Yogawoman, the movie

"...yoga helps us to cut through our drama...it gives us access to our heart...it will make you so much more accepting of yourself...it will save your life, it will change your life..."

A typical lunch

I realize my last blog post was also about a vegetable sandwich. 

This one's a little more raw and way faster to prepare.  

It's what most of my lunch time meals look like 

since I can whip one together in under 3 minutes.

2 slices of bread (usually I'll use Ezekiel sprouted grain bread, but I didn't have any today) 

spread with babaghanoush on one side, hummus on the other, 

and stuffed with broccoli sprouts, 

live watercress, 

and sliced avocado.  

And hot sauce.  

Accompanied by cucumber spears sprinkled with Celtic sea salt, 

and fresh garden picked cherry tomatoes (they're so delicious I could eat my fingers).  

And a bottle of Pellegrino, 

because I really love fizzy drinks.

Mmm-mmm-deeee-licious!

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

Last night's dinner.  Grilled vegetable sandwich.  Not raw, but still vegan.  And very, very, very delicious.

2 zucchinis

1 eggplant

1/2 red onion

2 red bell peppers

2 cloves of garlic, minced

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

one big fat fresh ripe tomato, sliced thin

whole grain bread (I used Whole Foods "prairie bread")

for the pesto dressing

1.5 cups basil leaves

1/4 cup pine nuts

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

This will make 3 sandwiches.

~Take the first 3 vegetables on the list and thinly slice them with a mandolin slicer.  Marinate in a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for an hour or more.  Then grill them on your BBQ for a few minutes on each side, careful not to let them get charred. 

~Brush the 2 red bell peppers with olive oil and grill them, turning them with tongs as the skins blacken and blister.  When they've cooled enough to touch, peel the skins off, seed, and slice them into wide pieces.

~In the meantime, saute the red onion on low heat with a bit of olive oil. 5 minutes from the end (when the onions are soft and golden), add the garlic.

~Throw all the ingredients for the pesto in a mini food processor and pulse until chunky/smooth.

~Assemble the sandwiches by spreading the pesto on a slice of bread and then topping with a layer of zucchini, followed by tomato, eggplant, roasted red pepper, sauteed onion, and the top slice of bread. 

~Brush a grill pan with olive oil and grill the sandwiches for about 2 minute per side.  Eat them while they're warm.Yum. 

I've discovered that kombucha is a good replacement for beer as far as effervescent, cold refreshments go. So although these sandwiches would go great with a nice cold Fat Tire, I had mine with a chilled bottle of GT's Gingerade, which was satisfying and guilt-free!  :)

On a yoga note, I booked my flight to Los Angeles yesterday, yay.  I leave the day after Jonathan's birthday, and fly back the day after my birthday. Kind of cool the way the dates worked out.

I haven't gotten much memorization of the dialogue done yet.  Must get going on that.

Happy Friday, everyone. Enjoy your weekend.  And if you're on the eastern seaboard in Irene's path, please stay safe.

Look what came in the mail today!

Teacher training starts in exactly 30 days  from today.

When I get there, I need to have memorized and be prepared to deliver the dialogue for Half Moon Pose with Hands to Feet Pose (about 2.5 pages), but every teacher I've spoken to says to memorize as much of the 42 pages as possible before I get to LA.  They say the more I have memorized, the easier the 9 week training will be. 

This is it!  

PS - I'll be shutting down my Etsy shop somewhere around Labor Day weekend.  I'm not sure whether I'll be opening it back up again after I return late November. It may be a permanent closure where I'll sell my remaining inventory as scrap silver (keeping the nice pieces for myself, of course).  If you want some jewelry from me, now might be your last chance to get it. 

I picked up the last of my one of a kind pieces from the galleries carrying my work. I have a few really special pieces that I need to make time to list this weekend.  Here are just a few:

Keep an eye out for that if you're interested, or message me if you want prices or first dibs.

Well, time to get studying that dialogue :)

Hope you're all having a great day.

