2 quick tips to destress

stressed out? mind spinning in all directions?

exhale.
One of the best ways to bring yourself back down to earth is to lengthen your exhalations. This form of breathing encourages the nervous system to become calm and quiet, moving the body into a more restful state of being.


focus.
Sometimes when the world sends us spinning, we want to do nothing more than drop everything and stare into space. But this approach often gives the brain free rein to continue its obsessive and agitated thinking. Instead, try focusing your mind in a constructive and engaging way: practice a challenging yoga pose or an absorbing breathing exercise. Or try a forward fold, hang loose there a bit, and let a fresh supply of blood give you a new perspective.

summer veggie reading, part 2

A book that got even deeper under my skin was MAD COWBOY: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat by Howard F. Lyman and Glen Merzer. Howard Lyman was a fourth-generation cattle rancher, who took over his family's farm in the 1970s when the scope of ranching and farming was changing with the introduction of chemicals, hormones, and feedlots. The book is full of first-person accounts and facts of where our beef comes from, and it's very disturbing and powerful. Lyman's own deteriorating health led him to question the cattle-for-food industry, and ultimately leave that world behind. He's a full fledged vegetarian. Lyman was on the Oprah show in the late 90's where she questioned the beef industry's practices when Mad Cow Disease was on the rise. The book covers not just the beef industry but also the dairy industry.


When you look at a meat-eating diet from the perspective of 1. killing other living beings for food and 2. prior to killing the animals, pumping them full of chemicals and hormones to speed their growth and kill the diseases they get from being penned in unhealthy environments, which remains in the cellular makeup of the food, well, those are pretty compelling arguments for avoiding the beef altogether.


Last summer, I read Skinny Bitch, which i felt was more sensationalist, and it was the first-person account of a "Mad Cowboy" that really made the most powerful argument for going fully veggie.

summer veggie reading, part one

first, i read Yoga and Vegetarianism: The Path to Greater Health and Happiness, by Sharon Gannon, the founder of the Jivamukti style of yoga. In addition to developing Jivamukti yoga, Ms. Gannon is also an animal-rights activist. She presents many impassioned arguments for vegetarianism, many based on the yogic practice of ahimsa, non-harming, but the quote that resonated the most with me also encapsulates santosha, or contentment:

"Yoga teaches us that we can have whatever we want in life if we are willing to provide it for others first. In fact, whatever we are experiencing in our lives is a direct result of how we have treated others in the past. The way we treat others will determine how others treat us. After all, they are only acting as agents of our own karmas. How others treat us will influence how we see ourselves. How we see ourselves will greatly determine who we are, and who we are will be revealed in our actions."

adventures in green living: the victory garden

So, i joined the 20 million plus Americans who decided to grow their own food this summer, saving money while still eating healthy and organic. I have grown flowers and herbs in the past, but this is my first experiment with organic veggies. Living in metro atlanta, my outdoor space is tiny, but we have a container garden going full blast. This spring I started two tomato plants, one heirloom and one "fast-growing" variety, an orange bell pepper, carrots, thai basil, and mint. Also sugar snap peas, which unfortunately, got too much sun and sizzled up after only producing about 6 (delicious) peapods. So far we have harvested a few tomatoes and 2 peppers, but we have 4 peppers ripening on the vine now, and the tomato plants are flowering and starting to produce more. I love checking on the progress every day,although I wish it was happening more quickly! Can't wait to see how the carrots turn out. Our neighbor has more outdoor space and has a giant garden going, and across the way are the stables for the downtown horse carriages, so occasionally you hear horse hooves clacking down the street. Also the stables have a rogue rooster, on their grounds who is crowing all the time. So although we are totally urban down here, there's also a whole lot of country going on. :)

Anyway, we are watering our crop with runoff water from our air conditioning unit, it's all collected in a big bucket that I dip the sprinkling can into for watering. I haven't used the hose at all, which is great. Lately I've been dreaming up a self-watering system for next summer, and running hose from the water collection bucket to the veggie containers, through osmosis or something. I've got to do a little more research on that.

