Plus, according to Runner’s World, “Studies have shown that yoga squashes stress, aids weight loss, eases pain, helps people stick to an exercise routine, and even improves running times.”
Buy top rated treadmills at www.proform.com
Practice some of our YogaDownload running themed yoga classes:
Yoga for Runners 2 - Jennifer Lux
Runners - Keep Running! - Celest Pereira
This time of year it seems that everything is either covered in a stick of butter or doused with an unhealthy dose of sugar! Don’t get me wrong…I love butter and chocolate but there’s a time and a place for those sweet indulgences.
This festive salad boosts a raw base of enzyme-rich leafy green kale, topped with some detox-promoting roasted veggies and a tangy cranberry vinaigrette.
The contrast between the bright green kale and red dried cranberries make it a perfect feast for they eyes and the tummy.
Yield: 8-10 small salads
Ingredients for the salad:
1 ½ pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved (about 6 large handfuls) 1 medium or large cauliflower, cut into small florets 2 TB. coconut or olive oil Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 ½ cups beans (Cannellini beans, chickpeas, or any beautiful heirloom bean, drained and rinsed or, if dried, soaked and cooked) 1 bunch kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
Ingredients for the dressing:
2 TB. apple cider vinegar 1 TB. Dijon mustard ¼ cup fresh cranberries 2 TB. capers, chopped 1-2 tsp. honey ½ ripe pear, chopped (optional, adds sweetness and creaminess) 1-2 cloves garlic 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 F.
In a large bowl, toss the brussels sprouts and cauliflower with oil. Spread vegetables across a large baking sheet or roasting pan and season with salt and pepper. Roast until the sprouts and cauliflower are tender and beginning to brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and return vegetables to large bowl. Add the beans, toss, and then set aside to cool. When vegetables are mostly cooled, add kale.
To make the dressing, add apple cider vinegar, mustard, cranberries, capers, honey, pear (if using), and garlic to a high-speed blender. Pulse to blend, occasionally scraping down the sides to mix. Slowly add olive oil until dressing is fully emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve, transfer brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and kale to a serving bowl (or use the same bowl). Add the beans and about half of the dressing. Toss gently and add more dressing, if needed, to cover the salad lightly.
Store any leftover dressing in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Serve salad immediately or chill and serve within 2 hours.
Check it out and be sure to let me know what you think in the comment section below. Until next time, have a healthy and happy holiday season!
By Julie Pelaez
Jo Schaalman and Julie 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 lead 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.
To learn more about “Jo and Jules” and to download a free e-cookbook for a sampling of the delicious food served up on the Conscious Cleanse, please visit their website.
After you make this yummy recipe try a healing yoga class with Jo or Jules:
Conscious Cleanse Detox Flow - Jo Schaalman
Heart Opening Forrest Yoga Flow - Jo Schaalman
Traditional Hot Yoga - Julie Peláez
That is the physics definition. I love that.
To be resonant with another vibrating field around you. What’s interesting to me with this is that, we ARE a vibrating field. The field starts at our heart, that’s the pulse, the spanda that starts it all, and then we vibrate outward from there. AND everyone else you encounter is also a vibrating field. AND not only that but every living thing has it’s own vibrating field. AND if that’s not enough, Mother Earth has Her own vibrating field that starts at her core as well.
So here we are all, vibrating around each other. And the amazing thing is, we get to decide what we want to vibrate with and who we want to become resonant with. Now I know that’s hard to visualize because there is so much happening in one moment isn’t there? I mean really, we take in more information in a minute that we will ever use. And more information in a day comes to us that people experienced in their entire lives only 100 years ago.
Welcome to the age of efficient, technical connection.
We multitask and get caught up in other people’s stuff so easily and realize we aren’t resonant at all with what’s happening in that moment. The static of our mind gets so loud that it becomes hard to hear what the vibration of the heart is actually saying … which by the way … is your truth.
We must stop multitasking, stop splitting our attention and drop into empty presence with one thing.
Yes, one thing. And it’s not our thought, judgment or emotion around that instant … it’s just that instant we drop into with breath.
When you stop doing multiple things at one time, what happens is you become present to one thing and every thing else drops away. This, according to physics, actually allows more things with that same vibration to come to you and other things to drop away. Everything comes into support of that one thing you are focusing on. It’s profound.
And we can train our mind to be in one moment at a time by breathing into empty presence with what is and focusing on one thing at a time. In doing so, all the support, love, connection and resonance you will ever need, falls to you without a struggle.
We want to be that still-point, walk in stillness, connect with oneness as often as possible so we can hear the heart over everything else. When we hear the heart, the noise, the chaos, the distractions, the static all drops away.
Train yourself to be in your higher field of awareness by focusing on one thing at a time. Multitasking brings us into the chaos, confused the mind and skews our internal compass. Do one thing at a time and you will feel resonance with what Is Truth.
By Dana Damara
“My passion on the mat is proper alignment, powerful breath and effortless flow so you feel that off your mat. Your practice becomes sacred space where you arrive to find more meaning, depth, authenticity and integrity in your life."
- Dana Damara: mother, author, yoga instructor, speaker and yogini. Visit DanaDamara.com for more inspiration from Dana.
Click here to download or stream one of Dana's YogaDownload classes!
The last yoga class I taught was themed “Even Yoga Teachers Get The Blues.” Although I absolutely love my work of massage and yoga, it still involves the grueling elements of marketing, scheduling, bookkeeping and, most recently in my face, dreaded taxes. I can feel that I haven’t taken a break for a few months now.
Just like many of you, I fall into the trap of the glorification of busyness. Subconsciously I believe that I’m not doing a good enough job if I’m not running from one thing to the next, crossing things off my list, working late into the night and then rising in the wee hours of the morning to work again. As much as it benefits others, my career is not immune to stressful deadlines and schedules.
Today a friend innocently asked me “So, how are you?” When I paused long enough to bypass the automatic answer of “Fine,” I realized that I didn't know how I truly AM doing. I haven’t made time to CHECK IN and LISTEN. And I’ve been hypocritical, too, because this slowing down is exactly what I preach to my students in Yin yoga classes. I guess it’s time to start listening to my own words!
Yin and Restorative yoga focus on this pausing, reflecting and relating to the reality of the present moment. In class we take the time to feel and check in with our own hearts. Yin yoga helps lower stress hormones that compromise the immune system, while also conditioning the lungs and respiratory tract, stimulating the lymphatic system to oust toxins from the body, and bringing oxygenated blood to the various organs to ensure their optimal function. What good medicine!
I know from my own experience that exhaustion is the number one cause of getting sick. My body’s healing capabilities are miraculous, but I must live in a restful way for it to do the work needed to keep me healthy and able to bounch back. We all need the time and space to process, digest, and move through things. Otherwise our experiences get stuck. We get sick, or in a funk. We get emotionally, mentally and physically constipated.
Of course appropriate stress hormones are important and valuable. But when we run a level of underlying and chronic stress, worry and anxiety, the body acts in the same way it would when faced with a real, big stress factor and therefore never lets go of those crazy stress hormones. This means that we stay in the sympathetic nervous system, avoiding the parasympathetic nervous system which promotes healing. Luckily we yogis can consciously shift into parasympathetic with appropriate asanas and breath patterns.
Too often we forget to listen deeply to what our body needs, which is often rest, and keep pushing ourselves, even in our asana practice. Yoga allows us to revitalize with true healing. But sometimes we get lost in the gymnastics of yoga asana, when we really need to to take a break and slow down. Let’s instead turn to the nurturing and meditative practices of Yin and Restorative yoga. Let’s slow down, allow some things on the list to remain undone, take a deep breath and notice. This pause, on and off the yoga mat, ultimately equals freedom and renewal. Give it a try and see what you think!
By Elise Fabricant
Elise has been practicing yoga since 1993 and sharing her love of it by teaching since 2002. Her friendly, down-to-earth approach to teaching has helped make it accessible to hundreds of people of all ages and abilities. It is her aim as a yoga teacher to encourage her students to become body-aware, to establish a relationship with their breath, and to develop a compassionate and joyful attitude towards themselves and the world around them. Elise teaches many styles of yoga, but is especially drawn to teaching Yin for its sweet, nurturing qualities. Elise believes that Yin Yoga can help balance her students in physical, emotional and mental ways that no other yoga practice can. Elise takes the Yin principles into her massage practice, too, and joyfully offers bodywork out of Half Moon Studios.
Start slowing down and chilling out with one of Elise's Yin Yoga Classes on YogaDownload today!
Among the list of top remedies, turmeric is widely accepted as a powerful anti-inflammatory, a liver detoxifier, a digestive aid and a natural pain reliever.
Curcumin, the compound in turmeric responsible for that bright yellow hue that stains everything in its path, is full of antioxidants. It’s also known to help curb joint pain and relieve stomach discomfort such as gas and bloating. Now can you see why I’m so obsessed? Oh and I forgot to mention that it’s warming, slightly spicy and earthy in flavor, making it a delicious choice this time of year.
