Berry Smoothie

I have a killer sweet tooth. I could eat a cupcake everyday if I let myself (the chocolate vegan cupcakes from down the road at Kickass Cupcakes hold a very special place in my heart). However, I would be large and in charge if I allowed myself to do this, so I am always looking for alternative ways to get my sweet fix. Now that it is warm out I am all about smoothies. So fast and adaptable to any palate.

Ingredients:

1 bag or 2.5 cups of mixed frozen berries (unsweetened)

1 ripe banana

1 cup milk - could be from cows, almonds, coconuts, soy - whatever floats your boat!

1/2 cup water

Optional: tablespoon flaxseed or chia seed for extra health boost

1. Put in blender and blend until smooth. Can't mess that up. :)

Makes 2 large servings.

Tempeh Lettuce Wraps

When I am in the mood for something "meaty" I like to incorporate tempeh into my meal plan. I use Lightlife Organic Three Grain tempeh, which is made up of soybeans, brown rice, barley, and millet. Simple and delicious. Love the nutty flavor and the texture it has. Since the tempeh is dense and filling, I like to pair it with light veggies. In this case, I made lettuce wraps.

Ingredients:

1 package of tempeh, chopped into cubes

2 carrots, shredded (I used a vegetable peeler to make shavings)

1 head of lettuce of choice (something that will bend a little and be good wrappers for the filling)

Marinade:

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/2 water

3 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger

2-3 garlic cloves, depending on size and preference, diced

2 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 cup water

1. Combine all marinade ingredients together except cornstarch mixture in a small sauce pan and start to heat

2. Once heated, add in cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce. If it gets too thick, just add more water. If not thick enough, make more cornstarch/water mix and add to sauce. It's not an exact science and you have some room to play here. Don't sweat it - just depends on how thick you like your marinade.

3. When you get a consistency that you like for the sauce, let cool slightly. Then add enough sauce to cover tempeh fully in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for an hour or more. I let mine marinade for 24 hrs and the flavor was fully infused.

*I had extra sauce which I saved for another day in a air-tight container in the fridge. If you don't want extra sauce, you can reduce the amounts above.

4. After the marinade period is up, stir-fry tempeh on medium-high heat until fully heated.

Assemble wraps and dive on in.

Hands in the dirt

Garden update! Everything is growing so big that we had to do some rearranging yesterday. The yellow squash plants were taking over and covering the neighboring onions and carrots. We had to swap the cauliflowers and beets with the squash plants so everything had a bit more breathing room. I guess we should have listened to the planting instructions after all. Lesson learned. We had one causality (the mini squash pictured above). RIP mini squash. We also learned that we should have been eating the arugula all this time. I guess once the plant starts to flower, it is nearing the end of its season (getting too hot in herrre for it). Hopefully we can still get a salad out of it!

Mediterranean Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is a delicious, easy way to add protein to the diet (it's protein content is very high - 12-18%). According to Wikipedia, it is a "grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds." I use it instead of pasta and rice in lots of dishes, but here is a dinner that frequents the Woodsasana household.

Ingredients:

1/2 large red onion , diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 large zucchini, diced

1 tomato (I used vine ripened here), diced

6-8 white mushroom caps, stalks removed and caps sliced

1 can chickpeas, rinsed to get excess salt off (I usually buy low sodium and still rinse)

1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package

extra virgin olive oil

1-2 tbsp dried oregano

1. Sautee onion and garlic in extra virgin olive oil

2. Add in mushrooms, allow for them to soften and turn slightly brown

3. Add in zucchini and cook for a few minutes then add in tomatoes, continue to cook until zucchini is softened but still has some bite to it

4. Stir in chickpeas and heat through

5. Add in oregano, salt & pepper to taste

6. Once all the veggies are cooked, stir in cooked quinoa

Dish it and eat it!

Asian Edamame Stir-fry

My wok is my best friend in the kitchen. I cook with it all the time, even when I'm not making stir-fries (shh, don't tell. I feel like that's gotta be illegal in the culinary world). I like the size of it and how it cooks all the veggies evenly. One easy dish I made the other night was an Asian Edamame Stir-fry. I don't measure amounts of ingredients when I cook so I'll do my best to explain what I did. I cook for 2 people with hearty appetites (me and the bf) and we sometimes have leftovers for lunch.

