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    Making the Bed (and Sauca)

    ByElizabeth

    I have noticed over the years that I sleep more deeply and peacefully if I have made the bed before getting into it again.  Smoothing out the sheets and the covers and fluffing the pillows after waking, releases the energy of the dreams from the previous night.  This helps make sure that each returning to sleep is a new experience, an opening to the possibility of entering a wonderful state.

    The principle of sauca (cleanliness or purity) invites us to be clean and clear before and as part of our physical and meditative practice and all our living.  Imagine trying to practice yoga on a dirty mat and going into savasana (corpse pose/final relaxation) on a tangled blanket.  Would you think it possible to become deeply relaxed?  Probably not.  If we want our space smooth to lie down for a yoga pose, how could we not need the same for a good night’s sleep, for a planned visit to another state of consciousness?

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    A Cookie and a Note

    ByElizabeth

    Last week, a co-worker stopped by my office to chat. Not surprisingly, the conversation turned to current affairs, and I voiced my every day growing anger and grief and disgust and commitment to seek more ways to have positive impact. My co-worker essentially responded that as a yoga teacher, she thought I ought to know that I shouldn’t get so upset, things weren’t so bad. 

    As should not be surprising to those who know me or practice yoga with me or read what I post on social media that I explained that my yoga calls for lucid and engaged citizenship and not escape from challenges and difficult emotions. My co-worker demurred, still wanting her own comfortable silence.

    The fateful weekend passed. When I returned to the office this week, I found a note and a cookie on my desk. The note basically said, wow, Charlottesville, I hope you’re feeling ok, I thought you might like a cookie. Without addressing the substance of the note, (my own conflict aversion coming to the fore or perhaps my sense that in this case there was little point in pursuing the conversation further and my co-worker has been a pleasant colleague ),  when emailing about another matter, I said merely thank you for the cookie.

    I’d thought that would be the end of it, but my co-worker then stopped by to thank me for saying thanks for the cookie, I no longer restrained myself from passionately though tolerably politely articulating what I really thought, including what a privilege it is to be able to have a bakery cookie  whether for hunger or comfort. 

    I can relate to wanting everything to be ok, and I’m really glad I have plenty of food and a comfortable home, but I also believe that with my privilege comes great responsibility, now even more than ever. I seek to be more aware not less. What about you?

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    Vegan Lace Cookies (for the Holiday Party I’m Attending Tonight)

    ByElizabeth

    1.  Melt 1/2 cup organic vegetable shortening.

    2.  Stir in 1 cup sucanat (evaporated cane syrup).

    3. Then stir in equivalent of one egg of prepared egg replacer (potato starch-based) and one tsp vanilla.

    4. Combine 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour, dash salt, one tsp baking powder, and 1/4 cup flax seed meal; stir into shortening/sugar mixture.

    5.  Mix in 1/2 cup dried, shredded coconut.

    6.  Stir in 1/2 cup vegan, fair trade chocolate chips or chopped dried fruit.  (I have not tried it with fruit, but I am sure it would work.  Chopped nuts also would be good, but with all the allergies around, I’ve pretty much stopped bringing nutty things to parties unless I have made non-nut things also.)

    7.  Chill dough for about 1/2 hour.

    8.  Put slightly rounded teaspoonfuls of dough with lots of space in between (these spread out a lot) onto very well greased baking sheet.  Bake at 350-375 (depending on how hot is your oven and whether it is convection) for 12-15 minutes until bubbling and almost caramelized.

    9.  After removing from oven, allow to set briefly (3-4 minutes, but not longer or they will stick to pan; if they do stick, put back in heated oven for a couple of minutes).  Use a metal, rather than plastic spatula to remove cookies from sheet to help prevent breakage.  Finish cooling on wire racks.

    These are super crunchy and delicious (due to their high fat and sugar content–just because something is vegan doesn’t mean it is “healthy”), but a little bit more fragile than completely desirable.  If anyone has suggestions on how to make less fragile, but still keep the lace quality and be vegan, your sharing would be welcome by all, I am sure.  Switching from egg replacer to egg if you are not vegan would likely be the easiest fix.  One of these days, when I have the time and inclination, I will try another version and change the quantities to see what happens.

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    Pre-Season Gardening (and diksha)

    ByElizabeth

    In yoga practice the concept of diksha — initiation or threshold — carries with it a sense of right timing and conscious understanding of readiness for the next level.  For example, knowing I was not yet strong enough, this past weekend I chose not to try to jump from adho mukha svanasana (downward facing dog) to svanasana (headstand), but instead concentrated on doing the poses one at a time, even though I was surrounded by people who could do the transition with ease and my ego was challenged.  Until I am stronger and better able to hold the alignment in poses at that level, I would be too much at risk of hurting my neck and shoulders.

    In the garden, it is easy to be fooled by a beautiful weekend to move right to activities that are still 3-4 weeks premature.  Even though it will hit 70F this weekend, it is not time to plant (other than perhaps an experimental row or pot of kale, chard, or beets, which like the cold).  The best gardening you can do in the beginning of March when the weather is swinging wildly from below freezing to unseasonably warm is to read and plan and start seedlings indoors, just like it is best to warm up and work on strength, alignment, and flexibility before going for harder asana in your yoga practice.  It will be tempting to get out this weekend, but do the prep stuff and the clean up.

    Here are some favorite books of mine to get ready for planning.  It is mostly more practical stuff (rather than the super glossy, beautiful garden as splendid art and architecture picture book reading) with some food and yoga overlap and a bias for small urban gardens.

    The Yoga of Herbs — An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine, D. Frawley and V. Lad (Lotus Press, 2d Ed. 1988)

    Gardener Cook, C. Lloyd (Willow Creek Press 1997) (OK — this one is kind of cooking, gardening porn)

    The Edible Container Garden — Growing Fresh Food in Small Spaces, M. Guerra (Fireside, 2000)

    The Bountiful Container, McGee and Stuckey (Workman Publishing Co., 2002)

    Small-Space Gardening — How to Successfully Grow Flowers and Fruits in Containers and Pots, P. Loewer (The Lyons Press, 2003)

    Kitchen Herbs — The Art and Enjoyment of Growing Herbs and Cooking with Them, S. Gilbertie (Bantam, 1988)

    The New Kitchen Garden, A. Pavord (Dorling Kindersly Ltd., 1996) (Also pretty and glossy, but still practical)

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