This weekend while I was tired of grocery shopping, cooking, and leftovers, I looked in the fridge and realized that I had an entire head of cauliflower still waiting for me. Hence the Roasted Curried Cauliflower recipe featuring my beloved turmeric.
This is a cinch to whip together and pairs nicely with any green salad and/or abroiled salmon.
Yield: 3-4 servings Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, cut into uniform florets ¼ cup coconut oil, melted 2 tsp. curry powder 2 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. turmeric Juice of ½ lemon Pinch of Himalayan sea salt
Directions: Preheat oven to 400° F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, curry powder, garlic powder and turmeric. Toss cauliflower in the oil and spice mixture until evenly coated.
Spread the cauliflower across a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 25-35 minutes. The cauliflower should be tender and starting to brown on the edges.
Squeeze the lemon juice on the cauliflower and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve warm.
Enjoy and please be sure to leave me a comment below. How are you incorporating this wonderful superfood into your diet this winter?
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." ~ Krishnamurti I spent the last fifteen years reading every self-help, spirituality-made-simple, Happiness-for-dummies, mindfulness, yoga, DIY-psychotherapy book known to god and man. To reduce thousands of years of religion, psychology, and philosophy to a 1,000 word blog would be unwise if not vulgar. And yet, once you parse the semantic differences between the sundry religions, psychologies, and philosophies and the plethora of derivative "transformational workshops" (like the ones I teach) and therapeutic modalities (like the ones I use with patients) it is easy to see how many of the problems we encounter are culturally contingent and how many of the proposed solutions are tantamount to serving old wine in new bottles. Here is what I have learned, what I teach, and what I live: 10. Pursuing happiness actually causes misery. The irony is that if you want to be happy you need to release your desire to be happy - for desire is the root of all suffering, according to the Buddha, and happiness - when it occurs - is actually a by-product and not a direct result of particular actions. The best way to engender and maximize the by-product of happiness is to embrace a lifestyle and incorporate tools that are scientifically proven to keep you at the high end of your happiness spectrum, such as meditation, yoga, exercise, ample sleep, community, self-discipline, secure attachments, intimacy, authentic communications, delayed gratification, and eating to fuel your body instead of eating for self-destructive psychological/emotional reasons. If you live in America then you have been raised to believe that the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right, which was grand and appetizing for the oppressed pilgrims who settled these fine shores many moons ago; however, we now know that pursuing happiness causes misery because your mind is akin to an hedonic treadmill: as soon as a desire is sated it is replaced by another desire. If you think you will be happy when you get a new car, house, partner, or job, scientific studies inform us that those shiny new objects lose their allure in 12-18 months. 9. Release expectations. The future is a void. One of the primary features of our minds is to imagine potential future scenarios in an attempt to stave off possible traumatic surprises. This defense mechanism, which was so essential to helping you survive your highly competitive and often disappointing childhood, is now hindering you from showing up authentically in the relationships that are integral to your healing journey. Thus, learn how to observe your mind's incessant leaping into possible future scenarios and gently correct it by teaching it to BE HERE NOW. 8. Your mind was trained to want more, better, and different. If you want to be happy you need to untrain it and replace those "woulda-coulda-shouldas" with GRATITUDE and ACCEPTANCE. 7. Your mind is plagued by the irrational thought, "Something is wrong... I'm different from other people... I don't feel safe." Everyone has experienced traumas and our minds have clung to those past events and kept them alive as if they were still happening. FORGIVENESS and ACCEPTANCE are tools that we must continuously employ in order to release or at least reframe past traumas. 6. Your mind is plagued by the irrational thought "Something must be wrong WITH ME." Children assimilate negative energy around them by having the voices in their heads say, "There must be something wrong with me... if I had been different then... (mommy and daddy wouldn't have gotten divorced, my brother wouldn't have died, my best friend wouldn't have moved away... fill-in-the-blank happened"). It is just as easy for the narrative to be "My life is perfect. It's not my fault that... (my parents got divorced, my brother died, my best friend moved away...fill-in-the-blank happened"). Reframe your narrative in order to eliminate the resentments (resentment = "This should not have happened") that your mind creates. 5. You have an internal barometer that was shaped before you could speak that either informs you that the world is an inherently scary place with finite resources, or a loving place of abundance. Your "way-of-being" in the world, your core-issues, and your disposition are not as dynamic as you have been informed to believe. The current wave of "neuroplasticity" sweeping self-help books is belied by false syllogisms such as:
Brain cells are malleable. Meditation relaxes people, thus, meditation changes brain cells.
This is inaccurate and misleading. Tools such as meditation were not and CANNOT be designed to change particular brain cells. Specifically, meditation was designed to alleviate suffering by learning to transcend or tame the restless mind. Why is the mind restless? Because your society has trained you to think (8, above) more, better, different will make you happier, that (7, above) you are not safe and must keep your guard up and adrenaline pumping or you will get hurt, and (6, above) there must be something wrong with you. However, it is equally possible to train your mind to believe that you are not presently in danger, there is nothing wrong with you, and your life is unfolding exactly as it should be unfolding. So don't worry about your prefrontal cortex or synapses or neurons or limbic system or anything that you cannot directly experience through your five senses; worry about showing up and being present for your life. 4. Self-discipline = self-worth. We have an epidemic of people in our culture who suffer from low self-worth, low self-esteem and "negative self-talk" that manifest as alcoholism, infidelity, gambling addictions, shopping addictions, eating disorders and a host of other afflictions. Whenever patients think that their accomplishments are "not good enough," I ask, "Whose voice is that?" Usually it is a teacher's or parent's or sibling's voice. No bonobo ever thought, "Yes, I'm enjoying this delicious fruit right now but I'll only be truly happy when I have an entire plantation!" If you suffer from low self-worth and want to correct this, then cultivate personal discipline: make commitments such as eliminating high-fructose corn syrup and sugar from your diet, meditating every day for a month, going someplace you've never been once a week, etc. and stick to those commitments. I've noticed in my psychother apy practice that people with low self-worth have problems with self-discipline and and vice versa; one way to raise self-worth is to be sufficiently disciplined to have daily practices that you can be proud of accomplishing. 3. Realize that most of the things you learned through popular culture - acquiring money, power, sex, materials possessions, "bling" - do not correlate strongly with happiness. We all know alot of people who have more money than god and are still miserable. Ironically, it turns out that givers are happier than takers in the long run. Being generous and helping others is infinitely more satisfying than looking at your bank account statements; only an idiot wants "Richest Guy in This Cemetery" on his tombstone. The only thing that correlates strongly with authentic happiness is trustworthy, positive, loving relationships; being giving and generous helps build those relationships. 2. Authenticity. You created a false self, a facade, a persona to survive your childhood and the defense mechanisms you developed became your "way of being," your personality. There is a good chance that your facade/personality is quite functional and even seductive; however, you know that underneath it lies an authentic self that is rather messy and unseemly. Relationships based on facades crumble so you must be brave enough to be vulnerable, show your authentic self, and express yourself authentically and compassionately in order to cultivate vibrant, positive, loving relationships. 1. This moment is everything that you will ever have. If you say, "Yeah, yeah yeah... I'll do these things (meditate, exercise, eat healthily, speak authentically, explore new places) tomorrow," studies show that you will never do them. Happiness is a choice and it is up to you to embrace a lifestyle and incorporate tools that will keep you at the top of your happiness range TODAY.
This article has also been posted at The Huffington Post
By Ira Israel
Psychotherapist Ira Israel is the author and star of “Mindfulness for Urban Depression,” Mindfulness Meditations for Anxiety,” and “Yoga for Depression and Anxiety.” Ira is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, a Certified Yoga Therapist, and an E-RYT500.
Click here for a complete listing of Ira's classes and meditations.
Then the other day someone asked me what it “means to be an outlaw” and I didn't have an answer for them.
(I don't pretend to be the sharpest tool in the shed.)
What does it mean to be an outlaw?
F*ck, I don't know...
It's sort of like obscenity or integrity – you know it when you see it. I don't know what being an outlaw means for you, but I think for most it starts with responsibility...reclaiming the unique responsibility for your thoughts, words, and deeds.
For me it starts with discipline and ends in integrity, and lies in the crafting of a unique path that suits me and me alone.
Then walking it.
An outlaw is part nomad and part renegade...they're part romantic too because they believe that no matter how deep is their sleep, man will wake up, rise up and overcome whatever hurdle that's placed in their path, that when belief and work are present what could be has a chance to become what is.
The outlaw is a workhorse.
They know that nothing happens without work and that laws make us lazy – obedience is all that's required to do what's lawful. An outlaw knows that it takes real discipline to do what's right, and that it starts within.
