What does courage mean to you?
The root of the word courage comes from the French word coeur, which means heart. In yogic circles, it is often stated that courage comes from the heart, which contains two dual emotions: love and fear.
Being brave doesn’t mean an absence of fear, it means choosing to do what feels right despite feeling afraid. Bravery stems from understanding your truths and trusting yourself to do the right thing.
When we are in harmonious times, it’s easy to express our beliefs and our truth. Many of us yogis surround ourselves with like-minded people seeking to live life on a higher vibration. We choose to focus on the positive and live from a place of compassion and love. Practicing these principles on the yoga mat strengthens our resolve to practice them off the mat.
How do we stand in our truth when it is challenged from all sides? How do we remain peaceful and positive when there’s no choice but to fight to preserve our dignity, our values, our beliefs, and even our world?
The concept of being a warrior and fighting doesn’t have to mean that we are denying our spirituality.
If you’ve studied the Bhagavad Gita, one of yoga’s seminal texts, you know that the protagonist, Arjuna, faced his biggest dilemma not simply because he led the army onto the battlefield, but because he had to fight against his own family. Arjuna struggled to reconcile how to be a warrior with the spiritual teachings of peace and compassion. Krishna advised Arjuna that sometimes doing the right thing is to stand up and fight for your values, despite pain and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Learning to dig deep and operate from our courageous hearts often feels uncomfortable and fills us with fear. At some point, we will be asked to step out of our comfort zone and take action––often action that scares us to the depth of our being. We need to build this power from the inside out and tap into our Shakti through Sadhana or practice.
Step onto your yoga mat or sit on your meditation pillow with the intent to build your own strength, compassion and personal power. Cultivate your inner light to learn to discern how we can make a difference. The more attuned we are to our own inner truths, the more we can share them and stand for them, no matter what obstacles stand in the way.
This week we invite you to cultivate the strength and courage already rising to the surface from within. Remember our life on the mat mirrors our life on the mat. Challenge yourself to take chances, stop playing small, and go for whatever it is you want. These yoga classes encourage moving outside of your comfort zone, incorporate more complex postures you may not have attempted before, and help you take your first step toward achieving.
1. Angela Kukhahn - Quest for the Press 1
2. Jen Hicks - Invoke Your Inner Warrior
3. Jack Cuneo - Align & Flow: Ashtanga Inspiration
4. Shannon Paige - Apex Fusion Inversions: Up, Under, Down & Across
This version of empanadas is very far from traditional, that are usually deep-fried and often filled with all kinds of meat and cheeses. I typically try to keep my recipes on a healthier side, and I did the same with these little pies that are baked in the oven, and only two tablespoons of oil are used for the whole batch.
Also, I chose eggplant and lentils for the filling as I had some cooked lentils leftover from the day before, and the eggplant was already looking a little bit tired. I am always very mindful of food waste and try to avoid throwing away anything. Now that going out, even for groceries, is limited, it is an extra challenge as I try to order food only every two weeks, and it is quite challenging to predict what I would like to eat in 10 days. I take it as a positive challenge and imagine myself in a cooking competition where I am given random ingredients and have to come up with a delicious meal!
It works for me because I have managed to use up everything but half a capsicum and two avocados so far. Also, I don’t take the full blame for the avocados as they looked just perfect from the outside.
Talking about avocados – a simple avocado mash with lime and jalapenos works very well as a side for these empanadas. But they are also good on their own, for breakfast or afternoon tea.
Eggplant and Lentil Empanadas
Yields: 12
Cooking time: 1 hour
For the dough:
1 ¾ oz coconut cream
3 ½ oz white beans + 1 tbsp liquid from the jar
1 tbsp olive oil
3 ½ oz flour
1 ¾ oz corn flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
For the filling:
7 oz cooked lentils (I used black beluga lentils, but every kind will work)
1 small onion
1 small eggplant
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp paprika powder
1 tbsp tomato paste
Instructions:
If you don’t have any leftover cooked lentils, then start with this following packet instructions since different types require different cooking times.
For the filling, chop up the onion and fry it in oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes until translucent. Then add the spices and keep cooking for a few more minutes.
Chop the eggplant to about ½ inch pieces and add to the frying pan. Keep cooking for five more minutes, occasionally stirring. Then add in the tomato paste and the lentils, stir, have a taste, add salt if necessary, and leave to simmer on low for ten more minutes until everything is nice and soft. Set aside to cool.
For the dough, add the coconut cream, beans with 1 tbsp of liquid from the jar and olive oil to a blender and blend until smooth.
Mix flour, corn flour, salt, and baking powder, then add the liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix. Start with a spoon and then knead until the ball of dough forms. Add a little more water if the dough feels dry. It should not fall apart too easily.
Preheat your oven to 350F and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll the dough out on a flowered surface –aim for 1/10 inch, so it is quite thin. Using a large cookie cutter or something else round (mine was around 4 inches in diameter), cut out the circles.
Add about a tablespoon of filling on the center of the dough (you will understand how much filling you can add after you have been folding a few. The amount depends on the size of your dough circle, but I always try to add as much filling as possible) and fold the edges. You can use a fancy folding technique, as I did, or just push the edges firmly together with a fork.
Gather the remaining dough to a ball and roll out again to use up all of it. As the dough dries out with time, you might want to wet your hands if you are pushing it to a ball.
Once all your empanadas are folded, it is time to bake them for about 30 minutes until they are nice and browned. Try to let them cool slightly before eating as the filling is piping hot.
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 these free yoga and meditation classes before your delicious lentil and eggplant empanadas.
Meditation: Release Reactivity with Geenie Celento
25-Minute Full Body Yoga with Keith Allen
Eating is a part of the routine of essentially every human. It is a pleasurable event for some, to the extent that many take in more than what's needed by the body during meal times. The goal is not only to satisfy hunger but also to stay healthy. However, this is often a considerable challenge to many, thanks to the abundance of food and a diet-oriented culture.
Most people practice mindless eating, rather than being mindful of how they consume food.
What if instead, eating food, was among the most spectacular moments of your day, when you are absorbed in the present moment and enjoying yourself, free of worry or anxiety. A time when you can both enjoy food, and give your mind a rest simeltaneoulsy. That is mindful eating.
You might think that mindful eating is a recent trend. However, it is an ancient practice used since long ago. It refers to eating with intention and attention. The intention is to treat yourself as you notice how delicious food affects your body.
Here are a few easy ways you can enjoy and practice mindful eating:
Avoid skipping meals
As simple as it may sound, this is imperative. When you skip any meal, it becomes quite challenging to make the right choices. For instance, whenever you will feel hungry, you are more likely to grab anything that is present for a bite, including junk. You might stop at a vending machine and pick something unhealthy or visit the nearest fast food restaurant if you are hungry in a moment and in need of something convenient.
To create the right rhythm in eating, it is best to have a relatively consistent schedule for all of your meals. Sufficient time between meals regularly, will allow the body to process food getting in, and it is best to eat slowly instead of rushing. Listen to your body to discover which meal times are ideal for you and to eat around those times as consistently as possible each day.
Pay close attention to your plate when eating
As much as many believe that they are skilled at multitasking, this should not be the case when eating. Multitasking while eating is a terrible way to maintain harmony with your body.
When your mind is distracted, for instance, you cannot listen deeply to what your body needs. Whether it is satiety or hunger, you may not be able to tell as you multitask.
When you multitask, you become distracted and cannot listen as well to your body's signals about food. You also miss out on maximizing the enjoyment of the flavors of food, when you are distracted by other things while eating.
Next time you have a meal, switch off the screen and put your phone away and focus on the meal alone. If you have someone by your side, you can simply converse with him or her instead. You will notice how alert your brain is to the quantity of food you eat.
Drink water before eating
Many use this typical trick when they do not want to eat a lot. Drink some water before your meal so that you can eat less. Water tends to act as a filler, which in turn helps to reduce your intake of food.
Drinking water beforehand also helps in the regulation of calories inside the body. Besides, other benefits of taking in plenty of water are that you will always stay hydrated. This keeps you awake and gives you a massive boost of energy to take you through the day. Aside from helping you achieve your mindful eating traits, drinking water helps you to stay healthy always.
Incorporate fiber in your diet
It would be best if you had fiber-rich foods in your diet, as they are natural fillers. They get you satiated faster than any other foods. In addition, they help with digestion and prevent constipation.
Do not rush when eating
There is no need to hurry when you are eating. This process needs your time. When you rush the process, you fail to know if you have had too much or too little. When you are hurrying, you'll usually finish the food on the plate, regardless of whether you are full or not.
Eating slowly is an ideal practice for mindful eating. When you eat your food slowly, you can easily tell when to stop and when you have had enough or too much. According to Chinese medicine, a person is only supposed to eat until he or she is 80% full. This is to ensure that his or her digestive system is operating in the right way.
Avoid overeating
There is a thin line between eating enough food and overeating. It takes mindful eating to know the difference. Often, many people think that they can eat whatever amount of food they want, which is not ideal.
It would be best to practice contentment. Learn to set a limit of food and observe it when eating. A good practice is to limit the serving at the table as you eat. It does not make sense to overtax your body with too much food.
Chew your food completely
Another good mindful eating practice is to chew food thoroughly. It would be best to chew each bite until you liquefy the food. It may take you between twenty to thirty times to achieve this, but ultimately, it is worth it.
Aside from helping you reduce the chances of choking, chewing equally helps your tongue to taste food better, thus, reducing your chances of overeating. Remember, as stated earlier, eating slowly should be in your daily routine, as it helps in regulating intake. Chewing food ensures that you eat slowly.
Consider plant-based diets
Dietary fiber is present in plant-based diets. Most scientists and doctors would advise you to increase your intake of veggies. Not only is it healthier, but it also increases your mindfulness when eating. Most greens are fillers and give out a feeling of satiety when eating. With more plants, you may overeat less.
Incorporate protein into your diet
Protein helps to increase levels of satiety when added to a meal. That is why you should learn to incorporate one source of protein in all of your meals. There are many forms of vegetarian protein also.
Connect more in-depth with the food you eat
Do not just get to the table and start pouncing on the food. It can be too easy to have a sort of disconnection from the foods we eat daily. This may be because of a routine, which entails eating quickly and to get back to a schedule.
Instead, simply notice the textures, flavors, and deliciousness of the foods you eat, while you eat them. Think about the supply chain that brought the food you are eating, to your palate and feel grateful for it.
Eating should give you an opportunity to connect with food deeply, and this is what mindfulness eating is all about. When you pause and take time to reflect on the entire process, you can learn to both appreciate and regulate your food intake and ritual of having a meal.
Which one gives you the impetus to eat, junk food or healthy food? Can you strike a balance between with foods what you love and what is healthy? Answering these questions will take you closer to mindful eating.
In conclusion, mindful eating is all about nourishing yourself and how you consider and relate to the food you eat. Mindful eating is good for your health, and you should try it today.
By Justin Osborne
Justin is a marketing specialist and blogger from Leicester, UK. When not working and rooting for Leicester FC, he likes to discuss new trends in digital marketing and share his own ideas with readers on different blogs and forums. Currently, he is working as a content marketer at uk essays and bestessays.com.
Want more mindfulness? Try these free yoga and meditation classes before your next mindful meal.
Yoga has been proven to have benefits to your mental health, and a wealth of research has gone into how practicing yoga can improve the lives of those with mental health conditions. The results are staggeringly positive, proving that yoga can help with many common mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, as well as others.
