First Food Friday!

It is our first Food Friday. Friday's are going to be all about food. Making it. Eating it. Appreciating it. Loving it. Unless you find it an onerous task to eat, you, like Nicole and I, have a special relationship with our food. We love our food; savor it, but we also hate it when the foods that we love hate us back. We hate it when it makes us fat, or makes us bloat or when it causes an allergic reaction.

In our Food Friday blogs, we hope to explore our relationship with food and making it healthier and more productive. Food shouldn't only feed the body, but it should also feed the soul.

Today we talk about Oats. Civilizations have enjoyed and been sustained by this powerful little grain for centuries. Devotees have suggested that a bowl of oats a day is much better than an apple for keeping the doctor away.

According to A2Z Health, Beauty and Fitness and the American Cancer Society the 6 main reasons that oats are so good for you stems from the fact that they are a good source of soluble and insoluble fibre.

1. Insoluble fiber's cancer-fighting properties are due to the fact that it attacks certain bile acids, reducing their toxicity.

2. Soluble fiber may reduce LDL cholesterol without lowering HDL cholesterol. LDL is bad; HDL is good.

3. Soluble fiber slows down the digestion of starch. This may be beneficial to diabetics because, when you slow down the digestion of starch, you avoid the sharp rises in your blood sugar level that usually occur following a meal.

4. It has been found that those who eat more oats are less likely to develop heart disease, a disease that is currently widespread in the United States.

5. The phytochemicals in oat may also have cancer-fighting properties.

6. Oats are a good source of many nutrients including vitamin E, zinc, selenium, copper, iron, manganese and magnesium. Oats are also a good source of protein.

Despite knowing these facts, most people find eating oats (and we're not talking about the pre-packaged, flavoured kind-we're talking steel cut or whole) unpalatable. So one of our resident food bloggers Sandi Stiel (owner of The Stuffed Pantry) has given us the recipe for Oatmeal Muffin Recipe! (find the recipe in the right hand margin in our Food Friday Recipe Box) Delish! Enjoy!

Write it down....

What if we walked around with a mirror and it reflected back to us what we were doing every minute of every day? Would you want that? Would you like what you saw? Would it confirm your hopes or your fears?

Keeping a journal of your day; your activities, your thoughts, your wishes, your emotions can be just that-a mirror that can capture a snapshot of you. Perhaps not on a minute by minute, but at least on a daily basis. If you look back at your journal and like what you read, or even better, like what you are writing in the moment, what better pat on the back can you receive, but from your very own hand. If you look back at your journal and don't like what your read, or even worse, what you're writing is making your skin crawl in the moment, what do you do then?

You can decide to change.

It may not be easy or comfortable. Hell, it may feel downright impossible! But resolving to make a change is really half the work toward change. Going back to your journal will help you pinpoint the instance that your character goes south; when a questionable decision was made; or when you give in at the wrong time. Consciousness of the instance enables you to be more aware the next time, you are about to slip-the proverbial "Aha!" moment.

Knowing who you are is a moving target, especially if you are constantly evolving with the help of your journal. It's a moving target, but it's well worth taking constant aim.

What the hell should I be thankful for?

Sometimes life gets us down. The family is driving you crazy. Your job is stressful. Your bills are late and you know that more are on their way. Times like this, you may feel low, powerless and on the brink of a nervous break down. Negativity lands on the best of us like an avalanche; huge, painful, leaving us buried alive. When you feel completely hopeless, remember something; Positivity and good fortune also arrives in our lives in the same way as Negativity as long as we let it and acknowledge it.

When our minds our focused on the things, the people, the events that piss us off, it leaves us no room for all the things, people and events that we love and that invigorate our souls. The next time that you feel the negative overwhelming you try this: Say thanks. You don't have to say thanks to the person that had an accident on the road and caused a traffic accident and made you late, but why not? Doesn't that person's accident make you more thankful for your own health. You don't have to say thanks to your son whose stubbornness and "ass"itude are making you crazy, but why not? Isn't his behavior testing your patience and showing you just what a good parent you could be?

If you have a quiet moment, close your eyes and slowly bring into your mind's eye all the people, things and events that have made you the person you are today. Picture them in vivid detail. When you have each picture clear in your mind say "Thank you". Then move on to the next person, thing or event and do the same. When you are counting your blessings, you begin to realize just how lucky you really are and just how thankful you should really be.

