I’m excited to offer this beginner series for those new to yoga, those returning after time off or an injury, and seasoned students who want to review the ABC’s of yoga.

Please invite your friends and/or join in the fun. Let’s share the benefits of yoga with as many people as possible. Expect to learn ways to be safe in yoga class, how to get down to the floor gracefully, or somewhat gracefully, and to laugh a lot.

INSIDE

Inside this sitting here
this mind pulling knees up close to the chest with tense hands.
Inside this movement of anxiety for the body
and its worries of money,
and its teeth grinning falsely to the solution
of all things surrounding,

Is a seed.

And the hands pressing down into the soil,
and the dreams of generations in the seed
about to wake.

Tonight I will sleep with my worries
through dreams dark with soil
and the heaving cataclysm of the spade
turning earth around me, not speaking of air

or light fused with greenness,
but of darkness and the first leaves
like hands in prayer
clasped inside the seed.

~David Whyte

You’ve been wanting to go to early yoga, but there just isn’t enough time in the morning?
You may think that doing the physical practice will be hard, but for many people, getting their sweet ass to class on time is the hardest part.
It’s important to start wayyy before the time when you’re lying in your warm bed, deciding whether to get up, or not. When you’re prepared ahead of time, with a clear motivation, clothes laid out, yoga mat in the car, it’s easier to roll out of bed into the routine you’ve already set up.
It starts with a motivation that makes sense to you. Perhaps you like to start the day feeling balanced and alive, perhaps you simply want to stretch and improve your flexibility, perhaps you want to support a program such as dropping some weight. Be clear about your reasons for yoga practice so you have motivation in the morning.

Here’s the scoop. The night before class, do your before bed routine. It can start right after dinner, and when you get into bed, you’re halfway to yoga class. For me, the before bed routine includes cleaning my sink, checking my calendar, setting out clothes for the morning, and putting things I need for my jobs in the car. Your routine will include the things that make your day go better, and will help eliminate the last minute things-to-do that keep you from getting on your mat in the morning. Also very important, go to bed early enough so that you can get 7 or 8 hours of sleep. For me, that’s 9:30 pm, and it feels wonderful. When your routine becomes regular, you’ll even sleep better!

One yoga friend says she doesn’t even think about it in the morning, she just goes to class.

Set an alarm if you need it, allowing yourself time to wake up, eat and dress, and arrive at class 5 or 10 minutes early. Those extra minutes allow you to drive at a reasonable speed instead of driving like a crazy person. Congratulations, you’ve given yourself a sanctuary of time and space to awaken and align your mind and body for beautiful day.

May we use our strength with kindness, our discipline with flexibility. May our efforts be in service of joy, beauty, and happiness for all.

Asana: AdhoMukhaSvanasana – Downward Facing Dog

From “hands and knees”, come into the general shape of the pose, and upside down “V”. Slightly bend your arms and legs, and find the softness inside. Moving from softness brings joy and beauty to all our efforts. Keeping the softness inside, straighten your arms and legs, slowly, kindly…….Bend your arms and legs again, and as you move, just notice your consciousness, find the floatyness of your upper arms………With a soft heart, straighten again, making a generous shape. Float your chin slightly to soften your heart. From your heart, send your appreciation for your body down your arms, into the earth. Draw the support of the earth back up your arms, re-soften your heart. Lengthen through your tailbone and extend with strength through your heels. Breathe into the spaciousness of the moment, and softly, slowly, come back to hands and knees.

Namaste, and more bliss for everyone!

Answer:  Ideally we don’t experience buy minor soreness in yoga. One of the wonderful things about Anusara Yoga is that we open to Grace, then stabilize, then expand. When the stabilization is sound, there’s no muscle tearing. That said, I have been a little sore from Anusara classes, BUT even with all day workshops, 5 day workshops full of 20 and 30 somethings, the soreness is minor.

If you have soreness, I suggest you work on hugging in and planting your feet firmly on the floor. This may very likely slow you down, which is a good thing. When I take public classes, I FREQUENTLY find myself lagging behind the calesthenics. I just skip a move or three, and keep going. I won’t sacrifice what’s good for my body to keep up with the class. If you can remember which poses caused you the soreness, we can use those to focus in on principles of alignment that will help you.

Yoga has a great way of finding our “weak” spots. Mr. Iyengar is famous for the saying “the pose that hurt you is the pose that will heal you”. I take that to mean ….. not that you keep doing the pose over and over, injuring yourself further….. but that you study it, find out how to balance your body in that pose, so that you can do it with more strength, more balance. That means backing WAY out of the pose, practicing preparatory poses, even building strength in PT, with a long term goal of finding that pose safely.

Or if it was just overexertion, over-efforting and speed, it’s a question of shifting your attitude. (Dang, that!) Whatever it is, consider it a good thing, that you’re going to the next level of understanding in yoga. Your desire to continue yoga will pull you through.

Ingredients

One banana per person

Good quality chocolate syrup

Directions

Cut bananas into chunks into a bowl.

Drizzle with chocolate syrup.  EASY!