There is now one in every four people affected by mental health disorders, so more and more people are looking for effective ways to help protect and restore mental health. Yoga is becoming more and more accepted as a way to manage mental health conditions. It’s already used to reduce stress, improve flexibility and promote a more ‘zen’ state of mind. However, more people are digging deep to understand the therapeutic benefits of yoga on mental health.
These findings are also backed up by studies which show that yoga practice can change the structure and function of your brain, proving that yoga can improve your emotional health in a neurological way. Here are some of the ways yoga can support your mental health.
Studies on how yoga and meditation can improve your brain function have been conducted since as early as the 1960’s, but a landmark study happened in 2007. Chris Streeter undertook a study which proved that one hour of yoga practice by experienced yoga practitioners showed a significant positive increase in GABA. GABA is a chemical that acts as your brain’s inhibitory neurotransmitter. In 2010, this study was taken further, and GABA increase levels in yoga were found to be significantly higher than a matched walking exercise.
The GABA chemical is one that works by inhibiting signals in your brain. This chemical primarily prevents your brain from becoming too overwhelmed and busy by inhibiting fear circuits and fleeting thoughts that are often associated with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. If you suffer from chronic pain, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder and depression, you may have lower levels of GABA. This can manifest as an inability to change your perspective. Practicing yoga can help to increase your GABA levels and help you change your view.
Another way yoga can improve your mental health is by improving the performance of the brain. Yoga is unique in the way movements have constant stopping and starting as you move from one pose to another, which helps boost the link between the motor areas of your brain. Also, the mental task of planning while moving from one yoga pose to another, with control and attention, boosts the energy flow in the frontal-cortical area of the brain, further stimulating it and improving its performance.
This means some major things for the use of yoga to help your mental health. Certain mental health issues such as depression and bipolar disorder mean that people have less activity and stimulation in the frontal-cortical areas of the brain - in particular the prefrontal cortex. A strong prefrontal cortex allows you to manage thoughts and responses easier, and shift your attention easier. And if practicing yoga stimulates these areas in the brain, it can help manage those mental health conditions.
Yoga has also been shown to reduce anger levels in people. In one study undertaken in 2012, a group of adolescents were studied. Participants who practiced yoga showed greater ability to control their anger, compared to those who undertook other physical exercise. Other studies, such as one undertaken in 2013, have proven that yoga decreases anxiety symptoms, improves sleep - even decreases post traumatic stress disorder.
In 2014, adult women diagnosed with PTSD were part of a study which proved that yoga significantly reduced the symptoms in women who undertook a 10 week treatment, compared to a control group. After the study, over half of the participants who practiced yoga no longer had symptoms of PTSD.
As well as improving GABA levels and stimulating your brain, many people believe that yoga improves mental health due to its ability to increase your heart rate variability. An increased heart rate variability will help to calm your autonomic nervous system, the place where the body stores trauma.
Research shows that meditation and yoga can help to increase your heart rate variability. Your heart rate variability is the distance between one heartbeat and another. An increase in heart rate variability is shown to calm your autonomic nervous system, which in turn helps to regulate your emotions. When you’re stressed and anxious, your heart rate gets quicker, and your breathing is shallow. This is decreased heart rate variability. If you’re relaxed, your heart rate is slower, and you breathe deeper - which is an increased heart rate variability and can help you to feel calm.
Decreased heart rate variability can be associated with anxiety, stress, anger and PTSD. Individuals who suffer from these can find it hard to regulate their emotions which can lead to them being thrown off balance mentally easier. If something relatively small manages to set you off crying or feeling angry, you may have a poorly regulated autonomic nervous system. Yoga can increase your heart rate variability, helping to regulate your autonomic nervous system and help you feel more relaxed.
Finding the right yoga practice for you may be hard, but there’s lots of different styles of yoga to choose from. Regardless of the type you choose, the mental health benefits are amazing, making yoga an integral part of the therapeutic process.
By Amy Cavill
Convinced? Practice these FREE yoga classes, right now, to benefit your mental health and overall well-being.
Head Up, Heart Strong with Christen Bakken
Yoga is an incredible tool for our health––physical, emotional, and mental. Yoga can help manage anger, anxiety, depression, and other common psychological conditions many of us experience. This week, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of the tangible ways yoga can not just open up your hips, but also positively impact your mental health.
Let’s start with exploring that intangible feeling you experience after yoga––calm, clear, energized, and happy. How does mindful breath and purposeful movement translate into a major adjustment in your mind? One of the primary reasons is because deliberate movement and breathing patterns affect your nervous system in a positive manner. Yoga helps us shift from fight or flight or a reactive state to rest and digest, a receptive state of being.
When we are reacting from a place of fear, anger, or anxiety, we are operating from our fight or flight response––shallow breathing, accelerated heart rate, and stress. When our autonomic nervous system is out of balance, we have a difficult time managing our emotions.
Ever over-reacted and lashed out at a loved one or a stranger for no apparent reason? Ever noticed that response doesn’t happen after a satisfying yoga practice?
Yoga helps reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body, which shifts us toward our parasympathetic nervous system, where we can relax. During yoga, we tune into physical sensation and become more aware of how we are feeling physically, emotionally, and mentally. Depression is often tied to being mired in the past and anxiety or worry is tied to anticipating the future. Yoga encourages existing in the present moment and keeps the past in the rear view mirror and the future somewhere down the road. If we can practice learning to be present, in a grounded sense of being, our thoughts have the opportunity to become less distracted.
When we move mindfully, we create not just a physiological release, but also a psychological release. Yoga can be beneficial for enhancing mood, managing stress, reducing irritability and anger, alleviating insomnia, and even help with situational depression. Yoga has been successfully utilized in programs for people suffering from PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to access the areas of the brain where individuals house trauma and fear. These health benefits continue to gain more traction in the scientific and medical community, that both encourage yoga and meditation for their patients.
This week, we bring you four classes, specifically designed to bring you relief, lightness, and tools to navigate whatever it is that may be making you not feel your best.
Come to your mat, find your breath, and be open to these practices making things a little or a lot better.
1. Josey Prior - Soar like an Eagle
2. Shannon Paige - Yoga for the Anxious Moments
3. Maria Garre - Yoga for Depression: Flow into Happiness
4. Shy Sayar - Yoga Nidra for Self Healing
I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like chocolate. If you are anything like me, then you will love this brownie. It is rather healthy compared to regular brownies containing a fair amount of protein and fiber, is gluten-free and vegan, but does not taste like a cake that is supposed to be healthy. I would even say it tastes even better than a regular brownie, but of course, the proof is in the pudding, so try it out and suit yourself!
I am not keen on cleaning up, so a massive bonus for me is that in addition to a baking tray, I only need a blender and spatula for this recipe. No bowls, no bain-marie to melt the chocolate or butter, nothing. Just blend and bake – simple!
I know that some of you will have prejudice about this recipe even only looking at the ingredients – black beans in dessert do sound weird, but I promise it works! I have brought these brownies to my yoga students as after class treat and other events, and not once have beans been suggested as an ingredient, so I guarantee you will not even taste them.
Chocolate Black Bean Brownies
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Yields: 12 squares
1 15oz can of black beans
5 oz peanut butter (doesn’t matter if smooth or crunchy but without added sugar or oil)
2 ripe bananas
2 oz unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 oz almond flour
4 oz dark chocolate
1-2 oz sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
Preheat the oven to 360 F and oil the tray.
Add all the ingredients up to chocolate to the blender and blend until smooth.
Chop up the chocolate and mix it into the batter.
Taste the batter (it is vegan, so no need to worry about raw ingredients) and decide yourself how much sugar you want to add.
Once you are happy with the taste, mix in baking powder and baking soda, pour into the tray and bake for 20 minutes.
Leave to cool in the tray before cutting to squares, as it will be quite fragile.
Serve on its own or add coconut yogurt and fresh berries.
Enjoy a FREE 25-minute Pilates-Yoga Fusion class, right now!
Nothing but Core 4 with Claire Petretti Marti
If you suffer from back pain, or have an any point in your life, you are not alone. Back pain affects many people.
Fortunately for most, you are not a helpless victim to your back pain.
There are things you can do every day to help relieve actuve back pain, and also heal and prevent future back pain.
Yoga creates long-lasting relief from back pain. Science is continually backing this up. Even a minimal yoga practice, can create relief, open your muscles, let go of stangnation in the back, and make you stronger and less susceptible to injury.
Here is why, explained in this easy to understand infographic, created by Dan Singleton, a survivor of back pain, and founder of Back on Site.
By Dan Singleton
Daniel Singleton is the founder of Back on Site, a website dedicated to helping people fight back against persistent back pain using the latest medical and scientific advice as well as his own personal experiences with the condition.
Practice Heal Your Back Pain yoga program, now!
If anxiety gets the best of you, you are not alone. Last year, there were nearly 300 million people reported worldwide that suffer from anxiety, making it the top mental health disorder in the world.
Here are 6 reasons why you can help yourself become a more calm and confident through meditation, and let go of anxiety's grip on you.
1. Meditation makes you focus on who you desire to be (more than your problems).
It's too easy to focus on yourself as an anxious person with an anxiety problem, instead of the opposite. Take a moment right now, close your eyes and take three deep breaths, and imagine yourself, as your most vibrant, happy, calm, and confident self. It might not be easy right away, but try to actually see yourself in this way, with your imagination.
It's often easier to focus on what we don't want. If you want to create long-lasting change in thinking patterns, you must put energy and mental focus into your solutions more than your problems. Meditation helps you get there and escape any repetitive mental loops of negativity.
2. Meditation relaxes everything on a deep and sustainable level.
It can be too easy to chase temporary escapes that create relaxation for a moment. However, meditation gets to the root of things. Layer by layer, moment by moment, you are able to unpack the layers of your mind, release tension, and come into a present state of being.
Science continues to back up meditation's benefits on relaxing the entire body, and particularly the nervous system and electrical brainwave activity. Chill out, and meditate, you can do it.
3. Peace is in the present moment.
No matter how wrapped up you might have been even moments ago, going back and forth between the past and the future in your mind, meditation allows you to let all of that go, and come into the present moment. It is here, you can experience a sense of peacefulness, only when you've decided to sit down and give your mind a moment to get quiet and unplug.
4. Technology pause.
If nothing else, meditation is a conscious activity that you can decide to do, that doesn't involve you looking at your phone or a screen. We need breathers from everything and increasingly this means time away from screens in the modern world. Of course, you can listen to music while meditating if you prefer, but this is different to mindlessly scrolling.
There is growing evidence the increased social media usage, corresponds with increased anxiety levels. 20 minutes of meditation, is 20 minutes not on Facebook or Instagram.
5. Meditation makes you physically healthier.
If you're healthy, you have less to worry and feel anxious about. Meditation is continually proven to make you physically healthier, from improved cardiovascular health, to a reduction in ashtma, to helping with chronic pain, and alleviating depression and more.
The link between the mind and body is real, and when your body is in good health, your mind is in good health, and vice versa. Meditation helps on both fronts.
6. It helps deal with other people who make you anxious.
Dealing with other humans is not easy task sometimes. But it can be easier when we feel a sense of calm and peace within ourselves.
If you have to cross paths with people that make you react, meditating can help you be more patient, compassionate, and forgiving toward people that challenge you. It'll also make you more stable and strong in yourself, so that the energy of other people will not be able to throw you off center.
By Keith Allen
Keith Allen is a teacher on YogaDownload.com. His classes balance a meditative focus with safe alignment. He has studied extensively from different teachers, lineages, and styles around the world, and remains a passionate and dedicated student of yoga and meditation. Enjoy his classes on YogaDownload.com or follow him on Instagram.
