Coconut Oil

I'm pretty in love with coconut oil these days. Really any coconut product - milk, water, oil, and yes...even yogurt!! So I thought I'd share some of the ways in which coconut products are incredibly beneficial for your health and wellness.

When my hair is feeling pretty dry I'll use handful of coconut oil and work it from the ends of my hair up. Then I'll throw it up in a bun and leave it in for at least 6 hours. Do this once or twice a week for a month and your hair will love you!

I just got back from my first Forrest Yoga Mentorship weekend today. I am beyond grateful for the experience and can't even find the words to process how amazing it was!! A recommendation given to me (and my fellow trainees) was to rub oil all over the body before showering - as a one minute pre-shower ritual to show the body some love, and to start to "wake-up" the parts of the body that are shut down or "dead" (i.e. pelvic floor, hips, feet, stomach etc). I tried this tonight and have to say...it's nice! It made me more aware of all the parts of my body, and how grateful I was to have them. It was also nice to show my body gratitude for all it does by massaging sore spots with the oil. I used all organic coconut oil. What's great is that the shower rinses most of it off but afterwards the skins maintains enough moisture so you can bypass the lotion!

Finally, one of my favorite uses for coconut oil - food. I made this raw pie a few weeks ago and have been craving it ever since. If you're a choco-holic (like myself) you'll LOVE this pie! Plus it's good for you! I love finding recipes that use no sugar, no soy, no gluten, and no wheat. Enjoy!!

Raw Chocolate Mousse Pie

Adapted from simply raw by joel odhner
The particulars:

• 2 cups shredded coconut
• 2 cups pitted dates
• 2-3 ripe avocados (YES AVOCADOS)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, softened
• 1/2 cup raw honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup carob powder

1. To make the crust, mix the coconut and dates in the food processor until a sticky, dough-like substance forms. This might take a minute or so. Tip the mixture into a springform cake tin (or any tin with a removable base) and press into the bottom and sides. Make sure it is even and that it comes up the sides about an inch.
2. Prepare the filling by first mashing the avocados in a bowl until there aren’t any big lumps. Transfer to the food processor and add the coconut oil, honey/syrup, and powders. Process until smooth – the end result should look (and taste!) like chocolate mousse.
3. Pour the filling into the prepared crust and smooth out with a knife or spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
4. To serve, remove plastic wrap and re-smooth with the knife or spatula, and decorate with raspberries (or any fruit you want!)

 

 

Happy Sunday!! <3

"Clean" Banana Muffins

My Sunday LOL meetings (LOL - Live Out Loud) have also inspired me to add recipes to my blog.

One of my big passions is cooking - especially baking! My friends often ask me what I eat to keep a balanced/healthy life. Not to get too deep in this post, but I come from a background of struggling with an eating disorder. If I'm not mindful, I starve. This being said, I need to prep my meals for my really busy schedule so I make sure I eat.

As a yoga teacher, I view food as fuel for my body. I want to teach quality classes as well as generate creativity and inspiration to keep evolving. I strongly suggest getting in tune with your body and listening to it. See what foods sit well with you and which ones don't. Currently, eating gluten-free and healthy protein has been feeling great for me. I used to be vegan for 5 years. While I love vegan food, the diet did not serve my body well.

Anyway, here's an awesome Banana Muffin Recipe I love for a quick bite on my way out to teach or to take a Yoga class!

Clean/ Gluten Free Banana Muffins

I've modified this recipe by substituting greek yogurt with almond yogurt. I try to stay away from dairy so that's why I changed it up. It's tastes great with the greek yogurt if that agrees with your body! 

Ingredients

*2 /1/2 cup oats (old fashioned kind, not quick cooking)
*1 single serving cup of plain low fat greek yogurt
*2 eggs
*3/4 cup sweetener - honey or 2 tbs stevia sweetener
*1 1/2 tsp baking powder
*1/2 tsp baking soda
*2 bananas

Optional: You can also add chopped blueberries or strawberries to the batter AFTER it has been in the blender. 

 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray tin with non-stick cooking spray or line 12 muffin tins with silicone or foil liners, (or just use a silicone muffin pan). ( Note: Paper liners seem to stick a lot to flourless muffins, so your best bet if you don't have silicone is to spray the muffin tin and go linerless. Don't use paper muffin cups! )
2. Place all of the ingredients, including bananas in a blender or food processor, and blend until oats are smooth. 
3. Divide batter among cupcake liners, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.


Enjoy!! 

Like a thief in the night.

It's everywhere in our society. It's permeated through media, school, gasp even the yoga room!

Comparison. I remember one of my very first writing assignments in English class was to write a comparison paper. Why are we so obsessed with comparing everything...comparing ourselves...to everything?!

