Snow Day Fun!!!!

This was soooooo fun and exhilarating!!!

I know it does not appear Yoga related, but I consider hula hooping an extension of my Yoga practice, in the same way I do cooking. It makes me feel centered, present, and ecstatically joyful!

Namaste!!!!

Be Healthy Y'all!

White Bean, Rosemary, and Kale Soup

2 cans White Beans (drained and rinsed)

4 Cups vegetable stock

3 tbsp olive oil

½ cup unsalted butter

1 sprig of rosemary

2 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

½ small yellow onion (chopped)

2 clove garlic (chopped)

Tbsp lemon zest

½ cup cubed parmesan cheese rinds (optional)

Bunch kale, stemmed, chopped and rinsed (you can use ANY thick leafy green! I like to use whatever is freshest at the store or market)

salt & pepper to taste

Into a medium pot on low heat, add the olive oil and butter until the butter is melted. Add the chopped onion and let sauté on low heat until the onion is translucent, 10-15 mins. Then add the garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and sauté for another 3 minutes. Stir in the white beans, then add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the beans are super tender. Remove the herbs, and bay leaf. Add salt and pepper to taste. At this point you could use a hand held blender to blend the beans into a smooth textured soup, or you could transfer to a blender (carefully, with the hot liquid), I don’t have either and I personally prefer the texture of the whole beans.

Now, add the lemon zest and cheese rinds and let simmer for another 10 minutes. Now stir in the greens until bright green and slightly wilted. *

*an option for making the soup FRESH every time if you’re not going to serve the whole pot all at once. Ladle the soup into a bowl and THEN stir in a handful of greens. Let the soup cool and then transfer to a tupperware container and refrigerate, place the rest of your rinsed greens into a big zip lock baggie with a paper towel, and then add a handful to each serving when as you reheat. Otherwise the greens get unpleasantly wilted and slimy as you continue to reheat the soup.

Serves 4-6

Inspiration, wisdom from the masters

Success is as dangerous as failure.

Hope is as hollow as fear.

What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure?

Whether you go up a ladder or down it,

your position is shaky.

When you stand with your two feet on the ground,

You will always keep your balance.

What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear?

Hope and fear are both phantoms

that arise from thinking of the self.

When we don't see the self as self,

what do we have to fear?

See the world as yourself.

Have faith in the way things are.

Love the world as your self;

then you can care for all things.

- Tao Te Ching, Chapter 13 (translation by Stephen Mitchell)

Be Healthy Y'all!

Once upon a time in a dorm room on Roosevelt Island (a little island in the East River nestled between the boroughs of Queens and Manhattan), there lived a girl who subsisted on boxed mac n' cheese, ramen noodles, pop tarts and McDonald's. This girl brazenly bragged about not being able to cook, and blabbed ad nauseum to anyone who'd listen, about how she would NEVER ever ever ever become domesticated. Life went by just like this for many years until her body revolted, and one day a little voice inside finally got the girls attention, and it said "Put DOWN that coca cola, and pick up this vegetable!!!!!!!", and she listened.

And that, my darlings, is more or less how I became a food enthusiast, and a pretty decent cook if I may say so myself. :-P

Food has become an extension of my philosophy and a important part of my lifestyle. Cooking is Yoga for me, because it stills and quiets my mind. And, as we learned last week in Sutra Study, Yoga IS the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind. Lately my cooking has become a creative and playful adventure, and I wish to share with you some of my favorite healthy and DELICIOUS dishes here.

I want to note that I follow an Ayurvedic diet for my overactive Pitta dosha. So, I avoid hot spices and spicy food in general. Always feel free to be creative and add a little somethin' somethin' if spicy food is your trip.

Be Healthy Y'all!!!!

Chick Pea Burgers

1 Can Chick Peas (drained and rinsed)

1/2 a cup H2O

2 tbsp whole wheat flour

1 tbsp plain oats

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp paprika

salt & pepper to taste

Put your chick peas in a pot with about half a cup of water (just enough to not quite cover them), and boil until very soft. The pour the whole pot, including the water into a mixing bowl and mash the chick peas well. Add the flour, oats, spices and mix together. You may have to add more water along the way to get the mixture to a "hamburger" type consistency. Remember to taste your mixture as you go along to make sure you've added enough spices, salt, and pepper.

Makes 2-4 patties (depending on how big you make 'em) that you can fry up in a pan with a little bit of olive oil.

delicious.

* notes: you can make your mixture in a blender or food processor if you have one. I don't so I do it by hand. Also, feel free to add ANY spices your little heart desires!!!

BEING MY OWN POWER, an essay on potential by: Anonymous

I had a true breakthrough today. I realized something. It felt like I was blowing dust off an old relic, like I was an archaeologist who had discovered something long-buried and could finally start to detect a familiar shape. It was like I was removing a layer of grime from something shiny hidden in my attic from decades ago. It was like removing rust from a piece of long-forgotten machinery.

I realized that I AM MY OWN POWER.

As soon as I realized this, I had a SUPERCHARGE.

It was building up all day, as I started to FEEL MY POTENTIAL, truly feel it. It finally hit today. I am a self-enclosed entity. I am my own power. I am my own god. I AM GOD.

A few days ago, I began to monitor all my interactions with other people. I realized that no matter who it was I was conversing with, it was like I was constantly scrambling after ENERGETIC CRUMBS, desperate for other people to give me some type of shallow validation that I am worthy of attention, deserving of love. I wanted the crumbs of other people's affection, I wanted to have some type of reassurance of my existence, I wanted other people to acknowledge me, to make me feel valued, to make me feel special by responding to me, by communicating with me to help me prove to myself that I exist, that I am worthy, and for too long I have relied on these paltry energy returns to build up my self-confidence and self-image. Well guess what folks: You cannot thrive on crumbs.

