My Top 5 Gift Picks For The Yogi in Your Life

Thank you www.yogadudes.com for this image! Check out their site for more great yoga gifts.

Whether the yogi on your shopping list is just starting out or a full blown yoga goddess, here are five gift ideas you can't go wrong with...

• A subscription to Yogaglo. For only $18 a month, this is a wonderful gift for a yogi of any level. The subscription includes unlimited access to hundreds, probably more like thousands of yoga classes ranging in length from 5-90 minutes. You can take meditation classes, classes for a sore back, classes to kick your ass, classes for injured shoulders, the list just goes on and on. Plus, the teachers are phenomenal (Kathryn Budig, Tiffany Cruikshank, Elena Brower, Jason Crandell and many more). 
• A nice yoga mat. I would never splurge on a nice mat for myself, but I sure didn't mind using a gift card I got for Christmas last year on one (two, actually)! I recommend anything by Manduka. Of course there are other great brands too, I just happen to be the author of this blog and my preference is Manduka ;) I own the Black Mat Pro ($94) and the eKO Lite ($46). You can read more information and my review of these mats here. If you're yogi is extra tall, Manduka also makes an extra long mat. Perfect!
• A high quality blender. I hear great things about the Vitamix, but I have this Kitchenaid ($130) that I've never had a complaint about. I use it almost daily for smoothies and have also used it to make sauces and soup. In my opinion, no kitchen is complete without one of these.
• A beautiful mala from Tiny Devotions. They have so many malas, you are sure to find the perfect one. I love this one, called the Tiffany Cruishank mala. 10% of the proceeds go directly to The Girl Effect, an effort to end poverty and sex slavery for adolescent girls worldwide.
• A pair of Lululemon Wunder Unders. These leggings are great for yoga, lounging, hiking, wearing under snow pants, dresses... I really love them. At $82, they're a bit spendy, but they're comfortable, durable and oh so versatile. What more could you ask for? They come in a rainbow of colors, but if you're in doubt, go for the plain black. Classic.

easy, healthy and tasty recipe

This, my friends, is what I like to call a yum yum bowl. There are no specific ingredients, I just use whatever I have. It's called a yum yum bowl because, well, it's really yummy and also really good for you. Both body and mind are satisfied by a yum yum bowl. Typically they contain short grain brown rice/quinoa (either or, sometimes both), kale & a veggie or two. Sometimes I throw in nuts or seeds too (like today). I share this with you because, as I've mentioned before, I never cooked or even felt inspired to try it until this past January when I was visiting a friend in Los Angeles. She inspired me to the core and taught me that healthy cooking doesn't need to be complicated. My hope is that someone else who hates to cook or doesn't know how, but wants to eat nutritious and nourishing foods, will see this and be inspired the same way I was. Here's how to make this little gem (serves two):

Start by preheating your oven to 350. Wash your (organic) yam and chop it into little chunks. Put it in on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil (coconut oil works too) then sprinkle it with cinnamon (you can leave that out, but it's a powerful anti-inflammatory so I like to always add it). Mix it all together with your hands and toss it in the oven for 35 minutes.

Boil 1 cup of water, then add 1/2 cup of brown rice or quinoa. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer. Rice takes about 30-35 minutes to cook, quinoa takes less. So easy... once it's soaked up all the water, its done.

While all that's going on, wash and slice a zucchini (organic!) and wash and chop your kale. Any sort of organic kale will do. I like a lot of kale in my yum yum bowls so I used 4 leaves. Then get a pan, put a little olive oil in it and put it on the stove. Once the yam has about 10 minutes left, I turn the heat on medium/low and toss the zucchini in. After a few minutes I turn the heat down to low and when there's just about 2 minutes left, I put the kale in. I like my greens and veggies very lightly sauteed, really just warmed up. Once you add everything to your yum yum bowl, the heat of the rice or quinoa will make it wilt a little too, so don't overdo it in the pan.

Lastly, once everything is done put the rice in your bowl, then add your kale and zucchini, then the yam, sprinkle with sea salt (I love Selina Naturally's Celtic Sea Salt) and put a small handful of raw sunflower seeds in too. Then mix it all together and enjoy!

Other things I like to add to yum yum bowls:

• walnuts
• nutritional yeast flakes
• avocado
• fresh lemon juice
• almonds
• red, yellow or orange bell peppers
• yellow squash
• garlic
• beans would be good, but I don't eat them
• beets
• green onion

Another perk... this dish is naturally free of gluten & dairy.

current class schedule

It's a really good thing I'm better at teaching yoga than I am at keeping up with this blog. Here's my current class schedule...

Monday
12:00 Adidas (vinyasa)
5:00-6:15 Yoga Pearl (vinyasa, subbing for Sarah Lakey through mid-November)

Tuesday
5:30 Adidas (yoga for runners)
7:00 Sunset Community Yoga (gentle/restorative)

Wednesday
7:00 24 Hour Fitness McLoughlin (vinyasa)

Thursday
5:30 Adidas (yoga for runners)
7:30 24 Hour Fitness Pearl District (vinyasa)

Friday
6:00-7:15 Yoga Pearl (power vinyasa)

new playlist

This is a new playlist I made for a 75 minute vinyasa class. If I had to describe its overall vibe in two words, I'd use ambient and chill. Not upbeat, but not going to put you to sleep, either (until you hit savasana!).