The only thing I’d add is this:  While small sips of water may be helpful for slowing down eating, remember the teaching from Ayurveda.  Ice-cold water will impede digestion, put unhealthy strain on digestive organs and create discomfort.  Too much water will dilute the digestive juices, also leading to discomfort.  So sip a little room temperature water, don’t try to fill up on water, and no ice thank you.  Warm wishes for a contented Thanksgiving, Kit

Enjoy the Holiday Without Pigging Out, by Dean Ornish in The Spectrum

Prepare to Indulge Before the Holidays

During the holidays, it’s virtually impossible not to eat more than we want to.  I’m pretty disciplined about my diet, yet at holiday parties and dinners, like everyone else, I find myself reaching for that extra cookie or brownie.  After all, it’s the holidays, the time of  year to eat, drink, and be merry.

Knowing that you’re going to indulge yourself during the holidays makes it easier to eat a little more mindfully in the weeks before Thanksgiving.  You know what to do: cut back on fat, refined carbohydrates, and calories, and exercise more.

How to Indulge During the Holidays

Eat something before hand.  If you don’t eat all day, you may arrive at holiday meals and parties ravenous and lose control.  Have a low-calorie but filling snack beforehand:  an apple, a whole-grain bagel, a small bowl of soup, or whole-grain cereal.

Put 20 percent fewer high-calorie foods and 20 percent more fruits and vegetables on your plate.  Studies show that you probably won’t notice the difference.

Eat the healthier foods first – they will fill you up somewhat, so you’ll be less likely to overeat the more-indulgent foods.

Choose foods that leave evidence – e.g., keep the shrimp tails and chicken wing bones on your plate after you’ve eaten them.  Studies show that if you have cues to see how much you’ve eaten, you’ll eat less.

Try not to put more than two or three items on your plate at one time.  We eat more when food is in front of us.

Eat more slowly.  The faster we eat, the more we eat.  It takes up to twenty minutes after eating for the brain to realize that we’re full.  Sip water between bites.  Holiday meals last longer than typical meals.  If you wolf down your food, your plate may be clean while others are still eating, which will lead to seconds.  If you take a sip of water after every bite or two, it slows you down.  You don’t eat as much and you don’t get uncomfortably stuffed.

If you have a choice, use a smaller plate.  A study found that people ate more popcorn when it was in a large container than in a medium-size one – even if the popcorn was five days old and stale!  The smaller the dish, the less you take and the less you eat.

If you’re at someone’s home, try to serve yourself instead of allowing your sister-in-law to heap your plate full.

Arrive a little late and make a grand entrance.  More of the indulgent foods will be gone by then.

If you go to a restaurant, ask your server not to put bread on the table before hand.  If it’s there, you’ll probably eat it.  You can have bread anytime, leave more room for your favorite holiday foods instead.

Substitute cranberry sauce for gravy, which is usually high in fat and calories.  Cranberry sauce is nutritious and loaded with antioxidants.

If you eat baked potatoes and yams, avoid toppings such as butter, cheese, bacon, and sour cream.  If possible, substitute low-fat yogurt or nonfat sour cream.

Watch the alcohol, which is high in calories (almost 200 calories per ounce) and slows down your metabolism.  Also, too much alcohol impairs judgment, so the more you drink, the more you’re likely to eat.

Close your eyes and savor the food periodically during the meal.  You’ll consume fewer calories and experience more pleasure.

Have just a few bites of dessert.  The first and last bites are always the best, anyway.

Take a walk after dinner.  You don’t have to hike five miles.  A stroll around the block is a good start.  Walking not only buns calories, it also helps relieve bloating and prevent heartburn.

A light, inexpensive meal that will satisfy a big appetite.  Use a gluten-free bread instead of English muffins to make this recipe gluten-free.

from Quinoa 365, by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming

Patties

2/3 cup water
1/3 cup quinoa
One 7 1/2 oz can wild Pacific salmon (drained, larger bones removed)
1/2 cup sliced green onion
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp fresh dill (or 1 tsp dried dill)
1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic
Pinch ground black pepper

Burgers

1/3 cup light cream cheese, softened
1 tsp grated lime zest
1 tsp fresh lime juice
3 whole wheat English muffins (or gluten-free bread)
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves
6 slices tomato
6 large slices Gouda cheese

Bring the water and quinoa to a boil in a small saucepan.  Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn the heat off and leave the covered saucepan on the burner for another 6 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and allow to cool.

Preheat the over to 400 degrees F.  Combine the salmon, quinoa, green onion, eggs, dill, garlic and pepper in a medium bowl and mix well.  Divide into 6 even portions and form into patties.

Grease a baking sheet or spray with cooking oil (or line with parchment paper).  Arrange the salmon patties so they are evenly spaced on the baking sheet.  Bake for 7 minutes and remove from the oven.  Flip the patties over and bake for another 7 minutes.

Combine the cream cheese with the lime zest and juice in a small bowl.  Mix well and set aside.

Toast the English muffins and spread with the cream cheese mixture.  Place a few spinach leaves and a tomato slice on each.  Top each with a hot salmon patty and a slice of cheese.  Serve immediately.

note from Kit: To be fair to Quinoa 365, I transcribed their whole recipe (except the measurements in ml).  When I made the salmon patties, I improvised in a few places, and they still came out great.  Having a pile of leftover salmon, I used that instead of canned.  I skipped the burger topping, and instead added the lime zest and juice to the patty mix.  Instead of baking, I fried the patties in a pan on top of the stove.