Cucumber Aioli 02/20/2010
Yummy, detoxifying salad! 3 Cucumbers 6 small cloves garlic or 3 large crushed red pepper 1-2 Tblsp. hempseed oil Celtic sea salt fresh juice squeezed from 1 lemon (to taste) Wash, scrub and peel the cucumber. Use a vegetable peeler or spiralizer to turn the cucumber into long thin strips. GO all the way to the seeds, then use the seeds for something else. (put in your next smoothie!) Mince or crush the garlic. Toss the cucumber strips with the garlic, pepper, oil and salt. Really do it up! Sing a happy song while preparing and then serve right away. If you let it sit, the salt will create a water-logged salad, so eat it right away or add the salt when you are ready to consume. This simple salad is awesome. Spice amounts can be adjusted to suit your taste! Enjoy and in Peace, Kirsten Awesome Smoothie 02/17/2010
I have been eating more skin nourishing foods trying to help my skin heal from a rash that was exacerbated by a topical medication I used. One of the yummy things I made was this amazingly tasty, skin toning smoothie! Flesh and water from 1 young thai coconut 1 c. Almond Milk 1/2 small avocado 1 packet Acai 1 orange, peeled 1 banana Blend and drink. Awesome-ly good! Thai coconut water is full of potassium which facilitates cleansing of the cells. It's electrolyte content is very similar to human blood and has been used for blood transfusions! Very easily asimilated into our bodies, this hydrates you better than anything else. Almond milk adds thickness and creaminess! Avocadoes have raw beautifying fat that is perfect for our bodies! Full of minerals and fiber. Acai It is chock-full of Omega Fatty Acids that plump and nourish the skin as well as antioxidents. Banana adds some sweetness! Although I woke up the next morning and still have my rash :), I feel great! Here's to trying new food! In Peace, Kirsten Smart Snacks 02/05/2010
A couple of really smart snacks packed in your bag for the day will help keep the junk food out of your thoughts and out of your mouth! So? What are some smart snacks? Not only are they healthy, satisfying and tasty, they should be a-plenty! I mean you should have choices. You never know what is going to strike your fancy when it comes to snack treats so it is advisable to have options with you at all times! This may sound extreme or time consuming in preparation, or heavy for the carrying around; it isn't any of these. It is fun and satisfying knowing that you have what you will want later in the day and will not have to resort to heavy, greasy, or refined sugary foods. You may need salty, crunchy, moist (like cake), sweet, etc. Here are some good ideas; 1. The old stand-by; cut-up veggies. This may sound boring now, but add an amazing dip and you have gourmet. Guaronteed, pasers-by will stare at it and want some. (Only the bold will all out ASK for a taste! Most will just ask questions: "Is that dip? What kind is it? Did you make it? What does it taste like?") 2. Flax crackers. These are awesome. You can buy them in a health food store or make them yourself. I recommend making them. The home made ones are far superior than the store bought. (Certainly no offense intended to those sold in stores. I am very grateful for their presence on the market, I just like mine better:) 3. Smoothie. Always good to have one around. I drink one in the morning and am sure to pack one with me when I will be out of the house for more than a few hours. 4. Olives. I love olives. They are a wonderful snack to carry around; you only need a few and they satisfy the salt craving that may arise! 5. Easy Pecan Pie. For when you want something rich, sweet, chewy, and out of this world. When you spy a co-worker chowing down on a ding-dong and you start thinking along the same lines----make your pie! 6. Some travel friendly fruit. Apples, clemetines, grapes, whatever you may have on hand. Grab one! These are just some ideas. But, if you had each of these, then you would most likely have something that sounded great that you could definitely call a "smart snack"! Tomorrow, when you go out for the day, take along a few smart snacks and call it good! In Peace, Kirsten Walk Away Your Worries! 02/02/2010
 photo courtesy of kumah.org A wonderful gift yoga brings to the practitioner is the awareness that body and breath are connected and further exploration on that subject will lead the practitioner to experience the connection of the mind and spirit as well. A beautiful beginning exercise in fostering that connection of body, breath and mind is a walking meditation. Walking meditation is profoundly beneficial and has been an exercise used in many traditions. I will give you two examples of walking meditation to enjoy. One comes from the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh and another from Kundalini Yoga Teacher Gurucharan Singh from his book, Breathwalk. I saw a video of Thich Nhat Hanh teaching a group of people a walking meditation. His energy was as if he were standing right next to me. He spoke of walking meditation and how to accomplish it. You must walk with no goal. So, no time frame, no destination. Taking simple steps that contain happiness and joy. Walk as if each footstep makes an imprint on the earth. And within the imprint your foot makes, lies the feelings you hold inside of you. Do it as if you are the happiest person on the earth! Because there is no goal, no destination, walking is not a means but an end itself. It is said that when you see with the eyes of the Boddhisattva, you can see within the footprints a person has made how that person felt when he or she made those footprints; stressed, worried, serene, joyous... Suppose I had a miraculous power to take you to the pure land of Amida Buddha, or for Christians to The Kingdom of God. Once there, how would you walk? Would you walk with sorrow and anxiety? Would you place sorrow and anxiety upon the land? Make steps as if you imprint your foot on the earth and the footprint contains your happiness, joy, serenity, love and peace. It can be done. Walk and breath love into each step. And with each joyous step you make, you create heaven here on earth. You create the pure land here on earth. Kundalini Yoga's Gurucharan Singh Khalsa has a technique of walking and breathing with mantra. The walking can be at any pace, the breath: in 4 counts and out 4 counts. The way you keep track of the counts is with the mantra Sa Ta Na Ma. Sa Ta Na Ma can translate to birth, life, death, rebirth. On the inhale and with each step you think a syllable: (step) Sa, then (step) Ta, then (step) Na, and then (step) Ma and then exhale and likewise, with each step think a syllable: Sa, Ta, Na. Ma. It is simple, energizing and renewing. Try one or both meditations and note how you feel before, after, during! Take time to destress and renew your body, mind and spirit each day with breath and movement. And remember to train the mind as well as the body. For if the mind is untrained and runs wild, then life is dramatic, traumatic and more painful than needs to be. In Peace, ~Kirsten |
RSS Feed