of life force is regulated by the inhale and the exhale. Breathing in a certain way will alleviate Tamas or darkness to reveal your inner light. If feeling Tamas (heaviness/depression), do Pranayama. If feeling Rajas (anger) do Asana.
The combination of pranayama and asana encourages lightness on every level. By practicing yoga with mindful breath, you improve posture, build strength and flexibility, and create space in tight areas. Endorphins––the feel good hormones––are released, which helps you feel more positive and optimistic and leaves less room for negative emotions to take root. Yoga helps manage physical pain, which directly impacts our emotions and thoughts.
Yoga at its root is about learning to direct the attention of your thoughts or control your mind. One of the most powerful Yoga Sutras is II-33. vitarka badhane pratipaksha bhavanam, which translates to: when disturbed by negative thoughts, cultivate the opposite. In other words, when an angry or depressing thought arises, acknowledge it and then replace the negative with a positive. This technique when practiced regularly will help create a pattern of naturally beginning to see the positive first.
Yoga reminds us that we have a choice in our perspective––always. Through the rollercoaster of life, there will be challenging times and your ability to bolster yourself will see you through the difficulties. It isn’t about pretending reality doesn’t exist, it is about recognizing you have the power in how you allow it to impact you.
This week's classes will have you feeling lighter and more optimistic. Whether you're feeling positive, or feeling down, you will gain inspiration and let go of heaviness by giving yourself the time to enjoy these classes that encourage lightness.
1. Quick Energy Flow 5 - Claire Petretti Marti
2. Angela Kukhahn - Quest for the Press 2
3. Kristin Gibowicz- -Yoga for Weight Loss: Your Body is a Temple (FREE Class)
4. Pradeep Teotia - Good Morning Sunshine
One of the staples of the Conscious Cleanse eating plan are great big meal-sized salads! When the weather heats up, standing over a hot stove to cook a meal is not ideal. So we wanted to share some of our favorite summertime salad recipes with you today!
We love salads, but it’s easy to get tired of the same old salad day in and day out. The best way to keep coming back for more greens is to get creative with the salad dressing and toppings! All these salads use flavorful dressings plus unique and tasty toppings to upgrade your summer salad experience.
This brand new recipe that’s exclusive to our online cleanse program. That’s right – if you become a Conscious Cleanse On Demand member, you’ll get access to recipes that are available just to YOU!
The Big Island Salad is cleanse-friendly and packed with delicate flavors that will transport you to tropical shores. Who needs a beach vacation when you’ve got this recipe!
Happy summer salad-making!
With love,
The Big Island Salad
Yield: 1 large salad
¼ cup macadamia nut oil ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice 1 large bowl arugula ½ cup garden peas (cooked, if using frozen peas) 1 carrot, shredded ¼ cup purple cabbage, shredded ½ cup green cabbage, shredded 1 large handful hemp seeds 1 large handful dulse flakes Pinch sea salt Freshly ground black pepper to taste
In a large bowl combine arugula, macadamia nut oil and lime juice. Toss to coat well. Add in peas, carrot, cabbage, hemp seeds and dulse flakes. Toss again. Season with sea salt and pepper, adding more oil or lime juice as needed.
The first chakra is the chakra that most reflects the physical body; also known as the root chakra, or Muladhara. Energetically speaking, the root chakra contains the information that codes how we take care of our physical bodies, what set of experiences have created assistance and resistance to being in our bodies, survival information, safety information, fight, or flight information and our connection to our mother.
Whenever we feel that things are no longer in alignment with us, or could use some mending or transformation, the first chakra tends to be the best place to go within and get curious.
Maybe we are feeling drained, defensive, uncertain, or like we are operating off knee-jerk reactions or a personal belief system how to take care of ourselves, that feels outdated at a core level. A great way to self-heal that first chakra is to create a dialogue with your body. There are many mediums to doing this, but let’s talk about using yoga asanas as a simplified way in which to do so.
The beauty of self-healing is that while it does require curiosity, it does not require analytical dissection. For those with a strong basis in psychology, I understand how this might be triggering, I am just simply offering different mindful, right-brain approach to healing without a need for the analyzer.
So what does getting curious about outdated information in the first chakra look like?
Here are some examples, but again, the emphasis is on what to get curious about will be based upon how you are or are not taking care of the physical body, and what does or doesn’t feel good for you.