The outlaw has a voice.
There's an inherent rejection inside of the mind of any outlaw, a voice that shouts against that of the small self and everyone else's small self combined – the collective voice of preprogrammed doubt and internally generated shame.
A voice that says, “I know best...at least for me”.
There's power in walking this outlaw path, a path that, because it comes from within, can't help but produce an authenticity born of integrity and belief, a belief before all else, in oneself.
This outlaw voice is alive in each and every man and woman ever born on this planet but it gets dulled over time by environmental factors beyond our control (public school, pollutants, etc.). It's drugged through the years by chance and by choice until, in time – and in most – it becomes faint, quiet or silent.
But in the outlaw, this voice is present and loud and it rages creating conflict and confusion within. At least until its power can be recognized, prioritized, and multiplied.
Anyone can be powerful, but an outlaw empowers.
Being an outlaw doesn't have anything to do with being a criminal. You're not an outlaw because you break the law, especially if the law you break hurts someone else – even causes them undue stress or shits on their day (incidentally the only good reason not to run red lights or rob banks, if you ask me).
Real justice must be more than personal, it must be transferable and include an aspect of empathy even and especially for the inlaw – the person on the other side of the gun. The oppressor suffers as much or more as those they oppress, even if they feel less pain.
Outlaws are accepting.
I don't know what being an outlaw looks like to you, but I know what it looks like for me. And that's good enough for me...
And maybe that's what it could mean to you – being alright with whatever the hell being an outlaw means to you?
In your story it might mean being a great stepmom who trusts her instincts instead of wanting to be temporarily popular to a teenage kid? Or being a graffiti artist who paints beautiful, consciousness-raising, protest-themed murals? Or maybe it means not paying your income taxes, or being a yoga teacher, or being bisexual?
F*ck, I don't know.
But I do know that silencing the inner outlaw, the voice that shouts “Stand up” for too long will kill you from the inside, out. Whatever your inner outlaw is saying, listen to it. Encourage it. Help it get louder and prouder and do whatever you can to empower it to sing from whatever platform it requires.
Sing, Outlaws.
But don't let me or anyone else tell you what words to say. Everyone's got their own story going in which we're all just supporting characters. And what kind of main character would you be if you let a supporting character tell you how to play your unique role?
At the end of the day, maybe being an outlaw can be as simple as not have anything to prove to anyone but yourself?
F*ck it, I don't know...
You tell me.
By Justin Kaliszewski
Justin Kaliszewski is a reformed meat-head and former amateur cage fighter. He brings a lifetime of travel and world's worth of experience in battling the ego to the mat. An avid student, artist, and treasure hunter, he infuses a creativity and perseverance into his teachings, along with a distinct blend of humor and wisdom that redefines what it means to be an Outlaw and a yogi...He teaches Outlaw Yoga across the country and is happy to call Denver home for now. Author of Outlaw Protocol: how to live as an outlaw without becoming a criminal, you can find him at www.outlawyoga.com.
Outlaw Yoga is coming to YogaDownload this January!
.or is it?! Unless you’re one of the few, the proud. . . a member of the Elite Early Holiday Shoppers Club, this time of year can actually be quite stressful! December is already well under way, and chances are you still have a few people on your holiday shopping list to check off. Don’t panic, dear yogis! We've got your back again this year with some seriously sweet last-minute gift ideas - and you don't even have to leave the comfort of your own home. So chillax, put on your favorite comfy yoga pants, and get the perfect gift for all the yogis on your list…
All-Access Memberships, Yoga Packages and Programs, Cash for Downloads Each of the below “take yoga anywhere” gifts pair nicely with YogaDownload Packages & Programs, or YogaDownload Gift Certificates, which you can use to gift a cash amount, a program, or a subscription!
Anti Slip Yoga Pant by Electric Yoga No yoga mat? No problem! These one of a kind yoga pants are made with anti-slip foot coverings, making them perfect for the jetsetting yogini in your life who’s always practicing on the go.
Men’s Sutra Pant by prAna These sexy pants made from hemp, Lycra, and recycled materials tread lightly and comfortably from indoor studio to outdoor playground and lounging around the house in between.
Barefoot Yoga Co. This place is seriously a one-stop shop for ALL of your yoga accessory needs. Clothing, mats, bags, props. . .Barefoot has it all. Bonus: They are currently offering 20% off and free shipping! Go Free Yoga Backback by Manduka This innovative, fresh hybrid of backpack and mat carrier is perfect for guys and gals. The convenient quick release buckle straps can secure virtually any yoga mat. Give that special yogi or yogini in your life the freedom to take yoga anywhere, and feel great doing it!
Nutribullet Unlike everyday juicers and blenders, the NutriBullet completely breaks down ingredients in to their most nutritious, most absorptive state. The best part is, there’s virtually no mess to clean up!
Dosha Pops – Go on a health lick with these handmade lollipops made from ingredients that support a healthier lifestyle. Dosha Pops are created on the belief that candy shouldn't have to be a guilty pleasure but more a celebration of a balanced lifestyle with healthier indulgences. These sweet, delectable treats not only awaken taste buds with uniquely amazing flavors, but support an individual’s specific dosha. Great stocking stuffer!
Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook Written by nutritionist Tom Malterre and Chef Alissa Segersten, this cookbook provides information on the importance of living a whole foods lifestyle, and how to transition into one. With over 300 delicious, nourishing recipes, readers will discover amazing, new ways to cook whole grains, fish, poultry, meat and veggies. This book is a must-have for health-conscious, mindful eaters!
Daily Routine Kit by Banyan Botanicals This kit will provide the self-care lovin’ person in your life with the basic supplies to kickstart an Ayurvedic daily routine: Daily massage oil, Triphala tablets, a Tongue Cleaner (seriously, one of the best inventions EVER!), and Nasya Oil. Another great stocking stuffer!
Aqua Zinger by Zing Anything We all know the importance of drinking enough h20 each day, but let’s face it: water can get a little boring. Enter: the Aqua Zinger! Aqua Zinger works by infusing your water with flavors. From cucumber to lemon and lime, to blackberries, kiwi, strawberry, raspberry, peach, ginger, even mint and basil, the Aqua Zinger can infuse them all! Acupressure Mats by Spoonk: Spoonk mats have 6210 acupressure stimulation points that, once pressed against troubled areas of the body, will increase circulation and will relax stiff muscles and decrease pain. In the process, the body can release endorphins (pleasurable hormones) which induces a feeling of wellness and a positive attitude. Regular use will create the desired level of relaxation in your body that prevents the accumulation of stress and tension.
Faux Fur Scarves by Eden Hero These deliciously luxe faux fur scarves are perfect for on the mountain, around town, après-yoga and at the barre. Handmade in Denver and inspired by an active, aware and playful lifestyle. Wear inside out or outside in! Custom design options available.
Hand-Carved Yoga Frog The perfect alternative to a Buddha or Ganesh statue! Sitting in full lotus and holding Anjali mudra, this whimsical frog is bound to bring blessings of abundant smiles to all who may cross its path. Bonus warm fuzzies: It's signed by the Balinese artist who was paid fair trade!
Mala Necklaces & Bracelets by the Mala Collective With many options for guys and gals, the Mala Collective offers an unparalleled selection of gorgeous malas that are handmade, fair-trade style, on the lush and magical island of Bali. The Mala Collective aims to help people live a more conscious lifestyle, manifest their dreams, and meditate deeply.
The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte For the lover of all things personal development in your life, The Desire Map is a holistic life planning system that picks up where most others leave off. Most life-planning tools focus on external attainment and results. Which is valuable. Getting results is what moves life forward. Except that most goal-setting systems fail to harness the most powerful driver behind any aspiration: the way we want to feel.
I’ve been DOing a lot these past few years; admittedly some choices have come out of fear and/or survival mode. With that chapter, now completely over, I am supported, confident, and crystal clear about how I feel in just about every moment I am engaged in. Not only that, but my intuition is my best friend …pointing me in every direction I need to go.
I asked students today to use the words “crystal clarity” as their focus for the week. Why not just clarity? Why crystal clarity? Because now is the time for complete focus in what it is that you are passionate about so you can DO THAT instead of distracting yourself with anything else.
Crystal clarity means tapping into what “feels” good and recognizing what does not. It means trusting that the Universe has your back and that everything happening to you is actually happening for you. It means letting go of all victimization and standing in your stories, ready to witness the revelation. It means falling into tempo with the Universe and allowing everything to rearrange without a ton of effort or struggle.
Dial in the aperture on the lens of your life. You can no longer live out of focus. The world needs people ready and willing to use this life and LOVE this life. Ground into your feet and ask to be clear. When you are in a moment, feel into that space between the belly and the heart.
Feel into that space in any exchange, any decision, any relationship you are experiencing. It’s your beacon of truth and it will tell you: expand or contract.
