Similar Posts

  • | | | | | |

    Spring Greetings–Embracing Change (web version of e-newsletter)

    ByElizabeth

    Dear Friends ,

    Greetings to all in this strange, but glorious Spring.  As I sit down to write, I cannot help but recall that in my new year’s letter, I wrote of the practice in some Indian temples of cracking open a coconut to symbolically break open the head to get out of old living patterns that do not serve us.  I blithely wrote how blessed I was that in having taken myself to India, I was intentionally choosing to be challenged, while recognizing that we don’t always get to pick when challenges will come.  Less than two weeks after I returned, my family gathered to visit my father who was in the hospital for a hip replacement (he’s healing well).  Only a couple of weeks after that, the Anusara yoga community was turned topsy turvy,.  When I wrote of choosing to break myself open to discover new paradigms and possibilities, little did I know what was going to happen to the yoga community that has been and continues to be such an important part of my life.

    Even Spring is not behaving according to settled expectations.  It burst forth especially early–the cherry blossoms are already gone and azaleas and roses are blooming almost a month early.  Records were set around the country for the warmest March on record, and we are approaching drought conditions (again) in the Washington metropolitan area.

    Not surprisingl for one who likes things to be settled and secure, while admiring the wild blooming around me, I have been thinking about how disconcerting change can be.  For someone who prefers warmer weather to winter, getting Spring early is delightful, but I cannot help but recognize that it has come with disastrous storms and high risks for farmers and our food sources, evidence of the fraying relationship between our populous society and the earth.  What is a gardener, a yogi, and a member of society to do?

    As a gardener, it is necessary to remember old teachings and methods (for example, just because it was prematurely warm does not mean that the danger of last frost is earlier than in other, colder years), but it was also necessary to plant and tend the garden earlier to make sure that cool weather plants, such as greens and snow and sugar snap peas, actually have an opportunity to grow.  The erratic weather is also serving as a reminder to try and shift to be more in alignment with the forces of nature and to contribute less to global climate change.  In a word, a true gardener, like the dedicated yogi (on and off the mat) will rely on the lineage of teachings and experience, continue to be fully engaged without giving up, be adaptable to the vagaries of season–both serendipity and calamity, and seek to live in a way that fosters the good in oneself and all beings.

    It is going with the flow, but in an active and intelligent way.  In this time of uncertainty, I believe that an ever deeper and more open study and practice of yoga is a great gift.  Yoga when practiced sincerely and in community provides us opportunities to connect more deeply and techniques to turn unsought changes into opportunities for growth and transformation.  In that light, in my own yoga offerings to you, there is both stability and change:

    The big change in my yoga classes is moving my long-running gentle/therapeutics class at Willow Street to Friday nights.  I am very excited about this shift.  On a personal level, it gives me free weekends for the first time in six years, which will give me more time and space to study, practice and explore.  For you, I intend that the class will now be a perfect transition from the work week to the weekend, fostering and enhancing the ability to heal and celebrate.  Those who like things to be steady can still expect the same full hour and a half of nurturing, alignment-based, therapeutic poses and restorative practices.  Registration for the full session is preferred, but drop-ins are always welcome.  New to the class and want to know what it is about?  Please come join me on Friday, April 13th, as part of free class week.

    The Tuesday night all levels group practice at William Penn House continues.  As always, a portion of the proceeds support the work of William Penn House, and if you cannot pay the suggested donation ($12-15), do not let that keep you away.  We want to make the yoga available to those who truly seek it.

    I hope to see many of you soon.  Please feel free to be in touch by email or Facebook message when you cannot make it to class.  For in-between newsletter information, please “like” my “Rose Garden Yoga” page on Facebook, and there are always new photographs and musings about yoga on and off the mat on the blog.

    Peace and light,

    Elizabeth

  • Lentil, Barley, Mushroom Soup/Stew (and honoring the seasons)

    ByElizabeth

    On Friday night, when the cool rain was falling, I looked into the cupboard to see what I had to make for dinner.  I had some pearl barley, some mushrooms that were a bit withered, a celery heart (mostly leaves), and a few carrots.  I threw in an onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, and one chili pepper, and there were the ingredients for a hearty, delicious meal.

    Mince the garlic and onions, dice the celery, and slice the carrot into rounds.  Saute in olive oil in a pressure cooker (ideal for making legumes and winter soups with a minimum of cooking fuel) or a soup pot.  Add the lentils (brown lentils are best for this; do not use red lentils as they will fall apart) and barley until coated.  Add the bay leaf and chili (pepper optional; slice thinly for more heat; leave whole only for a touch of flavor).  Add a little salt.  Add water (5 to 2 ratio water to lentils/barley will make a thick stew-like porridge; add more water for the consistency of  soup).  Add diced mushrooms.  I used crimini mushrooms.  Shitake would work well.  You could also use dried mushrooms (just pre-soak and then use the soaking water, strained to remove sediment, as part of the liquid).

    If using a pressure cooker, bring to full pressure, then lower heat and cook for 25 minutes at full pressure.  Turn off heat and let sit for 10-15 minutes allowing pressure to release naturally.  If cooking on stove, bring to boil, stir, lower to a simmer, and then cook until tender, stirring periodically (will probably take 1 1/2 hours).

    When I sat down to eat this healthy, inexpensive, warming meal, I felt full gratitude, not only for having plenty to eat, but for the ability to enjoy the change of seasons, to know to change my diet and my rhythms to make the most of the shifting of light and temperature to bring greatest delight.

    On Saturday, I diced some roasted eggplant and stirred it in to have a different taste when I reheated the soup.  Chopping up some tender greens (chard or spinach) when reheating to serve also is a wonderful way to tranform the soup for a second time serving.

    Enjoy.

  • | | |

    Signs Around Town

    ByElizabeth

    Do you know who is growing and transporting your food? How about your clothes? What about home furnishings and electronics? Sometimes we cannot avoid consuming things that were created under dangerous and harmful conditions, but we can be progressively more aware and thoughtful in our consumption if we put our mind and will into it.

    Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

  • | |

    Tomato Blight (and the web of life)

    ByElizabeth

    One of the conjectured reasons for the amazingly quick spread of tomato blight in the northeast this year (besides the crazy weather) is the upsurge in home gardeners.  It is wonderful that so many people are growing their own tomatoes.  If they buy the plants from a “big box” retailer — a retailer that gives less care and attention to the quality and health of the plants and more to easy shipping and cheap prices — then the new plants entering the eco-system are more likely harbingers of disease.

    When we do anything, we have to be conscious of how it fits in with the world as a whole.  From seed to meal, how we get our food impacts ourselves and our health.  I am lucky so far with my tomato plants.  I bought seedlings from local, organic farmers.  I am checking them every few days for signs of blight.  My harvest has been delicious and abundent.

    In reading about the blight, I am painfully reminded that what we eat impacts the earth, the animal and plant life that was displaced for the growth of food, the humans that labored to bring it to our table.  What we choose to eat, over our life, can dramatically shift our life physically, energetically, and emotionally.

    Don’t forego homegrown tomatoes and other easy to grow urban foodstuff, but be careful about where you buy it, how you tend it, and understand that you have entered into the agricultural network.

    As Chief Seattle did NOT say, “man does not weave this web of life.  We are but one thread within it.   Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.