Ahimsa Means Non-Violence

With the closing of my first week in yoga school I’ve taken away many thoughts and ideas. One in particular has been completely challenging for me and wonderful at the same time – it is practicing the act of ahimsa meaning non-violence in Sanskrit.

Since I live in New York City, only one of the most hustling and bustling cities in the world, it’s quite difficult to practice this act of non-violence on a day-to-day basis let alone a minute-to-minute basis. While walking on the street it’s not uncommon for me to experience numerous people bumping into me without apologizing, or someone being completely rude on the subway – I must say, it’s usually quite impossible for me to block it out. I’ve begun to ask myself how in the world can I practice this?!

I’ve learned that the only way this seems to work for me is to constantly repeat the actual word ‘ahimsa’ in my mind when these situations arise. Sometimes I even say it quietly to myself out loud. What a relief to look back at these situations where I would normally get flustered, upset and even angry and say WOW! I actually kept to myself and didn’t let the other person effect me.

Try it!

You will definitely feel a sense of relief once you’ve looked back at the situation later on and realize what amazing progress you’ve made. Try it at least once in your day and see how it feels. I DARE you!

Namaste.

First Day of Yoga Training and My Tummy’s in Knots!

Today is my first day of yoga teacher training school and I’m pretty excited about it. Of course with my history last night I was all anxious/excited and barely slept a wink. In fact, I think I saw every hour hit the clock throughout the night. What an awful way to begin this incredible journey.

I figured that by writing a blog post I could make it up to myself and share my experiences with you all. This yoga-training course is supposed to be about healing, breath and new experiences. So why do I feel nervous, anxious and my stomach in knots?!

Well this is just my nature… I’ve come to accept myself just the way that I am. It’s just like starting my first day of school – I picked out my clothes, packed some snacks and I’m all set for my early morning wake up. If you’ve ever experienced these types of feelings before the start of something big, don’t try to ask lots of questions on how NOT to feel this way… just try to breathe through it and take it one step at a time.

So what if I didn’t sleep much, eh… no biggie, I’ll catch up tonight.

I wish you all a wonderful day. Remember to accept yourself for who you are – you may even feel better by doing that.

Gluten Free is the Way to Be – for ME!

I know people are always feeling sorry for us gluten free eaters, but really I don’t feel sorry at all!! Gluten was one of the culprits of my bad stomachaches and I’m SO glad that I finally figured it out.

This may be the case for many of you gluten eaters out there and you may not even know it! If I were you, I’d stop feeling sorry for us and try it yourself! Yes it’s hard when you go to a restaurant and they put that lovely breadbasket on the table – it takes lots of strength to push it away, BUT it doesn’t mean that I don’t eat bread. It just means that I eat a different kind of bread. Dough made from almond flour, rice flour and any other flour not made with gluten. There are lots of choices at your local grocery store in the freezer section – check it out! There’s bread made out of millet and other grains and nuts.

The best part about us gluten free eaters is that we are part of a small niche and we tend to stick together. When we find new recipes we’re always ready to share them because who wouldn’t want something new to add to their everyday repertoire.

Don’t feel upset if you can’t tolerate gluten, it may be the best thing that’s ever happened to you! You may even start cooking and baking like you never thought you would. Take it as a journey, not a complete loss. There are plenty of substitutes and once you start your search you will see what I mean.

Good luck! If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Bringing that New Planner into your New Year

Happy New Year to you bloggers out there! I hope with the start of the new calendar year you will find new beginnings, hope, lots of love and laughter.

It always feels like a fresh start when I open the first page of my newly bought planner and see that there are no events marked on any of the pages. Of course I immediately begin filling in the pages with my life, but that first empty page gets me all excited! It simply reminds me that events are not as binding as I usually perceive them to be and that anything can be changed with an eraser!

Actually that wouldn’t be responsible… but you understand what I’m getting at right? That dinner date and any other plan that I make is so easy to change. It’s important to take care of yourself, slow down and enjoy life. Whether that means going on that dinner date with your friend or simply making a cup of tea and reading a good book on your couch – you have to do what’s best for you.

