Yoga is not just exercise; it is a lifestyle. Exercise alone will not keep you healthy. For optimal health, you need yoga exercise combined with daily mindfulness practice, meditation, and mindful nutrition. You may have wondered what keeps the Spira yoga teachers looking so vibrant, and healthy into their 40’s and 50’s. Here is your answer in three short bullet points!
We feed your mind: i.) We meditate and practice mindfulness daily!– Check out 200-hour Self-Enrichment, 40 days, and Making Friends with Stress Workshops under “Yoga Beyond Asana” tab on our website. ii.) We read! Check out our book recommendations: https://spirapoweryoga.com/books or read our reflections: https://spirapoweryoga.com/category/reflections-from-the-mat
We exercise daily – Take a Spira Power Yoga class 3-6 times a week.
We eat right – nourishing home cooked food made from scratch!
Spira’s Soulfood blog is dedicated to giving you weekly recipes from your yoga teachers kitchen. Nothing staged, nothing artificial in our food or our presentation. What you see on this blog is what we eat at home. We cook it, we take pictures, and we share it with the community.
Our main contributors are:
Carina: She follows an Ayurvedic vegetarian diet that works for her body.
Dora: She had lifelong chronic gut inflammation that she finally got under control with a Low Carb, Paleo, Keto diet. (No grain, no legumes, very little starch of any kind)
Keri: Who is a darn good cook of all scrumptious dishes.
Des: Who is a new mom, figuring out meals that work for her and her baby.
YOU? – Wanna contribute? Write to us: info@spirapoweryoga.com ————————————————————————-
Forbidden Yogi Rice – by Kandie Yoga:
This week’s recipe was written by Spira’s very own private chef. Spira’s Summer Retreat has been privately catered by Kandie for the past three years. Kandie took Spira’s 200-hour teacher training five years ago, and she stayed an important part of the community from that day forward. She is an amazing chef, tantalizing yogis with her all-from-scratch nutritious dishes. And when I say all-from-scratch, oh I mean it, they not only churned their very own “ice cream” at the retreat, the made the rice and cashew milk from scratch from which they churned their own “ice-cream.” Kandie will not use anything packaged, anything that had preservatives or was not grown on a local farm. She and her team are an example of health and sustainability in the kitchen.
If you are looking to cater an event, I highly recommend you look no further than Kandie! – Dora – owner of Spira Power Yoga
The following are Kandie’s words:
“Looking back over the summer as the kiddos head back to school I have to say one of my summer highlights was preparing the food for Spira’s annual retreat! We cooked some delicious meals, made new friends and had a lot of belly laughs while doing so! I am so grateful for creating joy through good nutritious food in a community atmosphere!
Here is one of the most loved recipes and it is a great way to use up those summer peaches. During Spira Power Yoga Retreat, we served this with grilled king salmon, roasted romaine kale caesar salad, and a divine dark chocolate mousse.
Why is black forbidden rice used in this recipe? Well, first of all, it is a very sexy rice and provides a visual “wow” factor, but more importantly, it is exceptionally high in nutritional value. It is an excellent source of iron, vitamin E, and antioxidants (even more than blueberries). The bran hull (outermost layer) of black rice contains one of the highest levels of anthocyanin antioxidants found in food! Need I say more!
This rice has been dubbed “forbidden” because in ancient China, the nobles wanted every grain for themselves and the commoners were forbidden to eat it. The nerve!
Spira Power Yoga Retreat; grilled king salmon, roasted romaine kale Caesar salad, Forbidden Rice, and a divine dark chocolate mousse.
Rice:
2 cups of forbidden rice (I recommend Lotus Foods, Gluten Free version)
2 1/2 cups of water
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped. (You can omit if ginger is not your thing)
1 tbsp avocado, sunflower or other high heat oil (not olive oil)
2-3 cups of snow peas (sub snap peas if you like)
3 peaches, sliced and pitted
Dressing:
1/4 cup of seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup of avocado, grapeseed or olive oil
4 tbsp of honey
1 tbsp of soy sauce (I use Bragg’s Aminos for the extra nutritional boost)
Prepare the rice – bring water, rice, ginger, and salt to a boil – Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Fluff with a fork and place in a large serving bowl.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the peas, cook for about 2 minutes, keep em’ moving in the pan. Add the peaches and cook for 2 minutes. Add these lovely babes to the rice.
Make the dressing, put all ingredients in a mason jar and shake it up until smooth.
Pour the dressing over the rice and toss it well. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Happy eating and I hope to see you at the next retreat! ” Kandie www.kandieyoga.com Love More. Create Joy. Do Yoga.