Category: Yoga

Friday Affirmation and Body Connection – Renew the Mind

CARES-class-b-w.1Renew the Mind

Today, we close out the week renewing the mind. As we focus on our body connection the idea is to train the body and make the decision to renew and restore your thinking by aligning what you do with what you think. All physical practices are design for the renewing of the mind.

  • Cardiovascular exercises remind us that we are breathing.
  • Strength training anchors a strong body
  • Yoga helps our flexibility in life.

Today’s Affirmation: Just for this moment… just for this breath, say to yourself, “I renew my mind, body, and spirit with the Love of God”.

Have a terrific weekend,

-Skip

Friday Affirmation and Body Connection – Know Better

For today’s affirmation you’ll meditate and affirm that you are the master of your destiny and filled with infinite possibilities. Find a spot and take a second and let yourself breathe. And so you are, and so let it be. Amen

Today’s Body Connection: As the season continues to cool we must begin to see that our own transformation begins with awareness. It could be the first moment of the crisp Fall morning when we put on our shirt and notice that it doesn’t fit or those pair of jeans are just a smidgen too tight and we tell ourselves that the “dryer monster” purposely shrunk our clothes. The honest truth is that we know better. It’s time to get moving and stop making excuses. It’s time to “put downs and push a ways.” Put down the smartphone and push away from the table. Today is your day to transform your life and it begins with a walk, a jog, hitting the mat, to move and the start of a new the awakening.

Peace and Blessings,

– Skip

 

Vegan Recipes – Lotus Kitchen – Raw Thai Coconut Soup

lotus-kitchen-book-300x300Today’s Vegan recipe, Raw Thai Coconut Soup continues focusing on “Raw” theme. Organically grown raw and living foods provide high-quality nutrition while naturally supporting both proper digestion and a well-functioning immune system. Eating these life-giving foods helps to alkalize the body, a key factor in building excellent health. Today’s recipe is from my upcoming book, The Lotus Kitchen with Gwen Kenneally. Almost all of the recipes in the book are paired with a practice and yoga balance piece and this one has one at the bottom of the recipe.

Raw Thai Coconut Soup

Thai cooking is lively and aromatic and this soup is no exception. The coconut, ginger and garlic play nicely off the heat of the peppers. It’s at once complex and simple, not unlike a vibrant yoga practice.

Ingredients
2 young coconuts
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 avocado
1 clove garlic, peeled
½ inch fresh ginger, peeled
1 teaspoon mustard powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Juice of two limes
3 Red Thai Chili Peppers

Garnish:

1 cup cilantro, chopped
2 cups of tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup of red onion, diced

Slice the coconuts in half and pour the juice into a large bowl. Scoop out the flesh and place in the bowl. Liquefy all ingredients with an emersions blender. Pour into bowl and garnish with cilantro, tomato and onion before serving. You can also use a traditional blender by placing all of the ingredients and liquefying. Serve room temperature. Serves 4

The Practice: Soup that is cool to the touch but heats presents opposition; once you taste it you will know true balance.

Yoga Balance: Some think our mind and body are separate, but as we practice yoga we learn to yolk our body and mind together. That is the main intention of the yoga practice. Recognize that you are one with your mind and body in all of your practice

Friday Affirmation and Body Connection – Be Still and Know

We started our week with meditation focusing around the theme of Being Still and Knowing God’s voice.  For this week’s Affirmation find a place, settle your mind and just for this moment…just for this breath, remember to be still and know that God is everything. And so it is. Amen

For Today’s Body Connection: Remember, yoga is our invitation to slow down and be present. The asana position, also known as the stillness, requires us to stop and connect with the body and/or something greater. During yoga practice, it is the stillness that invites us to know our divine self. The physical practice of yoga is a metaphorical battle with the big self and the ego. Our soul’s desire is to know serenity and peace, to release the chaotic activity of the mental mind. The Bhagavad Gita, sacred scriptures for the yoga practice, say, “When thy mind, that may be wavering in the contradictions of many scriptures, shall rest unshaken in divine contemplation, then the goal of Yoga is thine.” In other words, if we can allow our thoughts to fall into God, we will know our connection to our higher self.

Have a blessed weekend.

-Skip

Vegan Recipes – Vegan Paleo Cookie

Celebrate this weekend with a cookie recipe from my upcoming cookbook, The Lotus Kitchen with Gwen Kenneally.

Skip Jennings & Gwen Keannelly

Skip Jennings & Gwen Keannelly

The Lotus Kitchen, combines delicious and easy to make vegetarian cooking entwined with yoga. This book intends to offer more than a gingerly curated collection of healthy and boldly flavored recipes; it’s a beacon that shines light toward an awakened way of life. A journey that encourages you to explore an engaged and meaningful pathway to empowerment through yoga and enhance your existing practice with thoughtful food preparation and mindful eating. 

 
Vegan Paleo Cookie
 
4 cups almond meal
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¾ cup coconut oil, melted
½ cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup chopped dark chocolate or 1 cup dried cranberries
½ cup candied ginger
 
Preheat the oven to 350. Mix the almond meal, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir in the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir in the chopped chocolate (or cranberry) and ginger. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. For a variation, sprinkle a little sea salt before baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet until the edges are golden. Let them rest on the pan for 5-10 minutes to firm up before removing. Makes 3 dozen.
 
The practice:
 
Each yoga class ends with the practice of Namaste. The Lotus Kitchen Namaste is performed by placing your hands on your third eye and allowing your hands to drift to Anjali Mudra in front of the heart chakra. Close the eyes and bow down to show deep respect for self, others and our practice. 

This Week’s Health & Fitness Tip – Yoga…Butterfly Pose (Badhakona)

www.thehealthsite.comThis Week’s Health & Fitness will be a Yoga one. The Butterfly Pose (Badhakonasana) Find a comfortable space. Sit with your spine erect and legs spread straight out. Bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet together. Inner lace your hands around your feet. Begin to gently slap both legs up and down, like the wings of a butterfly. Start slowly and gradually increase the speed. While practicing Butterfly Pose, create a mantra or chant that states you are whole and renewed. “I am whole, renewed and complete now.”

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