Death becomes us

I'm sad.

Remember that beautiful baby alpaca I wrote about yesterday? Well, this afternoon, I had the misfortune of walking into the barn and finding Walnut dead, crushed under the weight of his sick mother. I ran into the house to get Vito to help me move the mother alpaca, but sadly, it was too late. It appeared as though the mother had collapsed as baby Walnut was feeding and trapping him beneath her. The mother alpaca has been getting progressively worse and is expected to follow her baby soon. 

We buried Walnut's body in the back of the property. Having had such a strong bond with the little alpaca, Kat was inconsolable. In his quiet way, Vito was also clearly deeply affected. In fact, we all were. 

A sad lesson in the impermanence of life...

As Kat put it, "I know death is part of life, but I don't know why it is still so shocking."

Baby Alpaca in Bancroft, Ont

The Buddha says, “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been away, only how soon you come back.”

So here I am. Back, after a few weeks of being conflicted over what to write about.

I’m in Bancroft, a small town smack in the middle of Ontario. It’s our annual Victoria Day (Memorial Day for you Americans) weekend visit to our friends Kat and Vito’s farm. Apart from the black flies, it’s heavenly to be in the country with such good friends: Jamie Lee (artist extraordinaire), Jamie’s friend Sara (a fire dancing poi spinner), Jeanine Caron (blogger of Wonderings and Wanderings), and Kevin Gauthier, a chocolatier, who just returned from a six month tour of South-East Asia. Unfortunately, Craig could not join us, because he is preparing for his photo exhibit, which opens Tuesday.

Last year, I was in the midst of my 108 day Sun Salutation project and Kat, Vi, and then two-year-old Gioia had just moved up here from the Toronto area. This year, their family has expanded and now features nine alpacas, a pony, two dogs, a cat, a rooster, a bunch of chickens, and ten-week-old baby Veda Flora.

After touring an Art Festival in downtown Bancroft, we went for nice long forest trek, accompanied by an unusual gang: Invincible the cat, dogs Misty and Xena, and Walnut, the six week old alpaca personally delivered by my most amazing friend Kat. Kat is truly an inspiration. Not only is she capable of reaching her entire arm inside a birthing alpaca with newborn Veda and toddler Gioia at her heels, she is also the best vegan chef I know. Click here for a link to one of Kat’s recipes from my last visit her. And below is Kat’s recipe for Lentil Walnut Burgers. (Walnut as in the nut, not the alpaca...)

I am very grateful to be away from the city for a few days. It’s nice to lounge and catch up with friends. Nature and fresh air is so soothing to us city-slickers.

I’m also super excited and grateful that I get to be in the country again next week for our Urban Goddess Retreat at Spa Eastman. (By the way, if you are interested in joining us, there are a few still available. For more info, email Jasmine: jgoyer@yasminyoga.com)

Meet Walnut, a six-week-old alpaca

Kat’s Lentil Walnut Burger

 

¾ cup dry red lentils

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

10 mushrooms

1 cup fine chopped onions

4-5 garlic cloves (minced)

½ ground walnuts

1 pound of minced spinach (optional)

1 tsp dry mustard

½ wheat germ or bread crumbs

Cook lentils: ratio of ¾ lentils to 1 ½ water. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer for 30 mins. Sauté onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Once lentils are cooked, mash them together with apple cider vinegar, ground walnuts, mustard, and bread crumbs. Then add in onions, garlic and mushrooms.  Let mixture cool for approximately 30 minutes, then form into patties. (Patties can be frozen on cookie sheet for later or cooked right away.) Broil 5-8 mins per side, then dress with sprouts, avocado, tomatoes or however you’d like. Yum Yum.

The Royal Wedding

{Note to reader: For full effect, engage a posh British accent to review to this textt.}

Countess Yasmina Krystyna Von Ashtanga Yoga here reporting on the Royal Wedding...