Ingredients:

1/2 large red onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

1.5 - 2 cups edamame

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 head of broccoli

couple handfuls of fresh baby spinach

rice vinegar

toasted sesame oil

low sodium soy sauce (you can sub in Bragg's liquid aminos or tamari if you are gluten-free)

Pam spray or cooking oil (vegetable or extra virgin olive oil) - whatever you sautee veggies in normally or what you have on hand

1. Heated up wok with Pam or oil on medium to high heat. Add in onions and garlic and sautee for a few minutes until softened and onions start to become translucent. Keep an eye on it to make sure the garlic doesn't burn - stir occasionally.

2. Add in carrots and broccoli and cook until starting to soften.

3. Add a dash of soy, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. I usually go once or twice around the pan with the soy and rice vinegar. The sesame oil is added in a smaller amount - usually a drizzle since it is powerful in flavor.

4. Lastly, add in spinach and cook until wilted down.

Enjoy!

Day 30 - Don't stop 'til you get enough

DAY 30 - June 8, 2011

Ok, welp it's a wrap. Day 30 came and I ran out of time to fit in an "official" practice. I had to work and then head straight to the airport for my flight to Cali. I was going to get up early to practice, but yeah, that didn't happen. I know, excuses excuses. I did do eagle arms & some twists on the plane! Even though I didn't meet my goal of 30 classes in 30 days (drats), I did learn a lot during this time of renewed practice and reflection. Here are some of my thoughts on the last 30 days:

• Daily practice makes you feel like a superhero.
• Not practicing regularly makes you feel like a rusty robot that is filled to the edges with cement. Trust me, I went to class last night after a week vacation and I thought I was moving through a bucket of epoxy.
• Yoga will change your relationship with food. You will start caring about all the stuff you are shoving into your piehole. A bonus side effect to an already awesome experience.
• Toenail maintenance is often overlooked and this issue should be addressed by all those in the barefoot community. No need for an expensive pedi - just a simple cut and file will suffice.
• Returning yoga props to their proper storage places after class can be a straight up battle zone. Please - stop for a moment before you start cutting lines/elbowing your classmates. Ride the happy yoga wave, breathe, and know that you will be able to get the props back to their rightful location eventually. In other words, chill the eff out. You're yogis, for cryin' out loud! Maintain some semblance of yoginess even when you're annoyed that you can't bob and weave your way to the block stack fast enough. Many thanks. Yours truly, the recently trampled.
• "Om-ing" is fun and the vibrational resonance is so powerful. Try it! Get your friends to join you, it's even better in groups.
• Check your yoga pants for any transparency issues BEFORE going to class. I learned this the hard way.
• I love bolsters and will use them anytime I get a chance.
• It's amazing what you can do when you start believing that you can do it. Get out of your head and just do it.
• Blessed to be living in a city filled with unbelievable, inspiring, ass-kicking teachers and surrounded by a totally wicked (shout out to the new englanders out there) yoga community.
• Yoga is a practice and a lifestyle. It's ok to not do all the fancy schmancy poses. Of course, arm balances, splits, crazy backbends, etc. are awesome and the more advanced poses help focus your mind on the task at hand, build strength/flexibility and can invigorate you, but they are not necessary in order to have a fulfilling, worthwhile and life-changing practice.
• The intention and dedication you bring to your practice (and life) is what matters.
• Yoga has taught me self-acceptance. Be true to where you are at each moment in time. Don't beat yourself up. Don't ignore yourself either - live a life of truth.
• This is just the beginning. Totally content knowing that I have the rest of my life to continue with my "30 days". Each day will bring a new challenge and I am ready for it.

In the words of Michael Jackson, don't stop til you get enough.

I sure haven't had enough so I'll see YOU on the mat. Now, let's boogie.

Days 28 & 29 - Awareness

DAYS 28 & 29 - June 6 & 7, 2011

Day 28 - I was sick. Can count this as a yoga day only if the fetal position counts.

Day 29 - My 30-day challenge is rapidly approaching the end. and I went to Georgia's class at BBY. In the beginning of class, she read a beautiful, powerful speech by David Foster Wallace that was given at a university commencement a few years back. I would like to share an excerpt

with you:

“Because here’s something else that’s true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it J.C. or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some infrangible set of ethical principles — is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already — it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on.