In fact, good luck even surviving on them for long. You can't nourish yourself on crumbs because you're just constantly looking for more. More attention, more validation, more pieces of fragmented love from people who are just doing the same thing you are, desperate for those tiny slices of validation, of being noticed and appreciated. IT'S A FLAWED SYSTEM. Destined to fail, destined to bring discontentment, frustration and bitterness to those who utilize it.

Realizing this over the past few days, I hit an apex today. What to do? I'M TIRED OF LIVING THAT WAY. I'm tired of feeling desperate, disappointed and let down in my interactions with others. I'm tired of always pining for more: more love, more attention, more validation. It's bullshit. For one thing, you will NEVER be satisfied. NEVER. NOBODY ELSE CAN EVER SATISFY YOUR LONGING HEART. Nobody else can ever give you enough validation for you to feel worthy of YOURSELF. Nobody else can ever give you enough love to feel complete. It's impossible.

So I've been thinking about this. Pondering and pondering. Today, in my pondering, I hit something new. It felt like I was dusting off a piece of myself I haven't used in awhile. I felt a thrill of excitement when I realized how FAMILIAR it seemed. It was something I remembered...vaguely...something I had known, intuitively, instinctively...long ago...something that I thought had disappeared.

Without even realizing that it had.

It was POWER.

MY OWN POWER.

MINE.

THIS BODY. THIS MIND. THIS SPIRIT.

In finding it, a rush of epiphany.

I realized I could do anything. I realized that I could do Anything. I realized I could do ANYTHING. No more fear. I could do anything I wanted. Say anything I wanted. Nothing in my way. And if there was? HA! I'm the martyr. I'm the heretic. I CANNOT be repressed!!! It goes against my design to be coerced. I am the black sheep. I am DESIGNED to go against the grain. I am MADE to rebel, to resist. I always have. My entire life. I am designed to adapt, to find out what works. And when I find what works, there is CONVICTION:

Conviction I will fearlessly take to the grave.

The strength in my position in life, the strength in my design, overwhelmed me.

I began to realize my role as a black sheep. I began to FEEL IT. I began to TAKE DELIGHT in it. I felt mischievous and playful and fierce and determined and VERY CONTENT in my role in life. But that was only the beginning of realizing my power.

In realizing all this, a feeling swept over me, a sensation of throwing back my head and laughing hysterically, manically, even though I was deathly composed and joyously still. I felt something budding, something big, something fierce, something STRONG. It was confidence.

I am not afraid anymore. Not now. In understanding my Human Design, I have come to feel who I really am. And it blows my mind.

I am not afraid to be who I Really Am anymore.

Today, I realized I am my own Power. Worshiping God? Looking up to a Higher Power? I AM my Higher Power. I AM GOD. I AM love. I AM validation. I AM attention. I AM

I AM EVERYTHING I NEED. Here. And Now.

To realize this...is FREEDOM.

And there is more. Something even more deliciously blasphemous.

I REFUSE TO FEEL ASHAMED TO BE WHO I AM. I AM WHO I AM. Among our society, there are those guilt-stricken unhappy souls who would like everyone to feel as embittered and distraught and helpless and beholden to the OTHER as they are. I know this, because I have been one of them. To cling to the idea of the OTHER as something to NEED, something to CRAVE endlessly, something to WORSHIP as HIGHER then the SELF. These are the same people who want everyone to be disempowered. These are the people who NEED to be NEEDED to feel like they are worth something. By saying, "I AM GOD" and "I AM MY OWN POWER" they are threatened.

I know. I have been one of them.

I HAVE COME INTO MY OWN POWER.

I FEEL MY POWER. I acknowledge that I AM GOD. And I am focusing on that. I'm going to experience this, for ALL ITS WORTH.

I'm not giving my power away anymore. I'm not going to "give it up" to GOD. GOD IS EVERYTHING. I AM GOD. And I'm focused on the I AM. And I am self-confident and self-satisfied in my new understanding..of my SELF.

It is time to worship my SELF. Praise my BEING. GIVE MYSELF BLESSINGS. EXALT MY SELF. Lift up my SELF in HOLINESS. SING AN ODE TO MY BEING in my EVERY EXPRESSION. CREATE MAGIC IN MY BREATH, and FEEL IT BECOME LIFE.

LONG PAST TIME.

You know what else?

In realizing I AM: EVERYTHING IS.

FYI

Hey darlings! I just wanted to let you know that I have a photo/video shoot in a couple of weeks, so DIY Restorative will be back and better than ever shortly after!

stay tuned!

Inspiration, wisdom from the masters

A force of nature; B.K.S. Iyengar is one of the greatest living yoga masters and a profound inspiration in my practice and teaching. I want to share a quote of his with you, dear yogi's and yogini's. It's from an interview with him that Yoga Journal ran a little over a year ago, and I just came across it in an old journal. When asked what his practice is like now (He just turned 91 this past December), this is how Mr. Iyengar responded:

"Even now the maximum my body can do, I do. I am 90, and still I practice. I stay in sirsasana (headstand) for half an hour, even without shaking. I'm improving still, progressing still. That is why I am still practising with such energy. The mortal body has its limitations. Therefore I will still practice 'til the last breath of my life that that I do not become a servant of the mind, but rather the master of the mind. Old age makes a strong man say goodbye. I am breaking the fear complex and living with confidence."

If that is not inspiring, then I don't know what is.

Namaste.