surgery update

This surgery deceived me. I was told that it was a super simple procedure, and compared to others that is probably true, but nobody warned me that although simple, it would still be tough. Post-surgery, in the hospital and on the way home, I felt pretty queasy. To be honest, I don't even remember what I did that night, but I know it involved plenty of pain medication. I was feeling pretty good and even woke up at 4am to write a blog. I spent the first half of the next day alone until my sweet friend Julia came over to hang with me. Let me just take this moment to say that there is something really nice about having a friend you're close enough with to be able come right out and tell them what you need. Initially, Julia said she was tired on Friday after work and wasn't sure. She works for OHSU and has a very busy, fast-paced job. After asking a couple other people to come sit with me that night, I told Julia that I was sorry she'd be tired but that I really did need her, and she came right over. Oh, how I love her!

Julia ordered pizza for us and we laid in my bed together watching trashy TV. She helped me get through my first set of physical therapy exercises and made sure I was as comfortable as possible. At some point in the evening, my pain level shot through the roof so intensely that we had to call the doctor on call. Being that I was already drugged up and couldn't remember anything, Julia wrote down everything he said. He told me to double my dosage on the pain medication, which sounded like a good idea at the time so I did it. Because my husband got home late and we were both really tired, Julia stayed the night. She is great!

Hours after taking a double dose of prescription pain medication, I woke up vomiting so hard I thought my eyes would pop out of my head. Seriously, it was that bad. This continued for several hours, which in the moment felt more like several days. Julia left in the morning and my husband sat with me until he had to leave for work at 1. The sickness never stopped. Without me even realizing what was happening, Julia arranged for one of our friend's moms to come stay with me. I got a call from Amy minutes after Julia left saying, "Are you okay? My mom is coming over!" Thank God for all these amazing people in my life. Lauri arrived right before Keith had to leave for work and I looked like death. I had no color in my face and my eyes looked empty. As awful as I felt, Lauri made me feel calm and taken care of. She made me peppermint tea to help with the nausea, and straightened up my bed every time I had to get out of it so it was always clean and fresh. She also swept my floors and opened my windows to let some fresh energy in. My primary care doctor called, seemingly out the of blue, because he said he had seen that I'd just had surgery and he wanted to see how I was feeling. After 24 hours of feeling like I'd been hit by a truck, I didn't hold back. He called in an anti-nausea drug for me and Lauri went to pick it up. Shortly after taking it, I was starting to feel a bit better. I was able to finally finish my tea and also eat some carrots. The vomit throwing hell ride had finally ended. I only took two of the pills, but I'd say the $17 I paid for that medicine was some of the best money I've ever spent.

After things had calmed down, Holly, a yoga student of mine, brought me some delicious food. Lauri pointed out that the food came from someone who really knew me. It was this glorious dish of quinoa, rainbow chard, black beans and corn, in addition to a bowl of yummy greens with baked yams, onions, sweet bell peppers, avocado, and pine nuts. Also, a package of plain greek yogurt (which I use as a sour cream substitute) and some dressing for the salad. It tasted like heaven it was so nice to not have to think about food. She also brought tulips, which look beautiful on my coffee table and make me smile every time I hobble in there.

Today I woke up with what I would easily classify as the worst headache I have ever had in my life, but midway through the day, it seemed to ease up. My brain still feels foggy and I'm still feeling a bit of pain, but I feel like I am finally starting to feel like a normal human again. I still can't walk without crutches, but I am super thankful to not be feeling nauseous or dealing with a massive headache.

The point of this blog is not to whine about how crappy this has been (although it did feel pretty good to let some of that out), but more to emphasize the importance of having good people in your life. I have wondered several times through this process what I would have done without certain people. Even friends and family from far away comforted me with super sweet and loving texts and phone calls. This experience has also been a great reminder for me to slow down, take a step back and realize all the wonderful things my body does for me on a daily basis. I have been so hard on myself, asking myself questions like "Why am I not walking yet?!" and "Why does it still hurt?!". Even though it was a relatively simple surgery, it is still a surgery. Surgeries are not simple and painless. I actually thought I would be walking the day after the surgery, when in reality, I hadn't even experienced the worst part by then. I can now officially say, I think, that I am glad to be over the hump. I look forward to returning to my yoga practice and teaching, but I am also taking sufficient time off to rest. I will return to my normal teaching schedule on Tuesday, April 24th. 

