I Heart Chia Seeds

For many people who were around in the 80's the popular commercial on Television was for Chia Pets.  The concept of spreading wet seeds on the pottery animal figure only to watch it grow was a novelty gift.  Today the same Chia Seeds also called Salvia Hispanica L are being embraced as the best super food around.  For those of us who are determined to embrace a healthier lifestyle this new year, we need options with optimal benefits.  There are many people who question how to ensure protein or calcium levels when eating a plant based diet, and need options.  This article is about one of my favorite options which is loaded with health benefits and has a recommended daily intake of only 1 TBS a day.  Be sure to drink plenty of water as they are high in fibre.

I Love Chia Seeds and here is my TOP 10 reasons why you should too!

1. It is 20% protein and a complete protein with all 8 essential amino acids.
2. It is super high in fibre which aids in digestion
3. It has 20% Omega ALA great for brain and heart health (8 times more than Salmon)
4. It is loaded with antioxidants (4 times more than blueberries)
5. It is high in Iron (3 times more than in spinach)
6. It balances blood glucose levels (therefore great for diabetics)
7. It is Gluten Free (for those conscious about the GMO Wheat or those with wheat intolerance)
8. It is high in potassium (2 times more than in a banana) 
9. It is high in Calcium and Magnesium (5 times the amount found in milk along with boron for absorption)
10. It is high in vitamin C (7 times more than found in oranges)

BONUS BENEFITS

1. Vegans can use as an egg replaces by adding water (Ratio is 3 Tbs Water, 1 Tbs Chia Seeds = 1 Egg)
2. Tapioca Fans can use it for that Tapioca Pudding Treat Fix they crave (1/4 cup Chia Seeds, 1 cup almond/coconut milk add your cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, 4 dates for sweetness, blend together, let sit for 90 minutes in the fridge and VOILA!!!)
3. You can add to your daily smoothie for added sweetness
4. You can sprinkle onto your cereal or oatmeal
5. You can sprinkle onto your yogurt for a nice crunch

You can sprinkle Chia Seeds onto most of your foods for the healthy benefits, and texture.  Also it is great to note that Chia seeds are excellent for healthy hair, skin and nails.  Cha Cha Cha Chia!!!

Gratitude, Ego Free Yoga, and Scheduling

First off, gratitude....many thanks to the showering of lovely gifts from all my students over the Holiday Season. I must say, I am truly blessed to work with a variety of people all over NYC, and everyone of them is so generous of heart. Your love is the most amazing gift, that I cherish, your dedication to the practice no matter how challenging is what I admire, and your gifts are truly an honor to receive. I love you all, and I am grateful for all that you teach me as well. It's really a blessing to be part of your Mind-Body-Spirit transformation.

Second, Ego Free Yoga. I have touched upon this subject many times before, and I realize that this is my challenge as a Yoga Instructor to detach from this reality. The reason this ego based practice, bothers me, is because it is not safe for every one's body, and it is not embracing a Mind-Body-Spirit connection. In order to join the Mind-Body-Spirit, one must deepen pranayama (breathing exercises), these deep breaths allow us to go inward, this breath is meant to initiate the movement, so we flow through the poses. No pushing, no straining, just floating with peace and ease. Nonetheless, it is evident that here in the Western part of the world, we embrace the concept of challenging the body with the Asana practice. If you have taken my classes, you know, I LOVE A CHALLENGE. But, there is sometimes what I call, "the race to headstand" in yoga classes. As an instructor, we should all respect the anatomy of the body. If a student is practicing headstand on the wall, and unable to perform headstand in the center of their mat....shouldn't this tell us that they may need to improve core strength? Or maybe they need to shift their shoulders higher into their back? And maybe they need to stabilize the muscles surrounding the spine before attempting more challenging variations on Sirsasana (headstand)? Variations in Headstand can risk injury to the cervical spine, two seconds of saying "I did Headstand with my legs in Eagle" compared to a life time of neck pain is not worth it. This was a scenario that some students of mine told me they experienced at a popular studio here in NYC, and the reason for this post. If you are teaching a group class and want to inspire a challenging class, here are some tips:

• Get to know your students, if you have a new student be attentive to their needs.
• Demonstrate variations of the pose so people can learn a step by step process of getting into advanced asana.
• Make sure students body's are warmed up, and ready to go into deeper variations.
  