Then ground into that truth and open your eyes wide to the clarity of it all. Trust in the truth. It may be totally different than what you are experiencing right now or it might be spot on. Just know it and begin to embody it… all the way. Not just half-assed.
Here’s my clarity:
Over the next few months I am participating in a training to lead girls and their mothers on an amazing journey of self-discovery and expansion. I am also learning about astrology and yoga and how the two combined bring us closer to the rhythms of the planets. Not only that, but I will finish my Reiki certification as well as go back to using essential oils in my classes and my work.
All of this in preparation for 2015, when I launch my 200 and 300 hour yoga teacher training and the revolutionary Girls Elevate. The lens of my life has come into clear focus and seemingly everything else is falling away.
Now I ask you …What are you clear about? What’s your passion? Sit … breathe … ask.
Alchemy … A seemingly magical process of transformation, creation or combination. The medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the transformation of matter.
The art of transformation. The science of being. The Egyptian Science of spiritual forces and how they affect both matter and living entities.
What does this have to do with yoga? What does this have to do with breath? What does this have to do with life?
Everything. So much so that I’m not quite sure where to start.
First off, when you surrender to this power… you realize that everything happening around you is being created by your own thoughts. And you wake up to it all. Sometimes it’s almost as if my life is working in slow motion, and I think a thought and then wait for it to manifest. And now, now it’s to the point that when I witness myself falling into an old pattern, some lower vibration, I literally stop what I’m doing and ask for a do-over.
Because why? Because we can do that. We are transforming in every single breath and in every single moment. Why not be alive and awake to it all and then direct and consciously create your life, right!!
Secondly, this whole idea that yoga is at the forefront of human consciousness resonates deep within me and has become my lifestyle. Yoga: to yoke, to unite. To bring together breath, movement, thought, reaction. To release the stagnation in the body so you can begin to see with your inner knowing and cease to rely on the external world for guidance. That’s where the magic begins … going inward.
Third and most important I think is this: the heart. Om my Goddess, the heart. Sometimes when I drop into the energy of the heart, I cry. Not because of pain but because I can feel the vastness.
I love the heart. It holds it all; it holds the love, the intimacy, the compassion, the forgiveness and it holds the grief, the sorrow, the loss and all the pain you have endured and experienced since the moment you incarnated. The heart … the heart was the first thing that became YOU! The first thing that connected you to feeling. It knows all and it has it’s own “circuitry system”. We spend our lives shielding and protecting our heart; we open it and then we close it. It gets damaged and it heals.
The heart is the true alchemist of our human-being because it can alchemize everything into love. Yes, that is correct. It can do this through the breath. Visualize the heart as you inhale, expanding exponentially and when you exhale, it empties completely. Every time you do that, imagine the heart and breath massaging what’s in there; turning it into love. It will, if you allow it. If you open the heart and you surrender to its mystical possibility, it works magic.
What stops alchemy? Our mind. The illusions that we know it all. That we know better. The obligations, the responsibilities, the patterns and projections all stop the magic.
This is why I love yoga so much, although I didn’t know it until recently. It’s the movement of the body in sync with the breath; it’s the stillness of the mind amidst the busyness; it’s the radical transformation that can happen when we are open and drop into the magic of the heart.
I say try it, what have you got to lose?
I must admit, I’m not much of a pumpkin pie girl, I much prefer chocolate, but this nearly raw variation is heavenly.
It’s silky, creamy, rich and decadent. Free from sugar, dairy, eggs and gluten. And best of all, it tastes just like the real thing!
Enjoy and be sure to whip up some homemade vegan coconut whipped cream to go on top.
Yield: 8-12 slices
Ingredients:
2 cups raw pecans ¾ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut 6 dates, pitted and chopped (about ½ cup) ¾ tsp. vanilla extract, divided ¼ tsp. sea salt ¼ cup + 1 TB. melted coconut oil, divided 1 15 oz. can of pumpkin (about 1 ½ cup) ½ cup almond butter 2 TB. maple syrup 2 tsp. ground cinnamon ¾ tsp. ground nutmeg ½ tsp. ground ginger Pinch of ground cloves & sea salt Stevia, 10-20 drops or to taste (optional)
Directions: To make the crust, in a food processor fitted with the S blade, add pecans, shredded coconut, dates, ¼ teaspoon of vanilla, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, and 1 tablespoon of melted coconut oil. Pulse until the mixture has the consistency of breadcrumbs and pulls away from the sides of the container. Scoop the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and press evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the dish. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.
To make the filling, add remaining ¼ cup of melted coconut oil, pumpkin, almond butter, maple syrup, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and spices to a food processor or blender. Blend for a couple of minutes or until silky. Once blended, taste the mixture for sweetness. To make sweeter, add 10 – 20 drops of stevia slowly until you’re happy with the flavor.
Remove chilled crust from the refrigerator and scrape filling into the crust. Use a spatula to level and smooth filling. Cover with plastic wrap and transfer back to refrigerator and let chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.
Serve with a dollop of homemade vegan coconut whipped cream.
By Julie Pelaez and Jo Schaalman
After you make this yummy soup practice a healing yoga class with Jo or Jules:
I define it as something that takes your breath away. That makes time stand still. That fills your heart with expansion.
It feels like an abundance in life; an overflowing of love and of all resources.
It’s not free from challenges, or pains, or uncomfortable-ness. No, devotion holds everything.
Devotion gives you super-human powers to go beyond; to see clearly; to live in the realm of nothing that holds everything. To live in the unknown because in that unknown, everything makes sense. To live in the darkness knowing that the light will shine when it’s time.
Devotion breeds unconditional love, acceptance and integrity. And, it’s fueled by an inner compass that is indeed, indescribable. Our devotion defies gravity, logic, reasoning and sometimes Universal Laws. It needn’t make sense, we can’t possibly understand the “logic” of the heart because it’s more intricate that our brain, so how could we understand it?
Sometimes we are told what to be devoted to. You know, that’s really impossible because no one lives in our own personal heart of hearts. No one can hear the song of our heart except ourselves; only we know what we are devoted too. We may try to be devoted to someone else’s path or idea but really, it is our own that will keep calling us back.
We may stray, when things are blurry or we are in a state of fear or confusion. That’s okay. Because in that straying we learn; we gather, and we observe other ways of doing things. We may uncover portals into something new that sparks our heart and sends it back to it’s path.
Sometimes we stray because we are so afraid of the transparent vulnerability that comes with devotion, that we must look away. The light of devotion illuminates everything and until we are okay with this light and what shadows it creates, we will continue to live in mediocrity.
Devotion is the only way to live fully. Being devoted to a moment. To a breath. To presence. To your partner, to your children, to evolving, to expanding, to learning, to loving unconditionally.
To loving it all, without putting anything outside of that ring of love. To holding space for it all and allowing yourself to fall into everything that has brought you to this moment.
Try our Creamy Black Bean Soup with Coconut Lime Crema!
This recipe calls for dried black beans for a few reasons. For starters, dried beans don’t have the astronomical sodium levels so often dumped into the canned counterparts. Dried beans, whether bagged or bought in bulk, also don’t contain BPA (bisphenol A) or other harmful chemicals used in the canning process. We also have more control over seasoning with dried beans. And let’s face it…they just taste better.
If you’ve shunned beans in the past because they’re too hard on your belly, consider soaking and rinsing the dried beans. Doing so helps to eliminate the natural acids and enzymes that make it harder for our bodies to digest and absorb their nutrients.
Try soaking them and you may have a whole new experience!
Since we believe clean, healthy eating doesn’t have to be all or nothing, I’ve also included a canned bean, stovetop variation that can be simmered in a short amount of time. Just make sure to check can labels for “low-sodium” and “BPA-free.”
No matter which recipe variation you’re using, make sure to whip up some coconut lime “crema” to drizzle over your soup. You may not believe it yet but you may never go back to that dollop of dairy.
Sort through dried beans and discard any foreign debris or broken beans. Pour dried beans into a bowl and cover with water by a couple inches. Soak beans for at least an hour or, better yet, overnight.
In a large crock pot, add onion, carrots, garlic, vegetable stock, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves. Stir, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat.
Drain and rinse beans well. Add beans to the crock pot and cook on high for about 6 hours or until beans are soft and creamy. Add more stock as necessary.
Once beans are cooked thoroughly, turn the slow cooker off. Remove bay leaves and add sea salt, thyme, ½ cup cilantro, and apple cider vinegar. Stir together. If desired, use an immersion blender (or blend in an upright blender in batches) until the soup is as chunky or creamy as you prefer. Add more stock to thin a too chunky soup.
To make the coconut lime crema, add coconut milk to a medium bowl. Pouring slowly, whisk in lime juice. Add zest and stir to mix.
Serve each bowl of soup with a few spoonfuls of crema and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.