Convinced meditation will help you calm your anxiety? Practice meditating with Keith, right now.
Meditate and Cultivate Calm with Keith Allen
Body & Mind Relaxation Meditation with Keith Allen
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."— Mahatma Gandhi
One of the best ways to recognize an advanced yogi is by observing their behavior. We’re not referring to gasping in awe when someone wraps her leg around her head or effortlessly floats up into a sustained handstand. Instead, you can judge a yogi by the consistency of their practice on the mat and their actions throughout the rest of the day off the mat.
Practice and perseverance are two vital qualities needed to sustain your yoga practice over time. Especially in these uncertain times, when the external world feels different for all of us, we need to dig deep into our own inner strength and willpower. We’re here to support you in your yoga practice, no matter what stage of your practice you’re in today. Perseverance equals power!
According to the Yoga Sutras, two core principles of yoga are abhyasa and vairagya. Sutras 1.12 ––1.16 define (1) abhyasa as effort or practice and (2) vairagya as relinquishment/detachment or the willingness to allow phenomenon to arise without reacting to it. Together, these principles provide a definable path to achieve the ultimate goal of yoga or self-realization.
Abhyasa or effort means that you can’t simply think about or discuss yoga to garner its benefits. Abhyasa means that doing asana, pranayama, and meditation is the key to advancing toward a calm mind and peaceful heart. Patanjali advised three principles for abhyasa: practicing for a longer time, practicing without interruption, and committing to the practice. Putting in the effort matters most.
Vairagya, the second principle to a sustainable practice, refers to an attitude of relinquishing or releasing that which you cannot control. Learning to remain focused and not become distracted by external events helps you remain committed to your own growth and practice. Vairagya also refers to letting go of feelings of fear, ego, and other qualities that pull you away from your true sense of self. Attaining the ability to detach from all things that aren’t essential is an important step to staying true to what matters most in your life.
Perseverance builds confidence and a strong sense of inner power. Practicing the qualities of abhyasa and vairagya in day-to-day activities, not just time on the yoga mat, complements your ability to progress on the yogic path. Yoga is the practice of training your mind to direct your attention to what you want to focus on and to sustain that focus despite external circumstances.
Yoga is any effort we make throughout the day. You are what you do.
When you practice, you are creating new patterns. If you commit to doing something different and to continue to practice, you will find your inner power and peace of mind. Choose your path!
Sign-up for the Power & Perseverance 2-Week Yoga Challenge now here!
It is spring in Estonia, and nature is slowly waking up again. We had a little setback this morning as it started to snow, but now the sun is back out, and I am always happy to see the sun.
Beautiful weather or not, thanks to the virus, we are sadly still required to stay indoors. Luckily, I have a big terrace, and last week I cleaned up my little rooftop garden, so it is all ready to plant carrots and herbs and zucchini as soon as it gets a bit warmer. I was even lucky enough to find that my strawberries, mint, and parsley have survived the winter, so I could already pick some leaves for this salad too!
Brighter weather means that my dishes also turn a little lighter, and this salad is an excellent transfer from colder weather to summer as it is light but warm and quite substantial.
The recipe is simple and foolproof, but when working with eggplant, it is always essential to work fast brushing it with oil. It has a superpower to absorb absurd amounts of oil. Another important tip is always to make sure that eggplant is fully cooked – it should be creamy inside. It is one of few vegetables that does not win from being al dente at all.
If you are one of those people who think cheese is life, then feta or grilled halloumi would accompany this plate beautifully! But honestly, it tastes just as good on its own!
Warm Quinoa and Eggplant Salad
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 25 min
Ingredients:
3 ½ oz quinoa (I used black, but whatever you happen to have)
1 large or 2 small eggplants
6-7 sundried tomatoes (the ones I use are dry, and I soak them in warm water for 30 minutes before using, but you can also use the ones in oil)
A handful of pomegranate seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
The juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp tahini
½ tsp honey
Salt and pepper, to taste.
Fresh herbs to serve – mint, cilantro, parsley, dill work well or any kind of mix of them
Toast the quinoa on a dry pan for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Give it a good shake now and then. Pour in 1 ½ cups of boiling water, cover with a lid and leave to simmer on low for 15 minutes. By then, the water should be fully absorbed. If not, then just leave it for a little longer.
Preheat the griddle pan. If you don’t have one, use a regular pan or oven.
Cut the eggplant lengthwise to half and then long strips. The thickest part should be about an inch. Brush the slices lightly with olive oil from each side and sprinkle with salt, then grill from each side for about 3 minutes until nice and charred. Then turn the heat off and leave them on the same pan until you prepare the rest of the ingredients (they will continue cooking lightly, which is okay since you want them creamy).
You should have a little olive oil left from brushing the eggplant – mix this with lemon juice, tahini, honey, and salt-pepper. Have a taste and adjust the seasoning.
Once the quinoa is cooked, mix it with the dressing and chopped tomatoes.
To serve, pile the eggplant slices on top of quinoa, sprinkle pomegranate seeds on top, and add plenty of fresh herbs.
Try this all levels yoga class for FREE from the comfort of your home right now!
Morning Quickie 2 with Elise Fabricant
Belly fat is very tough to battle with. Most of the time, this is one of the most stubborn parts of the body that retains and stores fat, which makes it difficult to manage.
If you are trying to lose weight, and you notice that you are not shedding fat from your belly or abdominal area, then you may want to check on your food consumption. As it happens, there are certain foods that will surely help you with this kind of concern.
Eating these delicious foods will not only help you lose belly fat, but it will also help you improve your overall diet too.
1. Fruits
All fruits are healthy and beneficial to your body as they are rich in vitamins and minerals. But, among all the available fruits today, there are only a few ones that have the ability to help you lose fat in your belly area.
These fruits include avocados, berries, pears, and apples. Aside from their high contents of fiber, they also high in good fats. Not to mention, they contain less sugar, which mainly causes stubborn fats.
2. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Extra virgin olive oil is a very healthy option for every individual intending to lose weight and improve heart health. Instead of using other oils like vegetable and palm, opt to utilize olive oil since it lowers bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol levels. Also, it is an ideal option of oil if you want to effectively lose weight, especially when targeting your problem areas, like your belly.
3. Protein Powder
Protein powder is another ingredient that you must have in your kitchen. Aside from being a good replacement for whole foods that are rich in protein, this also aids metabolism, which helps burn stubborn fats in the abdominal area. There are also healthy, vegan protein powders.
Also, if you are experiencing back pain due to your weight concerns, a protein powder, whether vegan or whey, will help you with this kind of problem.
4. Whole Grains
There is a common misconception about grains. Unfortunately, there is a bad reception about them when it comes to weight loss. But, the truth is - whole grains are different from refined grains. The latter is the one that you should stay away from since this will only worsen your stubborn fats and even your weight and figure.
On the other hand, whole grains, like brown rice, wheat, barley, quinoa, farro, amaranth, and sorghum, are deemed to be "bloat busters" since they can help burn excess fats, especially those that are found stored in the belly.
5. Spirulina
Spirulina is now deemed as one of the best superfoods of today. Aside from its ability to melt stubborn fats in your problem areas, like thighs and bellies, it is also a good source of protein. Moreover, it has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties that further help improve your overall health and wellness.
You can add this to your favorite drinks and dishes, including shakes and salads. You may also choose to consume it without anything on the side, as it also acts as a good source of nutrients and vitamins that are apparent in most vegetables.
6. Peanut Butter
While peanut is a calorie-dense snack, this food aids weight loss effectively. Thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties, as well as its fiber contents, it can naturally burn stored fats in your belly area.
However, you must be mindful when eating peanuts or peanut butter. Too much of this might only worsen your problem areas, especially your belly. So, if you want a quick sweet fix for your snacks, a handful of peanuts or a scoop of peanut butter may help.
7. Coconut Oil
Just like olive oil, coconut oil is also an ideal choice of oil for your daily needs. It decreases the levels of bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol. So, coconut oil is beneficial to heart health.
In terms of losing weight and burning belly fats, this kind of oil does not add to the overall amount of stored fats in your problem areas. So, you can pretty much utilize it in any dish that fits with its taste, without worrying about the stubborn fats in your body.
8. Oatmeal
Oatmeal, especially when taken in the morning, can help you burn those stubborn fats in your belly. Aside from its high contents of fiber, which aids digestion, it also offers enough carbs to curb your hunger. So, any unnecessary cravings can be certainly hindered. As a result, you will be able to decrease your food consumption throughout the day.
You may eat oats with some nuts, fruits, and butter. But, just make sure to limit these additives.
Start Burning Belly Fats Today
There are a lot of fat-burning foods that you can munch on and consume daily to improve your figure and weight. But, among all of these foods, these eight delicious fixes given above are found to be the most effective ones in helping you burn the stubborn fats that are normally stored in your problem areas.
By Peter Jen
Struggling with your weight? Sign up for our powerful and transformative Yoga for Weight Loss program, now!
Yoga mudras are emotional, devotional, and psychic gestures, usually done with the hands. While seemingly simple, these gestures help your body in restore it's physical, mental, and spiritual health. These benefits can be accessed by using yoga mudras on their own, or while performing yoga asanas (poses). Here is everything you need to know about what yoga mudras are, what they symbolize, and why they are powerful.
Mudra comes from the combination of two words: “Mud” and “Dravay”. “Mud” means pleasure, and "Dravay” means to draw forth. Mudras can also mean 'to seal'. Thus, performing mudras is like creating a closed circuitry within the body.
Mudras are simple hand gestures of arranging and touching fingertips in specific ways, to stimulate different parts of your brain and body. Mudras alter the flow of energy in your body and mind, and tap into energy on an astral level.
Our hands are the control panels to everything and the strongest exchangers of electromagnetic energy in your body. We mostly use our hands for performing yoga mudras but can also perform yoga mudras using the tongue and eyes. Believe it or not, martial arts are also a form of mudra.
Yoga mudras work when you are attentive towards the flow of energy while performing them. When you pay attention and are intentional about what you are doing, you can use the power of your focus in miraculous ways.
Let us move into the mysterious science behind how yoga mudras work.
The human body holds all five elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space. Each of the five fingers represent one of the five elements:
Thumb - Fire Index Finger - Air Middle Finger - Space Ring Finger - Earth Little Finger - Water
From an Ayurvedic perspective, any imbalance in our body or any disease is due to a lack of any one element. Even a weaker immune system can be a consequence.
Yoga mudras, are performed for balance in our body and the betterment of our well-being. Yoga mudras can help in keeping us healthy and stress free. Practicing yoga mudras daily gives a balance to our body and boosts our immune system.
Here are some simple yoga mudras, what they represent, and how they can benefit you.
The Gyan mudra increases concentration, sharpens the brain and builds positive mental power.
The Vayu mudra helps maintain healthy digestion.
The Surya mudra boosts immunity.
The Shunya mudra strengthens the bones and reduces heart diseases.
The Apan mudra detoxifies the body.
Sit in Sukhasana (Simple cross legged posture), Padmasana (Lotus posture), or Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose), then choose the right yoga mudra, to hold in meditation.
Energy flow is thus, affected by holding each mudra. You can even utilize some mudras within a yoga pose.
So, we can say that mudras are somewhat of a neural science, because they focus on how a body's nerves function and carry signals throughout the body.
Yoga mudras help in controlling subconscious actions originating from the brain. Done with intention, these mudras can help your body remove bad habits and refine consciousness.