What a lovely, lavish, luxury to be privy to this historical event today, this day, being the Royal nuptial of HRH Prince William and his beautiful bride Miss Catherine Elizabeth Middleton. A smashing dress, a bunch of trees, some Christmas carols, a quick kiss, and a three-year-old bridesmaid, who adoringly covered her ears, as the crowd in front of Buckingham Palace was just a bit too much for her to bare sans ear plugs. Shortly after the service at Westminster Abbey and the Queen's Breakfast (I sat with Elton), I begged pardon of her Majesty for I simply had to depart. I had pressing matters to attend to in my land of Om-West-alot.  The Monarch understood, of course, given that tonight, this night, in the grand land of Om-West-alot was shhhhheduled an extraooorrrrdinary Ashtanga Yoga Conference accompanied by the live performance of the esteemed Sir James Olmstead of Percussion. Graciously, the Queen lent me her enchanted Royal Winged Horse and I arrived right at the cusp of the hour in time to greet my court. And all was well and good.

The End.

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All right... Jokes aside for now. I know all this Royal Wedding hoopla is over the top and super fromage, but with all the doom and gloom projected in the news these days, it's kinda nice to have something else to focus on for a day or two, I mean now that the Habs are out of the playoffs. Right? (psst: did you catch the hockey reference?)

I'm really no wedding dreamer, and I don't even own a TV, but even I got a little caught up in the festivities today. (Clearly.) Here's what really went down: 

After teaching a sun and moon salutations practice at a big, fun lululemon event in Montreal last night, I drove over to my parents' house or a sleepover. As mentioned, I don't own a TV, so my mom  had proposed a sunrise Royal Wedding date on her couch. At the crisp hour of 5:30am, we were up. Reluctantly at first, my dad joined us too, but he came dressed for the occasion. See the Gordie Gow English Wedding bonnet below:

(Knock offs of the splendid Gordie Gow Royal Wedding Bonnet are in the works right now, says a source.)

After the long anticipated kiss, we all enjoyed homemade pancakes fait par maman and then it was off to Om West for yoga teaching at 9:30am. But this time, I wore my best Royal Wedding Chapeau and pearls to the amusement of my students. (See adove and below.)

Tonight was Ashtanga Yoga to live music played by James Olmstead. Another packed house, but this time no one had to practice in the hall.

So all and all, a good day with a good excuse to play!

What did you get up to?
Your thoughts?

Vegetarian Jambalaya - Good Friday Recipe

Today, a student told me she was fasting for Good Friday-- no meat products or oils.  She asked me for a simple yet delicious vegetarian recipe for tonight's dinner. Now, I'm not really one to use recipes, but I recalled a great one that my friend Evan made for me ages ago.  It's a super tasty vegetarian Creole style Jambalaya and it's easy to make. I thought I'd share it with you folks as well in case some of you are also in need of a little vegetarian inspiration.

 

VEGETARIAN JAMBALAYA RECIPE à la Evan & Yasmin

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 chopped celery stalks
• 1-2 chopped yellow, orange, or red pepper
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups eggplant, diced
• 1-2 zucchini, diced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
• 6 cups water or vegetable broth
• 3 cups uncooked long grain brown rice
• 2 tbsps reduced-sodium soy sauce or Brags
• 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
• Chili flakes to taste (optional)

Directions

1. In ¼ veggie stalk or water and/or olive oil, sauté onions, celery, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, eggplant, and zucchini in large non-stick skillet until sweet and tender. Stir in the tomatoes, soy sauce, parsley, and seasoning. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in rice and veggie stock/water.

2. Transfer contents into a large baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 65-70 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

3. Garnish with parsley and serve with a green salad and/or corn bread!

Yum Yum!

(If you try it, let me know what you think.)

Pagan Full Moon Party

Forgive me. It has been a while since I last posted a blog.  Lately, life has been moving far too quickly for me to keep up with everything. But here I am. 

