Category Archives: Yoga

Feb18

FYG DIY | Spicy Neck Roll

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Often, I structure my yoga classes around a theme. It could be a concept like ‘going with the flow’, or a particular pose like crow or a section of the body like the core or a family of asanas like inversions. This week I’m talking about the cervical spine/neck and relieving neck tension.

I was surprised to learn that our heads weigh around 12 to 15 pounds. That seems really heavy to me. Way heavier than any bowling ball I’ve ever used. If our head is perfectly lined up and balanced on our spine, it’s all good. But shift the head forward a few inches and we start to strain the supporting muscles.

I don’t know about you, but here I am sitting at this computer and I naturally want to lean my head forward. I do that when I look at my phone (which is way more often than is necessary, I know); when I drive and when I cook. Basically, I catch myself leaning my head forward nearly all day long.

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Dec11

Carrot Sweet Potato Juice

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SWEET POTATO JUICE??? Wah??? Um, yes! It’s awesome.

Got this idea today after yoga class. My friend Mayra and I were talking about juicing. (This is a typical post-yoga class conversation, btw.) I mentioned that as it has been getting colder, I mostly want to juice carrots. They seem more warming to me; because of their color, because they are a root vegetable and because they go really well with ginger.

Mayra told me about her friend or maybe her sister or maybe her sister’s friend who combines carrots, sweet potato and ginger for her cold weather juicing. SWEET POTATO???? Wah??? How cool! So I immediately went home to try it.

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Dec5

FYG DIY…made with ❤

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Heart-made gifts are my absolute very favorite. I have every pinch pot my boys ever made. Every ornament made out of popsicle sticks. Every picture frame made out of popsicle sticks, too, come to think of it. I live for this kind of thing. So when the holidays roll around, I like to make a little something special for friends and/or family that comes from my heart.

This year, I was inspired by a few diy crafts at the Toyota booth (yes, I’m giving them a shout out…we are a two Prius family) at Wanderlust in Austin about a month ago. They had tables where you made your own mat spray and body scrub. I also threw together some bath salt, which is ridiculously easy.

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Nov13

Wanderlustful Açaí Bowl

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I spent last weekend doing yoga and more yoga at Wanderlust Festival Austin. I took classes from rockstar yogis, like Shiva Rea, Seane Corn, Janet Stone and MC Yogi. We posed, we flowed, we flew, we laughed, we danced and we had a blast. And since we were in Austin, we ate some pretty good food too.

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Sep30

Casa De Luz Sun Cheese

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Just got back from a week-long Ashtanga training in Austin, Texas. Got to study with David Swenson and his wife Shelley Washington. David wrote the book on Ashtanga yoga that we used in my 200-hour training. It was an honor and privilege to spend time with him. David brings an amazing depth of knowledge and a delightful sense of humor to his teaching.

There were nearly 50 students in our class. I walked in not knowing a single person and left with several special friends. Yoga has a funny way of doing that. One night a group of us went to Casa De Luz for dinner. It’s a macrobiotic, vegan, gluten-free, seasonal, locally-sourced, organic restaurant. I’ve never been anywhere like it. Not far from downtown Austin, but it feels like it’s a world away.

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Jun24

Heather’s Raw Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough

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Heather is one of my YTT classmates and she brought these delicious treats to share with our group. I warn you now, these are a little addictive. Very hard to have just one. And it’s crazy, but they really taste like oatmeal raisin cookie dough, but are made with super healthy ingredients like cashews, hemp seeds and shredded coconut.

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Jun17

Moroccan Quinoa Confetti Salad

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So, I graduated from 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training last weekend. Yay for me and my amazing classmates!!! And how do all good yogis celebrate, with a vegan potluck, of course. Everyone brought in the yummiest food and we all sat around in our circle of gratitude and chowed down. I brought this Moroccan quinoa salad.

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Jun7

Goji Berry Chocolate Granola

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How is it even remotely possible that I have been writing this blog for nearly six months and I am just now posting a granola recipe? I mean come on…yoga + granola…it just sort of goes. Don’t ya think?

I love having homemade granola in the house. It’s so easy to make and the variations are endless. The inspiration for this recipe came from a recent trip to my local health food/homeopathic store called the Natural Kitchen. Such a cool little shop. I’m amazed by how much they pack into this tiny little storefront. But I always seem to find exactly what I need whenever I stop in.

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Mar25

Yoga Meal

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Started my 200-hour yoga teacher training (YTT) this weekend and my head is exploding with so much exciting new information. We talked about the history of yoga, the eight limbs, meditation, asana practices and one of my favorite things, the yoga meal.

Of course, my area of interest is the intersection between food and yoga (have you noticed the title of my blog?). So I couldn’t wait to learn more about a yoga meal. Were we all going to bring in sprouts and granola or something? That would be fun.

But no, a yoga meal is not what you eat, but how you eat it. It’s having an awareness and appreciation of your food and how you consume it. It’s about slowing down and actually tasting what goes into your mouth. A yoga meal is a simple, yet profound experience.

Here are the general guidelines:

  1. Sit at a table. Don’t eating standing up, on the run or in your car.
  2. Refrain from talking while you are chewing your food.
  3. During the meal, eliminate external distractions like TV, music or reading.
  4. Chew and swallow your food completely before picking up your next bite.
  5. Place only about two handfuls of food on your plate. When you have finished that, wait 3-5 minutes before putting more food on your plate.
  6. Wait until your food is completely digested (2-6 hours) before having your next meal.

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Mar3

Namaste Y’all | a peek inside the Texas Yoga Conference

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If you think yoga pants and cowboy boots don’t go together, think again. This was actually a big trend at the fourth annual Texas Yoga Conference, held this weekend at the George R. Brown Convention Center, here in Houston.Image

PHOTO BY J. PATRIC SCHNEIDER/FOR THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Texan yogis (that’s me in the blue yoga top in the photo) gathered for lectures, workshops, yoga classes and music. My weekend included: kirtan and bhakti flow yoga with New Orleans’ Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band; prana and chakra flow with Adri Kyser; learning about the psoas/chakra connection with New Jersey-based Jo Ann Staugaard-Jones; and two classes with Melina Meza of Oakland on seasonal vinyasa, Spring asana and ayurveda.

Each class, session and lecture was inspiring and informational in its own unique way. I walked away with lots of new books to pour through and a head full of new and exciting ideas. Feel like I just scratched the surface of the conference, but at the same time I got exactly what I needed.