YOGUE: INSIYA RASIWALA-FINN

Yoga + Ayurveda. Rituals for Modern Wellness.

  • About Yogue
  • Yoga + Ayurveda
  • Published Writing
  • Learn
  • Blog
  • Recipes

Gluten Free Goodness: Amaranth Granola

October 12, 2016 by insiyar Leave a Comment

img_8996

I never seem to make enough granola. In our home it disappears in a few days.  As I was digging through my most coveted recipes on this blog, I found this one from the sweet, seaside town of Sayulita, Mexico, where now almost nine years ago we ran one of our amazing Yoga.Ecology.Surf retreats at a secluded retreat centre called Haramara,  It was a perfect post 2010 Winter Olympic respite.  From the snow to the surf.

We practiced in the gorgeous circular shalas overlooking the tropical Pacific Ocean, surfed easy waves and filled our bellies with happy food.

dsc_0114

I looked forward in particular to breakfast every day, and ate copious amounts of this light, yet filling and flavourful granola.  This granola is a speciality of Luis, who was the smiling chef at Harmara that season and is made with amaranth, one of the ancient grains of the planet.  First recorded as being consumed by the Aztecs, amaranth’s iron content exceeds that of whole-grain wheat, it is high in lysine, a beneficial protein, its fibre content has been proven to fight cancer and heart disease.

Amaranth also contains minimal gluten, making this a tasty and nutritionally beneficial way to start your day, espcially if you have a sensitivity to gluten or celiac disease.

Luis graciously parted with his recipe.  Here is my adaptation of the original.

Amaranth Granola

Ingredients:

6 cups popped amaranth
1/6 cup steel cut oats
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1 cup almonds sliced
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup flax seeds
1 cup grated dry coconut
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil
pinch of himalayan sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon and cardamom or 1/2 tsp lavender and cardamom

Method:
Melt the coconut oil until it is liquid.
Mix together all ingredients except raisins.
Toast in oven (160 – 180 degrees C), mix occasionally until golden, this will take anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes depending on your oven, so do watch it carefully.
Add raisins.  Let cool and enjoy.

Notes:
You can store granola in an airtight jar for a few weeks in a cool, dry place.
Ask for “popped” amaranth, you may have to look for it in a latin foods specialty market.  If you can find any online sources, let me know.

Cultivating Gratitude: Why it’s Essential to our Wellbeing.

October 9, 2016 by yogue 16 Comments

Fall-Foliage-Wallpaper1

In Canada, my adopted home country, this is Thanksgiving weekend.  The trees wear their colourful garlands with short lived intensity – soon it will be winter – and our friends and family share laughter and seasonal harvest around their tables.

In Santa Cruz, California, where I currently live; today is a warm 21 + degrees C (80 + for you Fahrenheit folks); we wade in ocean water that is the warmest it has been all year and eat lunch under a cloudless sky. Clouds are unnecessary as the newest Trump scandal clouds all media air waves and conversation.  It does not feel like Thanksgiving.  In fact, it feels like we have much to worry and complain about.

Two nights ago on the eve of my 39th birthday, I was in a funk.  I replayed my list of worries in my head.  The tape ran like this: “I am not sure if we are in the place I want to call home.  Where is home? Why can’t we figure it out, NOW?  Where will we be next year at this time? ” I pushed away the thought of “there are many wonderful people here; our son’s school is amazing and we have slow-melted into this conscious, ocean side community. I love my yoga classes here etc.” Instead I focused on the negative: “I’m not sure if I am living the life I want to live. I am not sure what my contribution in this world right now is etc. etc.”

I played up the negative self chatter.  I wallowed in it and a part of me knew that I wanted to wallow in it.  I know I was in a funk because it was my birthday and I felt a sort of urgency of needing “time” – time away from scheduling life, from washing dishes and organising laundry and childcare and packing lunches and trying desperately to slot in time for yoga and something inspirational – to take stock, to check in with my path and give my life an honest once-over.  You know, the sort of things you think about on your birthdays as you get older.