By Seema Bedi
Seema Bedi is a certified yoga teacher and entrepreneur. She teaches yoga and meditation in India across various health clubs, fitness centers, corporate and Yoga Teacher training programs. She loves to share her insights, stories, and educate people about the importance of yoga in lifestyle.
Practice this yoga class that uses yoga mudras!
Yin Yoga: The Power of the Pause with Elise Fabricant
You can find santosha and cultivate contentment through yoga.
Does your happiness depend upon what is occurring around you or does your sense of joy and serenity arise from within? According to Patanjali’s eight-limbed path of yoga, we can learn to cultivate contentment from the inside out. Santosha, the second Niyama or moral observance, means contentment. Like everything in yoga, the concept sounds simple, but the implementation takes discipline, desire, and focus.
With a dedicated practice, we can shift our perspective and learn not to be constantly derailed by what’s happening around us. When we are living in the midst of a global crisis, you might wonder how in the heck to feel content or happy. You aren’t alone. We’re all in this together.
Pretending to be falsely optimistic or burying your head in the sand like an ostrich is not the path to inner peace. Instead, Santosha comes from acknowledging the pain and discomfort or whatever emotion dominates you at any given moment.
Finding contentment regardless of external circumstances is an active endeavor. Using all the elements of a well-rounded yoga practice is key. Through choosing to spend time practicing pranayama, meditation, and asana, you learn to quiet the negative voices in your mind.
It takes work to cultivate Santosha, to learn to operate from a place of light despite the darkness. Again, being content doesn’t mean that you are pretending life is perfect. Being content means you can recognize the full spectrum of highs to lows and choose to focus on that for which you are grateful. Practicing santosha in our lives will bring us a sense of peace and inner joy.
“Happiness is a practices state of mind.”—His Holiness, the Dali Lama. One of the best ways to promote the positive is to nurture the quality of gratitude.
Each day, write down a list of at least three things you are grateful for, no matter how minor they may seem. We all have days where finding one sole thing to be grateful for is a struggle––but there’s always something to be thankful for, no matter how minor it may seem. Over time, train your mind to recognize the positives first, regardless of the negatives. Both qualities will always exist, but the one you direct your attention to will dominate your own experience.
This week, we’re excited to offer you a 5-day Yummy Yoga Flow Challenge with Claire Petretti Marti designed to assist you in finding your own intangible sense of santosha. These well-rounded, fun Vinyasa flow classes will have you letting go of the external and focusing on simply how you’re feeling inside. These classes are intermediate, but you can adapt so you’ll challenge your balance, strength, and flexibility. Sweat and smile your way to a happier you.
Ready to feel yummy? Sign up now, and enjoy this yoga from home!
Happy Mother’s Day from the Conscious Cleanse (for those of you around the world who celebrate in May)! Since many of us are still staying at home, we may not all be able to celebrate Mother's Day in person with our moms so we wanted to share an easy recipe that makes the perfect Mother’s Day gift.
As a mom of three boys (Jules) and a mom to a girl and one on the way (Jo), Mother’s Day is a very special day for us.
This year we are especially introspective about what this day means to us. As the world has been turned upside down, we’re more grateful than ever for our families. We realize that health is not something we can guarantee and that the simple, everyday moments are the times we will look back on most fondly as our children grow up.
Planting a tree together in the backyard, walks with our families, story time, cooking projects, bouncing on the trampoline and tickle wars fill our houses these past months. This forced pause has allowed us to have more connection at a slower pace and we want to honor that this Mother’s Day.
And we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge our own mothers who have given us the strength, patience, and perseverance to be the best moms we can be. Thank you. We love you.
While looking for other activities to turn into quality family time, we’ve been spending even more time in the kitchen and this recipe is one that we knew we wanted to share for this occasion.
We’re kind of chocolate obsessed and this chocolate-y recipe is healthy, easy and delicious. It’s also super easy to modify; you can substitute ingredients based on what you have in the house.
Our Vanilla Cherry Raw Truffles are sweetened with cherry and vanilla flavor on the inside and coated with dark chocolate on the outside, and are sure to be a major hit with the moms in your life.
A box of these yummy truffles makes a great upgrade to the traditional chocolate covered cherry cordials, which are full of added red dye and processed sugar. Pair a box of these bad boys with some flowers or a bottle of low-sugar wine, drop them off on the doorstep of the moms in your life, and you’re good to go!
We also see YOU, fellow mamas!
Why not treat yourself with a batch of these decadent truffles (you deserve it!).
They also make a fun indoor activity to do with the kids – rolling and shaping the truffles makes a great job for little hands.
Have a favorite Mother’s Day tradition or sweet treat? Let us know in the comments below. We love hearing your stories!
With love and cherry truffles,
Vanilla Cherry Raw Truffles
Yield: 16 truffles
1 cup raw cashews 1 cup dried unsweetened cherries ½ cup dates, pitted 1 tsp. sea salt 1 tsp. vanilla 9 ounces dairy free dark chocolate chips such as Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels 1 TB. coconut oil Shredded coconut, for garnish (optional)
In a food processor, process the cashews until finely ground. Add the dried cherries, dates, sea salt, and vanilla. Blend until the mixture is well combined and sticky.
Using your hands, form the mixture into 16 balls. Put balls onto a plate and place in the freezer for at least 2 hours or until firm.
Remove balls from the freezer. Place the chocolate chips and coconut oil into a double boiler and melt until smooth. Using a skewer or fork, dip the balls into the chocolate mixture, tapping against the side of the bowl to remove the excess.
Place truffles on a sheet of parchment paper to set. Sprinkle shredded coconut (if using) over the truffles while chocolate is still melted. Keep chilled in a covered container in the fridge. Serve chilled.
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.
Cleanse with Jo and Jules!
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.
Enjoy this FREE short yoga class before indulging in your dessert.
Alongside insecurity, anxiety and self-centeredness, one of my greatest emotional challenges in life has been anger. And while it was much worse in my teens and twenties, it still tests me.
Even just a couple of years ago, when I was living in Hawaii, there were days when I just woke up with an unshakable and debilitating irritability and animosity towards everyone and everything, for no immediately obvious reason. This was particularly disheartening because, at the time, I felt that I had everything for which I could ever wish; I was living where I had always dreamed of living and had a wonderful partner, all the time I desired for investing in my practices, meaningful and successful work that generated more than enough income to support our modest but very comfortable life – not to mention surfboards, paddle boards, hiking shoes, climbing gear, and the perfect environment in which to use them all, every single day.
Here I was though, waking up exasperated and resentful of a life that was failing to fulfill me, compounded by all the guilt and shame that resulted from judging myself for feeling this way. It was a horribly difficult time, but it did teach me at least one important lesson: anger won’t disappear at some point in the future, when external conditions are perfect. More on this later.
Eventually my life went through some incredible and intensely painful revolutions that shook me to the core of my being and ultimately led to some of the most consistent and stable periods of happiness in my life to date. Of course, there have still been easier and harder days, and sometimes whole weeks went by with intense challenges – but even then there was an unshakable sense, deep in my gut, that there was really nothing to lose, and that since I had overcome worse times, I will certainly overcome these.
Then, a couple of days ago, almost a month into the strict confinement of Spain’s emergency lockdown, I was overcome by anger that overwhelmed me, and for that very reason terrified me as well. Oh no, not this again.
One thing, at least, was different – my reaction. Back in Hawaii, my poor partner would see me suffering, but eventually learned to just give me a wide berth, because when she would try to help, I would bite her head off. Imagine the intensity of guilt that results from responding aggressively towards the very person who tries to help. Perhaps you don’t need to imagine it. I suspect that most (if not all) of us have been guilty of just that. And then on top of it all was the fact that I had writings and videos out there teaching people about transcending emotionality. At times I felt like a complete fraud.
At least this time I managed to be gentle with my partner though it all. Aside from the insights of non-duality and some of the teachings of the Buddha, one system into which I have gained significant insight over these last few years is the Three Dosha Theory of Ayurveda.
According to Dosha Theory, everything in reality manifests in order, from subtle to gross, represented (to simplify a bit) by the metaphors of wind, fire and earth. Emotional reactivity is no exception, and can also predictably evolve from “windy” anxiety and insecurity to “fiery” anger and aggression, which then leads to a kind of “muddy” wallowing in guilt and shame (vata, pitta, kapha).
Empowered by years of consistent immersion in these Ayurvedic insights, as well as by lots of time spent listening to teachings from Buddhism and Advaita, this time I was gifted with the remembrance that comes from familiarization with, and mindfulness of, the laws of consequence: if I didn’t want the misery of guilt and shame, I must allow myself to feel my anger, rather than acting out or suppressing it.
Then, by some grace, two more elements manifested to help me through the challenge. The first was that one of my best friends (who also happens to be my nephew) called to ask for my help and guidance with a dilemma relating to his business and personal life. Just trying to help him began to uplift me almost right away, and at least one of the insights that he later told me had indeed helped him emerged directly from familiarization with the teachings.
I reminded him of the insights of Plato and Aristotle thousands of years ago (not to mention the Buddha another half a millennium before them) that nothing but happiness is desired for its own sake, and thus all that we ever desire is for the sake of happiness (in the sense of contentment, well-being, peace and freedom from suffering).
This also relates to the realization that anger won’t disappear at some point in the future, when external conditions are perfect.
Like freedom from anger, happiness too is not a result of some ideal external conditions, but rather a state of mind that expresses a clear realization of the nature of reality.
The second timely occurrence was that I happened to read a post about managing difficult emotions by another old friend and wonderful teacher. I could particularly relate with her realization that her emotions were not a direct and linear outcome of her immediate choices and actions. I identified with and took solace in her pointing out that sometimes we can do everything “right” and still feel heavy at heart.
We can exercise, meditate, work, study, connect with friends and family, and still wake up depressed some days.
Of course we can use this fact as justification for losing heart and giving up on ourselves or on good effort; but I took it as she did – as a disburdening of guilt and of a sense of heavy responsibility for our feelings. Emotions, like the weather, are of course not entirely random, but they do come and go independently of our immediate control and influence; and thus the only sane response to both is surrender and acceptance.
There is a Zen koan about a master who was asked for his opinion on anger and replied: I agree. I agree.
Psychologist Marshall Rosenberg has argued that anger is an emotion that arises from unnatural thinking. At the heart of his non-violent communication system is the insight that thinking in terms of “right” and “wrong”, or in terms of what I or anyone “deserves” (for better or worse), reliably leads to misery. In fact, without an idea of right and wrong, anger is impossible.
We find an even deeper expression of the same insight in the Buddhist teaching about the Three Poisons at the root of all suffering: clinging, rejection and confusion. In fact, clinging and rejection are just mirrors of each other, two sides of the same coin, as clinging to anything is necessarily also a rejection of its opposite, its absence or its expiration – and this of course leads inevitably to suffering, in a reality where the only constant is impermanence. So we can cluster clinging and rejection together as preference, and say that without preference there is no suffering. And, according to the Buddha, the clinging/aversion dyad (aka preference) is itself rooted in confusion: the very notion that I know what will make me happy or miserable.
As the great master Shantideva wrote: we hate suffering but love its causes.
We all cling to the choices, actions and objects that lead to suffering, because they are temporarily pleasant, and avoid those that lead to happiness because they may be difficult. In Buddhism this mechanism is labeled as a kind of laziness, but fundamentally it is rooted in confusion – delusion, ignorance, even madness if you will.
Now, to be perfectly honest, there was a third piece to my mercifully swift transition from anger to joy this time: after speaking with my nephew and reading my friend’s post, I also hung upside down in my yoga swing and listened to funny songs by Bad Lip Reading, which definitely helped put a smile on my face.