Okay, so where to begin, now that I have you triggered!
When healing this first chakra space through the intention of your asanas or yoga practice and turning down the analytical mind you simply begin on your mat. Before the practice starts, simply set the intention that any outdated information or information that is creating discord in the first chakra around how to take care of your physical body is released. Also, ask if any blocks in the communication between you and your body are mended.
Wait, it's that easy?
Yes, it can be. Decoding, re-writing, and transforming chakras can be a wormhole of a topic, but it also doesn’t have to be rocket science or an incredibly gut-wrenching process of self-discovery.
As you flow through your yoga practice, with the intention in place that you are self-healing your root chakra, it is like opting for the update on your phone or computer. You are bringing yourself into the highest frequency possible for you and your optimal health in present time, and coming into clear communication with your body and its needs. You are also releasing old information and unconscious memories that have created and shaped the previous vibration of how you take care of your physical body.
See what happens, get curious, watch what comes up for you during your practice when that intention is in place. See what get’s uncomfortable, see what you get to breathe into, get really present, with, and then transition out of it.
We all know magic happens every time we get on our mats. Allow the magic of your practice to transform your first chakra without digging too deep into your personal psyche, but through presence, breath, transitioning asanas, and willingness to show up and trying something new.
Set your intention and align your Mulhadara chakra in yoga, right now!
Yoga for the First Chakra with Elise Fabricant
Muladhara Chakra Yoga: Root Down with Cicily Carter
If you’ve been feeling a bit down recently and are in need of a mood boost, it can be easy to veer towards those vices which might not necessarily be the best for you. That’s not to say there’s not a time and a place for a bit of junk food, or a glass of wine, but one thing you can do everyday to help boost your mood is practicing yoga.
Building a healthy habit of practicing a little bit of yoga each day can help to improve your mental and physical health, as well as make you feel happier. Here are a few more reasons why doing yoga everyday can help you.
Improve Flexibility
The first thing that probably comes to your mind when you think of yoga is someone bending themselves into all kinds of shapes! Well, you actually don’t have to be super flexible to practice yoga, anyone can try! In fact, practicing yoga daily can actually help improve your flexibility and improve your mobility.
Improve Strength
You don’t have to go to the gym and lift lots of weights to improve your strength. If heavy lifting isn’t your thing, try a daily yoga practice. There are lots of poses that will help to build your muscles and tone your body - even more than lifting a heavy weight will do. You can find poses such as the plank, which strengthens your entire body in one go.
Improve Posture
If you work a desk job and find yourself slouching, practicing yoga every day can help you to improve your posture. A daily practice will help you to stand up taller and sit up straighter - which can in turn help ease any aches and pains that bad posture causes.
Help You Lose Weight
An everyday yoga practice will help you to fuel your metabolic system, and help you to burn fat, which leads to weight loss. Practicing daily can also help to restore your hormonal balance in your body, leading to a more normalized body weight.
Increased energy
A few minutes of yoga each day provides the body with an energy boost that helps you keep active for longer periods. Yoga uses a unique combination of body movements and breathing techniques that help to increase your energy levels throughout the day.
Daily yoga practice also awakens your main energy centers, or chakras, in your body. Poses that extend the spine are great for circulating extra energy in the body.
Reduces Stress
Yoga is one of the best stress-busters out there. Studies show that the combination of breathing, poses, and meditation can help to regulate your heart rate variability. This means that your heart rate is lower, and allows your body to respond to stress in a more flexible way.
Better Sleep
A daily practice of yoga can help to reduce insomnia. Relaxing postures and forward folds can help to improve your sleep quality, as they relax the body and the mind.
Breathe Deeper
Breathing deeply is an essential part of a yoga practice. Breathing exercises, or pranayama, focus on slowing down the breath and breathing fully from the pit of your stomach to the top of your lungs. These exercises will help to make you feel more relaxed and balanced and make you feel more confident and calm. There are also more benefits including increased lung capacity.
Boosted Immune System
Yoga helps the levels of stress hormones in your body and helps to also calm the nervous system. Practicing yoga everyday can help lower the levels of pro-inflammatory markers like cytokines.