I sat alone on the couch. My husband was putting our son to bed.  I felt lonely – as though my inner compass had decided to take a hike without me.  On the verge of tears. I let a few out.  Then they rushed out. Uncontrollable soft sobs, until they stopped. And I felt lighter, as though I had released something.  Not everything, but something.  And I slowed down my breathing and told myself I had a lot to be thankful for. A lot to be happy about. I needed to remember what those things were tonight.

I started a list.

  • I have loving, inspiring family and friends around the globe, many of whom I don’t see as often as I would like, but I know we are in one another’s thoughts.
  • I have a beautiful child with a kind, loving man, to whom we are giving a wonderful education.
  • I live by the ocean in a beautiful place. We may not know where we will be next year, but right now, we are here.
  • I am active. I am strong and I am happiest when moving and doing something physical and have always been that way.
  • I get to teach something I love doing for my vocation.  I teach yoga, I write and I inspire people to live their best, healthiest and most peaceful selves.
  • I am alive. I am breathing. I am fully wholly alive. Now, in this moment.  Not the next, but just this one.
  • We are growing a pumpkin in our little garden!
  • I have some amazing skills and talents and I am always open to learning and trying new things.
  • I have goals that I’ve accomplished and those that I still have to.
  • I put my heart into everything I do.
  • I am not perfect and that is ok.

It was a longer list, but these were my initial jottings.  As I wrote, I noticed how things began to shift in my head and in my body.  My shoulders relaxed, as did my jaw.  The space of release did not recede back into negativity. Instead, another voice began to tell me that I was going to be ok.  That life was beautiful and full of challenge all at the same time.  That I was in the thick of it.  That I needed a lot of patience, a lot of communication and focus to make my dreams happen.  That it may take more time. And it was all possible. That tension and worry set up shop in the very muscles, tissues and nerve endings of our body. That I knew through all my years of training in yoga, how to ease it out. That feeling what I felt, was valid, but I also needed to acknowledge that it was exactly that, a feeling.  And feelings are projections of our sensory mind.  The part of ourself controlled by our senses.  And that there was a part of me still beyond that.  More still.  More prescient and more present.

I slowly made my way toward bed. First to my meditation cushion. I lit a candle and I breathed, watching those thoughts, watching those emotions.  That night. I felt huge gratitude. It was in me and around me. It was a reminder that tuning into what we are thankful for is a daily practice, not a once in a year special occasion.

In his book The Buddha’s Brain, Dr. Rick Hansen talks about how we have an inherent negative bias in our neurophysiology.  This has been our body’s way of protecting us from dangerous experiences since millennia. Don’t eat this plant (you may die if you do), eat that one instead etc..   Our tendency as humans is to collect and stick with negative emotions and experiences, even when most of our experiences are actually positive.

To maintain equilibrium takes constant, minute by minute work. Hansen says that we need to revel in the positive experiences. To remember them fully.  In our lives as goal-oriented, hyper achieving individuals, we are not good at celebrating our wins.  But the more we do this, the more happy neural connections we build in our brains.  This in turn has huge benefits on our overall health and vitality.

Meditation helps and so does yoga.  But in my experience, a daily gratitude journal is key to staying on your path toward happiness.

Here are two simple daily exercises that you can include in your life. I hope that they offer you some benefit and inspiration.

  1. Daily Gratitude Journal
    Keep a journal beside your bed just for this purpose! Write a list of five things you are grateful for that day.  Keep it as simple and short or as long as you would like to.  It could be something that occurred as a result of something you were working on, or just something beautiful about the weather, as in , the sunset was stunning tonight.  Anything that lit you up. Be honest. Don’t create a fake feeling about something. Instead try to look at your day and your thoughts and emotions reacting to situations or people with some objectivity.thankful_journal_thrive_pink_angle
  2. A Rose and a Thorn
    We play this game at our dinner table almost nightly.  Sometimes we need a reminder from our 5 year old who loves it.  We ask one another. “What is a rose from your day today and what is a thorn?” It is a wonderful way to look at both a positive experience and a negative experience from our day with objectivity and realism.  Inevitably what I’ve found, is that the negative incident loses its edge just a bit and I am always left with more of a sense of equilibrium. And equilibrium is an open gateway toward happiness.10560587156_78a0ee5eba_b