Breakfast smoothie

Today's first breakfast: 

A wedge of canteloupe

A handful of blueberries

Some frozen pineapple and mango chunks

Almond milk (homemade)

1/2 an apple

1 tbsp of E3Live

1 scoop of wheatgrass powder

Blended in the Vita-Mix on high for 40 seconds. 

I throw in whatever fruits and green vegetables I have on hand. Every day is a different smoothie, but they're always really yummy.

I know some people get turned off by the color green, but my secret to a tasty smoothie is adding pineapple and/or mango.  The sweetness and flavor of the fruit will totally disguise the taste of the greens.  My 4 year old drinks raw kale and dandelion greens in her smoothies without the slightest clue that they're in there thanks to the tropical fruit.

***

We're taking a little mini weekend road trip to Alabama today for a posture clinic with Ida Ripley at Bikram Yoga Birmingham. It's going to be good!

Have a great weekend, everyone :)

 

One step closer...

It's official. My application for Bikram yoga teacher training is in the mail.

In this envelope:

An application form filled out.

A medical consent/waiver signed by my doctor.

A 12 page agreement signed by me.

A letter of recommendation signed by my studio owner.

Proof of ID.

2 passport photos of me.

And a check for $15,000 (the fees are normally $10,900, but I'm paying extra to have my own room).

Countown to LA -  38 days to go to 9 weeks of training.  

I am so ready. 

Blue green coconut smoothie

I made this today.  It was so delicious that I'm about to head out to find more coconuts so I can make it again.

Blue green coconut smoothie

From Matthew Kenney's "everyday raw" cookbook, which you can find here.

Here's my slightly different version of it:

~ The meat and water of one young coconut

~ 1-2 tsp coconut oil

~ 1 tbsp blue green algae (I use E3Live which you can order here)

~ 6-8 mint leaves

~ 2 tsp agave

~ a splash of vanilla extract

~ a pinch of Celtic sea salt

Throw all the ingredients in a Vita-Mix and blend on high for about 40 seconds.

The blog post about LA

This post is coming 2 months later than planned, ooops!

Time got away from me. I've been busy raising a puppy.  It's like having a new born baby. So much work. Seriously, soooo much work.

Ok, so LA was amazing. I went to watch the International Yoga Asana Championships in June, and then I stayed a week to do advanced training with Bikram. 

Here are some pictures of the athletes performing their routines.

One-legged wheel pose.

Crane pose. My friend Liza Schwartzman representing Mexico. Notice she's on her fingertips.

Bow pose. Sarea Hidskes representing the Netherlands.

Om pose. Chaukei Ngai representing China. Third place for women's division.

Transitioning into Om pose.  Gloria Suen representing Singapore. She made it look so easy.  Second place for women's division.

Cock pose. Paulina Solita Bianchi Valdes representing Chile. 

Handstand Scorpion pose. Joseph Encinia representing the USA. International men's champion.

Being in California surrounded by yogis for a week was such a great experience.  It was like a fantasy wonderland for me, between the easy availabilty of plant-based and raw food, and yoga, yoga, yoga everywhere you turn.  I felt like everybody there spoke my language. It was nice to be around like-minded people.

The lobby bar at the Radisson LAX where we were all staying totally catered to the crowd.

Freshly juiced kale greens?  Wheatgrass?  Blue green algae? Vegan meal options?  They had it all.

The competition ended Sunday, and Monday was the beginning of the advanced seminar with Bikram.

Monday to Friday were daily classes of the 90 minute beginner series immediately followed by 2+ hours of advanced.  It was intense, very hot, and really challenging.  Bikram doesn't let you take it easy when he teaches.

Three of the days I did doubles of the beginner series at a local yoga studio with my friends.  In a place where there's no such thing as too much yoga, I took advantage as much as my body would allow me.

Post yoga lunch in my hotel room.  I'm addicted to kombucha.

Me with my friends Frankie and Nicole after class.  These girls are hardcore and such an inspiration to me.

And last but not least, me and Bikram.  A very exciting moment.

In 40 days I'll be back there again!  

Can't wait. 

Can't wait.

Can't wait.