Friends, I am in love with yoga. So in love, that I am willing to do the kid swap thing just so I can go to yoga. Yes, I can practice at home. Yes, I am now a subscriber of Yoga Today. Yes, I am still riding my bike in the garage to get some cardio. But, no, I can’t really do yoga unless I go to a class. When I’m at home there is something called distractions- the ones on the computer table that resemble bills, the unread books piled on my desk, the toys in the other room…When you are trying to find your “drishti”, it would be nice if it didn’t fall on a “unfinished project!!”

We now have three yoga studios in my town and I’ve tried all three. And, although, there are good things about all of them, NONE compare to the yoga I was taking at Yoga Works. NONE. It makes it hard for me to be a student cause now I am always thinking about the way my teachers taught me- shoulder stand should never be done without blankets and firm instructions, for example. Yes, I’d like to teach yoga in a studio. I’ve always wanted to do that. Just haven’t figured out the “how” yet.

Anyway, so what is so great about a Yoga Works sequence that is different from other kinds of yoga?

1. Theme/plan/peak pose. Each class will generally have a sequence based on one pose- such as headstand. And all the poses will lead up to that one pose.

2. General warm-up period- this will usually resemble Sun Salutes with modifications.

3. Targeted warm-up. If you are working towards loosening up the hip flexors for a full backbend, then Crescent and Vira 1’s will be addressed.

4. A YW sequence will include a warm-up, to standing poses, to inversions, to backbends, to seated poses, to relaxation/mediation.

5. Finally, it makes sense. Your body will feel good after a good class. When one pose flows from one thing to the next.

Do you have any questions about yoga? Any particular poses you have questions about? If you are new to yoga, I suggest looking for classes labeled beginner or level 1. And, try LOTS of teachers before you completely blow it off!

Play. It’s summer. We are looking for ways to play every single day. Today was like all the others, except we went hiking today!
Phew. The photos are from the mountains of San Bernardino which is approximately 20 minutes away. Kids have a thing about sticks. Why? Don’t know. Each one had to have one and climb up hills with them. And downhills. Am I getting fit? No. Am I having a blast? Yes. Are kids happy? For the most part. There will be plenty of time for seriousness soon enough. Right now, we are all about FUN.

Happy Thursday!

Fueled with ice water and raisins, we are ready for a quick 5 mile ride around town to pick up a few things before our swim! First up, 2.5 miles downhill - lots of fun with our new (hand-me-down) trailer to pick up my swim hat at school. Then, biked over to the pool supply store for new kick boards. Kids will learn to swim this summer!

Finally, a kick ass 2.5 mile hill climb back to the house. Phew. The two of them plus the trailer is 100 pounds!!! Kept asking them to sing to me but they were too busy hiding behind their kickboards to notice the hill mommy was climbing. This was the pre-ride **fresh** photo!

Then, off to swim! Life is good.
Who’s getting fit with their kids this summer? Who’s getting fit? What’s your favorite thing to do in the summer?

As a mother, I love offering choices at breakfast time- although the choices are usually oatmeal or cereal, occasionally, I’ll offer toast and eggs. Also, love to incorporate little lessons with our breakfast choices…My big kid spent the last year working on geography..Below is a sampling of his completed pieces:

So, when Crofter’s SuperFruit Spread wanted to send me organic “spreads”, I said yes. Food is always going to be a yes, just remember—I’m just stating an opinion and it’s up to you to make up yours. On to the SuperFruits. Yum. It was fun to make “Asia” toast which was raspberries, yumberries, morello cherries and red grapes along with organic fair trade cane sugar for a spread. 17 calories for 1 tablespoon. Fun, interesting, and a bit tart, but enjoyable. “North America” was not my favorite and it was made up of wild blueberries, cranberries, morello cherries and red grapes. As I sit here and taste again it with my knife, it just has a strange flavor to it. Makes my cheeks suck in like I just ate a tart candy. “South America” is interesting. The ingredients include Maqui & Passion Fruit blended, Morello Cherries and red grapes. Again, incredibly unique flavors that are also tart and mildly sweet. Finally, I have the “Europe” spread that is Black Currants, Pomegrantes, Morello Cherries and Red Grapes. On toast, all the spreads are good. In my regular cottage cheese plus fruit and granola “snack” a teaspoon is plenty. Little bit goes a longggggggggg way!

Having a hard time with adjectives here- wouldn’t say that I loved any one flavor, but they are just a nice change to the usual offerings from the grocery store.