Happier
Regular yoga and meditation can help improve your serotonin levels, which are the hormones that make you happy. A study has shown that people who practice yoga long term have more mass in the areas of the brain associated with happiness, as well as higher levels of GABA hormones, which is associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety.
Mindfulness
Practicing yoga each day will help you to become more mindful. When practicing yoga, your sensations and thoughts and emotions will come to the front of your mind and help bring your mind into the present moment and help you feel happy and focused.
Do all these benefits sound good to you? Or perhaps you need to go inwards, relax, unwind, and reset? If you're needing this now, more than ever, YogaDownload teacher Elise Fabricant's 7-day immersion into gentle, nourishing yoga, will help bring ease and peace to your mind and body. This program will give you a daily yoga class, focused on a different intention or area of the body, for 7 days. Classes are suitable for all levels, and transformative, yet gentle. Treat yourself to this week-long home yoga experience.
By Amy Cavill
Want to experience these benefits for yourself? Practice yoga, from the comfort of your home, right now for a week straight!
Do you ever wish you could pull the plug and reboot your life the way you can reboot your computer? You know those days when your phone or laptop go haywire and you waste hours with minor fixes, but nothing works until you perform a full restart? 2020 has been characterized by dramatic shifts and some unwelcome and shocking changes impacting every single one of us. This week consider committing to a complete reset for your body, mind, and heart with our special Reset Refuge 7-Day Gentle Yoga Immersion with Elise Fabricant.
Yoga is one of the most powerful tools we have to navigate the ebbs and flows of change. By concentrating on building our strength and balance from the inside out, we are better equipped to handle whatever comes our way. The definition of “Hatha” is Sun-“Ha” and Moon-“tha.”
Every physical style of yoga practice is considered Hatha Yoga, including Vinyasa and Power Yoga. All these styles are intended to balance the body and the mind, like the balance of the sun and the moon. When a class is offered as Hatha Yoga, it is usually slower-paced and focused more on mindfulness.
Physically, these practices will increase your immune system, stimulate circulation, stretch your muscles and ligaments and tendons, and soothe your nervous system. The gentler forms of Hatha Yoga, including restorative and Yin yoga, are excellent for providing a refuge where you can recover on every fiber of your being. Taking time for self-care is vital to remaining balanced and handling whatever comes at us from the external world.
The intention of these classes is to encourage you to shift your awareness inward. To slow down and allow your nervous system to settle and grow quiet. To support you in active yet restful poses designed to restore you to your factory settings. Well, maybe not factory settings, but restore you to a time when you felt peaceful strength from within. Our perspective on the world shifts when we are fortified from the inside out.
Staying consistent at home isn’t easy, so we’re here to help you commit to a one-week program to reboot your system, no matter where your starting point. These classes are shorter practices––20 to 30 minutes––so you can fit them in any time of day. Having Elise Fabricant, an expert yoga instructor and life coach, with you daily for 7 days helps you stay accountable to yourself.
Summertime weekends are our favorite times to dedicate to family – we love gathering together with our families for a big hearty breakfast or brunch before embarking on all those warm-weather outdoor adventures. That’s where this recipe comes in!
Jo’s daughter Ilse LOVES these pancakes – they’re the perfect special weekend brunch treat. They’re super easy to make and take less than 15 minutes of prep and cook time. A great recipe to whip up for a weekend breakfast in bed or laid-back stay-at-home brunch.
This recipe is lower in sugar than conventional pancakes but still satisfies any sweet tooth. These pancakes have no added sugars – the banana provides natural sweetness, plus stevia sweetens without added calories. They’re also totally gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan – allergy-friendly to the max!
Another unique aspect of this recipe is that it’s truly whole grain based – it only uses whole grain oats and buckwheat, no flour! This makes it less processed than traditional pancakes and a healthier option for you and your family.
These simple pancakes are delicious as is, or topped with fresh fruit (like sliced banana or blueberries) and chopped nuts (like walnuts or pecans). Because of food-combining rules, this recipe falls under our 80:20 eating plan.
The 80:20 is our formula for staying vibrant even when we’re not cleansing – we follow cleansing guidelines 80% of the time, and indulge in our favorite non-cleansing foods the other 20%.