Here I am in the hospital pre-surgery, naively thinking I would be all better in 24 hours.

Love,
Tami

knee surgery

It's been a good while since I've written much of anything in this blog directly pertaining to yoga. I've posted here and there about food and smoothies, maybe the occasional playlist, but nothing really about yoga. I'm here to announce right now that I'm revamping this blog. I've been writing here for a year and a half, but have recently come to the conclusion that I'm limiting myself by thinking I can only write about yoga. From here on out, this is a lifestyle blog. A blog about my lifestyle.

I had knee surgery yesterday, about 12 hours ago to be exact. I am thankful to GOD for the fact that I was able to get this taken care of. I injured myself almost 7 months ago to the day, and without health insurance, I had a lot of figuring out to do and a lot of hoops to jump through. Words can not even express how elated I am to be sitting in my living room at 4am, crutches by my side, bandage from toes to thigh and an ice pack on my knee. For 7 long months, I felt like this injury had stolen a very important part of my life from me and I was scared I'd never get it back. This injury instilled in me a sense of fear and over-cautiousness that was never there before. I really noticed this over weekend when I took a visiting 17-year old family friend to Mt. Hood. To get there, we took the historic highway and stopped at every waterfall along the way. She was running around like crazy, jumping on snow banks, all that fun stuff I would typically be doing, but couldn't. I was afraid to even walk in the snow without baby stepping and holding onto her arm or hand because if my knee tweaked the tiniest wrong way, it would be excruciating. It made me so mad to be that way. I have also really missed snowboarding, running and taking advanced yoga classes in public for fear of having to modify so much I might as well not be there. I was an emotional mess, which is why I never have written about it.

Wednesday was my worst day. I felt anxious all day, and teetered on the edge of wanting to scream and/or cry. I never did scream but I certainly did cry. I was nervous, largely because I didn't know what time the surgery would be until less than 24 hours in advance, but also because of the anticipation. However, when I woke up yesterday morning, I felt pretty calm. I got some work done on my computer and had a prayer with my friend and Enliven Festival teammate, Jason. It really helped me feel at peace. When I got to the hospital at noon to check it, I was super tired and thirsty, as I was instructed not to eat or drink anything after midnight. Do you know how hard that is for a girl who wakes up and has a big glass of lemon water, big glass of plain water, mug of hot tea and a green smoothie every morning?! I was feeling a little grumpy, to say the least. When I checked in at noon,  I thought the surgery would immediately follow, but it ended up not being until a little after 2. Lucky for me, one of my best friends works at the hospital and came to sit with me on her lunch break while I waited to go back. The team of people I had with me was great, and honored my wishes of not wanting to be pumped full of narcotics. They were used sparingly of course during surgery and after I woke up with a pain level of 8 on a scale from 1 to 10. When the nurse went to inform my husband that I was out of surgery and resting in recovery, she also told him I kept asking for him and saying I didn't want to be there anymore. Oh, the things we say and do when we come out from under anesthesia! The poor guy next to me asked if he could vomit into a sock, then he asked it they had put vodka in his water.

Once I got to the second stage of recovery, my husband and friend were able to come sit with me. Keith came back first because I was feeling a little vulnerable. Then, after 5 total hours in the hospital, I was allowed to go home. I crawled into bed and immediately fell asleep. I've been sleeping on and off for the past 12 hours, which is why I am up at 4am to write! I've been feeling inspired.

My spirits are high. Now I see that there really is light at the end of the tunnel, and while it seems like an eternity to me that I had a nasty injury, it was only temporary. It feels so good to be supported by my family, friends and yoga students. Even though I didn't talk about my knee injury much, those who did know have been very kind and helpful in keeping my spirit lifted. I already feel like I've got my life back! Don't worry, I am definitely going to take plenty of time to heal before I jump back into my normal activities, but just knowing I will be all better soon is a huge comfort.