     

    I hope that you have a wonderful long weekend.  Thanks for reading and and if you have any thoughts about these suggestions please do leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

 

 

Honey, Honey… an easy Ayurvedic face mask

January 5, 2016 by insiyar Leave a Comment

51bcb323d9127e2668001407._w.540_s.fit_

For clear soft skin with a lot of sweetness.
Who said you’ve got to quit sugar after the holidays.  This simple face mask has the healing and sweet benefits of raw honey and turmeric and the goodness of fresh cream – if you’re vegan use some coconut cream instead.

Sip some warm tea, light a candle and take 5 minutes for yourself.  You deserve it. Relax. This ayurvedic inspired facial mask will feed your skin and prolong that happy holiday glow. Beware, this tastes delicious but try to save it for your face and not your lips 🙂

Ayurvedic Honey Face Mask

Ingredients:

  • Pure local (organic + raw) honey – 2 tbsp
  • turmeric – dried, 1/2 tsp
  • cream – 1 tbsp  – fresh from the top of non-homogenized milk / or plain thick yoghurt or coconut cream.

Mix thoroughly until smooth and pat onto your face. Raw honey is full of antioxidants and turmeric is both an immune booster and an anti-bacterial, while the cream will soften your skin and make it all glowy. Enjoy.

 

Ayurvedic Immunity Tea

November 3, 2015 by insiyar 11 Comments

Immunity Tea

Ayurvedic Immunity Tea… mmmm delicious

Hello from Santa Cruz, California, where my husband, son and I have now been living for over a year.  If you’ve followed my travels at all over the fledgling course of this blog you will know that this is a milestone in what has been our peripatetic gypsy life of the past seven or eight years, or ever since we got hitched! 

So far, Santa Cruz is treating to surf, sunshine and an embracing yoga community – plus our son loves it here – especially our little beach house and his constant joy at being able play with his toys in one place, vs. taking only a few in a suitcase! – and most importantly (I think) – he has a little band of friends and loves both them and his school.  

Yet even in this land of golden sunshine, Fall has arrived with even a few, short rainstorms, which prompted me to share some thoughts – inspired by a wisdom tradition I study: Ayurveda – on the changing season and how we can best sustain our immunity during these months of turning toward greater darkness.  

According to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian philosophy of life, health and healing, Fall or Autumn is a time when the force of the Vata dosha (or bio-energy) – Vata translates as wind/air or space; is at its highest.  To understand the quality of Vata, consider the quickness and coolness of autumn wind, the drying out quality of Fall,  the leaves which start to lose their green vitality and juiciness and begin to prepare for a winter of sleep.  You can also feel it in swift temperature changes throughout the day – the mornings and nights are cold here while during the middle of the day the sun is strident. The quickness of these changes can destabilise our physiology say the Ayurvedic sages and doctors – which is why – fall is traditionally seen as a time when it is easy for us to fall ill.  If you think about the onset of winter cold and flu season, it generally begins right now and in Ayurvedic terms, this happens when we allow the instability and erratic-ness of Vata to destabilise us.  

How can we allay the effects of this season and stay healthy?  It’s more simple than you think.  Since Vata is all about change-ability – we can counter that with it’s opposite: routine.  This is a time when we both need to and can detoxify our bodies and minds by following a routine of gentle, sustained exercise such as yoga, healthful, whole foods and a regular sleep schedule.  The more routine we can establish, the easier it will be for our bodies and minds to regulate and sustain our immunity as we make way for the cooler months to come.  Plus if you look after yourself now, you can enjoy the festive season so much more.  For more on a daily Ayurvedic routine, check this post out here on Dinacharya. 