But, to paraphrase Pema Chodron, entertainments are of little comfort when the doctor tells us that we have cancer, or when we lose a loved one to the inevitable jaws of death. There is nothing inherently wrong with activities that are pleasant in the moment, especially if they don’t harm us or others; they can be temporary salves to our sores. But if we sincerely wish to be free of suffering, we ultimately need more reliable medicine.
Caring about and helping others is one reliable medicine. As the Dalai Lama has observed, when we set ourselves aside and put others first, we are the first to benefit. Compassion brings us reliable joy right now, regardless of the outcome of our actions – as long as we think and act with the sincere intention to help others. Even if we fail or have limited success, compassionate intention already brings us joy at the very moment in which we cultivate and express it.
Another remedy is the intention to cultivate an attitude of unconditional friendliness towards ourselves and to everything, in every situation. In Buddhism this friendliness and the sincere wish to develop it are called Maitri, perhaps the most emphatic word for Love in Sanskrit. We can extract the antidote to preference, whether it appears as clinging or rejection, from the Zen master’s enigmatic response to anger: I agree. I agree.
And then there is the humility to recognize that our moods and emotions, as well as our thoughts, come and go like the weather, independently of our immediate control, and that we really have no idea whether obtaining the objects of our desire will result in actual, lasting happiness. When we realize that we do not control the future, that we do not “command the dawn” (in YHWH’s words to his martyr in the Book of Job), we can relax into living for right now.
We can take to heart Krishna’s words to Prince Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita about the essence of yoga. In Mukundananda’s translation: “You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.” Like the camel driver in Coelho’s The Alchemist, we can practice directing all of our attention to our current action, be it practicing meditation, eating a meal or driving a camel. We can develop discipline and even enthusiasm towards the choices and actions that bring us lasting joy – not with our eyes set on some future reward, but with the joy of performing this one action in this very moment.
And lastly, we can take heart with the medicine of being courageously realistic. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that there are most likely still numerous more painful experiences ahead of us. We are human, we are here, we love and we fight, and therefore we will almost certainly know more pain. If it is true that the sense of self with which we (falsely) identify disassociates itself from the body after death and clings to a new body, through karmic consequences that we do not entirely grasp, then there might be a near eternity of pain ahead of us.
Being courageously realistic means to say: bring it on. Let me at a near eternity of pain, so that I have all the time I need in order to learn how to transcend my preferences. And since, without preference, suffering has no teeth and no weight, bring on a near eternity of pain, so that I may do my best to fulfill the Bodhisattva Vows: the cravings of living beings are endless – I vow to end them all; living beings are innumerable – I vow to help them all. Bring on an eternity of carrying a weightless load, so that I may learn how to carry the weightless loads of all others – and since, until they themselves have realized, they will keep breaking under the weight of those burdens.
With these timeless elixirs ever ready in our medicine cabinets, we can work even with crumbling bodies, meditate even with incurably busy minds, and love even with broken hearts full of anger. We do not need to abolish anger in order to be free of the suffering of preference, aggression and confusion. We need only say to our anger: I agree. I agree.
By Shy Sayar
Shy Sayar (ERYT-500, YACEP) is a senior yoga therapist and a registered yoga teacher & continuing education provider at the highest level offered by Yoga Alliance. Well into his third decade with yoga, Shy has tens of thousands of hours of experience bringing yoga to students of all levels, treating patients, and training yoga teachers and therapists around the globe.
Want to practice working on your emotions? Listen to this inspiring and insightful talk with Shy, right now!
Transcending Emotionality with Shy Sayar
We all want to celebrate Mother’s Day with our mothers, grandmothers and children. But this year, it’s not the case for many families due to the COVID-19 and social distancing measures. This might be the first time you’ll have to celebrate Mother’s Day from afar, and not spend it with your loved ones. However, there are many ways to feel close to your loved one’s this Mother’s Day, without being physically with them. This can also apply to any motherly figure in your life, even if they’re not your biological mother. There are so many ways to celebrate and show your mother appreciation without being in the same place.
From planning a virtual party or surprise for your mother, to sending a thoughtful gift to show your love, there are so many easy ways to do these things. Now we live in an online era, you can be miles away and still be able to show your love to your mother.
Host A Video Call Lunch
You can send your mother a delivery from her favorite restaurant, and have a virtual lunch date via Zoom, facetime, or other video chat providers. It will be a welcome treat for her to not have to cook or wash up dishes, and will make her day feel special and different from the rest. Find out what her favorite dish and restaurant is, and order in advance to make it a real surprise for her. You can always order the same thing to share the experience with her!
Send Flowers
You can still send some sunshine in the post by organizing a flower delivery to your mom’s house. It’s the easiest way to show your appreciation for all she’s done, and it’s certain to brighten up her day, and make her feel extra special. Think about her favorite flowers, and try to organize a bunch of those.
Send a Goodie Bag
If you want to send something more unique, why not take some time and get creative? Consider putting a surprise goodie bag together full of her favorite things. You can include pamper treats, like bubble baths and soaps; her favourite foods and sweet treats like chocolates and sweets. Maybe even include her favorite books, or an activity like a game or puzzle to help keep her occupied while you can’t spend time together.
Send Family Photos
Reminder her of brighter days, and send her a family photo, or photobook full of special moments and favorite family photos. Maybe even frame a photo, or send a digital photo frame containing lots of photos and videos, of your lives together. This is a really simple way to cheer your mother up when you can’t spend time together.
Write a Letter
Mother’s Day is the ideal time to write a letter to your loved one and remincince over the special memories you both share, as well as express your gratitude for everything they’ve done for you over the years. This is a great way to tell your mother the things you’ve always wanted to do in person, but perhaps were too shy or emotional to do so. It’s a great way to let her know how much she means to you, and she’ll be able to look back and reread it again over the years.
Make a Coupon Book
You might have used to do this when you were little, and make a book of in person coupons, perhaps of chores to do for your mom, or full of special moments for you both to share together. Now’s a great time to get crafty, and make your mom a coupon book of things you can both do together once social distancing is over. Or perhaps have some things she can enjoy now, like a video coffee catch up together.
Make a Handmade Card
Another throwback to when you were little - why not make a handmade card for Mother’s Day this year? Get crafty and make something special from bits and bobs around the house, and put some love into it. If you have kids, you can even get them involved, for a fun activity to make cards for grandma!
Take a Yoga Class Online Together
This holiday is a beautiful reminder to appreciate and show love to your mother or someone in your life that is a source of love and support. Want to think of a fun creative way to celebrate? Do yoga together! This week on Yoga Download, to honor mother's day, we're focusing on yoga for parents and child, and yoga that can be enjoyed with loved ones. If you're stuck at home, you can practice these together!
These are just a few easy ways to make your mother feel special this mother’s day, but don’t forget that the most important thing to remember is that it’s the thought that counts. Make sure you call her, send a card or note, and make plans to see her in the future, when you’re able to. Whatever you do, your mother will appreciate it and feel loved.
Practice this yoga class virtually, at the same time as your mother!
“Only through our connectedness to others can we really know and enhance the self. And only through working on the self can we begin to enhance our connectedness to others.” - Harriet Goldhor Lerner
Every day is a perfect one to foster your connections with the world around you. Many places in the world, including the United States, Australia, Canada, China, and Germany, celebrate Mother's Day on May 10th––we know our community of yogis in the UK celebrate in March, but why not celebrate again? It’s a great way to show appreciation and love for your mother or anyone that is a source of support in your life. Practicing yoga together is a wonderful way to spend time with loved ones, whether it is in honor of Mother’s Day or just any given Sunday.
Yoga is centered on creating connection or union––with yourself, with others, and with the universe around us. Through our yoga practice and mindful attention to breath and sensation, we become more aware of who we really are. We tune into our heart and our deepest desires and operate from our authentic selves. When our interactions with others are grounded in this type of truth and meaningful connection, we are nurturing intimacy in our closest relationships.
Of course, yoga practice is an individual endeavor, but practicing yoga with a loved one, whether that’s a partner, parent, or child adds an element of deeper connection to the experience. Flowing through a yoga sequence is a form of play and fosters a sense of fun and laughter, which are excellent tools to help you feel close to each other. Shared commiseration of not being able to balance on your head or not be able to wrap your foot around your head makes challenging postures funny instead of frustrating. Simply breathing and moving together creates a sweet memory.
Join us this week with some special classes to honor mother's day! Check out yoga for parent and child, yoga for best friends, acroyoga, and some restorative practices to enjoy with a partner. If you're stuck at home, you can practice these together. Remember––we are all connected even if we aren’t together.
Practice these yoga classes together with your loved ones!
1. Casey Feicht - Parent & Toddler Yoga
2. Michelle Marchildon - BFF Yoga
3. Shy Sayar - Therapeutic Acroyoga Basics
4. Kristen Boyle - Partner Restorative Yoga
We’re in 80:20 mode! Who’s ready for a refreshing and delicious drink?!
Be sure to check out La Paloma Rosa recipe below.
Known as one of Mexico’s most popular cocktails, La Paloma is a perfect combination of sweet and tart with grapefruit, lime, and a pinch of salt. We’ve given this a Conscious Cleanse 80:20 spin by adding one of our favorite sugar-free sweeteners, Lakanto, plus a touch of mint.
YUM!
You can also leave out the tequila for a delicious mocktail.
For more deliciously conscious spirits, be sure to check out our library of 80:20 Conscious Cocktails HERE.
Until next time, be safe and healthy.
Cheers,
La Paloma Rosa
Serves: 4
1 cup fresh grapefruit juice 1 cup organic blanco tequila ¼ cup fresh lime juice 1 ½ TB. Lakanto Handful of fresh mint, crushed Pink Himalayan sea salt Ice cubes 1 cup club soda
Instructions: In a cocktail shaker (or quart-sized mason jar) combine the grapefruit juice, tequila, lime juice, and Lakanto. Crush the mint leaves in your hands releasing the essential oils while keeping them whole. Add the mint leaves to the same container. Stir, wait five minutes, and stir again. To prepare each drink, run a lime wedge along the edge of half of each glass, and dip rim in salt. Pour ½ cup of the grapefruit mixture into each glass filled with ice. Top off with about ¼ cup of club soda. Garnish with any extra mint you may have. ¡Salud amigos!
Cleanse with Jo & Jules!
Enjoy this free short yoga class before indulging in your delicious cocktail!
As I sit here and think about this blog post, I can hear in the back of my head, "I will finally be happy when this post is written." Here I am placing conditions on my happiness and I know that I am not just doing it here, but I am guilty of it in many other area of my life.
Thinking about this thought, I ask myself, “am I really going to be happy and content long term when this blog post is written? Or will I be seeking the next goal to place my conditions of contentment on?”
Conditions on contentment was never something that I ever gave much thought to, I just assumed that they came with the process of being content, however, fleeting it may have been. However, true contentment does not lie in reaching the destination, but rather in enjoying the process. Something that I would come to learn through my personal yoga practice and the trials and errors of seeking lasting contentment.
How many times have you said to yourself or others, "If only I had the perfect job, then I will finally be happy." Or "Once the weekend comes I can finally enjoy myself and relax." Or " Once I can get my weight down those last 10 lbs I will finally be able to love the way I look."
I know that I have said those things plenty of times. However, each time I reached one of those destinations, I was rarely happy long enough to actually enjoy it before I was placing the next condition for my happiness.
Why do we do this? Why do place these burdens on ourselves just so that we can achieve a perceived contentment or happiness?