With love and weekend pancakes,
Easy Oatmeal Banana Pancakes
Yield: 7-8 pancakes
1/2 cup gluten-free whole rolled oats 1 cup nut milk 1/8 cup water 1/4 cup buckwheat groats 2 TB. flaxseeds 1 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. baking powder Pinch of salt 1 ripe banana 10 drops stevia or 2 TB maple syrup 1 TB. olive oil
Mix oats, milk, water, buckwheat, flaxseeds, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, banana, and stevia in a high speed blender until smooth. Heat olive oil in a skillet until shimmering. Pour batter, about ¼ cup per pancake, into the skillet and cook on medium-low for 2-3 minutes per side. Serve warm with maple syrup and more sliced bananas.
If you liked this recipe and would like to learn more about the Conscious Cleanse, we invite you to join our online community! As a welcome gift, we’ll send you our Taste of the Conscious Cleanse Free eCookbook, a collection of more of our favorite recipes!
We’ll also be sure to share new recipes and healthy lifestyle tips. Welcome! We’re so glad you’re here.
Want to fire up your yoga practice? Here’s how to do yoga with resistance bands. Build your strength with this complete list of yoga poses with bands.
Resistance bands can be added to any work-out. They’re an easy way to incorporate a challenge into your exercises, and you can use them in many different ways.
Resistance bands make your muscles work just that little bit harder, so you get more work-out for your time spent. And resistance bands are portable – pop them in your yoga bag, and you’re good to go.
For yoga, resistance bands are great if:
You want to increase your strength without compromising your joints.
You are recovering from an injury*
You want to slow down your movements and increase the mindfulness of your practice
You want to increase your stability
You want to raise your awareness of where your body is in space
*If you are recovering from an injury, consult your physiotherapist or doctor before taking on new exercises.
Yoga poses to practice with resistance bands:
High Crescent lunge
When in high lunge, wrap a resistance band around your wrists. With your arms up high, gently pull your hands apart. Use gentle pulses, keeping the band taut. Great for upper body strength! Start with 10-15 pulses.
You can keep your legs working too. Bend and straighten your legs to go into and out of a squat, while working your arms. Multitasking!
Downward Dog
Wrap the resistance band around your ankles. Raise one leg out to the side for 10 pulses. Repeat with the other leg. Very good for your glutes.
To give your hamstrings a work-out too, bring the band up to rest around the middle of your calves. Staying in a downward dog pose, gently pulse one leg up and behind 10 times. Repeat with the other leg.
Bridge
Place the resistance band around your thighs. It should be just above your knees. Lie down on your back. Bend your knees. Make sure your feet are hip-distance apart. Raise your buttocks and retain bridge pose while gently pulsing your knees outwards.
Keep your weight on your heels. Your feet should be flat on the mat or floor. Move slowly and work deep. You’ll feel it along the backs of your legs and in your glutes. Aim for 20 reps.
Remember to keep the tension in the resistance band throughout the exercise.
Dead Bug pose
Put the resistance band around the bottoms of your feet. Put your arms either straight up in the air, or flat on your mat. Alternate your legs in cycling, straightening one leg out while bringing the knee of the other leg towards your chest.
This exercise can work your core, too, so make sure your lower back is always on the ground or mat.
Begin with 10 reps, working up to 20.
Seated (Sukhasana)
Stretch your arms out in front of you with the resistance band around your wrists. Pull your arms apart to the side gently, while keeping your back straight. The muscles in your back will thank you for this one!
Begin with 10 reps and work up to 15-20.
Donkey Kicks
Beginning in a tabletop pose, wrap the resistance band around the bottoms of your feet. Keeping your upper body straight, slowly lift one leg. Hold the position and then bend your knee to repeat. Do this slowly, 10 times.
When your first side tires, switch legs.
Banded donkey kicks work your core as well as your legs. Keeping your core muscles tight during this exercise will increase the benefits to your core.
Warrior 1
In Warrior 1 pose, make sure both feet face forward as well as your hips. Hold the resistance band around the palms of both hands. Bring the hand on the same side as the front leg to your chest so that the palm is flat.
Now extend the other arm out straight so that it is parallel to your back leg, and the band is taut. Aim for 10 reps to start.
Make sure your upper body stays straight during this exercise, and you’ll be giving your triceps a great work-out!
Warrior 2
Start in Warrior 2 pose, with both feet flat on the mat or floor. Ensure your back foot is perpendicular to your front foot.