To read more about Crofter’s or to see recipes click here. Look for it at your local health food store?!

So, what do you think? What do you like on toast or in your cottage cheese? How else do you use fruit spreads?

This weekend was my last training session with Yoga Works. Only, this one was Yoga Playgrounds. Strangely titled; how the teacher thought yoga should be for kids- more like a playground and less like yoga. Funny, I kept staring at her wondering where I’d seen her before…took me 12 hours to figure it out. She is the teacher in the Yoga Fitness for Kids videos that I have. (Amazon)

One of the main things that I took from this training, was to have a greater intention before walking in to the classroom. Such as teaching one of life’s universal principles like patience, commitment, non-violence through yoga. It’s actually a really good idea and gives me lots of ideas on how to structure a yoga class. An idea of this would be to teach inversions on a day when I want to focus on empowering or confidence. Because when you do a headstand or handstand or walk up the wall, you feel really good! We also learned partner poses and I’ll model this later in the week. Thank God these training sessions are over- oh, how I have loved, but very thankful that they are over!!

The training was in Pacific Palisades but I stayed in Santa Monica. PP is up the coast from Santa Monica overlooking the ocean. It’s a cute little town with lots of money, it seemed to me. And Santa Monica is a big city next to Los Angeles- famous eating choices, farmer’s markets and home of the original Hardtail store on Third Street Promenade. Open any Yoga Journal and the first page is an ad for Hardtail. Lovely, edgy, colorful yoga clothes. The store was the size of a grocery store and packed with massive quantities of product in every color of the rainbow. Loved it all. Each piece I’d pick up was perfect. I honestly couldn’t find anything I didn’t like. But, it was more fun to hunt down the store, run my hands through every rack then it was to buy anything. Left empty handed and am proud of it!

Then on to a unique farmer’s market- one block from Hardtail. This farmer’s market sold everything from raw milk to freshly harvested chickens to cheese to eggs to mushrooms. Now, that is buying local. Whew. We do not have this in our town yet. Do you? Also amazing kinds of tomatoes, herbs, lettuces..trying not to be jealous *sniff*, *sniff*. Next time, I’ll take more images of the produce!

Now, off for a family weekend! Hope you all are having an amazing weekend!

We’ve spent the last week recuperating from my 200 hour yoga training.  We are working on uncovering lost piles of laundry, toys and  gee, having a LIFE.   Feels as if the house and everything in it has been on hold for the last three months.  Excited to have found tomatoes blossoming, swiss chard to be readily available, and potatoes growing in my compost pile.  My children and I have done a lot of nothing, but it’s been fun.  I adore the Super Natural Cookbook by Heidi Swanson and so,  decided to work my way back through it again and as always, my children are happy to participate in the process.

We made Creamy Wild Rice Soup and Homemade Powerbars.  Unfortunately, if large chunks of ginger get in my youngests” mouth, he is pretty hilarious about spitting it out.  Remember, Madagascar? That is my kid.  Anyway, the soup was delicious with a Thai-coconut kind of flavor, mildly spicy and the powerbars are always massively addicting and yummy!

Here’s a few photos from our cooking event:

Yes, that is my five year old yielding a large serrated knife.  He was given the butter knife but wasn’t having any success with it.  So, while I am holding the camera, he went for it.  They both know how to chop and peel garlic too! Maybe they will cook for me one day!

Oniony tears of joy.

What’s cooking with you this weekend?

The practice of yoga is one of the best things you could do for yourself. I love it. And, now that I have a practice, the use of certain props have become mandatory. Props include a mat, towel, bolsters, straps and blocks. I am partial to my Manduka Mat but have discovered certain issues with it- namely slippage or dirt, neither of which is conducive to a yoga practice. Yes, the Manduka mat is a “non slip” mat, but with the heat cranked up and me working extra hard, I slip. And, with the slippage there is the problem that my mat has been used for other things (when I wasn’t home) that included eating bluberries while watching TV. When it’s time for the seated poses, having my sweaty body lie on a dirty mat doesn’t feel all that good.

So, let me introduce you to a wonderful company, called yogitoes. They were kind enough to send me their solution to the slippery mat situation. “The original super absorbent tool that prevents slipping and puts a hygienic layer between you and your mat.”