Variation: In a time pinch? Using canned beans can speed up the soup making process! Substitute dried beans with 2 large cans (25-29oz) of low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed well. Begin by adding vegetable stock, carrots, and onions to a large pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until carrots are softened. Then add rinsed beans, garlic, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, and bay leaves. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add fresh thyme, cilantro, and apple cider vinegar and simmer for 5 minutes more. Serve with coconut lime crema and fresh cilantro.
There's nothing more grounding than cradling a warm bowl of soup. Enjoy!
Here are a few ideas to keep you motivated and feeling good, no matter how cold it is outside:
FALL
Watching trees change from green to all shades of yellow, orange and red is so beautiful! The air isn’t hot and sticky anymore. Instead, it’s brisk and refreshing. That makes Fall the PERFECT TIME for outdoor exercise. The temps are just right for biking, running, or hiking. Even some crazy people love this weather for kayaking and canoeing (it’s a little too chilly to me for THAT but whatever floats YOUR boat – ha!). Even getting out to a farmer’s market or pumpkin patch with the kids can be exercise and entertainment all rolled into one. If you’re looking for more grown-up entertainment, go to a winery and take a tour of the vineyard before you settle down with a bottle of chardonnay and a cheese board, take a tour of the winery or just stroll through the vines. Do anything and everything you can to soak up the sunshine and the fresh air before winter sets in.
Fall is also a great time to test out those root veggie recipes you read about during the summer. Farmers’ markets are coming to the end of their seasons, with fresh produce plants fading with each chilly night, but you still have time to supplement your meals with green veggies if the recipes don’t turn out as you intended.
WINTER
The cool air of Fall gets me excited for the first snowfall of the season, which can come as early as September here in Boulder. Cold and snow is no excuse for hiding inside. There is so much to do outside!!
I moved to Boulder from LA. I didn’t waste a minute thinking about how much I might hate winter (I’d be dumb to hate winter and move to Colorado!). Instead, I learned how to snowboard and I loved it. I drove up to (insert city here) every weekend to go snowboarding! It was so much fun and it got me through the first several winters. Another fun thing I discovered about winter in Colorado is how many people have heated pools and will swim all year round! It is SOOOO pretty to swim around in a warm pool with snowflakes falling all around you. And there are a ton of cold weather outdoor activities.There’s ice skating, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, or just going for a long walk in the snow can be pretty challenging! You can build snowmen with your kids.
I’m not much of a tea drinker during the summer, but when it gets cold, that’s when I love to dive into my tea collection, or find new concoctions to try. It’s like I have a whole different palette when it gets cold out.
If you’re a fashionista, you have a whole different wardrobe to dive into. For me, digging out my winter clothes is almost like going shopping – I get to wear all the stuff I’ve had packed away all spring and summer. And these days the styles are SO CUTE! There’s every cut of jeans imaginable, warm, fuzzy sweaters that aren’t all big and bulky, and there are so many styles of boots.
“IT’S TOO COLD!!”
Maybe you know that you are not cut out for cold weather. Don’t sit around and complain about it – plan a winter vacation to go somewhere warm so you have something to look forward to, to get you through the cold months.
And don’t make ‘it’s cold out’ an excuse for not exercising – there is plenty you can do in the comfort and warmth of your home to keep active and you don’t even need equipment to do most of it. You know you don’t need to leave the house to do yoga. How about doing some stretches? Play hide and go seek with your kids, crank up the sound system and dance!
If you really suffer from seasonal dysmorphic disorder, invest in some full-spectrum light bulbs for your house. They can be pricey, but they seem to really help people during the months when there’s less sunlight and isn’t a happy state of mind worth it? Your indoor plants will love it too!
Changing seasons is really rough for some. Take the time while it’s still nice out get out into the crystal clear sunshine and soak it up while you can.
I’ve just given you some tips for enjoying the weather, no matter how cold it is. How do you keep yourself active through the cold months?
XO Hayley
Originally published on Positively Positive.
By Hayley Hobson
With her unique specialization in the combination and complement of pilates, nutrition and yoga, Hayley offers a cocktail of lifestyle changes that produce real and lasting results. Hayley is a columnist for Yoganonomus, Positively Positive, Mindbodygreen and Elephant Journal and has been featured in Pilates Style Magazine, Bridal Guide, Natural Health Magazine and Triathlete Magazine. She currently lives in Boulder, CO with her husband, former world-ranked triathlete, Wes Hobson and their two beautiful daughters, Makenna and Madeline. Read more about Hayley and check out her new book at HayleyHobson.com
Shake the chills with Hayley's soul-warming classes:
Core Yoga 4
What is i-Pad Reboot and Recharge? i-Pad Reboot and Recharge is a relaxation technique where you focus on closing down the applications you have running in your mind and body, leaving you refreshed, recharged and revitalized.
How does it help me? Have you ever left your i-Pad or other device (i-Pod, computer, phone etc.) on all day and night and not recharged it? The battery ran out, right? Well, people are not much different. Our minds and bodies are very busy machines that work really hard; to keep them functioning at an optimal level, we need to unplug and rest up every now and then.
By mentally scanning the entire body and visiting one area at a time, you will become aware of areas or “hot spots” where you carry tension and can consciously release these areas. Sometimes we leave apps running when we are not using them – for example: the mind might chatter away when we are trying to sleep or focus on something! This technique teaches you the skills required to be in control and enjoy a deeply meditative and relaxing experience for the mind and the body. Reboot and Recharge!
How do I do it?
WE need to close down your apps and charge you up so you will feel like new again. Let’s journey through the apps and close each one down by focusing on it and allowing it to relax.
Tips:
By Lisa Roberts
Lisa Roberts E-RYT 200, RCYT, and Certified Children's Yoga Therapist, has worked in the pediatric wellness field since 2006. The founder and director of YoYo Yoga Therapy (www.yoyoyogatherapy.com) she works with individual clients and small groups on a regular basis, and teaches at a variety of family and youth support centers in the Saint Louis area including a major children’s hospital where she founded the yoga therapy program offering yoga, meditation and relaxation to patients, patient siblings, parents/families and staff. Lisa also offers professional trainings on Kids Adaptive Yoga for professionals who work with children. She is the author of Breathe, Chill - A Handy Book of Games and Techniques Introducing Breathing, Relaxation and Meditation to Kids and Teens.
Reboot & Recharge with the following YogaDownload Classes:
Chakra Awareness Meditation - April Laliberte Counting Meditation - Danielle Diamond
Here’s an alarming statistic: Sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine!
It’s no wonder it feels nearly impossible to just say NO! The fact is that refined sugar is addictive because people get hooked on the “high” they get when they eat it. Sugar literally releases the same neurotransmitters that are released in drug addicts when they get their fix.
In my opinion, sugar is worse than cocaine, heroine and meth combined because it’s so readily available and widely accepted in our culture. Over 80% of packaged foods in American grocery stores contain sugar!
To boot, sugar is deeply ingrained in our culture. We use sugary treats in all our celebrations. We use it to show our love and appreciation. We even have holidays that revolve around it!
Which brings me to Halloween – the perfect time to look at all the ways sugar is not so sweet to us.
There are literally hundreds of scientific reasons to kick the sugar habit but below are my top 10 favorites. This sweet stuff is wrecking havoc on our bodies. Not convinced? Try going off it for just two weeks and feel the difference for yourself.
Along the way you may need some alternatives to help wean you off the hard stuff. Try our favorite Decadent Raw Brownies or Jo’s Pumpkin Fudge. Increase the amount of sweet fruits and veggies you’re eating–things like Granny Smith apples and baked sweet potatoes.
10 Reasons to Just Say No to Sugar
Now it’s your turn. Are you addicted to sugar? How are you getting your fix? Are you ready to ditch sugar for good? Leave me a comment below.
Julie Peláez and Jo Schaalman
Pump up your cravings for health with a class by Jo and Jules:
Just as you cannot prepare a meal when the counter is full of dirty dishes, most people cannot be truly productive and creative when their lives, houses, and places of work are messy. Our external world is a mirror for our inner environment. Organizing your home and life makes it easier to understand what's really going on, outside and inside you. Give yourself more time, more mental clarity, a more comfortable home and office, and a more productive and orderly life by implementing some organizing strategies.
Strategies for Space Success
In our overly-complicated world, simplicity if key. Once you get a taste of a clean desk, clear foyer, and the ability to find what you are looking for right away, you will understand the healing power of order. The time and mental energy saved by having an organized space will allow you to be more creative and productive than you would have imagined. Clear your space, clear your mind, and clear your life.
By Ron McDiarmid
Ron McDiarmid is the founder of My Healthy Living Coach. Having had health challenges along the way Ron was keen to share the research and learning he gathered. Through MHLC this continued into a current presentation of healthy lifestyle choices and how to implement them. Check out his website at www.myhealthylivingcoach.com.