We have arrived at the 108th day of the year. Today is my last day of 54 chandra namaskar and it's a full moon no less! To celebrate, I am inviting students to join me at Om West for a practice of 54 moon salutations by candle light. I am really looking forward to tonight's practice. I made Almond Crescent Cakes that are traditionally served during Pagan Full Moon ceremony and have prepared gifts for my students, prayers, and beeswax candles.

Throughout this 54 day journey, I was not alone in practice. I enjoyed the company of many students and friends, including: Bossa Pavkov, my trusty student of five years and 108 sun sal pal; Bruce Chase Dunn, who stayed true to his own 54 day yoga challenge (read his story below); And Erin Halpin, a close family friend and student, who, for Lent, did cumulative sun salutations for 40 consecutive days. I also thoroughly enjoyed sharing the moon salutation practice with all my students. 

The last few days have been the hardest. You see, I've been at the Toronto Yoga Conference since last Thursday and I taught nearly 250 people over five full workshop. So I had difficulty finding time and energy to practice with all the travel and teaching. But I did it. Rather than killing myself with midnight asana that I clearly did not need more of, I visualized my entire 54 practice on Thursday sitting on the couch in our rented condo. It was very challenging, yet extremely gratifying. On Friday afternoon, I did the practice manually as I felt up for it before teaching. Saturday and Sunday practices were a combination of virtual salutations and physical one. (Special thanks to Craig for joining me last night and encouraging me despite my huge fatigue.)

Here is the very sweet and nicely presented piece written by Bruce:
(More photos and videos to come this week...)

A prayer from a Wiccan Full Moon Ceremony

Lady Moon bright and serene,

Shining with the bounty of the Mother,

Look down on us your Children of the Earth.

Come, light of the Goddess,

Fill us with your power.

Lend us your blessings,

Let your light surround us.

Impart to us your light and blessing.

Your love and grace, surround us.

Surround us Goddess,
Surround us with your love.

(For more info about theses Wiccan Full Moon
rituals and prayers, click here)

Cookies & Music for yogis

Things are progressing nicely with the Moon Salutations. I am actually working on a little video to show you a clip of my practice, but it's not ready yet.  So meanwhile, here's a vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe from Emilie Brunet, one of my yoga teacher trainees at Om West:

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 cup coconut butter, almond butter (or margarine)
• 1 1/2 cup natural crane sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cup flour (spelt, whole wheat, or kamut)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, beat margarine, both sugars, applesauce and vanilla until well blended.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.
4. Beat the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.
5. Add the chocolate chips and mix well distributing them evenly.
6. Drop balls of dough on non-stick cookie sheets. 

7. Bake for 9-10 minutes or until edges have browned.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies. Yum Yum.

-----------------------------

I've also been meaning to share my new favorite playlist of yoga tunes. This was complied by Bruce Chase Dunn, another teacher trainee. It's such an amazing mix. (Maybe one of you blog supporters might be able to create an YouTube playlist of these tracks or another cool playlist for us to practice to??? I hear this is possible...)

Bruce's Radio Om mix

1. Visions of you - Jah Wobble
2. Walking thru babylon - Thievery Corp.
3. Teardrop - Massive Attack
4. The Stopper - Cutty Ranks
5. I Hear Vibrations - Wooden Shjips
6. Holographic Universe - Thievery Corp.
7. One More Dub - The Clash
8. Two Sevens Clash - Culture
9. First Snow - Emancipator
10. Clap + form your soul - Damu
11. Lagos Communique - Thievery Corp.
12. Regiment - Eno + Bvrne
13. Angel - Massive Attack
14. Seen + not seen - Talking Heads
15. Keep On Runnin' - Cat Power
16. House of Cards - Radio Head 
17. Pink Moon - Nick Drake

-----------------------

If you have any other cookie recipes or playlists to share, please post them. Craig is a cookie monster and I am forever looking for cool music to practice to.

+ April 18th is just around the corner. This will mark the last day of my 54 day Moon Salutations and the one year anniversary of the 108 x 108 day practice. I would like to do something really cool and I want you all involved. Any ideas?