I am sure that there are hundreds of reasons why. It was what we saw growing up. It is the way of society. It's the commercials and advertisements we see in our face telling us to believe that happiness and contentment is just around the corner if only we do, buy, or be a certain thing. For each of us it is going to be a little different, but the results are still the same, we are happy or content for the short term, but we are always left searching for that next thing to get or achieve in order to attain that happiness or contentment again.
Contentment, however is not something that comes and goes, it is constant and eternal. It is always with us because it is within us, we just have to make that realization.
I clearly remember one the very first big conditions I placed upon myself. I was 12 turning 13 and I was blowing out the candles on my birthday cake. It was my wish. If only I could be normal again, then I will be happy. Just a few months earlier while I was enjoying being a kid and experiencing contentment of just growing up and having fun, a single moment changed my life. It only took a blink of an eye. One solitary event, and my whole life and mindset shifted. I blew out the candles and waited. And waited some more.
I waited for 8 years. I missed out on so much waiting for my wish to come true. There would be pockets of moments where I could push my fears aside and make the best of it. There were moments where I would smile and seem happy. But it was fleeting and never real.
Then one day, I stumbled upon a a yoga practice that would open my eyes to a whole new reality. A practice that would come to shape and create the normalicy that I craved and had wished for. Just as I did not give much thought to that fleeting moment back in my teens when my life and mindset shifted, I did not give much thought to the benefits of this practice. I did it to get my exercise in, but what I got out of it was so much more. It was a glimpse at contentment.
For the first time in a very long time, I experienced what it was to be awake again, to be aware of what was not serving me. It was the practice of yoga that gave me a taste of the "normalcy" that I had spent almost a decade seeking and learning and that in that moment, I found that it was within me all along.
What is contentment and how can we start to cultivate this as a regular part of our life?
Contentment or in yoga, also known as Santosha, is a practice of appreciating what you have, where you are and those you love without placing conditions on it. When you are content, you are not comparing yourself to others in a way that puts you or what you have down. It is a feeling of ease within ones self regardless of our current situation. We know that we are enough as we are and that we give thanks for each moment we are given.
Here are 5 ways that you can start to cultivate contentment in your life right now!
1. When you set priorities do so without conditions or pressure. “The I will be finally content when or if….
When we set priorities we are able to handle the task at hand with our full attention. When priorities are set without conditions there is no worry about the outcome or racing to the destination. We are able to enjoy the process. It gives us an opportunity to be present, proactive and less reactive. When we are less reactive we are less likely to place stressful conditions on ourselves. When we are fully present we are not thinking about the past or future, we are in the moment. Have you ever just set your mind to something because you wanted to no strings attached, just because?
After experiencing my first yoga class and the feeling of ease that came with it, for me, I decided that first things first - every morning I would do yoga. I could release the energy and focus my attention inward. What this gave me was silence and an awareness to the moment. I was able to start to see the bigger picture and make choices from a place of calm. It gave me an opportunity to ask myself, is fear and worry going to take away from my experience or will it fulfill me? It was from this place that I was able to choose joy and ease and navigate life with an open mind. I was awoken to a glimmer that contentment was not just externally driven.
2. Stop comparing yourself to others and their circumstances.
Comparison has a sneaky way of creating discontent. I say sneaky because not all comparison is negative. Sometimes comparison can be good. It can foster a sense of sameness and present an opportunity to meet people or engage in a situation that we feel connected to because we are similar to them or their causes. However, comparison can lead down a rabbit hole of devaluing our own worth, making us feel inferior.
In my instance I looked around me and I saw all these people laughing and smiling and doing things they enjoy. What I failed to see was that everyone has their own personal hell that they are going through, but how they chose to show up and be was just different than me. I allowed my fear to sit on my sleeve. I allowed my fear to stop me from interacting and taking leaps of faith that my peers did with what seemed like ease to them. I found myself saying things like if only I could be like him or her, then I would be happy. This just sent me spiraling and left me feeling worse than if I had ever even made the comparison in the first place.
By setting the priority of taking time each day to wake up and become aware of these thoughts, I was able to see that the comparisons that I was making was like comparing an apple to an orange and it was not serving my greatest good. I was able to see that if I wanted to be content, then happiness had to come from within me because everyone's ideal of contentment is going to be slightly different than my own.
But how do you do that?
3 . Change your inner voice, your personal message.
I just recently heard a quote by Jessie Itzler. If you don't know who he is, he is an entrepreneur.The co-founder of Marquis Jet, a partner in Zico Coconut Water, the founder of The 100 Mile Group and an owner of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. He gave a talk that I had the privilege of hearing and he dropped some amazing knowledge, but the one thing that really stuck out in my mind was this, "Pay attention to the words that you speak. The words we speak are powerful." Simple yes, easy to do daily, not so much. Especially if it is something that we are not aware of.
Think about the last thing you uttered in your mind? Was it positive? Did it carry conditions? Did it leave you feeling empowered? Then think about how many times you have said that to yourself throughout the day, once, twice, one hundred times? How much do you believe it? A little? Or A lot? Has it influenced your choices, the judgments you've passed, the way you feel?
More than likely the answer to this is yes. I too, have been down this road. Things like, “You are so dumb to believe this.” “You are not any good at that anyway.” “You are so ugly,” that play so often in our minds that it is no longer conscious.
Yet these thoughts that play on repeat in our subconscious without us even truly being aware that we are even doing it. By practicing yoga, I was given an opportunity to be quiet and confront the negative thoughts that infested my mind on a daily basis. I had a choice, I could continue to go down this road and avoid the feelings or I could feel the feelings and allow them to be brought out of the dark so that I could question them. I became aware because I had the opportunity to weed through the noise and hear what I was saying.
How can you do this? Take time to become quiet, maybe after a yoga practice, rather than rushing through Savasana (final resting pose) you take the time to get quiet and listen, wake up to the mental tape playing in your mind. Like me you might be surprised at how you are comparing yourself negatively to those around you and even those closest to you. Once you have caught yourself in this cycle, its time to stop it. You can do that by questioning it, rephrasing it, and practicing it. It sounds cheesy I know, but it works.
Try it sometime. Think about the last thing that you said to yourself, question its reality and ask how you would feel if you did not feel this way. Take the time to rephrase your old thought to something that is more positive. Say it to yourself til you believe it, share it with someone you care about so that they can help you reinforce this new way of thinking.
Other ways that you can shift your inner voice is to:
Focus on having an attitude of learning no matter the outcome or situation. What can you gain from what did not go the way you had planned.
Reward your actions not you and your traits. It is easy to reward what goes well, or how well we did something. It is not as easy to find the positive in an effort that did not go the way that we wanted. It is easier to put the blame on ourselves. It's easier to think we are not smart enough, that we are not good enough, that we must be out of our league. What if instead, we praised ourselves for taking a leap of faith, for trying something new and for learning something we did not know before we had started?
Value your efforts. Congratulate yourself for trusting yourself to go for your goal. Honor yourself for pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone. Recognize and praise the strength and courage it took to go after something that you wanted.
Forgive yourself. Like saying the saying "Pay attention to the words you speak, the words we speak are powerful." It seems like a no brainer, but often we are more likely to forgive and move on for someone else but not ourselves. Take the time to remember that you too are human and you too deserve to be forgiven for your mistakes, and perceived failings.
4. Start to cultivate gratitude to help you move towards Santosha, contentment.
Gratitude is the ability and quality of being thankful for what you have and a readiness to show appreciation for those things and people around you.
I had another opportunity to hear another great speaker and author of the book Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic. He was born without arms or legs. He was truly inspiring to listen to not only to learn about his journey, but the words of wisdom that he spoke in regards to the power of gratitude.
He said his biggest lesson was learning an attitude of gratitude and “that, it’s the disability of the mind and heart that is more debilitating than the physical ones.” That he was not going to focus on what is happening to him but rather to be thankful for what he has, and who he IS.
I found this absolutely profound because, how often do we take for granted all that we have both tangible and intangible? How often do we say thank you for giving us an opportunity to grow through a challenging situation?
I know that through some of my most difficult times, that instead of being grateful for the support that people showed me, I dwelt on the misery that I was feeling. Instead of seeing the light in given situation, I automatically felt that life was happening to me rather than for me. I did not see the bigger picture. I had yet to recognize the power of gratitude. Once I found it, it opened my eyes to seeing my challenges from a different perspective. I was able to appreciate and acknowledge not only that I could be better, but that I was not alone in my journey.
Why should you work on cultivating an attitude of gratitude to feel content? When we are grateful for what we have and for the people in our lives it shifts the chemicals in our brain to help us see the positive especially in stressful or challenging situations. It helps us to connect to something bigger than ourselves which enhances our feelings of connection and quality of life.
How can we cultivate this gratitude:
Take a moment to think of all the things that you have in this moment.
Find gratitude in something that challenges you.
Spend time with loved ones.
Share with others how grateful you are to have them in your life.
5. Live simply to find contentment.
With all the things and the thoughts and the experiences that inundate us this is another one that is easier said than done. Think about a moment in time where you are not being consumed by social media, friends and family opinions, television, advertisements, news, etc. It’s not easy to escape the noise. However, it is essential in gaining the freedom from the binds of grievance, complexity and emotional turmoil.
Confusious says: "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."
Living simply is not just giving up the physical things although that does help, but it is also about the mental clutter that takes up precious space in your mind. Yoga gives you an opportunity to sift through the though weeds in your mind to get to a clear plot where you can plant fresh seeds and make room for the flowers to bloom. When your mind is filled with weeds the beauty the truth gets hidden.
There was a time when my mind fed off of complexity. It was easier to let my mind hoard information. I was always looking for “the answer” to get my life back to feeling “normal” I would fill my days with activities and get lost in the shuffle of doing. I would do anything other than to sit with my fear and face it. I preferred to get caught up in the complexity of my fear and life which stole more from me then taking time out to just be quiet and still. I truly believe I did this because I feared that what was on the other side was even more ugly than what I was currently facing. I also believe that we do this because fear that we are going to miss out, good old, FOMO (fear of missing out). What if we did miss out though, what if we saw it as an opportunity of what we could gain rather than what we could lose?
Issac Newton said, "Truth is ever to be found in simplicity and not in multiplicity and confusion of things."
When I practiced yoga there was nothing complex about it. I moved, I would breath and I would be quiet. I was able to weed the garden of my mind. I became aware of the extravagance of thought things I lacked presence. I allowed the weeds to dominate and steal space from my truth.
I remember so clearly staring at my ceiling in Savasana and there was nothing. Not a thought passed through my mind. I remember walking to class my body felt light. I felt like I had discarded a hundred pounds of trash from my shoulders. I felt amazing. I was grounded. I noticed the little things, the things that over time, I had walked by a million times, but never noticed.
So how can you cultivate simplicity to find contentment?
Take out more than you accumulate. Think about everything you do in a day, do you truly need to do it all? Is there something that you can let go of?
Choose to be present, notice the little things, enjoy your life right now rather than when you hit a destination.
Ask yourself, do I really need this.
Go slowly and with full attention. Stop multi-tasking when you multi task you accumulate a lot of stuff both physical and emotional and you get nothing done, This further complicates things rather than simplifying things. Decide what is important. Does what you do, have or think bring you joy? does it allow you to enjoy your life to the fullest? Examine your commitments.
Simplifying my life and getting rid of the emotional and physical baggage that held me down, allowed me to gain a new perspective. The space that was in my mind was then able to be filled with truth. It was able to fully comprehend how my fear was stealing my contentment, my happiness and my joy.