If you turn to a week in your planner that is completely filled to a brim with different plans, meetings and social events then start by taking a deep breath and SMILE! If you find that it’s just too overwhelming then decide which event is the least important and move it to the next week. Work with your plans and please don’t forget to make time for yourself.

Take a mental health day. Treat yourself to a spa treatment. Nourish your body and soul at least once a month, hopefully more!

Be kind to yourself and remember to BREATHE.

Spread the Sugary Word: NYC Health Dept. Speaks Out

There is an advertisement made by the NYC Health Department about sugary soda drinks and how it will add 10 pounds to your body in a year.

What a wonderful ad! There has been many negative comments about it because it seems that people don’t want to know the truth about what they are eating/drinking. I give the health department a lot of credit for putting the ad out there anyway, even though I’m sure they knew that it wouldn’t have a positive response.

I hope people stop having such faith in the soda companies because they haven’t realized until now that these companies are making them fat. That seems like an extreme statement and of course it’s not just the soda but I will tell you that it’s definitely not helping.

When you watch the video, which I have posted here, you will see the extreme measure that the health department is taking to get people to make a change in their diets.

Even if you try quitting soda for just 1 week to see how you feel, it’s worth it. This commercial was worth every penny they spent to bring awareness to you and your family.

Spread the word!

Drink water, seltzer or natural drinks made without any added sugar.

Gluten Free Miso Noodle Soup

I created a soup, which I adapted from a restaurant called Mana in NYC. I don’t exactly know what they put into their soup but I had to try and recreate it since it was THAT delicious. I call mine the “yum bowl” and you’ll see why once you try it.

1 yellow onion, sliced

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 cup mushrooms

1 bunch kale, chopped

1 cup extra firm tofu, chopped into cubes

1 tbs tamari

1 tbs mirin

6-8 cups water (depending on how much you want to make)

2 tbs miso (I used barley miso)

1 inch of wakame (seaweed found in the Asian section of your supermarket/health food store)

1 package buckwheat soba noodles (gluten free)

1-2 tbs olive oil

Start by sautéing the onions in olive oil until soft. Once they get soft pour in the water, tamari and mirin. Then throw in the veggies and tofu (these are the veggies I chose and had on hand, but you can use anything that you like or have in the fridge) and let simmer on low until soft. While this is simmering bring a separate pot of water to boil and cook the soba noodles until soft and to your liking. While these are both on the stove take out two small bowls. Cut an inch of the wakame and put into one bowl – then immerse it with the liquid from the soup and let it get soft. Then transfer it into the soup pot. In the second bowl take your 2 tbs of miso and put it into the bowl and cover it with soup liquid (same as with the wakame.) Let it break up in the bowl so that it’s not clumpy in your soup. This may take a few minutes but trust me, its better then having clumpy miso soup! Don’t pour this mixture in until the very end when you turn off the soup pot and it’s finished boiling.
Taste the carrots or the hardest veggie that’s in the pot to see if they are soft enough for you. It may take about 20-25 minutes and maybe longer depending on what you’ve put in it. Lastly drain the noodles and throw them into your soup pot and stir everything together. The longer the soup sits in the pot, the more the flavors combine and the yummier it will taste! This will make quite a bit of soup so be prepared for leftovers.

New Year’s Resolution or Not?

With the New Year coming up, everyone is scrambling to come up with his/her New Years resolution. What if you told yourself that you WEREN’T going to make a resolution this year? Instead, what if you set out to make a change, not only in light of the the New Year, but a real, long-lasting life change?

Maybe that sounds a bit too scary, but try to think back to this past year and tune in to how your body felt. If you felt/feel tired, generally lacking energy, experiencing cramps, bloating and any other ache or ailment that I have not listed, then tell yourself that ENOUGH is ENOUGH!

It’s time to FINALLY do something about it!