Clear space with the following YogaDownload Classes:
Funky Fresh Creative Flow - Channing Grivas Rest & Rejuvenate - Celest Pereira
Most things I tried just sent me even more out of balance and way out of touch with my inner knowing, creative instinct, and natural desires. It always felt like there were too many things "out there" that had to be managed, fixed, or sorted out first, always leaving me craving that balance and alignment that I somehow knew was possible. My life was a lot like a spinning top. It would spin and spin and spin. When it got out of balance, it would waiver and rock on the edge, never quite finding its center. It might feel the same way in your life.
If you never find that balance, that center, that alignment with your true self - you will always feel out of balance. On the verge of tipping over again and again. But there are those moments that you finally find that stillness within the movement. Those moments can be expanded! Life will always keep moving around you, but you can feel grounded and supported exactly where you are so that the outer world won’t impact you as much. In fact, the outer world will start to look like a much friendlier and more beautiful place to be.
Yoga is one way to find that stillness through movement. Through relaxing. Through breathing. Through simply being alive. There is no one to please. There is no one to impress. There is nothing to fear. It’s that feeling you get when you are all alone, sitting on the edge of the ocean or walking out in the woods.
There is no one there to tell you who to be or what to do. There is nothing reminding of your to-do lists and schedule. There is nowhere that you need to be.
Just you.
It’s quiet. You can hear the wind blowing and the leaves dancing. Mostly, you can hear the faint sound of your own breath moving in and out. My question for today is, who are you in those moments? Are you able to be kind to yourself? Do you smile silently and think of all the wonderful things in your life? Are you gentle with yourself, even when you feel like you’ve been doing everything wrong?
The world will always try to spin you in a million different directions. There will be news stories that break your heart, mistakes that hurt your self-esteem and moments that you just don’t feel like the person you want to be. Choosing to align with your True Self means letting go of all the reasons why you aren’t good enough. It means discovering all the little things that make you uniquely beautiful. It also means letting other people express their own selves, free to discover their own path to happiness, without the judgment and criticism.
So today, be gentle with yourself.
There is so much you might not get done. There are goals you might not achieve. There is so much you could find wrong with your life/body/self. Just for today, in fact, just for this moment, be gentle with yourself. Let yourself center back into stillness -- that place in between your thoughts.
You see, as beautiful as our lives can be, sometimes we need to be reminded that we deserve a little space every once and a while. And you know what? For me and so many others I know, the minute we choose to find that still place inside ourselves, we have way more energy to move through life the way we've always wanted to.
My invitation for you today is a breath or some simple yoga poses to reconnect. A deep, cleansing, purifying, balancing breath with movement - to bring you back into alignment with your True Self. The type of breath you would take if you were on the edge of the world looking towards the horizon…with a quiet knowing that everything will be alright in the end.
By Amber Chalus
Amber Chalus is a Free-Spirited Explorer, Lifestyle Coach and Yoga Teacher at AmberChalus.com. She currently lives in Nipawin, Saskatchewan with her charming British husband and adorable rescue dog, Indi.
Her mission is to help and inspire women to nurture their physical and spiritual health through yoga, holistic nutrition and radical self love. She believes that every woman deserves to feel connected to her body, radiate with confidence and live the life of her dreams - naturally!
You are invited to join her amazing community of spirited women and join her 30 Day Wildly Nourished Challenge.
Download a free Beautiful Morning Meditation at AmberChalus.com
Twitter: twitter.com/amberchalus Facebook: facebook.com/amberchalus Instagram: instagram.com/amberchalus
This article was edited by Tara Nasira.
Practice inward kindness with the following YogaDownload Classes:
Gentle Hatha Yoga 1 - Jackie Casal Mahrou Rise and Shine Yoga - Elise Fabricant
Our bodies need to relax, so we search for yoga and wellness retreats, vacation spots and spas, we read countless articles about wellness and relaxation without ever acting on them, all while hoping to find and achieve inner Zen. But how? A friend of mine just wrote about “Balancing your life with yoga” and she made some interesting points about how yoga and life are alike. Her three main points were:
Take the leap (of faith)
Don’t be afraid to fall
Be present
These are valuable lessons to learn in life but finding balance is only a part of finding the way to inner Zen. What is Zen? We always say we want to find inner Zen but what does that mean? The word Zen is ultimately derived of the Sanskrit word dhyāna which can be translated to mean “absorption” and “meditative state”. Taken a bit further, Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that goes back to the 6th century and emphasizes insight into Buddha nature and ultimately into the daily life especially those of others. While this may sound basic, if you think about it, it is a profound teaching.
How do I achieve Zen? To achieve Zen you first have to understand it. The history and background of Zen comes with a lot of doctrine and reading into the depths of the teachings dating back ages. Zen is not something that can be put in words because the ultimate goal behind Zen is to achieve a state of enlightenment and understanding by the way we gain insight into our life and the life around us. “Our enlightenment is timeless, yet our realization of it occurs in time.” This quote simplifies and yet amplifies the message. We are always enlightened but it takes us time and steps and a conscious attempt to realize it. One of the most important things to note about achieving Zen is the fact that it cannot be done without observing oneself as well as and more importantly others. To find the good, understand the bad, grow based on your observations and find peace and understanding within life and encourage others to do the same.
How do I translate this into my life? Mediation and breathing techniques using the lotus position are an important aspect to Zen. Meditation is used to take a step back and rediscover oneself. Think of it in terms of learning in depth who you are and taking the good you see and building on that, then taking the bad and consciously deciding against it and becoming a better person who is more aware. Breathing is important because it always you to focus on just the breaths you take, it frees your mind and relaxes your body. When you are relaxed and not bogged down with the worries of every day stresses you can concentrate on what is truly important. Peace, love and understanding. Some practitioners chant sutras such as the Heart as part of their path to enlightenment. It serves to connect with oneself.
But what if we are busy and don’t have time for all this? Then you are like me and many others who need to find their focal point of peace and freedom. You don’t need to spend hours upon hours trying to find true enlightenment (if you can by all means go for it) but rather look at the teachings as a tool to utilize. Take time in the morning and at night even as little as 20 minutes. Find a quiet place, sit, breathe, relax, let your mind run free, observe your thoughts, explore yourself, draw strength from within you and calm thyself. As you go through your daily life, remember to observe others and practice good living. Be kind, be thoughtful, be generous and humble. Be the person that you can be happy with and the person that will influence others with a positive light. Take care of your body and soul, meditate, practice yoga and give your body healthy nutrition. Know that you will make mistakes and know that the journey to self discovery, enlightenment and Zen is a continuous one.
The art of finding inner Zen lies within the ability to find peace and purpose within anything. It requires letting go of hurt, pain and negativity and consciously choosing positivity. Then you will be at peace and find your inner Zen.
By Deanna Ayres
Deanna Ayres is the Community Outreach Supervisor at the Marketing Zen Group. She is also an avid blogger and photographer who loves to write about healthy living, yoga, life, parenting, technology and about the psychology of life as we know it. If she isn’t writing or taking pictures, she is an avid gamer who spends time volunteering with her rescue dog Vic and her family. Connect with her on twitter @deanna_ayres or Google Plus.
Begin your journey toward inner zen with the following YogaDownload Classes:
Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga 1 - Dave Farmer Harness Your Energy - April Laliberte
I find it is the simplest way to make sure I eat well in a pinch (or a panic of raging hunger). Recipes like this take less time than a frozen pizza or a trip to the burger joint and there is no guilt or self hate when I’m done: instead just a full belly and happy cells from all those nutrients.
The entire process of washing, slicing and cooking really takes about less than 10 minutes if you have decent knife skills. Bonus time saver if you prep your veggies in advance and all you have to do is cook them.
I use simple foods that you can get at almost any supermarket. For the miso paste and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, you might have to check the natural foods section. If you can’t find the liquid aminos, you can use soy sauce or tamari.
Miso Magical Meal - Serves approximately 2
Ingredients
o 1 summer squash
o 1 zucchini
o 1 carrot
o 1 celery stalk
o 1 green bell pepper
o 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
o 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
Directions
Wash and cut all veggies. I like to cut the zucchini, summer squash and carrots into thin rounds. Cut the bell pepper open and remove the seeds and ribs. Cut into lengthwise slices. Cut the celery into thin slices. Really, just cut all the veggies the way you like them.
In a sauté pan over medium heat, melt the coconut oil and then add the carrots and sauté for about 1 min. Add in the rest of the veggies and sauté for about another 3-4 minutes, turning occasionally. Add in the sunflower seeds for 1 minute, again still turning to avoid burning.
Tip: Don’t overcook your vegetables. You risk killing all the beautiful nutrients, plus your food will be soggy. Think of them like pasta and cook your vegetables until they are al dente.
Dressing
o 1 Tablespoon Miso Paste
o 1 Tablespoon Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
o 2 Tablespoons Warm Water
Mix together with a whisk until well blended. Do NOT use boiling water, it will kill the nutrients in the Miso paste. Pour over the cooked veggies.