Put the resistance band underneath your back foot and hold the other end with your back hand. Keep your front arm straight out in front of you, while pulling up on the band. Your elbow should come up into a 90-degree angle. Extend your back arm back down, and repeat.
Do 10 reps, then switch sides. This exercise is good for working your upper arms.
A note on hypermobility and how resistance bands can help:
If you are very flexible, you may be interested to know that resistance bands are actually one of the best ways you can enjoy the stretch while challenging your strength.
Resistance bands are great for people who are hypermobile because you can work against the tension of the bands.
The bands also are excellent for slowing down movement and allowing you to be mindful in your poses while still giving your muscles a work-out.
You can read more about hypermobility and how to use resistance bands to build awareness and avoid injury here. Enjoy your yoga with resistance bands!
By Sarah Peterson
Practice FREE yoga right now and add the resistance band to some of these poses!
Stepping into any yoga class, it’s common to include some music into your yoga practice. Music combined with yoga practices can help the mind to find stillness, and help you get into the mood to get on the mat. It can be hard to take your mind away from your busy life for an hour, and music can help with that transition into a more mindful state.
Music can affect the whole brain, and help it relax, in a similar way that meditation does. It can help the mind slip into a state where happiness and stillness is created. Music can help you to get into the groove of your yoga practice, and link your mind, breath, and body to a beat.
The benefits of a regular yoga practice are great for your body, including increased strength, flexibility and circulation - and there’s also great benefits for your mind including lower stress levels and increased focus. A good music playlist to your yoga practice can help you reap these benefits even more.
Here are the ways in which music can help your yoga practice.
Both practicing yoga and listening to music are actually very similar activities. They can both improve your wellbeing and make you feel positive. And much like yoga has psychological benefits, studies have found that music does too. Music has been shown to decrease anxiety and lower levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, in the body - sometimes in higher levels than taking anti-anxiety medication.
Listening to music can also allow you to enter a ‘flow state’ which is a state of consciousness that allows you to feel and perform your best. When your brain is in a flow state, it moves into a borderline state between alpha waves - which you might recognize as being associated with daydreaming and REM sleep. In short, this means that your brain switches off for a while from firing off beta brainwaves, and temporarily deactivates the prefrontal cortex, letting you lose yourself to the moment. This is an ideal state of mind to be in while you practice yoga, being fully mindful of what your body is doing with zero distractions.
Music can also help to set our mood for a yoga practice. Music actually influences and can change our emotional state when we listen to it. For example, listening to an upbeat song with a faster rhythm may inspire you to move faster as you connect with it.
Listening to music can actually help you take in more oxygen. This is because our bodies naturally connect with the rhythm, and we breathe in time with the beat. This can help you find more energy in your yoga practice, and stimulate your mind and set your mood. Studies have even shown that listening to music can help release dopamine - also known as the happy hormone!
Music can settle your nervous system also, which can help your body to relax, as well as reduce anxiety. This can in turn help your body to produce chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, leaving your calm and content, and connected with your body - the perfect state of mind for a yoga class. Music also helps lower the stress levels in the body, such as lowering your heart and respiratory rate, blood pressure, and levels of cortisol.
Music also helps support our health, which may be why you’re hitting the yoga matt in the first place. Music can help to boost cell growth and immunity. Additionally, because music helps to combat stress, our body is left with better digestion, circulation, respiration and more energy!
Music can also be the building blocks to connections, both between the mind and body, and with other people. Since the dawn of time, humans have had a relationship with music and rhythm. Music is seen as an expression and a way to connect across the globe. In a yoga class, music helps us to clear our minds and helps us be more present both with ourselves and with each other.
Convinced? Try one of these new classes from the YogaDownload Electronic Music Series!
Copasetic Flow with Ali Dunacan w/ music by Sahale
Get into the Flow with Keith Allen w/ music by Sahale
Superflow 2.0 with Ben Davis w/ music by AnjunaDeep
Flow & Let Go with Kylie Larson w/ music by AnjunaDeep
You’ve probably heard that the yogic path is simple, but not easy. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali lays out the eight-limbed path of yoga and emphasizes how it takes consistent practice over time. Just like you vary other types of physical training to keep your muscles and bones in optimal shape, varying the intensity of physical asanas will keep you from over-use injuries. If you practice daily, it’s great to adapt your routine to keep your body healthy.
