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."

yoga + mindful eating = healthy weight

Regular yoga practice is associated with mindful eating, and people who eat mindfully are less likely to be obese, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The study was prompted by initial findings reported four years ago by Alan Kristal, Dr.P.H., and colleagues, who found that regular yoga practice may help prevent middle-age spread in normal-weight people and may promote weight loss in those who are overweight. At the time, the researchers suspected that the weight-loss effect had more to do with increased body awareness, specifically a sensitivity to hunger and satiety than the physical activity of yoga practice itself.

The follow-up study, published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, confirms their initial hunch.

"In our earlier study, we found that middle-age people who practice yoga gained less weight over a 10-year period than those who did not. This was independent of physical activity and dietary patterns. We hypothesized that mindfulness - a skill learned either directly or indirectly through yoga -could affect eating behavior," said Kristal, associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center.

The researchers found that people who ate mindfully - those were aware of why they ate and stopped eating when full - weighed less than those who ate mindlessly, who ate when not hungry or in response to anxiety or depression. The researchers also found a strong association between yoga practice and mindful eating but found no association between other types of physical activity, such as walking or running, and mindful eating.

Read more...

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

wolf vs. wolf

An old Navajo Indian is telling his grandson about the fight that is going on inside him.

He said it was a war between two wolves:

one was evil
(anger, greed, arrogance, regret, guilt, superiority and bitterness).

and the other was good
(joy, peace, serenity, humility, kindness, ease and empathy).

The grandson asked: "Grandpa, which wolf wins?"

Grandpa's reply: "The one I feed."

which wolf inside you is winning today?

ps. don't you love Indian legends?

zip it up!

This past November through January, I did not have a car. No car in Atlanta? That's unheard of. How did I get around? Mostly, on my bicycle. No snow here, so I just threw on a few layers and my backpack and pedaled to teach yoga classes. For errands and grocery shopping, I joined zipcar. You may have seen zipcars parked around downtown and midtown. There a zipcar parked a few blocks from my house. After I signed on for a yearly membership, I just reserved a car online for the day and time I needed the car. I received a membership car that I waved above the windshield to open the locks, and with the key inside, off I went. There was always a car nearby when I needed one, and they were new and clean. Occasionally I drove a Prius, a BMW Mini, or the super-efficient Honda Civic. There are also a few small trucks around town that would be good to borrow if you needed to haul furniture or move.

It's a great option for visitors or travel (your zipcar membership is good in tons of cities) or if your car is in the shop. I highly recommend signing on with zipcar, and exploring other options for transportation, like walking/biking, and using marta.

Driving less gives your life a new vantage point. Instead of being enclosed in your car, you're interacting with the environment. When I lived in Chicago, I didn't have a car for two years. I walked or rode public transportation everywhere. I loved it. I read a lot of books on the train. Walking the mile to the El in the morning got my brain and body moving before work, walking home was meditative and calming after a long day, and especially lovely in the warm months. I also super toned legs from all the walking, a positive side benefit. Also, no car insurance, maintenance, and parking fees. So I'm trying to find that same balance here in Atlanta. I have a car now, but my personal code is never to drive when I could walk. So I stroll down to the post office when I'm shipping boxes for my business teddylux. I ride my bike to teach yoga classes. Occansionally DC and I walk or ride bikes to nearby restaurants. Once we rode our bikes to Daddy D'zs, loaded up on barbeque, beer, and fried okra, and the pedal home was torture. :)

seriously, if you are interested in giving zipcar a try, click on the zipcar above and get $25 in free driving credit. Not just in Atlanta, but nationwide.

adventures in green living: the clothesline

Back in the 90s, I was a ski bum living in Crested Butte, Colorado. Skied all day, socialized in the small town bars in the evenings. One of the bars hosted two talented singers, Jackie and Vanita, who were spending time town on their way to Alaska. They were similar in sound to the Indigo Girls. One of my favorite songs of theirs was "Hanging on a Clothesline" and it was a funny take on a bigger girls' relationship with a thinner guy, and how their clothing looked together big and small, hanging on the line, flapping in the wind.

Fast forward to today, it's beautiful here in Atlanta, about 80 degrees already, and I'm starting to put out some clothes to dry. We live in an urban environment, with only a small bit of outdoor space, so I've always just brought a few clothing items out on hangers and hung them up to dry. This spring, I'm going to pick up a retractable clothes line I can hang up, and dry even more items outside. this is the one I'm going to buy.

The fact is that hanging your clothes on a line to dry is better for them. Colors last longer, giving your clothes a longer life. The fabric holds up longer--dryer lint is nothing but a thin layer that has been sheared from your clothes. The high heat of a dryer can also play havoc with the size of your clothes, so that something with a perfect fit comes out misshapen or, worse, six sizes smaller.

Also when you line-dry something, you're not eating up electricity. In terms of energy, dryers are by far the most wasteful appliance in the house, gobbling up 6% of your electric bill. The Wall Street Journal reported that eliminating the dryer portion of your laundry chores will cut an astounding 4.4 pounds of carbon emissions. One ecological watchdog calculates that as the equivalent of losing 16 square feet of natural habitat per load. Run a dryer for two hours only six times a month, and you're spending at least $70 a year, based on a national average of 12¢ per kilowatt-hour.

In Atlanta, line drying season has begun! I encourage you to give it a try.