Look, the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful; it is that they are unconscious. They are default-settings. They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing. And the world will not discourage you from operating on your default-settings, because the world of men and money and power hums along quite nicely on the fuel of fear and contempt and frustration and craving and the worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom to be lords of our own tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talked about in the great outside world of winning and achieving and displaying. The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day. That is real freedom. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default-setting, the “rat race” — the constant gnawing sense of having had and lost some infinite thing.”

This reminder came at a perfect time in my journey. I know I talk a lot about the asanas and about my quest to achieve some of the more advanced poses, but truly, when it comes down to it, I do yoga because of the awareness it brings to my life. It goes way beyond anything I could ever do on the mat.

"The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day."

Day 27 - Capturing moments

DAY 27 - June 5, 2011

I'm usually the one at the party with the camera, trying to document everything that is happening. Capturing moments in time. So in honor of this moment in my life and in my practice, I teamed up with the extraordinarily talented designer, photographer and yogini, Miss Liz McBride, to take some photos. Here's a sneak peak:

Though I didn't take a class, we shot for a few hours and I have the thigh pain to prove it. woo-wee. I'm going to redesign this site with others we took. Stay tuned for more of Liz's brilliant work and check her out on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizmcbride/

Namaste my friends.

Day 26 - Fire it up!

DAY 26 - June 4, 2011

What happens when you combine crazy core activating poses, super smart and creative sequencing and two of the top badass yoginis around? You get a workshop with Ame Wren and Sadie Nardini and it will rock your world. It did mine. Saturday I took the Hot Core/Cool Sequencing workshop with these two lovely ladies and was in a sweaty heaven filled with twists, deep lunges, arm balances, fists of fire (say what?!), fierce lion (double what?!?!) and the list goes on...

Sadie and Ame tandemly taught a 2-hr vinyasa class (say that 3 times fast) building up to the peak pose, or what Sadie would call the "super adventure pose", dragonfly - see below, as demonstrated by Ann Pizer on about.com.

Even considering getting into a pose like this takes a lot of preparation for the average joe like myself. But by dissecting the peak pose and then working backwards to create a class, Ame and Sadie focused on all the key areas that were needed to open, lengthen, twist, etc., making the peak pose more realistic and achievable (for some - haha). Big up to my girl Kate Heffernan for rocking it out on the mat next to me! As for me, I was close. But as they say, close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. So alas, another pose has been added to the list...

If you have been reading this blog you probably already realize how much I love and adore Ame Wren and her teaching. She has been a HUGE inspiration to my practice and I am honored to be able to call her a mentor and friend. So let me just take a few minutes to explore the awesomeness that is Sadie Nardini. First, she is totally Brooklyn. Being from the Dirty Jerz myself, I like people with a little edge, with a little "fuhgeddaboudit" in them. But don't let the all black outfit fool you, Sadie's presence is sweet and caring and she is genuinely there to make your life better. It is undeniable. Secondly, she has developed a way of teaching the yoga poses, along with creating some of her own, that connect you deeper to your core body and core being. I love this. My flubby abs love this.

To quote her views about the "Core" from her website (http://www.sadienardini.com/core-strength-vinyasa-yoga.html):

In my view, the “Core” is too often seen as only the superficial abdominal muscles. They are important, but there is a whole world of muscles, actions, energy and philosophy contained within the core of the body and spirit complex. I teach it all to you so you can demystify what’s at your core and how you can make it work for you instead of against you both on and off the mat.

Strengthening your mind and body with yoga goes far beyond your experience on the mat and I can relate to Sadie's outlook and approach to finding that balance.

Curious about Sadie's poses like Fists of Fire and Fierce Lion? You can find all the fixings to turn yourself into one kickass yogi, and perhaps maybe even a ninja, here in the Core Strength Vinyasa virtual library of poses:

http://www.sadienardini.com/core-strength-pose-library.html

Rock on.

Day 26 overall: My body was literally buzzing after class from all the energy pulsing through me. Cloud nine. Love love love all around.