They have come up with a way to help you stay on your mat throughout your practice. You can use it in a variety of ways depending on your sweat level. If you are one of those who sweat from the first Sun Salutation, then, you are going to want to put your yogitoes down on top of your mat immediately. If you are a non-sweater, you might wait to use your mat till you are doing the seated poses and you don’t feel like having your body stick to a dirty mat. Or, if it takes you a while to get sweaty, you would gradually add it on to your mat and into your practice.

The way I used it was this; I kept it folded in a rectangle just above my mat and at first drip, I mopped up. Then, when my hands start to slip, I would unfold it by 1/3 for just my hands. Then, as the practice got deeper, I’d extend it the length of the mat. It was always fully extended by the time we’d get to seated poses.

Loved it! I loved how nice and clean the towel feels when it’s time to lay down. Love the fact that I can wash it after every class. I absolutely do not slip when I used this SKIDLESS towel. Although, it takes a certain amount of flexibility and skill to lift your foot when going from Down Dog to a Lunge. It took me several classes before I was able to move through vinyasas without causing wrinkling of the towel.

Would I recommend it? YES. For sure. I don’t practice without it now. You can purchase one on yogitoes website or elsewhere on the net for between $40-$65.

When I started this training, I thought I knew what yoga was.  What I knew was nothing!   Completing DVD’s or going to an occasional mediocre yoga class does not compare to a 200 hour teacher training course offered by Yoga Works.  It probably would have been appropriate for me to at least attend a Yoga Works class before I took the TT, but, that still could not compare to what my teachers taught me in the last 12 weeks.  For your reference, my teachers were Thomas and Carmen and they seriously seriously KNEW THEIR BUSINESS.  Carmen and Thomas both train with teachers who trained under Mr. Iyengar and Carmen’s teachers were Chuck Miller, Maty Ezraty, and Lisa Walford (founders of Yoga Works).  The lineage is really short from the founders of modern day yoga to me now.  I am incredibly blessed to have had this opportunity.

Every single one of the students in the class are now my close friends.  Even though maybe we didn’t connect on any other level as yoga, they are still going to be thought of as my best friends and I already miss seeing them 4 days a week!

What’s next for me now?

I’d really like to have some opportunities to teach adults yoga in my town.  The last two weeks, I taught yoga to my teachers at school and got a lot of satisfaction out of it.  The more I teach, the less I feel I know.  And teaching yoga is more about presentation than it is about the alignment points.  It is an ART.

Practice.  In order to be an excellent teacher, I need to have a practice- under a teacher’s supervision.   And a daily practice.

Continue my studies in yoga.  It’s like with everything else, one training isn’t going to make me a good teacher or student.  My husband didn’t earn a black belt in one year, it took twenty years!! So, here I am making a commitment to always seek out opportunities to learn more.

Running and Cycling? Who the heck knows!!  Yoga will need to be the main dish and the cardiovascular training will be the side dish for now.

Shanti.

If you are lucky enough to live near some of the newer grocery stores that feature a LARGE variety of vegetarian products, take advantage of it. In Orange County, there is a store called Mother’s that is just amazing. The entire store seems to be dedicated to bringing the best vegetarian products to the consumer. For me, it made eating easy and delicious. Even foods such as Falafel, “soy taco”, and “soy chorizo” (don’t know what those are) but they sure tasted good! It makes me want to return to Orange County just to take a yoga class and go to Mother’s!

Here’s a yummy looking recipe for eggplant.

Eggplant and Walnut Dip with Toasted Pita Triangles

Diet Types: Low Fat, Low Sodium, Vegetarian

Ingredients: 1 pound eggplant 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/3 cup golden raisins, chopped 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 large clove garlic, minced 1 teaspoon canola oil salt and pepper to taste 5 (6-inch) fat- free, whole- wheat pita breads 5 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Serves: 24

Cooking Time: Over one hour

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pierce eggplant with tines of a fork and wrap tightly in foil. Place eggplant on baking sheet and roast for 1 hour. Cool slightly. Halve eggplant lengthwise and scoop out pulp into a medium bowl. Set aside and reserve. Meanwhile, heat walnuts in a dry skillet over medium bowl. Set aside and reserve. Into bowl with eggplant, stir in walnuts, raisins, mint, lemon juice, garlic and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill slightly. Preheat broiler. sprinkle pitas with cheese, dividing equally. Broil for 2 minutes or until cheese melts and pitas are lightly toasted. Cut each pita into 6 wedges and serve with dip.

The winner of the CamelBak is #73, Brooke!