I'm meeting with a group of wonderful women every Sunday.  I don't know how to describe it; it's a book club/private yoga class/potluck party - women who are striving to {live out loud}. LOL is what we call it. And it's been amazing. We've had break-throughs, break-downs, we've faced fears and discussed issues that plague us.

Today I'd like to share a post I made in our private group. I offer it because I feel that we could all benefit from taking a closer look at this comparison business.

In the book the group is reading (I'm not reading the book currently because I have about 20 I need to get through for my certification...but I WILL!). there is a quote that was shared with me. I was asked to write about it, and it's like it came to me straight from the Universe...because its exactly what I need to work on.

                                                         "Comparison is the thief of joy"

So this quote...it really resonates with me. I had to mull it over for a few hours because there is so much I could say, but I want to make it short and sweet. I compare myself daily...probably every second, every moment to everything! I've written a blog about this before...how my comparison eventually turns in to competition...something I have a very unhealthy relationship with. I've found this in my teaching lately, as much as I hate to admit it. I compare myself...how many students do the other teachers have, look how much better Rebecca speaks to this, look how much better Amber demo's this pose...look at how both of their practices are so much more advanced then mine, and this starts stealing all of my joy because I revert to self mutilation like "How can I even teach piking when I can't even do it myself...." enter self doubt....

Ana (Forrest) says the first step to healing and change is acknowledgement. I still revert to my habits often, but I can start changing by being present (activating my feet) when I catch myself doing something that doesn't serve me. How quickly the amazing yoga-high buzz that comes from teaching an awesome class fades when I start to compare myself to others. So I've been catching myself...daily. Even in the little things. I'll ask myself, so why did I feel the need to compare just now...I dig deep...hmm do I feel that I am not worthy of feeling this happy?...go deeper... am I worried that savoring this moment will result in no more moments like these? And I try to get to the source of my comparison. Some day's I don't get that far, I only get so far as acknowledging what I just did. 

I challenge ya'll to start observing when you compare yourself...and to get curious about why. Often it's associated with a sacred-contract lie we've made to ourselves (we're not good enough etc). Which is totally bullsh*t!!

Consider that you are enough just as you are. Because it's true. Even your imperfections, they make you - YOU!

Wake up and smell the moments!

New Year, New You!

New Year, New You?

I love the feeling of a fresh start that comes with ringing in a new year. I set new goals, revisit past ones, and look ahead at all the exciting moments that are to come.

This morning, after my morning Yoga practice, I felt an overwhelming sense of melancholy and sadness. At first, I couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was...am I frustrated with my teaching?...hmm possibly, but that wasn't it...am I sad Christmas is over? Sure, a little. But that wasn't quite it either. It really perplexed me because I had a wonderful practice, and all though my poses aren't quite where I'd like them to be, I feel content with how my practice is evolving.

I kept digging as I drove home (not the safest environment for soul searching I'll admit, I tend to drive like a crazy person as it is), and I found myself going to an exciting moment in the future - my wedding. And there it was! I realized that too often in life I numb out during the little moments, the "in between exciting moments," so that I can look forward to the next and not feel the sadness of what's already over. And I'm really good at this. I think it's partially because of my long distance relationship with my fiance. It's so painful to have short little meetings and having to constantly say goodbye, so I've become an expert and numbing out when he's gone, and life zooms past me really fast because my mind is always looking towards our next meeting.

Now, I don't think daydreaming is bad at all, and I don't think it's wrong to be looking forward to my wedding. But how many times do we sit and say, "damn that year flew by so fast?" Time does fly, and my coping mechanism of spacing out and focusing on the future makes my life feel like it's on fast forward!

One of my fellow teachers/mentor/dear friend, led me through an exercise yesterday. I wrote words that I wanted to feel in 2013: passionate, alive, confident, strong, sexy! and so forth in my journal. Then she said, "assume those feelings right now, in this moment."  And for a second, I did. I felt confident, I felt strong, and I felt powerful, in that very moment, I wasn't dreaming of what those feelings would feel like, I felt them. I found that fascinating - not to mention my practice in the class that followed felt freaking amazing!!!

So I'd like to challenge myself, and challenge you too. What if we kept our goals, those badass goals we have for 2013, but already embody those feelings we want to experience when we achieve them?

I want to be an amazing teacher.

I want to help heal the world.

I want to freaking pike into handstand.

I want to gravity surf like my life depends on it.

I want to be with my future husband everyday.

Those are some of my goals. And although I'm sad my fiance left, and sometimes I'm frustrated my "piking" feels like a belly flop...I can already embody the feelings of confidence, power, and sexiness that I know I'll feel when I get to those moments.  I challenge myself to wake up everyday and live in the moment, whether it be happy or sad, knowing that I can also embody the feelings I look forward to - right now. I choose to celebrate today, to love my half handstand, to love my half turn signal, to love that as I teach I am growing/learning/ improving, to love my handful of dedicated badass students...because it is all just as beautiful as the next accomplishment.