by lighelephant on May 25, 2012
Learn To Let Go
Yoga is not about mastering and muscling your way into certain poses. Find the enjoyment in the journey and awaken the body. First always make sure the alignment of a pose is correct to the best of your ability, then let your body relax, and go with the flow, some of the most difficult postures are achieved when you allow your muscles to relax. Once you stop striving for perfection and feel the body you will be surprised what your body can do. What was once impossible in your mind is now possible. It’s amazing what the body can accomplish with a little persistence, a little inward perception, and learning just to let go.
Flickr user: aquababe
by lighelephant on May 10, 2012
Think of karma like a big white sheet of new fallen snow, “be careful how you walk on it for every mark will show.”
Most people think of karma in terms of their actions what goes around comes around. While there is merit to that statement it really goes a lot deeper. Karma is not the law of retribution. It really starts with a thought every thought has energy behind it. Your thoughts manifest in the mind you bring them into your life. How you go about your daily life is your karma it can change for the better or worse, it’s a shift in pattern thinking.
There is negative karma and positive karma, we all have both. You want to up your positive and soften the negative. Laughter produces attitudinal karma the seeds you need to lead a happier life. That is what your life is about, to find peace and joy wherever you can find it. Your purpose is to bring your life into balance. A change in attitude will change your karma. Attitude will cause karma to manifest. When negative karma manifest its hard to get rid of. So soften your thoughts around negative thinking before it hardens. At any given moment in any situation you can think wow this is great and the next minute it can suck! More often than not it is your attitude that causes you feeling of confinement or joy!
by lighelephant on April 30, 2012
by lighelephant on April 24, 2012
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 1 cup sliced red bell peppers
- 1 small zucchini, sliced
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 small yellow squash, sliced
- 2 (4-x6-inch) focaccia bread pieces, split horizontally
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Directions
- In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic, and lemon juice. Set aside in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the grill for high heat.
- Brush vegetables with olive oil on each side. Brush grate with oil. Place bell peppers and zucchini closest to the middle of the grill, and set onion and squash pieces around them. Cook for about 3 minutes, turn, and cook for another 3 minutes. The peppers may take a bit longer. Remove from grill, and set aside.
- Spread some of the mayonnaise mixture on the cut sides of the bread, and sprinkle each one with feta cheese. Place on the grill cheese side up, and cover with lid for 2 to 3 minutes. This will warm the bread, and slightly melt the cheese. Watch carefully so the bottoms don’t burn. Remove from grill, and layer with the vegetables. Enjoy as open faced grilled sandwiches.
Amount Per Serving Calories: 393 | Total Fat: 23.8g | Cholesterol: 22mg
Recipe and image found at AllRecipes.com.
by lighelephant on April 6, 2012
Most people think of yoga in terms of being flexible but it’s really just a small part of the practice. In fact you really don’t need to bend at all to practice yoga. The sage Pantanjali over 2000 years ago wrote down and gave us the eight limbs, which are at the heart of any yoga practice. The eight limbs are rules and guidelines to follow that contain guidance for the highest moral path. One of them is Ahimsa.
Ahimsa means non-violence to yourself and others. By non-harming that means not hurting yourself or any living creature by action, thought or word. Ahimsa is pure cosmic love. It is the development of a mental attitude of which all hatred is replaced by love. The power of Ahimsa is greater than the power of the intellect. It’s forgiveness, its pure strength. It’s easy to develop the intellect harder to develop and purify the heart. The practice of Ahimsa develops the heart in a wonderful matter.
by lighelephant on March 23, 2012
Check out 71 year old Miles Osterneck sitting in full lotus….. Yogi of the Week!
by lighelephant on March 20, 2012
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 10-ounce packages frozen shelled edamame, (about 3 cups), thawed
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large zucchini, diced
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, or mint
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
PREPARATION
- Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add edamame and cook until tender, 4 to 5 minutes or according to package directions. Drain.
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Add zucchini and cook, covered, until the onions are starting to brown, about 3 minutes more. Add garlic, cumin, coriander and cayenne and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and bring to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the edamame and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in cilantro (or mint) and lemon juice.
TIPS & NOTES
- Tip: Edamame are found in the natural-foods freezer section of large supermarkets and natural-foods stores, sold both in and out of the “pods.” For this recipe, you’ll need the shelled edamame. One 10-ounce bag contains about 2 cups of shelled beans.
NUTRITION
Per serving: 257 calories; 8 g fat ( 1 g sat , 3 g mono ); 0 mg cholesterol; 29 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 15 g protein; 10 g fiber; 520 mg sodium; 304 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (90% daily value), Vitamin A (35% dv), Iron (25% dv).
Carbohydrate Servings: 1
Exchanges: 1 starch, 2 vegetable, 1 very lean meat, 1 fat
recipe and image from: www.eatingwell.com
by lighelephant on March 12, 2012
Pranayama, the breath lies at the heart of yoga, simple but true. It has a mysterious power to calm the body any revitalize the soul. The ancient sages tell us that prana is the life force that circulates through all of us and gave us all these different breathing techniques
to use. Take a closer look at pranyama and it can be overwhelming with all the different approaches of the breath. You’ll see names like Kapalibhati, Bastrika ,Bhramari, Nadi Shodhana, all which are important but it can be confusing to a beginner. So what is a yogi
to do? Stop and breathe deep my friend, close the eyes, concentrate on the breath in and out through the nose, calm the mind calm the body it’s really that simple. By listening and regulating the breath you become more in touch with the soul. It al begins with the breath.
Namaste.
by lighelephant on March 5, 2012
Your Own True Nature:
In One of Buddhas discourses he talks about the four kinds of horses . The excellent horse, the good horse, the poor horse, and the really bad horse. The excellent horse moves swiftly, the shadow of the whip is enough to make him move. The good horse runs with the slightest touch of the back. The poor horse has to feel pain, and the really bad horse has to feel the pain penetrate to the marrow of its bones. He uses this analogy in meditation, but it applies to anything in life your working on. So which horse are you? When you first hear this story everyone wants to be the excellent horse, but that’s not the point. The point is to recognize which one you truly are. Actually the really bad horse often times ends up being the beast practitioner. The point is to know which one you are, your own true nature and speak from that, it’s your starting point to move forward. Your internal qualities, that’s your wealth, your beauty, its what people love and respond to about you.
by lighelephant on March 2, 2012
Check out photographer Lynn Daly of Myrtle Beach SC in Pincha Mayurasana! Its a difficult pose but Lynn has been practicing for a while and finally accomplished it. You go Gurl! Namaste.
