Food For Thought

“By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness”

-The Yoga Sutras By Patanjali

The Yoga Sutras are a reading requirement for my 200 hour certification and this one has been by far my favorite. Any moment that I feel anxiousness or irritability towards another human being this sutra comes to mind and bring me the tools I need to carry out the interaction.

Sometimes cultivating these emotions when our ego wants us to feel something else is hard. But in the long term shutting the ego down is what helps us live the life we want and deserve.

Be happy for those happy people instead of trying to bring them down.

Feel compassion for the unhappy and hope that they find happiness again.

Feel delight in the virtuous, they are a reflection of what you can achieve, they are the ones who give you the fire to achieve it.

And my personal favorite, disregard the wicked.

I invite you to write this down, keep it in your back pocket, and remember it when you encounter one of the four of these people.

Daily Inspiration-Affirmations

What a powerful affirmation.

This one was made by my favorite yoga teacher, Kathryn Budig. She is the wonderful mind behind a Vinyasa flow called Aim True. Besides the amazing archery based sun salutations, the idea is that everyday you make an intention or affirmation to help you reach your goals. These intentions and affirmations help you keep your eye on the target and can help you stay true to what your heart and soul actually wants out of life.

I feel as though this affirmation can be used daily. To see things with loving eyes helps you to become less hurt when people cast judgment upon you or are rude to you. When you see things with loving eyes you are seeing the story behind the actions. This may be difficult at first but it is all a part of acting mindfully.

Acting to not react.

For example, when someone casts judgement upon you or says something purposely to hurt you. Simply remind yourself that this person is projecting onto you. It is them that feels this way about themselves. It is no secret that misery loves company. Don’t join them, don’t react. Somewhere in this persons life they are feeling a lack of love and usually that lack of love is coming from themselves.

Look inside,

breathe,

remind yourself why it isn’t true,

and send them the light and love that they are missing. 

Daily Inspiration

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?” 
― Rumi

I really liked this quote today.

As a sensitive person I often fall victim to criticism or comparing myself to others. These past couple of months I have been able to get in touch with that on a deeper level and instead of being wounded or hurt by it, I learn from it and rise above it.

In every situation, especially the difficult ones, there is a lesson to be learned. Sometimes it can be really hard to see that lesson. That’s why I usually just straight up ask. I say “God, Universe, Spirit, What are you trying to tell me?” And usually the message comes out clearer. I know this sounds crazy, but I swear it really works.

This week those lessons have been coming out through my lectures at school. Tuesday I was feeling frazzled and stressed, while considering my mental health day Wednesday we discussed Existential Psychology in class and how important it is to have a balance between structure and freedom. My life with school and work revolves around structure, what my mind and soul needed was a little bit of freedom, so I took it.

Yesterday I was in an interesting mood AGAIN. And in my lecture, ran by the same amazing teacher, we discussed how neuroticism is manifested in our early developmental period. Usually I think to myself “Great, I am crazy” but he began to talk about the resilient people who come out of not so stellar situations. From just a few examples that he gave, I put myself in that category. It was a great reminder to appreciate myself, where I have come from, and to give myself some credit for all that I am doing. 

So although criticism and comparisons will come and go it’s important to remember that once they do come to look inside yourself and think about how you can grow from the experience. How can you handle this criticism better? But also better yet, how are you already great? 

The Importance of Personal Days

After a frazzled and stressful Tuesday I decided to take a personal day on Wednesday. This sounded strange to some and I found myself internally defending why personal days are so important for our psyche.

In Existential psychology one personal need that they look at to be fulfilled is your ability to experience freedom. Do you have a balance between your organized schedule and your freedom? Most of us don’t. It reminds me of the extremes that I spoke about in my last article for Elephant Journal. We don’t know how to live in balanced harmony.

I know that it can be hard to call into work and tell them you need a personal day. You may feel like they will laugh in your face. So think about your situation. If you have something major going on in your life you would be showing yourself tremendous self love to say “you know what, I need a day to gather myself.” If you feel like a personal day can wait then cancel your plans on a Saturday or Sunday and let the day lead you. Do the things that you love. Read, sleep, visit family, exercise, spend time outside, have a delicious lunch. Make the day about you and your happiness. Personal days are meant to help re-charge our batteries.

I understand that this can be hard when you have children. But consider your options before you call it a loss. You could call in a babysitter for the day or make your kids a part of the personal day. Take them to the park with you, watch a movie together, play in the yard, or go out for a fun lunch. No schedule (besides family nap time :), all spontaneous.

A tight, rigorous schedule can cause order amid chaos but it can also become such a habit that whatever you do is scheduled and planned. When we do this we are projecting our need for control which causes the body stress. Our psyche needs some spontaneity, it excites your nervous system, in a good way. Even if its the little things. Saying no just once to the simplest act can be spontaneous enough. By doing this you are showing yourself support.

