Last night we went to one of my favorite restaurants – Blue Mango. They have a large and varied vegetarian menu, but the last few times I’ve ended up getting the same exact thing: Mushroom Mountain Stir-fry (soft tofu, baby corn, bamboo, straw mushroom and bean sprout stir-fried with a bit of green curry paste, sesame seed are sprinkled on for a beautiful finish).
Bobby got the Basil Chili Chicken. I stole some of his peppers. There were no leftovers last night. But there never really are.
Dessert was some smallish fuji apples and a vitamuffin (cranberry). I’m mostly vegan these days, but I’m not gonna get fussy over something like the fact that egg whites are listed in the ingredients. I also had a cucumber dipped in a bit of sea salt. This was one of my favorite snacks as a kid in the summer – my dad would cut up a fresh cucumber from the garden and dip the chunks in salt. Mmm.
Let’s talk yoga and life. This weekend we learned about the YogaFit Essence – 7 things we should incorporate into each and every yoga practice. Here are the first 3:
- Breathing
- Feeling
- Listening to the body
The great thing about these 3 core principles is that they are inextricably laced together. We cannot listen to the body unless we’re breathing and feeling, we cannot feel unless we’re listening and breathing, and we cannot breath mindfully unless we’re feeling and listening.
When we achieve these 3 things, our practice blossoms. And when we can apply them to life… well, let’s just say it helps a lot with relaxation and just being happy.
When we’re upset about something, what is the first thing someone says to help us? “Take a deep breath.” It’s not just a saying – chemically & physically, taking a deep breath restores the blood pressure to normal and releases endorphins. No wonder we start to feel good. In a study called “The Framingham Study”, researchers found that how you breathe is the most important factor in determining health and long life (this study was conducted over 30 years).
As for feeling, so often we wander through our days in a daze (snazzy rhyming, eh?). We eat breakfast when it’s “time” for breakfast, lunch when it’s “time” for lunch. Why not just eat when we’re hungry? It’s something to work on, and way harder than it sounds. We go to work, come home from work, repeat our daily routines, and forget about feeling and responding to those feelings.
Which leads to listening to the body… let’s breathe to remember to feel, and once we’re feeling and breathing, let’s listen! This is the hardest part but I’m hoping I can get there eventually. How did you learn to listen to your body? Has it always been instinctive or is it still a struggle?
Don’t forget about my earring giveaway – it ends tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 9pm Pacific.
And the awesome ZestyCook just launched his free e-book of recipes – check it out! It features recipes from Zesty as well as some other fantastic bloggers.
I used to eat TONS of cucumber slices with salt as a kid! I’m glad someone else did too.
That stirfry looks amazing!
I still love cucumber with salt, yummy!
great dinner and great thoughts about yoga and life. I remember when I began to do yoga I took it as a workout and didn’t like when the instructor began to philosophize. I went through a long journal until today that I really appreciate their words…. I learned to listen to my body, to do the ocean breathing, to feel every muscle and feel what every pose does to mybody. And i think practicing yoga made me to be more intuitive with my life too, intuitive eating, intuition resting, listen to mybody what it needs all the time.
LOOOVE Thai food.
Yoga has made me more “in tune” with my body – love it.
Yoga was a huge part of me being able to listen to my body. It has changed my life!!
LOVE Thai food!
I agree with the breath idea. Since I’ve been doing yoga, I’m much more conscious of my breathing patterns, and when I’m stressed, I particularly try to practice long, deep breaths. It really helps release tension!
Love the eats. I steal the green bell peppers off of everyone’s dish everytime.
You seem so busy! But the stir-fry looks great. I am getting better at listening to my body, basically just by paying attention and respecting it! Both things I neglected to do for q long time…
NAOmni
Your Thai food looks delicious!!
Mushroom Mountain Stir Fry looks and sounds awesome! Cucumbers have to have salt on them for me to eat them – for some reason I just can’t get them down!
Definitely still a struggle but I think it is becoming easier. You’re right–we are so programmed to eat at certain times, certain amounts, even certain foods at each meal. It’s hard to break-free of and until now I have really needed the structure. It’s almost like you have to build up the confidence just to trust yourself!
the thai looks incredible. now I am seriously craving some!
I think its SO hard to listen to your body! Sometimes you just really want to do things and wish your body could do them. So its definitely a discipline
ive tried my hardest, but i just dont like thai food. i wish i did. off to enter this giveaway!
Hey Maggie,
Thanks for the reminders. I still struggle with listening to my body, but I’m definitely working on it. Since I started doing more yoga, I am much more aware of my breath and my feelings. Definitely makes listening to my body much easier!
That basil chili chicken looks so amazing!
man oh man thats one delicious looking dinner 🙂
love the yoga principles!