My Baba & the Lineage of our Teachers

OM
VANDE GURUNAM CARANARAVINDE
SANDARSITA SVATMA SUKHAVA BODHE
NIH SREYASE JANGALIKAYAMANE
SAMSARA HALAHALA MOHASANTYAI

ABAHU PURUSAKARAM
SANKHACAKRASI DHARINAM
SAHASRA SIRASAM SVETAM
PRANAMAMI PATANJALIM
OM

In Ashtanga yoga, we say a Sanskrit chant before each class to pay respect to the lineage of yoga teachers dating back to Patanjali, the 'divine descendant', who, as legend has it, wrote the Yoga Sutras. 

My take on this tradition is that since yoga teachers have many forms and anyone who has touched our heart is a yoga teacher, the chant honors all the people who have guided us and contributed to our lives. In the prayer, we recognize the wisdom of our teachers, but we also recognize that the wisdom of our teachers comes from their teachers, so we also honor our teachers' teachers'  and teachers teachers' teachers'... And with this humbling intention, we begin our practice.

It's in these tender moments that I always acknowledge my maternal grandmother, who in many ways influenced my path as a yoga teacher. She died ten years ago this weekend. She wasn't a yoga instructor per se, and as far as I know, she never practiced asana, but my grandmother was a guru, my guru. We called her "Baba" or "Babs." This was easier for us three grand-kids to say than 'Babcia', the Polish word for grandmother. (Ironically, "Baba" is also an honorific term used in Hindi and mark of respect to refer to Sufi saints.)  Nevertheless, my Baba's real name was Krystyna. 

My mom and grandmother Baba

To mark this significant anniversary of my Baba's passing, we are currently hosting an art retrospective of more than 60 of her paintings, graphics, and weavings at my yoga studio. It's was my mom's idea to transform Om West into a gallery, and the exhibit is incredible. Her talent is remarkable, and I am proud and honored to be able to present my grandmother's work to our community of yogis and friends.

Born in Białystok, Poland on August 21, 1919, my grandmother was fiercely courageous, strong willed and direct.  She and my grandfather (who passed away in 1974) immigrated to Canada shortly after World War II and settled in Sherbrooke, two hours south east of Montreal, where they raised my mother and her two siblings. Baba loved her garden, her art, her cat, her family and coveted her independence and freedom.

My grandmother taught me about nature, energy, creativity, intuition, and spirituality. Curiously, Baba was a clairvoyant. Although she would rarely talk about it, she did say that strong intuition was  a  gift that many of the women in her family shared.  Deeply spiritual, Baba was devoted to the teachings of Jesus. However, in later years, Baba was also interested in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, and became a follower of Sathya Sai Baba, an Indian guru. As a kid, she exposed me to various meditation temples and ashrams, which was the ideal preparation for me as a teacher of yoga and meditation.

Thinking of Baba now and observing her powerful artwork on the walls of my studio,  I'm overcome with emotion, which is hard for me to express. I wish I had asked her more questions when she was alive, but I am making up for it now. I talk to her in thought and prayer and I occasionally feel as though she is really close to me particularly when I'm sitting alone about practice, and oddly, when I taste dill, because she used to put it on everything.  

As mentioned, at beginning of the Ashtanga chant, I usually invoke her memory, and sometimes I get so caught up in thoughts about her, I actually forget the words to the Sanskrit  ashtanga chant! Thankfully, my students understand that I'm a bit quirky when it comes to the order of things and discerning my rights and lefts, so someone is always quick to fill my long awkward pause.

Me posing with Baba's abstract work from the 60s & 70s

My brother Stefan, my mother Marta and cousin Kalil

My cousin and I keep checking who owns what so we know
who we have to negotiate with to acquire the pieces we want.

Studio 2 features Baba's landscapes, which she switched to in the early 80s.

Baba's landscapes from the 80s & 90s

A portrait of my grandmother with a letter from Quebec Premier Jean Charest,
expressing his condolences upon Baba's death.

Kocham cie, Babs.