Take a deep breath...for goodness sakes!

Relieve stress, cleanse the lungs, calm the nerves, keep you committing a host of felonies....deep breathing is good for the soul.
I remember watching The Flintstones and watching in one episode as Fred counted to ten when he had lost his temper. How his voice became less agitated, his face returned to its natural colour, his eyes would soften, his shoulders would drop and his hands would relax from tight fists as he came closer to 10. It has always stayed with me how that simple technique kept Fred from blowing his proverbial top!
Now that I am older I know that counting to ten enables us to take a moment to BREATH. Our bodies WANT to breathe; deeply, fully, unreservedly. When you breath in stressful situations it triggers the release of feel good endorphins that calm you on a very chemical level.
I know for myself, that it is only at the height of these stressful situations that I realize that my breath is fast, shallow and from the top of my lungs. I also realize that my shoulders have taken the elevator to the penthouse, my low back and my butt are clenched and my calves are like rocks. If you also find yourself in these types of situations, try this simple exercise:
Close your eyes if you can, if you can't just look off into the distance and unfocus your eyes. Inhale to a count of 5, Hold your breath for a count of 5 and then exhale for a count of 5. Repeat this until 5 seconds seems easy, then add another second to the count. Inhale for 6, hold for 6, exhale for 6. Continue to add seconds to the count until you reach 20 seconds inhale, 20 seconds hold, 20 seconds exhale. Keep in mind that reaching that 20 second mark is difficult, but the point is not GETTING THERE, but the effort involved in reaching that goal. Meaning don't stress over getting to 20 seconds, cuz that would kind of be defeating the purpose of the whole exercise. This is called the "One Minute Breath". It works almost as instantly as counting to 10!

Granola Eating and Tree Hugging not part of the job description!

The image of the yogi as a granola-eating, birkenstock-and-sock wearing, tree-hugging vegetarian is quickly being replaced, by the more accessible image of youth (both men and women) sporting brightly colored Lululemon garb, carrying equally bright yoga mats. But despite that there is a contingent of our community (and you know who you are!) who think that we are still chasing after Nirvana.

In reality we are all not so young and we have the same foibles and problems as you mortals. We have bad backs and blown knees, we have hernias and hemorrhoids, we have plantar fasciatis and lateral epicondylitis. We have turned to yoga, not necessarily as a path to enlightenment, but as a path to easier movement without pain. Perhaps, we have turned to yoga because we have driven down the conventional medicine road with little to show for it, but a numb butt.

I often try to convince, the uninitiated that I need my morning cup of joe, just like them; that I love a good steak (the pinker the better), just like them; and that sometimes, my kids make me so crazy I want to sell them into slavery, just like them. But then I remember that I am a member of a still, elite group. An informal, yet still very REAL, club of REAL people that roll out their mats every week, feel the floor with the corners of their feet and allow the breath to enter the deepest part of their diaphragm. I realize that membership deserves a little respect.

Whatever our reasons for coming to the mat: practical or transcendental we need to be proud of what we do. We know that talk of yoga makes some of our more mainstream friends and family members a little uncomfortable. We might have been in their shoes, once a long time ago. So patience, dear friends. Rest assured they will come around in their own time, for their own reasons. Or not.

Our Virtual East Village Common!

Our dream has always been to foster a collective of like-minded mainstream and alternative health, beauty and wellness professionals and house them all under one roof. A place where Yoga, Pilates and Fitness teachers, Osteopaths Green Estheticians, Dieticians; Naturopaths, Homeopaths, Thai Yoga Massage Practitioners, Reflexologists and the like could practice, complimenting each others' endeavours every day.

This is our virtual collective; our electronic "common". Here, on a regular basis, Nicole and I, aided by our colleagues in a multitude of disciplines will bring you the experience of well rounded wellness; beauty, fitness and health with a conscience. Along with every day yoga practices, tips on how to get fit, how to decrease stress, improve sleep, we will be posting a recipe of the week and ask a professional. We will also keep you up to date on the latest fitness fashion trends through our friends at Lululemon Athletica, Scarborough.

We hope that you bookmark our blog, visit us often, post your opinions and feelings, give us your feedback and suggest topics for future blog. You are now a part of our whole. It can only be as strong, beautiful and resilient as you help us make it.