Oh! And a side note: Kate Heffernan not only killed it at dragonfly, she taught me how to get into Eka Pada Koundinyasana II AND I held it (all be it, momentarily) on both sides. LOVE HER. Her tip to me was - as a beginner to this pose, avoid getting into it from lizard pose. Your hips, bum, body, everything is too low to the ground to get any lift from there. She suggested I try coming into the pose from down dog. So starting in down dog, come forward toward plank with the right leg (or left, depending on what side you are doing) to the tricep, getting it as high up on the arm as possible. Engage that core! Once the knee is in place, start to extend the leg out. Then find chaturanga arms (think push-up arms), lift the chest/gaze slightly as if in chaturanga, shift the weight forward a bit and then extend and lift up through the back leg. Voila! E.P.K.II. Word.

Mine ain't pretty but it's a start!!

Day 25 - Skip the oxygen bar and go to VDR

DAY 25 - June 3, 2011

If you have been following along, you are probably getting familiar with my regular routine. Friday = VDR. I have to admit that I was a bit star struck when I was setting up for class and I glanced around only to notice Sadie Nardini just a few mats away. If you are not aware of who Sadie is, she is kind of a big deal in the yoga world with her Core Strength Vinyasa classes. She has an extensive online presence ranging from free yoga YouTube clips to incredibly insightful & REAL articles on elephantjournal.com to daily facebook updates with tips and sequences. I have been following her for about a year now, ever since I took her workshop last Yoga Journal Conference in Boston, so I was a tad giddy when I saw her in person. Though I knew she was in town since I signed up for her workshop at Back Bay Yoga the next day (more about that later). But anywho, it was cool to have her in class.

As I have been practicing more regularly and getting more familiar with sequences & poses, I have been able to really focus on my breath work while moving through the flow. Vinyasa is all about linking movement to breath, a moving mediation. However, I know I am guilty of not always doing this. Rather than allowing my breath to lead me into the poses, I end up breathing as an after thought or out of necessity. This usually happens when most of my attention is focused on what the heck we are doing. Of course it is okay to get off track every now and again. The important thing is to reel it back in, slow down, reconnect. VDR has been a great class for me to practice flowing with my breath and last class I felt particularly more connected. The breath led the way and rest followed suit. I completely lost myself in the movement (and even forgot that Miss Nardini was doin' her thang just over yonder).

So forget about taking a trip to an oxygen bar and breath in all that good air that is already floating around you:

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oxygen_Bar_interior,_showing_flavors.jpg)

Day 25 overall: The simplest moving meditations that are connected to the breath can change your mood and overall well-being. Stop holding your breath!

Day 24 - Morning yoga makes my energy levels go "POW"!

DAY 24 - June 2, 2011

Time to make up some of those missed classes. I actually got myself out of bed at 6am for the sunrise yoga class at Be. Monica Delgado Chaffee was standing in for the regular teacher and she was a delight. The sun was indeed shining in through the windows of the studio, making the name of the class quite accurate. In what seems like a past life, I used to row on a crew team. We would have 4am practices and, by some stroke of insanity or lapse in my normally lucid consciousness, these early morning trips on the river quickly became my favorite time of day. There is something great about mindful and deliberate movement in the morning. Yes, your hamstrings are too tight and you may have to stop mid-movement to wipe the remnant of sleep from your eyes, but it is easier to bring your focus back to yourself. The mind isn't racing from a day of emails and to do lists. I love taking advantage of this morning energy that is so peaceful, yet still softly humming, eager to burst into the full blown craziness of the day. And the best part - it wakes you up. I had more energy all day then I knew what to do with!

At night, I took Ame's vinyasa flow class at Back Bay Yoga. I am chronicling my yoga pose wishlist here on this blog and I am adding this to the list. Galavasana, as demonstrated by Luke Jordan:

Come on, that is just cool. Of course, I will have to continue this ongoing, strongly-worded discussion/battle I am having with gravity and my inability to overcome it.

By the end of my second class of the day I was feeling awesome. I know the guy behind me was feeling pretty good too, at least super relaxed. I was barely finished staggering with my neighbors and negotiating ideal hand placement in savasana before the rumblings of the nasal orchestral symphony began behind me. Yep, he was relaxed I'll tell ya. Always a compliment to have people completely conk out at the end of your class. Sheer exhaustion or utter bliss - who cares, he obviously needed a few extra minutes of shut eye.

Day 24 overall: Crazy amount of energy. The arm balance saga continues - I will keep lifting my butt to the ceiling, hoping one day my legs will decide to follow.