In conclusion: As I sit here and finish this last paragraph of this post, I feel content. Not because I finished it and I reached my goal. But rather, I feel content because I have gotten my words on to the page. Because I trusted myself to just write and allow the words to be written.
I feel content because I am grateful for the time I gave myself to do this work and I am continuing to practice the mindfulness not only of my yoga practice but my every day life. It is in this daily practice that I can bask in Santosha, contentment. I have finally been able to touch true happiness, not at the price of missing out on anything, or out of fear. I did this by setting my priorities, and I stopped comparing myself. I shifted my inner voice, I cultivate gratitude and I chose to live simply. By doing these 5 things I have found contentment, and in essence I finally got my birthday wish.
By Julie Shapiro
Julie is a certified 200-hour yoga teacher, certified personal trainer and mother of two. Julie believes that yoga found her and was presented to her at a time when she needed it the most.
In fact, it was after her first yoga class that she finally experienced a quiet mind - no more mind chatter! Julie has been in the health and wellness space for 15+ years she currently teaches yoga in the online space. You can find Julie on Facebook www.facebook.com/enhanceamplifyelevate1 & Instagram.com/jsyogafit
Practice yoga for Santosha and contentment right now!
A Practice of Contentment with Christen Bakken
The question isn’t whether you’ve experienced back pain, but whether you are one of the lucky ones who haven’t. Millions of people around the world suffer from aches and injuries to their backs on a regular basis. The good news is that yoga helps with more than the muscles and ligaments, which may be strained, sprained, or simply unbalanced. Often, the root of the pain is grounded in emotional or mental issues and yoga addresses the physical, emotional, and mental causes.
When you are hurting, ranging from a mild inconvenience to complete incapacitation, it is important to distinguish between acute pain and chronic pain. Acute back pain is intense and lasts from a few days to several weeks. It’s generally due to a fall, lifting a heavy object improperly, a car accident, and resolves within six to eight weeks. During this stage, rest and apply heat and ice to ease inflammation until you are ready to perform gentle exercise. Walking is an excellent option.
Chronic pain lasts longer than three months and is more complicated. Yoga can provide temporary and potentially permanent relief. Our mind and body work together and cannot be separated. Only yoga restores harmony on every level.
Physically, in addition to stretching and strengthening the spine, yoga helps you:
Strengthen the core muscles, which include your abdominals, back, and trunk. The core provides a girdle for the spine.
Elongate and open up the hamstrings, which when tight can directly tug on the lower back, creating or exacerbating pain in the lumbar region.
Stretch and lengthen the psoas or hip flexors at the front of the hip. The psoas is the only muscle to originate in the front of the body and finish in the back. Sitting too much tightens the hip flexors and results in lower back pain.
Emotionally and mentally, yoga helps you:
Address and help alleviate emotional issues, which have built up in the body and created pain. Often, frustration, resentment, and stress create physical tension and contribute to muscular imbalances.
Upper Back: Upper back and neck pain is often tied to lack of emotional support from loved ones or work worries, not just an unsupportive pillow.
Middle Back: Pain in the middle back comes from feeling guilty about ‘stuff’ from the past. Perhaps you are afraid to explore your past or are hiding from difficult memories and tension results.
Lower Back: The lack of money, fear of not having enough, or fear of material loss may trigger lower back pain. The fear of your own survival amplifies the pain.
Yoga helps us tune in to our emotional body and examine the true cause of physical pain. Our dreams and fears are likely what is triggering the crick in your neck or the stabbing in your back. Even if your back pain stems from an accident, the underlying feelings often have been causing strain you didn’t recognize until it manifested. For complete relief, yoga will help you get stronger inside and out to keep your spine healthy for good.
Try these four classes today!
1. Erin Wimert - Low Back Love
2. Desiree Rumbaugh -Strengthen, Protect, & Heal the Lower Back
3. Elise Fabricant - Yoga for Back Pain
4. Michelle Marchildon - Relieve Your Back Pain
We’ve been seeing lots of people using this time at home to bake, so we knew it would be the perfect time to share this awesome recipe from one of our amazing cleanse community members – Susan of Nourish & Charm!
Susan is a long-time cleanser and also one of our good friends! She runs an amazing blog where she posts healthy recipes and entertaining tips (she is a fabulous host!). So when (eventually!) you’ll be able to entertain friends and family again, make sure to check out her tips for hosting on her blog.
These muffins are the perfect, easy home-baking project. They’re free from most common allergens, plus they’ll make your house smell like cinnamon spice and everything nice.
Read about Susan’s blog, health journey and more below:
Nourish & Charm is my healthy eating and entertaining food blog that came to me from my love of bringing family and friends together through food. I love to promote a clean diet (nourish), and I love to entertain (charm), so this platform brings these two intentions together in one mission. Cooking for others helps bond us to our loved ones. Not only does it provide nourishment, but it also encourages a sense of community, belonging and purpose.
I adopted a healthy eating lifestyle several years ago after confronting a Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis. This change had a positive impact on my mind and my body, and it also influenced how I cook for my family and my loved ones. Gratefully, I live in the beautiful state of Colorado, which I consider to be a wellness mecca. Jo and Jules from the Conscious Cleanse have had a significant impact on this wellness community! They provide structure and a wealth of information for the cultivation of a healthy lifestyle.
Cooking for others nourishes the body and soul, and creates a sense of harmony and intimacy that we can all use more of these days. I love to entertain, but it is important to me that my gatherings incorporate a clean and healthy, but delicious menu! What does a clean recipe look like to me? It is always gluten free, it uses whole, real foods and natural ingredients, it avoids refined sugars, has a dairy free option and most importantly, is prepared at home! I built my Nourish & Charm platform as a way to share my recipes and entertaining menus with our community.
I have learned that we do not have to limit our menus just because we want to provide a clean and healthy meal. And yes healthy and guilt free sweet treats and even clean but fun cocktails are possible! Whether you are planning a dinner party, hosting a special event, cooking a meal for your family or just looking for new recipes, check out my website at nourishandcharm.com. Go through the various celebrations or just browse the recipes. Feel free to sign up for the weekly newsletters. I also encourage you to follow me on Instagram @nourishandcharm or like me on Facebook. You don’t have to derail your health to eat and serve delicious food.
One fan favorite recipe is my Sweet Potato Pecan Muffins. They are grain free, refined sugar free, dairy free, gluten free and super delicious. Have them for breakfast, as a snack or even for dessert! Get some veggies, fruit and protein all in one tasty treat!
Sweet Potato Pecan Muffins
Yield: 10 Muffins
1 cup almond flour ¼ cup coconut flour ¼ cup arrowroot flour 1 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. cinnamon ¼ tsp. nutmeg ½ tsp. salt 1 cup sweet potato puree* ¼ cup maple syrup 1 tsp. vanilla 2 eggs ½ cup shredded carrots ½ cup diced apples ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions: Preheat oven to 350°. Line a muffin pan with 10 muffin liners. Combine the almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot flour, baking powder cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a mixing bowl and mix well. Place the sweet potato, maple syrup, vanilla, and eggs in a blender and blend thoroughly. You can also use a food processor or a hand mixer. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together. Fold in the carrots, apples, and pecans. Fill each muffin liner to the rim. Bake for 30 minutes. Makes 10 muffins.
*NOTE: I use canned sweet potato puree. Sometimes these cans are hard to find in the store outside of the fall season. I cook with sweet potato often so I buy these cans by the case. Also feel free to bake and puree your own sweet potato. If the batter is too thick, you can add a couple of tablespoons of almond milk.
Practice this 30-minute all-levels yoga class for free now, before or after your delicious muffins!
I am 100% on board with respecting and adhering to the CDC, WHO, and NIAID’s suggestions for staying home, maintaining social distancing, wearing masks in public, and washing hands. I am choosing to abide by the suggestions made by my governor as well as all of the medical professionals offering guidance, but as a psychic and energy worker, I will admit that I even take it a step further.
I have found there are ways I can actually work the energy of my body and its energetic field to improve my feelings of safety, security, and well-being during a time like this, and I wanted to share those methods with you.
Everything is energy, everything.
Just because we don’t see all energy, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Also, the brain doesn’t know the difference between what it sees when the eyes are closed or open, so I do believe that by developing an awareness of the energy around and within your body truly can help improve your health physically, mentally, and emotionally.
The basics are Grounding, Aura, Center of the Head space (third eye/sixth chakra), and Replenishing Energy.
Grounding
I love using the description of a buoy when I am describing grounding. A buoy is a rubber ball floating on water. It is tethered to the earth in order to serve its purpose. If the buoy lacked its tether it would just be a rubber ball floating around; with the tether it creates a boundary between boaters and safety zones in the water that are no wake or for swimming. It remains centered (for the most part).
To imagine grounding you want to visualize a cylinder of energy that connects to you around your hips on the top end with a vacuum tight seal and then the bottom of the cylinder creates the same seal but to the core of the earth. It’s as if you are visualizing a straw connecting around your hips and to the center of the earth. Then for added effect visualize the suction tight sound effect sealing both ends up. Schluuuuuup!
You have now created and visualized your grounding. This is a visualization technique I learned through meditating at Boulder Psychic Institute many moons ago. There are billions of ways to ground, this is just the method I have found effective for myself and when doing energy work with clients.
I do believe a lot of work is done based upon intention. So maybe grounding is done when you walk barefoot on the earth, or sitting on the yoga mat from a space of feeling centered, digging your toes in the sand, or fingers in the earth, maybe It is just a moment of conscious deep breaths; there is no wrong or right, there just is.
I see grounding as a means to connect ourselves to the Earth, our mother planet, our home, back to ourselves, as well as to recycle energy and recharge, as if plugging in a battery. You can then set the intention that whatever act you do to ground your body, be it the one I described, or one you do already that works for you, that this grounding is intended to release energy no longer serving you, or energy that is not yours trying to process through your body.
I know it helps me when I visually watch energy releasing from my body and aura in a meditative space.
Aura
The easiest way to describe an aura would be to visualize a soap bubble or a bubble as if you were blowing from a bubble wand. I like to visualize my aura about two feet around me in all directions and two feet below my actual feet in a sitting position.
To take it a step further I visualize that same suction, vacuum tight seal of my aura tucked in completely to my grounding cord, a couple feet below my feet. I like to silently own this space as mine.
I used to teach this technique to teens I worked with in a residential treatment center. They were often times annoyed by their peers or other people working at the center, and felt like they had no space. I would teach them how they could develop their awareness around their aura, own it, and maintain it, to keep their control and accountability over their space energetically, which lets be honest, has very real abilities to help you physically feel like you have more space from others or allow you to control your internal environment to a certain degree.
The next step would be to then set the intention release energy is releasing from that aura that is no longer serving you, or that is not yours. The only energy we want in our auras is ours. Other people’s energy in our aura is recognized as foreign and ends up having us feel pretty funky or off.
The aura is something we can moderate ourselves and check in with throughout the day. Maybe you want to set different vibrational tones to your aura or maybe you prefer translucent colors or images in the aura. It is fun to experiment with.
I know for myself it depends on what is going on for me. Today I chose to imagine a blue and pink hydrangea bush with the backdrop as a New England coastal view for my aura, and I added the vibrations of freedom, gratitude, limitless space, rose quartz vibes, self love, and wholeness.
I know for myself during the pandemic I will imagine a gold or neon blue energy layer surrounding the outside of my aura if I must go to the grocery store, or be in public if I am feeling particularly triggered, other times I don’t find it necessary. I just assess based upon where I am that day, or how I am feeling.