After my personal day yesterday I feel charged and more alive. And now I am ready to tackle the rest of the week and the rest of my semester.

What would you do on a personal day? How can you create personal moments throughout your day?

Tuesday Inspiration

Unless someone can look into the core of your heart

And see the degree of your passion

Or look into the depths of your soul

And see the extent of your will

Then they have no business telling you what you can or cannot achieve

Because while they may know the odds

They don’t know you

Nor do they know the power of your angels

Aim True Yoga Challenge

Aim True to your dreams and what lies in your heart. Always.

Please ‘Like’ my photo (the one above:) on Pinterest for Kathryn Budig’s Aim True Yoga Challenge!

Love. Happiness. And Health. Always.

A Day On My Plate

If you follow me on Instagram you know how much I like to take pretty pictures of my food. I don’t like to overwhelm people though, so I only post my favorites. So today I thought I would give you a run through of a typical workday for me.

Tuesdays I work in NYC from 8-4 then head straight home to make it to class in Westchester by 6:30. With all this running around I had to develop a system with foods that were easy to bring with me on the go.

Each morning I always start with a travel mug of warm water with lemon or green tea with lemon. This is so easy to make, helps continue the detoxing from the night before, and gets my digestion ready for bigger and better things. I drink this while I am on the train writing in my gratitude journal.

Since I am on the go and out the door by 6:45, I don’t have the time or the cahunas to wake my building up just to make my own juice. So I improvise. Although this isn’t organic, I swing by the Starbucks in Grand Central and pick up an Evolution Sweet Greens juice. I drink this once I get to work.

About a half hour after I have my juice I am ready for my oatmeal! I eat this almost every single morning and is so easy to throw together. Its 1/4 cup of oats (or homemade granola), covered in almond milk, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, and strawberries or blueberries. By the time I get to work it is so thick because of the chia seeds and so delicious from all the flavors absorbing each other.

Although I don’t have a picture of it. Monday’s I have cabbage and brown rice. Sometimes I put a side of hummus with this or avocado or babaganoush. The rest of the days of the week I have a salad that consists of romaine, avocado, tomatoes, and apples with a side of salmon, tilapia, or 1/2 an acorn squash. No matter what though, I am always satisfied. If I have the craving for something sweet I have an apple with cinnamon or a Lara Bar or half of a vegan oatmeal cookie.

Dinner is usually something that I throw together very quickly. So it is often a salad with some kind of grain or a side of Ezekiel toast. The salad I made above was so delicious. It was greens, dandelion greens, sprouts, mushrooms, avocado, and I crumbled up Kale chips on top. All mixed together with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a dash of balsamic. Delicious!

For dessert I will have the other half of the vegan oatmeal cookie or a small piece of dark chocolate.

Throughout the day I drink 64 oz of water. Which could also be accounted for by the water, green tea, and the juice.

So there you go! To eat healthy you CAN eat abundantly! Who knew?? Just because someone eats salads and vegetables doesn’t mean they don’t like to eat food. And we certainly don’t sacrifice flavor. Once you cut the processed food out of your diet you will start to notice that whole foods have so much more flavor then the factory made food you are used to.

Start a food journal to see your eating habits. Read over it after a week and it might shock you to see how much you eat out or order in. You could save a lot of money by eliminating this. Where can you incorporate more whole foods?

Daily Inspiration: Let There Be Light

“You want to scare away the vampires, simply guide them into the light”

I was going to post something called A Day on My Plate. But that will have to wait until tomorrow. I

t’s Friday and beautiful out. I doubt that’s what anyone wants to see.:-)

Today has been the first 60 degree day here in New York and I think we have all needed it. It’s funny how on that first warm day filled with sunshine everyone can be seen smiling, laughing, even the radio is playing more uplifting music. There is positivity flowing through all of us, all because of a little light. I know I am feeling it.

So today I am saying to you and myself to enjoy it.

Be Young (NO matter how old you are)

Be Free

Laugh hysterically

Feel the abundance of joy in your life

Do what you love

Spend time with those you love

Spend time outside and connect with nature

Soak in the sun

Play like you’re a child

And admire all that is in your life

Even if that is just being alive

LOVE and LIVE

ABUNDANTLY

The next time you find yourself down or you find yourself complaining about the heat, remember this day. The gratitude you felt. And remember that it won’t be your last.

Everyday could be like this.

So let’s start today.

*The above picture is me playing in the dirt this morning. I caught pincha (forearm stand) for two breaths. But as I realized this I was saying to myself “Oh f*&% I’m holding it!” and SPLAT! The last picture made me smile when I discovered it and was grateful my camera captured it. In yoga and in life you must always remember to smile and not take yourself so seriously, what would be the fun in that?*