Jonathan Goldman: Waters of Life / Sacral
The XX: Angels
The Album Leaf: On a Plain (Nirvana cover)
The XX: Tides
Phaeleh: Afterglow
Yael Naim: Toxic (Britney Spears cover)
Thievery Corporation: The Moon, The Sky
Phaeleh: Should Be True
The XX: Try
The American Dollar: DEA (Ambient)
Maxence Cyrin: Where Is My Mind (Pixies cover)
Jonsi & Alex: Indian Summer
Rara Avis: Om Prana

class schedule this week

Monday (7/30)
12:00-1:00 / Adidas (vinyasa)
5:00-6:15 / Yoga Pearl (vinyasa)

Tuesday (7/31)
9:30-11:00 / Yoga Pearl (power vinyasa)
2:00-3:00 / Yoga Pearl (community vinyasa $10)
5:30-6:30 / Adidas (vinyasa)
7:15-8:15 / Sunset Community Yoga

Wednesday (8/1)
7:00-8:00pm / 24 Hour Fitness McLoughlin (vinyasa)

Thursday (8/2)
2:00-3:00 / Yoga Pearl (vinyasa
5:30-6:30 / Adidas (vinyasa)
7:30-8:30 / 24 Hour Fitness Pearl (vinyasa)

Friday (8/3)
12:00-1:00 / Adidas (vinyasa)
6:15-7:30 / Yoga Pearl (power vinyasa)

A few smoothie-making tips

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of green smoothies. Here are some quick and easy tips for creating the perfect blend of nutrition and taste:

• Cut the dairy! Instead of using milk or yogurt in your smoothies, try using an alternative milk such as rice, hemp, coconut, almond or soy (non gmo). You could also try coconut water, or even plain water works just fine. Obviously, the more liquid you put in the blender, the thinner your drink will be. Dairy interferes with your body's absorption of iron, plus there are plenty of ways to get calcium without ingesting dairy.

 

• Buy organic. Yes, it really does make a difference and yes, it really is worth the extra money. Would you really want to eat something that not even a bug would eat? Or would you want to eat something that would kill a bug? Would you spray Raid on your salad? I think not. Here's a list that you should be familiar with- the clean fifteen and the dirty dozen:

• Add lots of leafy greens. Today I threw in a large handful of spinach and 4 leaves of kale. Yum!

• Add nutrient-dense foods. Blueberries, spinach, kale, avocado, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, strawberries & tomatoes are all great in smoothies and their nutrition content is through the roof.

• Make sure you're using ingredients that you like and enjoy. Sounds like a no-brainer, but if you really hate bananas, don't add them to your smoothies!

• Buy fresh fruits and veggies, or pick your own if you can. I live in Oregon where there's an abundance of farmer's markets and pick-your-own farms. Instead of buying a bag of frozen fruit, I buy it fresh, cut it and freeze it myself. Usually, I don't even freeze my fruit, as I prefer to buy it in smaller quantities and use it before it goes bad. If you like your smoothies chilled, toss a few ice cubes in the blender- I find that 3-5 cubes will do the trick.

• Coconut oil rocks (click here to find out why). I add a spoonful to most of my smoothies. Another quick tip- lightly saute kale with a little bit of coconut oil, add sea salt and enjoy. So good!

• Try throwing some avocado in your smoothies. They have a nice, creamy consistency (use 1/4 - 1/2) and also have health benefits out the wazoo. Avocados aid in the prevention of several types of cancer and are loaded with vitamin E, potassium, magnesium & healthy fats. Plus, they taste fantastic. Kathryn Budig agrees.

• Don't be afraid to experiment. Tiffany Cruikshank wrote, "If you spent some time at my house you would know that when I make my smoothie in the morning I pretty much throw the entire veggie drawer in there." I have been known to do that myself. Sometimes, my smoothies look more brown than green, but it's not due to a lack of greens!

I never follow a specific recipe when making my smoothies. I do follow somewhat of a formula, but it's not an exact science. If you're new to the health smoothie world, I would recommend starting with 8-12 ounces of almond milk, a handful of greens, some fresh fruit and a spoonful of seeds (hemp, pumpkin, chia, etc). As your palate adjusts, you can try adding more veggies and less fruit.

Summer Class Schedule

Monday:
Adidas 12:00pm

Tuesday:
Yoga Pearl (90 minute Power Vinyasa) 9:30am (subbing for Nikki Weaver)
Yoga Pearl (60 minute Community Vinyasa $10) 2:00pm (subbing for Nikki Weaver)
Adidas 5:30pm
Sunset Community Yoga 7:15pm ($10, email me for more information)

Wednesday:
McLoughlin 24 7:00pm

Thursday:
Yoga Pearl (90 minute Power Vinyasa) 9:30am (subbing for Nikki Weaver)
Yoga Pearl (60 minute Community Vinyasa $10) 2:00pm (subbing for Nikki Weaver)
Adidas 5:30pm
Pearl 24 7:30pm