I'll be writing more about my recovery, and other things related to health and wellness, in this blog from now on. It feels so good to write again and share these thoughts and feelings with you.

Love,
Tami

Sunday smoothies

• 1 stalk celery
• 4 large stalks of kale
• 2 bulk carrots
• 2 tablespoons ground chia seeds
• 1/2 banana
• about 12 oz water (I would have used Almond milk, but I'm out. Also, use more or less water to create desired thick or thinness, mine's super thin)

I should warn you that this drink is not sweet at all, but it does taste very clean and healthy. After having a bagel and a latte for breakfast this morning, this tastes like exactly what I need :)

Here's another smoothie idea, which I haven't tried yet, but sounds amazing. The recipe is from my friend, Dana Walters.

• 2 big handfuls spinach
•  half handful parsley
• half handful mint
• 1/3 banana
• heaping tablespoon almond butter
• heaping tablespoon coconut milk
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds

gluten free taquito

 

Last night, I decided I wanted to make some more green chile sauce. I made it for the first time last weekend and it was a huge hit. I loved it, my friends loved it and my husband loved it. I made a double batch and it was more than enough to feed five people and have leftovers for a couple days. I wanted to make sure I had enough for a few days again, so I made another double batch. I really should have taken into consideration that I was feeding five people the first time because I now have so much I am literally going to have to put it on everything I eat until it's gone! But, I don't think that will be a problem. The above photo is what the sauce looks like before it gets all blended up. My husband said, "So it's basically a salad?" Well, I guess it could be seen that way. All of the ingredients are raw, so it's super easy to make, and also pretty inexpensive. I buy as much as I can from the bulk section, and I find that helpful in saving money. 

Here are the ingredients, pulled straight from Kathryn Budig's article on MindBodyGreen:

Green Chili Sauce (raw)

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 to 2 anaheim chilies  - start with one and add more as necessary to reach level of heat
1/4 cup + 2 T olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 + 1/4 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 tsp. red chili flakes
1/2 tsp. pepper

*seeded jalapeno may be substituted for Anaheim chilies

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. 
Chill and enjoy!

After the sauce was made, I needed something to put it on. I know this isn't the healthiest option, so excuse me, but it's what I felt like (plus it was really easy). Let me first explain to you my history with refried beans. 

I've been eating refried beans for about 8 years now. I never really had them as a kid, so I don't know where this obsession came from. I can remember sitting in the couch in my first apartment eating them straight out of the can, and eventually I graduated to heating them in the microwave. Years and years later, I took another leap and started heating them on the stove (once I realized how bad microwaves are). Refried beans were a staple in my diet for a very long time, a complete must-have in my cabinet at all times. In fact, when I had my friends over for dinner last weekend, one of them said, "Remember when you used to eat refried beans everyday?" Of course I remember, it wasn't that long ago. But I really have changed my eating habits immensely since I learned that I actually can cook, and not only that, but I also very much enjoy it. 

Another thing I should explain is that I am a creature of habit when it comes to the food I eat. I will eat a variation of the same thing every day for years. Some of the things I literally ate every single day for at least a couple years in the past include wheat thins, fettucine alfredo lean cuisines, refried beans and iceberg lettuce with Kraft sharp cheddar cheese crumbles (had to be that brand and kind specifically) and croutons with light ranch dressing. Now I realize that those things are not good for me, but can you see how someone with no real knowledge of actual healthy food could be duped? Well, as I very well know now, not all salads are healthy, and lean cuisines and other frozen meals are packed with chemicals. I still eat variations of the same thing every day, but those variations now include grains such as brown rice or quinoa with leafy greens and some sort of vegetable. All fresh and organic. 