Detoxifying the liver is ideal now – as the liver has been working hard for us all year and needs some extra love. Here’s a simple recipe containing three powerful, immune superstar herbs that act together to support liver detoxification.  According to traditional chinese medicine, the liver is most active between 1 and 3 a.m. and so it’s beneficial to drink this tea before bedtime.  Honestly, I love it in the mornings also! Turmeric is known as both an anti-carcinogen and an anti-inflammatory; and works closely with black pepper which stimulates digestion and cleanses the body of excess kapha dosha (the watery/heaviness that can cause colds and excess mucous in our bodies).  Ginger with its pungent kick is wonderful for improving circulation and warming the body.  And the lemon and maple syrup add a delicious lift.

Fresh cut organic ginger

This recipe is adapted from Get it Ripe, a wonderful vegan cookbook by Toronto/Montreal based holistic nutritionist Jae Steele.  My lovely friend Jen from Centre Luna Yoga in Montreal, shared the book with me and it is definitely one of my kitchen staples.  This recipe is common in Ayurvedic cuisine.  Turmeric, black pepper and ginger were essential ingredients in my grandmother’s, mother’s and any Indian/ Ayurvedic kitchen!

Recipe:

  • 1 tsp grated turmeric root or 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp grated ginger root or 1/2 tsp dried ground ginger
  • 2 – 3 twists of black pepper (from a pepper mill)
  • 1 1/2 cups filtered water
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 2 tsp maple syrup or to taste (you can use raw honey also, but be sure to let the tea cool a little bit before adding the honey)

Method:

Combine turmeric, ginger, black pepper and water in a saucepan on medium-high heat.  (If you use turmeric powder, you can also toast the powder on a dry skillet for 30 seconds to a minute and allow it to get toasty and warm before you add it to the pot of water).  Allow the mixture of herbs to simmer for 5 – 10 minutes; be careful not to boil. Strain and pour into a mug, add lemon juice and maple syrup to taste, stir and enjoy.  

notes:
* ps. Turmeric stains a bright yellow so be careful with your countertops, clothing, dishtowels etc. I once had a security deposit deducted from a rent check as I left a turmeric stain on a kitchen countertop! 🙁  In fact turmeric is also used as a natural dye. If you have a glass saucepan, and a glass mug, use them as the colour won’t stain the glass.

** Be sure to use organic ingredients and non-irradiated spices.

Namaste + enjoy.

Insiya.

Khichadi: the Ultimate Winter Comfort Food

November 10, 2014 by yogue 4 Comments

Processed with VSCOcam with g1 preset

“Cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love.” Craig Claiborne

If you don’t “cook” daily or often, cooking can often seem so laborious.  Yet if you look at it as a way of creating nourishment for yourself and those you love, it becomes an act of mindfulness.

Here’s what I love about cooking.

It’s focused alchemy.  You take a few ingredients, you add heat, or some other force, a lot of LOVE – and magic (usually) happens.  And you know what, it’s grounding.

[Read more…]

nagnAta: luxe fashion for the Gypset Yogini

August 14, 2014 by yogue 1 Comment

nagnAta_x_akila_1

Why do we travel if not to seek the deeper meaning of life?  And yet so often, when we embark on our spiritual journey, we realise that the answers to those big questions lie right here.

It’s a paradox isn’t it?
Yet travel and the freedom that it offers, the freedom to explore new frontiers without and within is at the heart of it.
nagnAta, which means “Naked Wanderer” is an eco-Yoga lifestyle company from Byron Bay, Australia that is inspired by the nomadic muse of travel: its ability to offer inspiration, fuel creativity and embrace the sensuous freedom in life.
The label’s beautiful, handcrafted designs – currently a collection of yoga mat bags made from vibrant, vintage silk saris and quilts from Rajasthan, India that are rebirthed into modern, bohemian creations, and help to sustain ancient weaving techniques and preserve the culture of indigenous craftsmanship – drew me in.  As well I was inspired by the company’s ideals to weave together worlds of creativity, tradition, sustainability and innovation offering a style befitting the modern day yogini.
I wanted to kick off the first of the YOGUE Style Files: a series of interviews with independent designers and makers who are inspired by their yoga practice to create.  Please read on for a lively conversation about yoga, ethics, creativity and entrepreneurship with the founders of nagnAta: Holly Dixon and and Laura May Gibbs.  I know that you will enjoy the interview and the lush images all by nagNata.  At the end, you’ll also find a special offer, exclusive to YOGUE readers.  
Please leave your comments. As always, I love to hear from you.  
Namaste + Aloha,
Insiya
——————————————————————————————————————————————————-