Slowing down can be just as powerful as leveling up. In fact, slowing down offers the opportunity to truly focus on your breathing and the sensations of each asana. The true yoga practice is internal. We use the physical practice to quiet our minds and balance our emotions. Of course, some days you really need to move, to have a vigorous flow to get that yoga buzz. But a gentle practice will also help you approach that place of stillness.
What do we mean by gentle yoga?
In general, a gentle yoga class contains additional modifications, a slower pace, and more relaxing or therapeutic poses. When you hold poses for longer, sometimes with the use of props, you’ve got less external stimulation and can find it easier to shift your focus inside. Sometimes with a vigorous asana practice, the emphasis is more physical, and with a gentler flow, you can access your mind and heart more readily.
All the benefits you receive from your yoga practice are the same: muscular strength and flexibility, a calmer clearer mind, and a softer heart. Gentle yoga also contributes to better digestion and aids with insomnia issues. A more gradual approach can feel safer, especially if you’re recovering from an injury, have more physical limitations, or want to ensure you protect your muscles and joints.
Also, if you exercise intensely on a regular basis, a gentler practice is an excellent way to complement your fitness. So, for example, if you are preparing for a 10k or a triathlon, you could take a gentle class on a tough training day and a vigorous Vinyasa on a non-training day. Nobody wants to burn out too soon, right? With a gentler practice, you may also feel more relaxed straight away.
Don’t take our word for all the different ways gentle yoga can help you feel good today. Try one of these gentler classes today to unwind and relax. You deserve to treat yourself.
1. Jackie Casal Mahrou - Anytime Wind Down
2. Kristin Gibowicz - Metamorphosis Flow: The Becoming
3. Shy Sayar - Therapeutic Yoga for Stress, Anxiety, and Insomnia
4. Channing Grivas - Super Lazy Restorative
In the heat of mid-summer here in Colorado, no one wants to be spending time in a hot kitchen! So we’ve been looking for more ways to add cooking-free recipes to our meal planning rotation. That’s where today’s recipe comes in. This delicious spicy slaw is the perfect hot weather recipe that features one of our new favorite veggies – Kohlrabi!
Kohlrabi is a funky looking veggie but don’t let that deter you – it’s super tasty and easy to eat! It has a sweet-peppery flavor similar to a cross between an apple and a radish and its texture is comparable to broccoli stems.
It also has great nutritional value – Kohlrabi is high in fiber, essential vitamins and nutrients, and it can help aid in weight loss, support healthy digestion, and help regulate blood pressure. All in all, this unique veggie makes a great addition to your regular rotation.
It’s also worth mentioning how amazing the sauce is in this recipe! It’s peanut-free to make it more allergen-friendly, and has far less added sugar than store-bought sauces. It also can totally be reused for other dishes – cold Thai-inspired noodles, dipping sauce for spring rolls – you name it!
This slaw makes the perfect addition to any summer meal – perfect for picnics, BBQs, and more! Have a favorite food you’d like us to share a healthy recipe for? Let us know in the comments below. We love hearing from you!
Kohlrabi Cabbage Slaw with Spicy Almond Butter Sauce
Spicy Almond Butter Sauce:
⅓ cup almond butter 2 TB. fresh lime juice 2 TB. rice vinegar 2 TB. coconut aminos 1 TB. honey 1 ½ tsp. sesame oil 2 tsp. sriracha 2 TB. ginger, peeled and finely minced 2 garlic, finely minced 1 tsp. salt
Kohlrabi Cabbage Slaw:
1 Kohlrabi, peeled, then shredded or spiralized 2 cups carrots, grated or julienned 5 cups shredded cabbage 1 red bell pepper, sliced 2 green onions or spring garlic, sliced Sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)
Instructions: To make the sauce, combine almond butter, lime juice, vinegar, coconut aminos, honey, sesame oil, sriracha, ginger, garlic and salt in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth.
To assemble the slaw, place kohlrabi, carrots, cabbage, bell pepper, and green onions into a large bowl and toss to combine. Pour over your desired amount of sauce and toss again to combine. Top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds for garnish (if using).
NOTE: This recipe makes a lot of sauce, so don’t add it all at once. Start with about half the sauce and slowly add more until it’s to your liking.