I'm currently in this place of trying to get myself healthy. I wouldn't call myself unhealthy, I'm really just trying to get everything in my body working its best. In the past month, I have given up coffee. Holy wow, that's something I never thought I would do, but somehow I don't miss it. When I was working with Hema in LA, we drank tea with almond milk every day and I enjoyed it so much that I brought the tradition home with me. There was one day in LA that I had an Americano (black, as I drink them), but I actually felt better when I drank only tea. I still do caffeine, Earl Grey is my favorite, but I only have one cup (sometimes two) and only in the morning. After noon I switch to decaf or caffeine free. My husband also nixed coffee in favor of tea, so that makes it a really easy change to stick with. Also, after battling digestive issues, I have decided to slash my gluten intake back to nearly none at all. That's one that my cheese pizza and french bread loving husband won't give up, so we still have it in the house. I do, however, feel a lot better when I eat gluten-free, dairy-free food. Which brings me back to last night's dinner- a gluten free, dairy free taquito with green chile sauce.

I used a brown rice wrap from Trader Joe's. I laid it flat and used the back of a spoon to spread a thin layer of my beloved refried beans all over its surface. Make sure it's a thin layer, unless you want a really fat taquito. From there, I put a very small amount of olive oil in a pan and let it heat up. The I laid my glorious little bean pie in the pan, beans up. I gave it just a few minutes to get warm, then I slid it off onto a plate and rolled it up. It was like a magnificent little bean swirl. I dipped it in green chile sauce and loved every bite.

I realize that this blog has been more about food and less about yoga recently, but that's just where I'm at right now. Healthy food and yoga go together so nicely. Everything I post about is so simple, but I post it because I realize there must be other people out there who want to be healthy, but just aren't quite sure where to start. This is why I fell in love so hard with green smoothies, because they're healthy and delicious but I didn't have to cook anything! Just wash everything, toss it in a blender, press a button and voila! The food I make is so simple and tasty and I hope I've inspired you to try it!

quinoa bowl

I am so excited about creating healthy goodness in my kitchen and I can't stop sharing about it! I realized while I was in Los Angeles with Hemalayaa that cooking doesn't need to be complex. In fact, I'm learning that simple is better. This bowl was so easy, so delicious and so nutritious!

• 1/2 cup red quinoa, cooked
• 1/4 bunch of kale (washed, chopped & very lightly sauteed in a very small amount of olive oil)
• 1/2 roma tomato, chopped & uncooked
• 1/2 small zucchini, chopped & uncooked
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• celtic sea salt
• Bragg's liquid aminos

Mmmmmmmmmm!

healthy breakfast bowl

Simple easy breakfast! This took less than 15 minutes to prepare.

3 large red chard leaves (chopped and lightly sauteed in a little bit of olive oil)
2 scrambled eggs
1/2 avocado
handful of walnuts
green chile sauce, celtic sea salt & nutritional yeast flakes sprinkled on top

Just mix everything together & ENJOY!

breakfast

Good Morning!

I am back in Portland this morning after spending 8 days in Los Angeles with Hemalayaa and Diane Hudock. I recently began working as an assistant to these two teachers, so this was a working trip.

First, let me talk a little bit about Diane. Diane is an incredible teacher who has been teaching for nearly two decades. She teaches at Black Dog Yoga in Sherman Oaks and leads a killer class. She's funny (hilarious, really), knowledgeable and offers fantastic adjustments. Seriously, if you're in LA, go to her class.

I spent most of my time in LA with Hemalayaa. We are working on several big projects right now, the largest being a glorious retreat at Calliote Canyon in Ojai in March and the HEMA Wellness Program in May. In between all the work we're putting in for these two projects, we ate, rode our bikes, took walks & hiked in Bronson Canyon. Notice I put the eating part first. I learned so much about cooking from her. If you keep up with this blog, you know that I do not like to cook, but I do love to eat healthy, wholesome food. She taught me that cooking doesn't have to be difficult or intricate to taste really good and be really good for you. This morning for breakfast I made a bowl with brown rice, kale, chard, avocado, egg & walnuts. Seriously, so good. She started a new blog called A Recipe For Better Living where she'll be sharing everything from food recipes to natural remedies. I urge you to check it out.

While I already miss sunny and warm Los Angeles, I can also say that I am happy to be back in Portland with my husband and get back to teaching. I missed it!

Have a splendid week :)