[Read more…]

Dinacharya: Essential Daily Ayurvedic Practices to stay Vital, Joyful + Balanced

August 9, 2014 by yogue 7 Comments

flower offering, india

Flower offerings, India

Hello dear readers, I’m finally back in one of my favourite cities in the world, Vancouver, BC.  Honestly, there is almost no other place I would rather be in the summer.  It is the one season we forget the damp, cool, rainy climes of the North West and embrace the seemingly endless days of sunshine with abandon and joy.

Today, I bicycled with my son on the back seat to his favourite beach park in Kitsilano and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling a toothy, happy smile. It wasn’t just the wind blowing through my hair, or the ocean breeze. Deep inside, I felt, amidst all the movement of travel that I’ve experienced since you last heard from me, that I had once again re-found a sense of stillness.

Perhaps my conversation this morning with one of my dear teachers, the amazing, inspiring Ayurveda teacher Robert Svoboda helped, but so did this feeling that I was once again in flow.

photo 12

Morning sun salutations, Bali.

That’s why I want to share some of my essential tips to find this sense of vitality, nourishment and aliveness daily.   [Read more…]

How to Give Green Smoothies the Ayurvedic Green Light

July 1, 2014 by yogue 13 Comments

Processed with VSCOcam with c2 preset

If you follow my instagram feed, you may notice that I often post pictures of some of my cold-pressed juice and smoothie concoctions.  What you may also know about me is that I study Ayurveda, the ancient philosophy of healing from India, which offers practical advice on every aspect of our lives, but specifically how we can be well so that we can live fulfilled, happy lives.

What does this have to do with green smoothies? Well, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that green smoothies and green juices and juice cleanses are trendy and seen as the ultimate hip and skinny card everywhere from LA to Mumbai. Now, you may, by their very virtue of being green, consider green smoothies to be healthy.  And I don’t blame you.  I would. After all, they are jam-packed with fibrous green veggies, fresh fruit and immune boosting, antioxidant super foods.  And all in a delicious blend of drinkable goodness.  How on earth could your body not want to down that?

Well, according to Ayurveda, green smoothies may actually be impairing your health, not enhancing it. Here are a couple of things you may want to consider before you down your next green drink.

18221-1_n

Green smoothies often call for ice, or are served cold.

1. While your green smoothie may be full of nutrients, your body may not be able to absorb them.  

This is partly dependent on the “quality” of the ingredients as well as the strength of your internal digestive fire or agni. Green smoothies tend to be served and drunk cold – many recipes call for chilled water, frozen fruit and ice, so they are cold in quality. Also, fibrous vegetables such as celery or broccoli as well as leafy greens such as kale and spinach can be dry and rough on the digestive system – they require more moistness to be digested – think about how delicious kale sautéed in olive or coconut oil is and how different it feels in your belly vs eating a piece of raw, fresh from the fridge kale. Further, fruit is sweet, and sweet things according to Ayurveda especially when cold, can also dampen our Agni or digestive fire. over time, if you have a weak digestive system to begin with, drinking cold, sweet green smoothies will impair your digestion and you will feel an increase of the cold, dry vata quality or dosha, which as it promotes a sense of unevenness or variability, can lead to a feeling of gas, bloating;as well as dryness of the skin, hair, brittleness of the nails and cracking of the joints.