This dressing can be used for all kinds of vegetable dishes. Consider adding ginger or garlic for a little more pep.
Fun Food Fact
Miso is a powerhouse for a healthy body. I’m sure by now you’ve heard all about the benefits of probiotics for a healthy digestive system. Well, miso paste is a great way to get some probiotics. This is a super duper option if you don’t eat yogurt. It’s also high in Zinc, Manganese and Copper. It’s miso healthy. (Remember how funny I believe that I am?)
By Jessica Wyman
Jessica Wyman is a Certified Nutrition Coach and Yoga Teacher at Jessica-Wyman.com. She has authored two books available on Amazon, Finding Your Foxy and Girlfriends Organic Kitchen.
She believes that women are created by everything they eat, drink, breathe and believe and that concept is the cornerstone of the Wildly Nourished programs she co-created. As a clean eating foodie and wellness maven, she teaches healthy living without the complicated rituals by focusing on simple ingredients to create your ideal life (and meals).
Join Jessica’s FREE 5-day lifestyle program at Jessica-Wyman.com
Connect with Jessica at:
Facebook: facebook.com/jessicawymanwellness Instagram: Instagram.com/wymanjessica Twitter: twitter.com/wymanjessica Pinterest: pinterest.com/jessicafwyman
Compliment your Miso Magical Meal with the following majestic YogaDownload Classes:
Kali Flow - Invoke the Fire - Jeanie Manchester Shakti Rising - Alex Cordoba
A primary step in replenishing the system and restoring the “prana” is through herbs and one of the main herbs in Ancient Ayurvedic medicine is Gotu Kola.
Gotu Kola is also known as “Brahmi”, which is derived from Hinduism meaning the “Brahman”. For the unfamiliar, “The Brahman” is the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world. In Sanskrit, it is Sat-cit-ananda, which is being-consciousness-bliss and is the highest of realities.
Throughout its history, Brahmi has been one of the more important herbs when it comes to herbal medicine. In India, the herb was used with newborn children, with the wide held belief being that the herb would cause the child to become more open minded and intelligent; essentially Brahmi was actually believed to free the mind of the child.
Additionally, the herb was well known and used by the great sages of Indian philosophy, who appropriately gave it its name, which means ‘knowledge’. Charaka, Ayurveda’s third legendary physician, who identifies the seasons and times of day when a particular plant’s medicinal powers achieve their maximum potency, states that the true value of brahmi lies in its outstanding performance against senile decay and loss of memory, and its capacity for enhancing verbal articulation.
One interesting piece of evidence for its effectiveness is given by Appa Rao in Medicinal Plants of India: “A double blind clinical test was conducted on thirty mentally retarded children, who were free from epilepsy and other neurological conditions, to study the effect of the drug extracted from Brahmi on general mental ability. The results indicated a significant improvement in both general ability and behavioral patterns when the drug was administered for a short period of twelve weeks.”
Brahmi and the yogi/yogini
Brahmi is an important supplement for yogis and improves meditation. A dosage of brahmi taken before meditation is a great aid in this practice. It helps to awaken the crown chakra at the top of the head (sahasrara), and balance the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Brahmi is one of the best herbs for balancing and rejuvenating the whole mind and consciousness system.
Beyond just being a great adaptogenic herb for the mind, Brahmi also enhances the immune system, increases hair and nail growth, strengthens the adrenals, aids in digestion, increases fertility, accelerates the healing of wounds, helps to cleanse the skin and the blood, and balances all three doshas (vata, pitta, kapha).
About the plant
Brahmi, a plant from the Umbelliferae family, is the Sanskrit name for the Indian pennywort, also known as khulakudi in Hindi. In the dictionary of herbs it is known as somavati or saraswati. It is a so-called ‘weed’ which is found growing wild in marshlands and reservoirs, and near the banks of rivers and lakes all over India and South Africa.
This herb creeps along the ground, rooting at the nodes, and has small light green leaves fluted around the edges. In taste it resembles parsley, but unlike parsley it is slightly bitter. The entire plant, especially the leaves, is used for medicinal purposes.
It is perhaps the most important nervine herb used in Ayurvedic medicine.
References
Handbook of Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants
Charaka Samhita- Wikipedia
By Johnny Bailik
Johnny Andrew Gigliotti Bailik is the Founder of Ancient Botanicals with the mission to awaken the public to the ancient healing powers of herbs and plants. Ancient Botanicals is dedicated to brining about bodily health and spiritual wellness in all acts of the company. Johnny holds a BFA degree in Fine Art & Advertising and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Johnny has been a life-long student to herbal plants & medicine and is part of a long lineage of healers and teachers Johnny has worked with Amgen Pharmaceuticals, American Botanical Pharmacy, Deutsch Advertising and United Future to name a few companies. He is an avid mountain biker, snowboarder, yoga practitioner, runner, and cross-fit athlete. Read more on his website: ancientbotanicals.com or be social with Ancient Botanicals on Facebook and Pinterest.
After supplementing with Brahmi, explore its great benefits with the following YogaDownload Classes:
Lalita Flow - The Marriage of In & Out Breath - Jeanie Manchester Clearing Your Energetic Space - Nancy Nielsen
If it hasn't been noticed in life yet, fear feeds off of fear, anger off of anger, love off of love, laughter off of laughter. You get the idea. So how do we remain true to ourselves, our beliefs, and our daily practices when we are thrown off of life's teeter totter by others who can't keep their shit together?
By Meredith Cameron
Learning that she and we are more capable than we give ourselves credit for, Meredith Cameron creates space for students to reach out, dig deeper, and not take themselves too seriously. An advocate for creating the life we live, Meredith is influenced by her teachers, Shannon Paige and Nancy Kate Rau, what the world throws on her lap, her travels, and her daily interactions with others. All of this, infuses freedom into her teachings, allowing students to feel their own sense of empowerment. Visit www.mcameronyoga.com/blog.
Keep your shit together with the following YogaDownload Classes:
It's Been a Long Day - Celest Pereira Yoga to Unwind - Kylie Larson
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We love fall and the wild mix of hot sunny days and cold nights. Although getting dressed this time of year can cause a girl’s head to spin (especially here in Colorado where it could be 70° one moment and then snowing the next), there’s nothing quite like dusting off last year’s leather boots and bundling up in a cozy sweater.
Fall also marks nature’s last bountiful harvest and that means it’s time to start enjoying apples and pears! When shopping for apples and pears, it’s best to buy organic since both are on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list.
Today we’re celebrating Fall with a Pear Party Smoothie!
At first glance you might be skeptical wondering about the cinnamon in this recipe, but I promise you that it won’t disappoint. Cinnamon gives this green smoothie a nice warm kick and it’s full of health-promoting properties. Did you know that cinnamon is one of the best ways to ward off stomach bugs and the flu? Cinnamon is a powerful anti-bacterial and anti-fungal so it will destroy all the bad bacteria in your gut if you’ve been exposed. It’s also a great way to help strengthen your immune system and stabilize blood sugar. Cinnamon is also a warming agent, which can help build digestive fire and keep you warm in the cooler months.
Enjoy this fall green smoothie recipe and be sure to let us know what you think in the comment section below.
Yields: 1 quart Ingredients:
Directions: In a high-speed blender, blend pear, banana, avocado, spinach, romaine lettuce, cinnamon, water, and stevia until creamy.
With love and cinnamon-spiced pears,
Jo & Jules
All of these heroes start out with the most essential quality we can identify: they start out as ordinary and exactly like us. Every hero in every story begins as we begin...making a human life under human circumstances with human fears and struggles. We recognize this in the face of every hero. But, then something in the story shifts. The hero receives a call. For Neo, it literally is a phone call from his mentor, Morpheus. For Charlie Bucket, it’s the discovery of the golden ticket in the bar of chocolate. For William Wallace, it’s witnessing the brutality of the English soldiers toward his new wife. The call may be subtle. It may be violent. It may be joyful or it may be tragic. But, the call always comes; and as watchers of the story, we all know what happens next.