Day 23 - Fighting gravity

DAY 23 - June 1, 2011

Wednesday night and I was off to Back Bay Yoga for vinyasa with Georgia. I dodged tornadoes, thunder storms, drunk Red Sox fans and PSYCHED UP Bruins fans to make my way downtown for class. The skies grumbled with heat and electricity as I rolled out my mat onto the hardwoods. We started out class on our backs, block between our thighs, knees over hips or legs straight up, pressing the block, legs squeezing towards one another. This may sound easy but go and try it. Hang out there for a few minutes. Hello abs. It's almost like Georgia read my last blog about her class when I may or may not have mentioned my "flubby abs". She definitely had us paying very close attention to our cores the whole class. Georgia, are you out there?

We practiced headstand prep and, again, no dice on lifting both feet off the ground at the same time. I'm working on it though. One of these days...

Another goal of mine, that I attempted in class tonight, is Eka Pada Koundinyasana (demonstrated by B.K.S. Iyengar):

I totally fail miserably everytime I try this. I'm convinced that gravity has a certain affinity for my bum. I will get this though, in due time my friends.

Day 23 overall: Fightin gravity with everything I got, but she is fighting back something fierce. Didn't let it get to me though. Great class and happy I didn't get sucked up into a tornado. If I have to go head to head with natural forces, I'd rather battle it out with gravity.

Day 22 - Studio hopping in my hood

DAY 22 - May 31, 2011

Another gorgeous day and I decided to walk to another yoga studio located just down the street from my house. I do realize how lucky I am to have such an abundance of beautiful yoga studios in close proximity to my house and work. This time I checked out a vinyasa class at Bow Street Yoga Studio with Christie Rosen. I have walked past this studio so many times before and I am glad I finally went in! Such a great space! The class was small (maybe 6 or 7 of us) but it suited my mood. Christie asked for our suggestions in the beginning of class and she took them to heart, changing up her sequence to meet the needs of those in the class. She offered plenty of variations so you were aware of all the options you had to alter your practice or if you were up for amping it up a bit!

My body felt really strong and my mind was calm. I can see the effects of my practice growing every single day and I am thrilled with the progress I have made thus far. The dedication is paying off and its exciting to know that it never has to end.

Day 22 overall: I love my practice more and more each day. The gratitude is overwhelming at times.

Day 21 - Figure Four for Happy Hips

DAY 21 - May 30, 2011

After playing hooky for two days in a row, I could not miss another day. I hit up a vinyasa class at Samara with Nicoline Valkenberg. Nicoline has a great presence, very sweet and calming. My legs and hips were tight from riding my bike 9.5 miles beforehand, so again, I found that pigeon pose was not my friend that day. She suggested I take an alternate stretch that takes some of the pressure off the hips and keeps the torque to a minimum. It's a figure four stretch on your back and you can check it out here:

http://media.onsugar.com/files/ons1/192/1922729/42_2009/4cbf3a4d825941c7_stretch.jpg

It's a great alternative for runners, bikers, or anyone with hip or knee troubles or tightness. It's great to have options and definitely do not feel bad if you aren't doing what everyone else is doing! Make sure it feels good for your body and you will be golden. :-)

Day 21 overall: Wow 3 weeks in! I think I need to throw some home practice into the mix.

Days 19 & 20 - Memorial Day Weekend

DAYS 19& 20 - May 28 & 29, 2011

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! This is the best weekend of the year. The summer officially starts (ok, maybe not officially but close enough), you can cook your grub on a grill, and the extended days lend to more play time outside. SO with that said - I could not physically get myself inside a studio to practice! oops! I shopped, biked, BBQed with friends. I watched a parade, went to the movies, watered the garden. I lived and loved every minute of it. I'll consider that yoga. But I guess to stay true to this challenge I will be making up 3 classes now!

Day 19 & 20 overall: The sunshine fed my soul and I ate it all up. Beautiful weekend.

Day 18 - VDR obsession

DAY 18 - May 27, 2011

I just cannot pass up Friday night Vinyasa with Deep Relaxation (aka VDR). The blend of vinyasa flow and restorative release is exactly what I need at the end of the week. It's also fun that I have a bunch of friends that come too! Friday night yoga party to kick the weekend off right. Definitely sets a nice tone for the upcoming days off. I can forget about the stress of work and ease into the slower pace of the weekend. It's just perfect.

Day 18 overall: My VDR obsession continues. No revelations - just straight up yoga yumminess.