Tag Archives: yoga

Jul7

Farro Dolma Salad with Baba Ganoush

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Center For Yoga, Birmingham, MI

I recently returned home from a month-long journey that took me from Houston, TX to the suburbs of Detroit, MI. What I am willing to do for yoga…drive 20 hours, share a hotel room with other people for more than three weeks, wake up at the crack of dawn…and love (almost) every minute of it.

I had the privilege of studying what I love with 39 other people who love yoga as much I do. And when you get that many people together focused on a common purpose, great things happen. We laughed, we cried, we sweat (a lot), we danced, we sang and we bonded in an amazing way. I’m so happy to say that I have brothers and sisters all around the country that I shared this life-changing experience with.

Another thing we did was eat some pretty delicious mediterranean food. Who knew? Detroit is home to some incredible food. Maybe food tastes better after you’ve done a ton of yoga (or meditated for 8 hours or sat in a sweat lodge), but all I know is that I loved it. We had, among other things: dolmas; lentils and rice; cucumber tomato salads, hummus and baba ganoush. Of course, I was inspired to make some of this at home.

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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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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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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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Apr15

Cherry Almond Prana Bars

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Think of this as a little gift to yourself. A healthy snack that you can take with you when you’re on the run and need a little pick-me-up. Great for before or after yoga or any activity for that matter. Nice for kids lunches, too.

In yoga, prana is life energy that is connected to our breath. In Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar says, “Prana means breath, respiration, life, vitality, wind, energy or strength. It also connotes the soul as opposed to the body.” So it’s probably some kind of blasphemy to call this recipe “prana bars,” but if Mr. Iyengar tasted these, I bet he’d forgive me.

The recipe could not be any easier. Throw healthy stuff in a food processor. Shape the mixture into bars — that’s pretty much it.

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Apr5

Zen Soba Seaweed Miso Soup

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This is like eating from a bowl of pure nourishment. Perfect for an after-yoga or after-workout dinner or lunch. Springtime is a nice time of year for this soup. It’s light, but so full of healthy stuff. It makes me feel like I’m replenishing my body with protein, nutrients and secret things that it needs that I don’t fully understand. A little bowl of zen.

The soup has a nice umami thing going on that I love. It has a satisfying earthiness from the mushrooms and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos that I find very grounding.

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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.