Here’s another vegetarian staple for your kitchen. Enjoy!

1t olive oil

1/2 cup diced red bell

1/4 cup diced onion

1 1/4 t curry powder

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2t salt

1 1/4 cups cubed peeled eggplant

1/4 cup cubed peeled acorn or butternut squash

1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 vegetable broth

3T white wine

Hot pepper sauce (option)

Yogurt

Chopped parsley

1. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add bell pepper and onion; cook and stir 5 minutes. Stir in curry powder, garlic and salt; cook and stir 1 minute. Add eggplant, squash, chickpeas, broth, and wine. Cover; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20-25 minutes or just until squash and eggplant are tender.

2. Season to taste with hot pepper sauce, if desired. Serve with yogurt and parsley.

Intention is word rich in meaning.  It is a word worthy of meditation. We all enter a yoga workout with some kind of intention. Maybe there is more than one. Or maybe more develop after we have conformed to the ritual. I love the very beginning of a class. It is the moment we cease all of our side conversations, all of our personal checklists for the rest of the day and become silent. While we may have been individuals before, we are now united by our commitment to silence and focus. We start breathing in synchronized harmony. Our eyes close, our minds clear, and we are ready to set our intentions.

For most, it is a physical intention that brings them to their mat. They intend to build strength, lose weight, build stronger bones. For others, it is a mental intention to relieve stress and find peace. And for some, It is to find quiet and learn more about themselves and God.

What is your intention when you come to your mat? What do you seek?

Ok. I have broken down and decided to share some recipes with you on occasion.  I did not think it would be relevant at first but after further consideration decided vegetarian eating is a major part of yoga culture. And one thing that is so alluring to me is the challenge. Healthy vegetarian eating is not easy. It sometimes takes time, money, and creativity. But I like the challenge. Three years of practice for me and I am still learning all of the time. But what does help considerably are a variety of good recipes. Here is one I like. Continue Reading…

You will often hear the term mind-body in reference to yoga. This mindset is spiritual, almost mysterious in itself. From my experience this is an awareness of yourself so much that you find yourself able to achieve great strides in your postures. It is finding the mental connection to the pose; maybe it is confidence in yourself. I do not know but when it happens to you, it is mysterious.

Yoga speaks a lot about listening to yourself, listening to your body. Not pushing it when it feels pain but also, gently relaxing into poses. For those who do the same posture time and time again, and cannot move further, the key is sometimes relaxation. You allow the exhalation or relaxation that comes with your exhalation to lead you further into your each pose.

It always amazes me how they taught us to adjust people in postures. It only takes a light touch on someone to guide them where they already know to go in their postures. Yet you find yourself bending in ways you did not know were possible.

 It is like they have some sort of invisible string attached to you and the lightest touch gives you the courage to try things you would not have tried before. And yet it was inside us all along.

How many of us still pray before meals? I know I don’t. I gave that up years ago. Yet as a child, I felt it an obligation as a Christian. It set me apart as a Christian in the school cafeteria. Oh. I got taunted for it but I chalked it up to “bearing my cross for Christ.”

As juvenile as that perspective was, I now see better reasons for prayer before meals. Why not slow down our meal process to mentally absorb what is on our plate? A yogi, Richard Alpert, shared his perspective from outside the Christian culture, in the yoga journal. Continue Reading…