The hero must answer the call. What begins the movement of the hero from ordinary human being to transcending mere humanness is this initial step toward their own hero’s journey. In one way or the other, the hero answers “yes” to their own call. It may be an ecstatic “Yes!” as in the case of Charlie Bucket, an angry “yes” as in the case of William Wallace, or they may go kicking and screaming toward their adventure as Neo does. Either way, the hero must absolutely answer this call and begin, otherwise they remain stuck in their own meager, deteriorating circumstance. This would be detrimental not only to their personal growth—as in, the hero would never actually become the hero at all—but, also to those of us who are inspired by these stories. Without the hero’s initial brave step toward their journey we would have no example of what it means to transcend our own fear, boredom, mundanity or exhaustion. We would have no shining illustration of what it means to pursue our own heroic path because each of us is meant to become the hero of our story, to discover our own unique gifts and cross over our very own thresholds from ordinary to extraordinary by following our bliss. Joseph Campbell’s most famous statement, “Follow your bliss, (Power of Myth, 120)” illustrates saliently the sentiment behind the call to adventure. It is our bliss, which is already active inside of us, that calls out, challenging us to realize our fullest potential. This bliss point is encoded within us—whether we believe it to be encoded in our DNA or a part of our own soul’s journey—it is the call that inspires us to step up and become fully realized human beings. When we respond to that call, we enthusiastically affirm our own life and all of its trials and joys, we fully inhabit our own body and revivify our existence moving from the ordinary to the extraordinary and transcendant. The doldrums and boredom of a meaningless existence comes from an inability to recognize this life-affirming practice while turning away from our own inevitable inner call to adventure. And the call will come. Our journey is inevitable. The path is already beset before us based on our own unique circumstances and all the choices we have made throughout our lives. Joseph Campbell described the personal journey in relation to the Arthurian legends where before dinner, it was customary to have an adventure. The knights set off toward the dark forest, but it was thought to be a cop out to enter into the forest at the point anyone else had already entered. Each knight knew that he must embark on his own adventure, and slay his own dragon in order to retain the honor of a knight at court. Campbell says, “You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path. If you follow someone else’s way, you are not going to realize your potential. (Reflections on the Art of Living, Campbell, 19)” If Charlie Bucket had gone the way of all the other children, he would have blown up like a blueberry, been sucked up by the chocolate vortex or fallen down the chute like a rotten egg. Charlie has to make his own decisions based on his own life and circumstances. All heroes do. Including us. But, it’s hard to answer the call. Many of us will shy away from the initial telephone ring, as Neo does when he surrenders into the hands of the agents. Answering the call means beginning a journey into unknown territory—the dark forest of the Arthurian legends—which is the unknown matter of our own psyche. There are magical forces buried within there, but there are also monsters and dragons. The proverbial forest is fraught with danger, but it is also where we find the grand mystery. While the call to adventure is a signifier that it is time to leave the relative comfort of our day-to-day existence, it is also the beginning of a journey into the great unknown. This can be an incredibly daunting endeavor even for the most staunch heroes, which is why many heroes refuse the initial call. However, the only reason anyone refuses the call is that they are scared of what their journey will entail and what it will reveal to them. It will require the hero to step outside of the boundaries of their current comfort and convenience. It will ask them to bring forth all that is within them—both their positive qualities, and those they’re not proud of. And it will reveal to them the meaning of their own existence and bring to life their greatest fears as well as their greatest potential. The journey into the dark forest is often scary. And, truth be told: fear is the hero’s greatest enemy. This is not a new or uncommon motif in the history of humanity. Everyone gets scared sometimes. Many of the world’s oldest philosophical and mythological texts suggest that fear is at the source of the limited, encumbered ways of thinking that prevent us from fully manifesting our potential and journeying into the deep dark forest of our own psyche to embark upon our journey. In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you. (Pagels 20)” The work of every hero is to accept the call to adventure, which is really an internal call, one that asks the hero to delve deeply into the dark forest within to bring forth their own greatest gifts. When Neo is called by Morpheus to become “the one,” it is his internal transformation into that state of being that makes him the hero of the story. It is the way with all heroes, but this journey leads us into realms we’ve never even attempted to explore, and so it is often tempting to ignore the call and continue along our misguided, disconnected course because the idea of venturing forth into the unknown is often more fear inducing than remaining stuck in our current realm. However, refusing the call because of fear brings great detriment to the potential hero. When we refuse our adventure—and we will only refuse it because of fear—we are haunted by what could have been and get muddled in negativity. Fear and angst grow inside of us and we are rendered incapable of living out our own personal mythology. Our story becomes stuck inside and like a wound in the mouth that would heal if only we could stop tonguing it, our personal mythology festers and continues to knock at the door of our imagination. The internal struggle becomes more pronounced the more fervently the call is refused. When we refuse the call, we refuse the expansion of the mystery, the numinous, the encoded DNA, and the infinite potential that lives within. Campbell says, “The myths...make clear that the refusal is essentially a refusal to give up what one takes to be one’s own interest. (49)” The refusal is fueled only by fear–be it a fear of change, a fear of (literal or metaphorical) death, or a fear of being alone. All fears are rooted in the same place. While traditional wisdom (both eastern and western) would likely tell us that the greatest fear we have is the fear of death, there is a deeper, more pervasive fear even beyond that: the fear of disconnection or aloneness. True disconnection is the greatest fear, as it leaves us isolated from everything that we know, everything that we love or have loved and everything we believe ourselves to be. Disconnection leaves us lost within the void. It renders us without a lifeline or anchor to all that vivifies us. As social creatures, humans are hardwired to need connection with others in order to maintain their wellbeing. Without it, we suffer greatly both physically and emotionally as disconnection leads to apathy, boredom, stress and anxiety which are at the root of much disease in our population. These days, to try and stifle this debilitating disconnection we have numbed it by becoming the most medicated, addicted and overweight adult cohort in human history (Brown, web). The disease of disconnection is systemic within anyone who remains gripped by fear. The two go hand in hand. The remedy is to discover the source of connection from within. The folly of fear is that it leads us away from our innermost bliss point—the core connectedness of our being. To journey back into this inner state is to realize that disconnection is actually an illusion and that there is a part of us that is always connected to a source, no matter what we call it—our ancestors, our soul, collective unconscious, the universe—there is a place within us that is illimitable and ever-sustaining. If we can only make contact with it, we will have alleviated the greatest fear of all and realized that the power of our aloneness exists in infinite connections to the world around us. In order to get to this realization, a deeper part of us calls out from within to let us know that the journey must begin. This initial call to adventure might be a small, still voice in the back of our mind, or it may be a shove from the brink like a tidal wave or hurricane. No matter how the call comes—and it will come—it demands to be answered. Now, many of us will refuse this initial call to awaken what is most alive within us. Fear will grip us even more tightly as we try to settle in and hunker down inside the status quo. But, this limiting “comfort zone” will become too small. The edges of it will start pressing against us like a snail who has outgrown its shell. And, the call will come again...and again, until we stand up, answer its cry and take the first step on our own journey. At some point, all heroes must take this initial step and begin to walk their journey alone, for each of us has our own personal mythology to realize and bring forth from within. We must be willing to challenge the status quo in order to free ourselves of the shackles of a meaningless existence, to transcend a life that fails to enliven our soul. Each one of us must die to who we think we are to become what we know ourselves to be. For, if we don’t, as Campbell says, our “flowering world becomes a wasteland of dry stones, and our life feels meaningless. (49)” Whether or not we respond to the mighty call to adventure might be the most important choice we make in our lifetime. The stories that inspire us are always of heroes that have said “Yes!” to their adventure and answered their call, like Charlie Bucket, Neo and William Wallace among countless others. Each of these heroes had to enter into their personal forest at the darkest place in order to embark upon their adventure and become the ones who inspire each of us to do the same. Perhaps the greatest legacy each of us can leave behind in our own singular lifetime is to live a heroic life that inspires others to follow their own bliss. But, no one said it was going to be easy. Remember, the heroic knight always enters the forest at the darkest place. There are dragons and demons and monsters in that dark forest. We will have to tread our path alone for the darkest stretches because as Campbell says, “your adventure has to be coming right out of your own interior. (Art of Living 97)” There is no security. There are no rules. If there were, it wouldn’t be an adventure. Inevitably, when we begin to live out our own personal mythology, when we bring it forth from the shackles of our heart, we find that we must face our biggest enemies, our worst fears and the parts of ourselves long hidden from the sunlight. However, as we progress along our journey, we will find, as Campbell says, that “if you are ready for it, doors will open where there were no doors before, and where there would not be doors for anyone else. (Art of Living 97)” Then, we reveal to ourselves that the ultimate source of connection comes from the contact we make with our own bliss. And so, the journey begins.
By Alanna Kaivalya
Alanna Kaivalya has a mission: to convey a sense of joy and freedom through harmony and synchronicity, which she does beautifully through her classes, workshops, writing, and music. Alanna is known for her ability to translate the ancient practice of yoga into a modern day context. Visit Alanna's website and learn about the Kaivalya Yoga Method at AlannaK.com.
This post was originally published on alannak.com. Works Cited "Brene Brown: The Power of Vulnerability." Brene Brown: The Power of Vulnerability. Ted: Ideas Worth Spreading, Dec. 2010. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. Campbell, Joseph, and Bill D. Moyers. The Power of Myth. New York: Doubleday, 1988. Print. Campbell, Joseph, and Diane K. Osbon. A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1991. Print. Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1968. Print. Pagels, Elaine H. The Gnostic Gospels. New York: Random House, 1979. Print.