The trick is, feel free to explore, maybe for you it is pink, red, or nothing at all. There is no right and no wrong, intention with this work is where the magic lies.
Center of the Head: Sixth Chakra (Third Eye, Ajna Chakra)
I like to close my eyes, imagine a natural environment, and then observe as if I am sitting in the director’s chair to myself. That space between the ears and behind the eyes. While it might seem like a small space within your physical head, it is actually a space of unlimited and infinite energy if you let it be that.
I imagine that space as If I was on my own private beach looking out at calm turquoise water, sitting in warm sand, a sunny day, slight breeze with salty air, and I allow myself to energetically bathe in this, because I have found this to help my nervous system greatly. Again, our brain doesn’t know the difference between what it is experiencing with eyes closed and opened, so be mindful of that analyzer that might want to trick you into overthinking.
I make sure there is nothing disturbing feeling or looking in that center of head space, and make adjustments accordingly. I most certainly make sure there are no other people in that space. If I notice someone in there or maybe a few people, I set the intention of watching them dissipate from the space like smoke or I visualize a gate and watch them gently and kindly leave through the gate, and then remove the gate from that space when that feels complete. Once that space is people free and feeling good for me, I own this space for myself, just as I do my aura.
You are the in the drivers seat. You get to decide what that center of the head looks like, feels like, and I highly encourage experimenting with different settings and seeing what works and feels good for you there.
Replenishing Your Energy
This can be done through self care and billions of ways, in terms of basic and simple energy maintenance, the method I am guided to describe and share is using the bubble technique. Imagine large bubbles of energy as big as you want, and fill them in with golden light, or whatever translucent colors work for you. I typically choose gold when replenishing because that is just what works for me, and I like that color as a high vibrational healing color for my own work. I then imagine popping the bubbles. When popping the bubbles Imagine that energy from the bubble is restoring, refilling, and nourishing my aura and body on an energetic level, as if you’re watching the battery on your cell phone fill up, it is a similar concept.
Another thing you could do is fill the bubbles with vibrations you are desiring to feel. So for instance, maybe you want to fill in with relief, clarity, certainty, feeling safe, comfort, etc. Put all of those vibrations into a bubble, pop the bubble, and fill in. I like to challenge myself to fill in with 10 or 50 or 100 bubbles of vibrations or just the color gold and really fill up.
If I am having a day I feel particularly triggered around my past, or notice I keep wanting to analyze future scenarios because present time feels uncertain, then I will ask for my energy back from the past and the future and fill in bubbles with that energy and bring it back into my preset time body. I also like to ask for bubbles to be set to optimum health and fill in with that as well.
I am not a doctor, nor can I assure you this is a fool proof method to keep you safe, I just know it is something I have been choosing to do for myself, and it has truly helped me feel better on many levels any day, let alone during a global pandemic.
I have noticed how this has helped me as a sensitive and empathetic person to release a lot of the collective energy that I have been noticing more of during the time of COVID-19. It is fun to experiment with, and if you are looking to try something new, why not? I do not suggest this as an alternative to the suggest guidelines put in place by medical professionals or government officials, I just see this as an add-on to the pre-existing public health suggestions.
Treat yourself to some grounding right now, with this free yoga class, suitable for all levels.
Earth day is celebrated on the twenty second of April each year, and has become the largest non-religious observance around the world. Earth day had humble beginnings as a day to preserve the environment in the United States, and has now become the largest push for a cleaner and healthier planet - and is celebrated across the entire world. Earth Day is important to show that everyone can make a difference to the planet in a positive way.
History of Earth Day
During the 1970’s, the United States was experiencing a period of division, both economically and politically. During this time, the country was divided over it’s participation in the Vietnam War, and at the same time the economy was experiencing a boom. This boom however, had an adverse effect on the environment. Industries such as automobiles, chemical plants and oil were seeing huge growth, but that also went hand in hand with the production of air pollution and waste. Back then, the health of the environment wasn’t at the forefront of our minds like it is today, and many people were unaware of the damages this economical growth could have on the planet.
Some people were however, and as they became aware of the effects on the environment around then, began to inform the public, and get the message across. Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson was one of these individuals, who was spurred on in 1969 after a devastating oil spill in California caused even more damage to the environment. His idea was for a national teach-in on the environment, which he introduced in 1970. He created a team of 85 people, including congressmen and academics to help to promote his ‘Earth Day’ across the entire country, and on April the twenty second in 1970, the very first earth day was celebrated in the United States.
This celebration included over 20 million people around the entire United States gathering together to hold demonstrations, rallies, protests and other activities with the goal of promoting a cleaner, safer environment for us to live in. This first Earth Day gathered people of all ages, from children, students and adults, who all pushed the government for legislation that would protect the Earth.
Surprisingly, opposing political parties, and everyone from different social and economic backgrounds showed unity during Earth Day, and came together to spread the message of protecting the planet. After this first Earth Day, the United States Environmental Protection Agency was founded. As well as this, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act were all introduced and passed. This was the start of major changes to help improve the environment.
For the next few decades, Earth Day continued to be celebrated across the United States, and it’s main aim was to find practical ways to protect the environment. However, in the 1990’s, the movement took on a global scale. In 1990, more than 200 million people across 141 countries across the planet came together on April 22nd to celebrate Earth Day, and push for more environmental improvements across the entire world. This global event eventually paved the way for further events, including the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit.
So why do we celebrate Earth Day?
Since 1970, Earth Day has been growing and growing to become a now global phenomenon, one event to promote clean living and a healthier planet, for people and animals alike. Annually celebrating Earth Day is a conscious reminder of just how fragile the planet can be, and how vitally important it is to protect it. Thanks to the first Earth Day in 1970, we are so much more actually aware of the implications of our actions on our environment, and are aware of what actions we can take to protect our planet in our everyday life.
Earth Day is the day of the year that is dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the planet. Last year, over 1 billion people participated in Earth Day in some way, which made it the largest observance in the world. The significance of Earth Day has grown each year, as we witness more and more of the effects of climate change and environmental damage on both our day to day lives, and the planet. We’re witnessing things like food shortages, fuel price hikes, increased global warming and weather changes. Earth Day helps to inform the public about the causes of these things, and helps everyone to be conscious about the ways they can have an impact on them too.
Earth Day brings about ideas like more ways to recycle and conserve energy; to events like tree planting; or spreading knowledge about reducing air pollution. There are so many ideas, both big and small that are presented during Earth Day celebrations that can help to improve our planet - and that everyone can get involved and onboard with.
It’s not just individual - even big companies are getting involved with Earth Day, and encouraging their employees to help be more environmentally friendly. Earth Day can help inform business owners about things like car pooling, using renewable energy, and being mindful of electricity usage. There’s lots of initiatives that companies can learn about and take on that Earth Day will help to inform about.
Why don’t you celebrate Earth Day this year, and find out the ways in which you can make changes, both big and small, to help improve the planet we live in for everyone?
Practice some grounding Earth Yoga and treat youseft to an online yoga membership, for 40% off!
Earth Yoga with Denelle Numis
On April 22, 2020, the world unites together to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day. This celebration of a universal commitment to protecting the earth can be embodied in the yogic concept of Ahimsa or Non-harming. Yoga practice, comprised of the earth’s elements of earth, air, fire, water, and ether, naturally honors our planet. Use Earth Day to remind yourself of your connection to it.
Fifty years ago, Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator, was shocked at the damage from an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. The event ignited a fire in him for action to protect our environment. Once people saw how smog and oil spills left rivers so polluted they burst into flames, and damage from corporate waste were destroying the Earth, they joined the cause. On April 22, 1970, 10% percent of the U.S. population took to the streets in hundreds of cities to protest environmental pollution and demand change for our planet. Earth Day is the result.
2020’s Earth Day theme is climate action––considered to be the most pressing issue for preserving our planet. In order to preserve our planet for future generations, adopting efforts to protect and renew the environment are key.
Because we are in unprecedented times with Covid-19, instead of the usual gatherings held to celebrate Earth Day, most of us are celebrating at home.
What can you do to commemorate and honor our planet? If you have a yard or a space to practice yoga outdoors, dig your toes into the grass. If you’re in an urban environment where getting outside isn’t viable at the moment, open the windows and enjoy the kiss of fresh air.
Here are four yoga poses that will help you tune in and connect to Mother Earth and our global community wherever you are:
Balasana (Child's Pose).
Press your third-eye center against the mat and tune into your connection to the earth.
Ustrasana (Camel Pose).
Open your heart up toward the sky and find a sense of expansiveness.
Tadasana (Mountain Pose).
Stand with your feet firmly planted to the earth and take comfort in its support beneath you. Always.
Vrksasana (Tree Pose).
Root down into the earth and extend up toward the sky and find the balance between solidity and lightness.
This week’s yoga classes are earth-themed classes centered around animals, getting grounded, practicing poses inspired by nature, and simply focusing on your connection to the planet.
1. Jeanie Manchester - Saraswati Flow
2. Caitlin Rose Kenney - Tree Meditation
3. Lindsay Gonzalez - Vinyasa: Hamstrings to Hanuman
4. Denelle Numis - Earth Yoga
I love risotto. All kinds – mushroom, seafood, peas, and asparagus – if prepared well, I love any kind. It is incredibly simple to make at home too. All you need is about half an hour, good rice, a little cheese and a good bottle of wine. If you don’t have wine at home, you can substitute it with apple cider or just omit it altogether.
You might need to add a little more lemon juice, but you can adjust the taste right before serving, so don’t stress about it too much at first. If you do have wine and enjoy a few glasses now and then, then use the same whine you drink in the food too. For this recipe, any good white wine or bubbly will work. I used a nice crémant that I also enjoyed afterward next to my risotto.
Today's version of risotto tastes like a spring to me. Spinach gives it an amazing green color, and lemon adds brightness to the taste. It would be amazing to add fresh grilled asparagus to the dish or seared scallops if you eat fish. This time I enjoyed it just plain as it is and truth to be told – I did not miss a thing!
Spinach-Lemon Risotto
Cooking time: 35 minutes
2/3 sticks butter
1 cup of risotto rice (I use Arborio)
1/3 cup white wine or prosecco
2 cups of hot vegetable stock
10 oz of spinach, both fresh and frozen will work
1 ½ oz parmesan or grana padano cheese
1 small lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chop up the onion rather fine and add it to a medium saucepan with about 1/3 of the butter. Add a little salt and leave the onions sweat for a few minutes. The onion needs to become translucent, but not brown. Cut only the yellow part of the lemon rind off and add it to the pot.
Add the rice to the pan and increase the heat a tiny bit. Stirring with a wooden spoon, toast the grains for about a minute.
Pour the wine to the pot and keep stirring until it is absorbed. After that, start adding the stock, one ladleful at the time. Always wait until the last ladle has almost fully absorbed before adding the new one.
At the same time, prepare the spinach. If you use the frozen one, just thaw it. If you use fresh, then blanch it in boiling water for a few seconds, then dry and blend to a puree.
If 17 minutes have passed from adding the wine, have a taste of the rice. It still needs to have a little bite to it. You might not need to use all of the stock. And if it happens that you need more liquid, just use boiling water.
If you feel that the rice is 2 minutes from being perfect, mix in ½ ladle of stock, spinach, grated cheese, rest of the butter, and the juice of ½ lemon. It needs to be somewhat loose at this point. Have a taste and add salt or more lemon, if you feel like it.
Cover with lid and leave to rest for 5 minutes. After that, remove the lemon rinds and serve as immediately.
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