• Be ready to do hands on adjustments for students who need.
• When you see that a student is unable to do certain poses, please do not cue them to do a more intense variation....cue "watch-asana" or have them practice the beginner variation.
  

In the linage of Astanga yoga, students are required to master certain sequences before they progress to the next. This is done for a reason, so that the body flows naturally into the sequence. Yoga is meant to be a practice, and not a perfect, so enjoy the challenge to the body and practice but without the ego. We have a responsibility to our students to make them experience a Mind-Body-Spirit connection, embrace that connection and come back for more. We can still challenge the body, make them sweat, and have fun, but be safe and good to the body at the same time!

Finally, scheduling.....Last year I was blessed to be teaching nearly 30 classes a week and taking yoga classes with some of my favorite teachers at the same time. Some would not find such a schedule a blessing, but for me I enjoyed every minute of this labor of love. A fellow yoga Instructor/friend of mine met me early this year with the similar scenario. We both love what we do, and see how dedicated our students are. We are also both artists, so our passion is deep. While it is awesome to be able to affect change in so many people's lives, to do what you love for a living we have to make sure that we are being good to our body, mind and spirit too. I noticed how I missed my music, I missed out on being social aside from with students, and I chose to make a change. This year, I decided to cut back on some yoga classes. While it was so hard to come to that decision, I knew I needed to do it, for me. In order for me to make time to be social, to possibly travel, to do more work with Special Needs Yoga, to promote and share my books, to work on and perform music, to volunteer more, I need to free up some space in my schedule. With any job that you do, make sure you schedule time to do the things that you love. Luckily for me, I love yoga, so work is more like play for me.....but in order to maintain love for the other things I enjoy, scheduling it is important. Tony Robbins talks about scheduling your life, your success, and I agree. It is wonderful to be a free spirit, and go with the flow. However, when you write down what you want from life, your mind/body drives towards it, and when you schedule it, you have a definite date with your destiny!

Karma Side Kick to my own Mouth

Thursday night is here. Finished my Ohashiatsu Final Exams, taught some yoga, assisted teaching the Kids Karate class, and waiting in my Gi for the adult Karate class to begin. I am chatting with Sensei John at Harmony by Karate, when we realize that it's time for me to be in Karate class. I notice Sensei Oscar is in the Dojo, YEAAAHHH!!! Sensei Oscar gives a fun class, that is moderately challenging and conscious of breath work. I walk towards my friend Sensei Joseph, full of smiles, and notice Sensei Adam is here too??? Sensei Adam gives the "Challenging Class", which is putting it gently. I don't know why, clearly the Bronx is rubbing off on me, because I literally joyfully, blurt out to Sensei Adam "Sensei Oscar is teaching class, HA HA HA", and Sensei Adam kindly responds "Actually Sensei Oscar is here to take class, and I will be teaching class". Everyone laughs at me, I attempt to hide my blushing face in the cupboard as I realize that I "Karate Side Kicked my own foot" in my mouth so hard! So Sensei Adam is all smiles, apparently the reaction of class being hard is a compliment.

The night before I taught the ever famous, and challenging "Yoga-laties" "Zoga-laties" soon to be renamed again, and often referred to as "the Torture Class"at Bamboomoves, so my body was feeling every aspect of tonight's Karate class. The entire experience is Karma at it's finest! Ironically, Sensei Adam does a lot of exercises we do at Bamboomoves during "the Torture class". After we did burpees, push ups, pull ups, mountain climbers, wall squats, and dive bombers, he announced that we will be "Grappling". HUH? Come again, Sensei Adam? Sempai Ferrihah quickly motioned that we will be partners, YEAAA! Without a moments hesitation, Sensei Adam decides he will make the partners. I am put with Sensei Joseph (yeaaaahhhh, my wonderful friend!). Sensei Joseph looks at me with his intensity, and calmly says "I'm gonna take you down to the floor". Pardon me? HUH??? Umm Jo Jo? My nervous giggle begins, and quickly I am brought down to the floor. Sensei Joseph proceeded to "grapple" me through how to get out of the situation. It was amazing! The energy that I am blessed to enjoy at Harmony by Karate is evident in every student, Sempai, and Sensei. While I am the only one with the Yellow Belt in the primarily Black Belt adult class, they all take time and kindness to show me how to improve and better myself in the Karate style they are practicing. Thank you all for making Karate such an amazing experience, and thank you Sensei Adam for another wonderful class.