If you liked this recipe, we invite you to join our online community! As a welcome-gift, we’ll send you our Conscious Cookout Ecookbook: 13 Recipes for Clean Eating.
How many times have you heard the phrase: “You are what you eat?”
Probably enough times that you no longer pay it any mind, but there is actually something to that age-old saying. Research has started to show just how our diets are connected to our overall health and wellbeing. If you find yourself struggling, it may be time to take a look into what foods could be the cause of the negative conditions affecting you. It’s also a great chance to discover more foods that help with positive mental health.
Mental Health and Diet: What’s the Connection?
While you might think that your diet and mental health are two unrelated things, research tells us otherwise. Our gut health, more specifically, the bacteria inside of our guts, can really affect our mood. While discussing the gut-brain connection, those at Rider University explain, “Our gastrointestinal tract is lined with 100 million nerve cells and releases hormones that influence everything from when we are hungry to feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression. In other words, our guts heavily impact the way our brains think, how we feel, and our general well-being.” Making the right diet choices on a regular basis can help decrease negative mental health conditions.
But what are the right choices?
Rider University suggests foods to incorporate into our diets that have the necessary nutrients to make our digestive tracts and brains happier.
Omega-3s: The bacteria in our guts really love Omega-3s but because our bodies don’t naturally produce it, it’s important to consume more fish such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines. If fish isn’t your thing you can also get Omega-3s from things such as walnuts and flaxseed. Protein: Think of protein as the crime-fighter for your gut health. Because proteins contain nitrogen, they can help limit the number of bad bacteria in your gut’s microbiome. Additionally, the proteins that you get from beef, chicken, nuts, and even Brussel's sprouts can boost your mood as these produce serotonin, which helps ease feelings of depression. Fiber: Another key nutrient that makes your gut excited is fiber. Fiber not only helps reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in your digestive tract but it’s also said to help with our overall mood. Foods that are high in fiber include fruits, veggies, and dark chocolate. Improving your mental health through your diet is also not only about incorporating more good foods, but also limiting the foods that can negatively affect your mood. For example, increased use of alcohol and consuming a lot of processed foods, sugar, and trans fats can not only negatively affect your physical condition but your mental condition, too. It’s all about balancing the good and the bad.
Making a Positive Change
Transforming our diets doesn’t happen overnight — and it shouldn’t! Denying yourself foods that you enjoy in an effort to boost your mood could have the opposite effect.
How can we focus on improving our mental health if we’re constantly berating ourselves for eating a doughnut or two? Moreover, if one day all you can think about are the chips in your pantry then it’s not worth denying yourself, as that can form a bad relationship with food.
If you’re unsure where to start with improving your diet, it may be helpful to create a list for a week or two of all the foods you’re eating. Each day, under each meal, include a brief summary of how you felt (both physically and mentally) in the few hours afterward. There could be some hidden culprits among your diet you’re not considering or haven’t noticed before.
For example, there are many people who suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). It’s a chronic gastrointestinal condition that results in acid reflux or heartburn and can sometimes impact a person’s quality of life if symptoms are hard to manage. It’s recommended that people who deal with frequent GERD symptoms limit their intake of certain foods such as dairy, alcohol, caffeine, carbonated beverages, and spicy foods.
After you’ve listed your meals and your response to them for a bit, you can take a better look at how your current diet is affecting you. Is dairy making you feel bloated or irritating your stomach? After that burger and fries did you feel melancholy or glum? Did the steak dinner with mushrooms and salad have you feeling rejuvenated and happy? What about the fresh strawberries you picked up from the farmer’s market? While tracking your food and reactions may not be the most exciting way to spend your free time, it can give you a clearer idea of how your body and mind respond to certain foods, which can help you start making the right changes.
At the end of the day, the goal is to incorporate more foods and healthier habits that can aid your mental health, while also being more mindful and limiting certain foods. It’s also important to tailor your diet to your needs. Our diets shouldn’t be formed based on a popular fad or one-size-fits-all diet, it’s about your body and mind and learning how you respond to certain foods. Never self-diagnose and always consult with a trusted medical professional for resources if you find yourself relying too heavily on a harmful diet in an effort to be “healthy.”
Get your health and diet on track with a fast. Try this 3, 4, or 5-Day Yoga for Fasting program!