A Conversation About the Current Situation and Gratitude


On my way to a weekend in Philadelphia to attend a weekend yoga asana workshop with Desiree Rumbaugh, I left the house an hour early and stopped at the people’s Filibuster.

I have been revisiting these cooking and gardening books from among my varied collection as I prepare for the “Yoga of Eating” Workshop. In addition to having recipes and/or gardening techniques each teaches about health, ecology, plants, and seasonal eating, is written in a way that would appeal to both novice and expert cook/gardener alike (including some recipes in the gardening books), and some have very pretty pictures. The key words for this focus in the titles: enjoyment, art, healthy, ecological, seasonal, healthy, earth, practical — essential attributes/attitudes/directions for eating with yoga consciousness.
Cookbooks:
Bishop, Jack, A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen: Easy Seasonal Dishes for Friends and Family (Houghton Mifflin2004)
Sass, Lorna, Recipes from an Ecological Kitchen, Healthy Meals for You and the Planet (Wm. Morrow & Co. 1992)
Shaw, Diana, The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook (Clarkson Potter 1997) (Your Guide to the Best Foods on Earth: What to Eat; Where to Get It; How to Prepare It)
Tiwari, Maya, Ayurveda: A Life of Balance (Healing Arts Press 1995) (The Complete Guide to Ayurvedic Nutrition and Body Types with Recipes)
Waters, Alice, Chez Panisse Vegetables (Harper Collins 1996)
Kitchen Gardening:
Bremner, Lesley, The Complete Book of Herbs: A Practical Guide to Growing and Using Herbs (Dorling Kindersley – London 6th Ed. 1993)
Gilberti, Sal, Kitchen Herbs: The Art and Enjoyment of Growing Herbs and Cooking with Them (Bantam 1988)
Guerra, Michael, The Edible Container Garden, Growing Fresh Food in Small Spaces (Fireside 2000)
Lloyd, Christoper, Gardener Cook (Willow Creek Press 1997)
Pavord, Anna, The New Kitchen Garden (Dorling Kindersley Am. Ed. 1996) (A Complete Practical Guide to Designing, Planing, and Cultivating a Decorative and Productive Garden)
Join in the call for a friendlier, healthier planet by participating in Earth Hour by dimming your lights on March 28th (and before and after when you can).
A few years ago — just before the Al Gore movie came out — I went to a talk and movie about what we can do about global warming. A Nepalese attorney who had been working on a case before the World Court that related to saving the snows of the Himalayas (good luck), said something that fully resonated with me. He said he did not understand why Americans turn on electric lights on a sunny day. I think about that every time I see a light on at the same time as bright daylight is coming through the window. If I have the power to turn off the light (or not turn it on in the first place), I choose to do so.