You shouldn’t be waking up tired, or have a constant stomachache or bloating. Life is good. You’re alive and breathing and you should feel that way. Make sure the food you’re eating is alive and not completely deadened by chemicals and preservatives. Eating fruits, veggies and whole grains will make you feel better – TRY it. Check the labels – if you can’t understand what the ingredients are then you probably shouldn’t be eating it.

Do not let this New Year mean starting a strict diet for merely a month or two – it’s much more straining on your body to do that rather than working on changing your overall habits for the long term. Set a future goal that you’ll work towards in the years to come and strive to bring yourself into a healthy state both mind AND body. I know you can do it – you deserve to be happy and healthy at the same time.

If you have questions, please feel free to ask and leave any comments that you would like below.

Delicious Humus Recipe

I have to admit that one of my favorite snacks is humus with rice crackers. In the past I wouldn’t think twice about buying Sabra humus because of how delicious it was. When I finally got the courage to look at the ingredients I never bought it again. I didn’t want to give up my yummy snack just because of the chemicals that they put in the Sabra – so, I started looking for healthier versions of humus but found that it goes by really fast (meaning that we eat a lot of it!) AND it’s pretty expensive.

I’ve come up with a recipe that will give you some pretty tasty humus that will last you quite a while. If you double this recipe the humus will definitely last for the week and maybe even a little bit longer.

I hope you enjoy this – I know I sure do.

1 15 oz can of organic chickpeas

1/4 cup organic tahini

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp sea salt

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp water

Use your food processor or a blender and first add the chickpeas along with the lemon and garlic. Mix together while slowly adding the tahini, sea salt and olive oil. Lastly, slowly add the water until you have a creamy, delicious consistency.
Enjoy with any type of cracker or bread that you prefer. I like Brown Rice Crackers – they are YUMMY! You can find them at most supermarkets near the Asian foods. The wasabi flavored rice crackers are my favorite! AMAZING.

Planning Your Weekly Meals

I don’t know about you, but there are times during the week where I find myself stressing over what we’re having for dinner. With all the different stresses that we have, the last thing we need to do is stress over what’s for dinner…

I don’t like eating out all the time because that usually calls for an unwanted stomachache and I don’t want to cook fast/unhealthy meals – so my fiancé and I finally came up with a solution.

Plan ahead!

This past Sunday we found ourselves walking around our neighborhood, strategically planning our meals for the week. We decided we would prep things ahead of time so that we will still have time after work to go to the gym, take a yoga class or whatever else we may have planned and STILL eat a healthy meal!

Yes this does take some thinking and prep work BUT it’s so much better then scrambling at the last minute and stressing all day over what you will feed your family!

If you don’t already do this prep then I suggest you try it – it really does make life so much easier and it will free up those precious couple of hours (assuming you get out at 5) after work for you to get whatever you need done.

It’s worth a try! Trust me… I understand that there’s not enough time in the day to be stressing over food so definitely give it a whirl – you’ve got nothing to lose!

Thanksgiving Tryptophan = A Sleepy Night

The truth is this: you can’t hide from tryptophan… I don’t know about you but every thanksgiving I eat the turkey dinner and am simply exhausted right after. Tryptophan is an amino acid found in all turkeys. If you don’t want the exhausted feeling like you’ve eaten for hours, then don’t eat the turkey! Even if you buy an organic turkey, the tryptophan is in the meat and can’t be avoided.

If you don’t want to feel SO tired after dinner, (or during) then you should probably eat a small portion and cut back on the carbohydrates. The combo of the tryp and the carbs will really make you sleepy. Try to add veggies into the equation and hope for the best.

I hope you don’t think you’re the only one who gets tired after thanksgiving… we ALL do! It’s only one day and you should let yourself enjoy great food with great people.

If you want to bring something to your dinner check out my sweet potato pie recipe – that’s a definite winner!

Have a great holiday and remember to spread the love as much as you can this thanksgiving.