BowlOfKaleOnWoodTable-850x400

Kale is a cruciferous, fibrous vegetable that can be rough and dry on our digestive system. Photo via mindbodygreen.com

2. Too much raw food can decrease your vitality or OJAS:

Many raw food enthusiasts can attest to the vitalising, energetic effects of eating only raw foods. It’s almost euphoric and to be honest, when I tried to “go raw” for some time, I felt some of that clarity and lightness. But over time, this can deplete not just our fat tissues but also deeper tissues that provide structure and stability to our bodies and minds from the inside out.  In Ayurveda, we call this rooted sense of vitality Ojas. We’re talking literally about the marrow in our bones, our reproductive/ sexual tissue and our nerves. And we definitely don’t want to deplete our Ojas. We want to nourish it.

Processed with VSCOcam with g1 preset

3. Green smoothies confuse our digestive system:

Our Agni likes simplicity, especially in a complicated world.  Ayurvedic cleanses suggest that we go on a mono-diet of a simple rice/lentil soupy stew called khichadi.  Meanwhile green smoothies are often chock full of various ingredients and fortified with super foods. Dense, heavy foods are hard for our bodies to make sense of.  While the blending action does help with “pre-digestion” it is not the same as cooking fresh vegetables together in a light soup with warming spices, where they actually have time to meld their disparate qualities together and offer a more cohesive, nourishing meal for our bodies.

So, have I turned you off from green smoothies?   That is not my intention! I love a green smoothie now and then, especially in the summer and also as a way to get in a dose of greens into my toddler.

Here are some Ayurvedic inspired tips to make your next green smoothie delicious, nutritious and digestible so that your unique body and mind feels alive, vital and grounded.  I’ve also shared a recipe for my current favourite summer green smoothie.

28837-1_n

Makeover your Green Smoothie:

1. Warm it up:

Keep ingredients at room temperature, or even use warm water, or a slightly warmed nut milk or whatever liquid you are using as a base.

2. Use fresh produce,

or as close to fresh ingredients as possible. (And ideally, of course, organic).

3. Spice it up:

Add lemon, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, cardamom or cinnamon, all of which are warming in their quality and will help to “heat” up the other ingredients and so make them more digestible.

4. Minimize the sugar: 

Use less fruit so you avoid the added dampening effects of the sweet taste.  You’ll be surprised at how little sweet you need, when the ingredients are simple and delicious.  FYI, raw honey is considered to have a “warming effect” according to ayurveda and if you do need a little bit of sweetness, this is the sweet I would recommend. I also like vanilla bean, and cinnamon both of which add a sweet flavour.

5. Keep it simple.  

Use just a few veggies, maybe one type of fruit, and instead of filling up on the super foods, choose one and see how your body feels with it.  Also notice how much more flavourful and interesting things taste when you don’t combine too much.

6. Get fatty:

Use a good fats for digestibility and slow absorption of the nutrients. Cold pressed coconut oil and avocado are nice options.

7. Become besties with your digestive system: 

Get to know it intimately. Is it strong and fiery, or variable, or is it slow and consistent? If you have a fiery, fast digestion, chances are that you will be able to digest a green smoothie pretty easily.  If your digestion however is slower, or more variable, you may need to amp up the warming herbs and also make a lighter, simpler concoction.  Also, alternating warming, herbal teas, or just warm water, when you sip a smoothie, even in the summer may be a good thing for you to do to balance your system out more.

8. Consider the when and the where: 

Everything in Ayurveda is connected to our larger environment.  For example, would drinking a cool smoothie be better for you in the heat of the summer or on a wintry cold day? In the tropics or in rainy Ireland? Early in the morning, or later in the day, when the sun is stronger? You probably figured out the answer. Yes, summer in the tropics and later in the morning is probably the best time and place to drink a cool, green smoothie and to have more raw vegetables in our diet.

I have had to work hard to cultivate a stronger digestive fire or agni, which is why I pay such stringent attention to what and how I drink and eat.  It’s pretty much essential for me to stay healthy.