The other day I decided to buy some plant food to keep the veggies growing strong, and I was happy to find Terracycle Plant Food at Home Depot. I read an article on the company several years ago, about how they make organic fertilizer from worm poop. The plant food mix is bottled in recycled soda bottles, so it's a very sustainable, eco-conscious company, which I love. You use it 1X a week, pouring directly into the soil. Should be interesting to see how it works.

lotus cleanse

I just wanted to pass the word on - there's an upcoming Lotus Cleanse, April 13 - 18th. I have participated twice and both were wonderful experiences. It's a raw food to juice fast, all the foods and juices are prepared for you and very delicious. Rutu Chaudhari leads the Cleanse, and she is an excellent guide and yoga teacher who will lead restorative yoga classes, very mellow and relaxing. I found the fasting to be incredibly energizing. You'll find inner strength and vitality of spirit you didn't even know you had.

Here I'm forwarding on the info:

It's time to Cleanse! Give your body, mind, and spirit a good cleaning. There are chemicals, preservatives and pesticides in our food, environment, and even our water.
The overwhelming demands of the modern polluted world require a proactive approach to detoxification.


Benefits of the Lotus Cleanse
* Release toxins from your body
* Energy levels shoot through the roof
* Skin is glowing
* Clears and strengthens your mind
* Purifies liver, blood, & kidneys
* Increases absorption of nutrients, alleviates heartburn, bloating
& gas, regulates bowl movements.
* Breathing improves
*& for an added bonus lose 5 - 9 lbs


What's Included In The Price? $375
* 3 days of organic whole raw foods
* 3 days of organic juices and cleansing teas
* 3 yoga workshops(2 1/2 hour each)
* Ingredients for 3 baths specialized for serious detox
* Knowledge & Awareness

Schedule:
April 13th Monday: 8:00p - 9:00p meet for Raw Foods pickup and Introduction
April 15th Thursday: 8:00p meet for Juice pickup
April 17th Friday: Yoga Workshop & Juice Pickup
April 18th Saturday: Yoga Workshop & Juice Pickup
April 19th Sunday: Yoga Workshop & Juice Pickup

At Yoga Samadhi
27 Wadell St. Suite A
Atlanta, GA 30307

For more information email LotusCleanse@gmail.com

adventures in healthy eating : making your own yogurt

about a year ago i got the wild idea of making my own yogurt. i've loved yogurt since i was a kid, and recently i decided i didn't want all the preservatives and aspartame chemicals and what not in my yogurt.

after researching on the web, i bought the Salton YM9 1 Quart Yogurt maker. It's electric, you plug it in. You prep a mixture of milk and powdered milk to a high temperature and let it cool. You need a candy thermometer to make sure you hit the temperature marks. I use organic milk. Then, add 1/2cup of yogurt, with live and active cultures, to the milk mix as a starter. I've been using organic non-fat greek yogurt, which rocks. You put the yogurt/milk mix into the yogurt maker and let it "cook" for 6 - 9 hours, depending on how tart you like your yogurt. Then you refrigerate.

I haven't run the numbers, but i think it might be a money saver. I only buy a little of the best organic yogurt and use it to make a quart, and then use a 1/2 cup of that to make one more batch the next week. I am buying organic milk anyway for granolas, cooking, chai tea, etc.

Homemade yogurt may not have consistent texture throughout (compared to store bought), but i've never had a batch turn out terrible or inedible. It's always been tasty.

My version of the fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts, winter recipe:

• 2 handfuls organic frozen berry medley (from Trader Joe's) in a pyrex container, microwave till warm.
• add dollups of the homemade yogurt on top.
• if you need more sweetness, add honey* or a little sprinkle of brown sugar. or maple syrup.
  
• toss some slivered almonds on top
• sometimes i add a handful of my homemade granola (recipe to come soon)

* i'm currently using a bottle of Sourwood honey from Seven Sisters, in Coker Creek Tennessee. DC picks some up from a farm stand every year on his dirt bike trip to Tellico.