On that note, here is my current favourite summer smoothie.  I’ve also offered variations so you can switch it up. It is a delicious blend of mostly greens with some lemon / lime to help with digestion, ginger, and pear which is such a lovely summer fruit.  You could also substitute with green apple, or other seasonal fruit of your choice. I chose spirulina as an additional “superfood” as it has amazing detoxifying and antioxidant benefits and is a good, easily absorbable source of iron.  I also love how a little bit in a smoothie adds a nice ocean seaweed-y taste. Feel free to vary this recipe by cutting out the avocado if you find it to be too thick, using water instead of coconut water and even adding cinnamon or fresh mint leaves. Mostly, enjoy it, taste it and see how it feels in your belly.

Wave Rider: An Ayurvedic Summer Green Smoothie.

Ingredients:

  • 1 organic pear (or green apple, or even a delicious summer nectarine): sliced or diced
  • 1 organic lime or lemon: peeled / squeeze in the juice
  • 1/2 organic avocado: sliced or diced
  • 6 – 8 organic spinach or 4 – 5 kale leaves
  • 1 to 2 tsp spirulina 1 cup water or coconut water: in Canada, i use the Cocos Pure cans as i like their clean taste.
  • 1 tsp cold pressed organic coconut oil
  • 1/4″ grated organic ginger or ginger chunk  (if you need a little more heat, add a bit more to taste)
  • Optional: a pinch of cardamom powder and some bee pollen to sprinkle on top before drinking.

Blend all ingredients together in a blender.  Add some more water if it is a bit too thick.  Taste for sweetness, if needed, add a tiny bit of honey and enjoy this deliciousness a little later in the morning, when the sun is high. Namaste + Happy Summer and I hope you’ve had a wonderful start to the week. Insiya

ps. I found 2 great posts on the blogosphere discussing the same topic with a similar viewpoint and i wanted to share them.  Check them out especially the first one as they provide some valuable background info.
From Mudita Institute in Byron Bay, Australia:
From Daily Ayurveda

Jet Plane Parenting for Modern Yogis

June 29, 2014 by yogue 10 Comments

681x454

There is an Arabic saying that the soul travels at the pace of a camel. While most of our self is led by the strict demands of timetables and diaries, our soul, the seat of the heart, trails nostalgically behind, burdened by the weight of memory.
– Alain De Botton

 

You could say that the paradox of modern travel is that while the soul travels at the pace of a camel, our bodies travel at the speed of a jet plane. Since March of this year, I have flown to Bali, Indonesia; from Bali to Sydney, then to Perth and Margaret River in Australia; to Singapore; back to Bali, then Hong Kong, then Vancouver and finally our coastal paradise of Ucluelet / Tofino; which is currently home.

I know I’m exhausted just writing this. But, the trip lasted 3 months and we traveled with our 3 year old son. And if you want your soul to linger longer in one spot, hang out with a child who demands your full presence.

[Read more…]

Almond Mylk: at home and on the road

May 16, 2014 by yogue 11 Comments

photo 1

I love almond milk.  

I find it to be the perfect base for smoothies, to pour over home made granola and to use as a base in raw desserts and soups.  However, I decided a few years ago that store bought almond milk just wasn’t cutting it.  It was bland; when you drank it just by itself you realised that it didn’t even taste like almonds; plus the “original” or “vanilla” flavours are super high in sugar.  All this made sense when I looked at the ingredient list and saw that actual almonds amounted to less than 8% of the “almond milk,” while a bunch of unpronounceable preservatives and added synthetic vitamins constituted the rest.

[Read more…]

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 10
  • Next Page »
Yoga + Ayurveda. Rituals for Modern Wellness
ABOUT YOGUE Hi, I'm Insiya. Journey with me as we live slow, scatter beauty and tread lightly on the planet.
CONTACT YOGUE | LINKS | SUBSCRIBE
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

Recipes

Spiced Apple Almond Muffins

Spiced Apple Almond Muffins

January 17, 2019

Simple Spiced Summer Oatmeal

Simple Spiced Summer Oatmeal

August 16, 2018

Ayurvedic Chai: My Favorite Recipe

Ayurvedic Chai: My Favorite Recipe

August 16, 2017