Breakfast Secrets

Complete breakfast - Savory Green Oats, topped with an egg!

Ever wondered what a Yoga teacher eats for breakfast? And how does one find time for a good breakfast? If you're anything like me, your week is a whirlwind. It's hard to fit everything in, from work to family to self-care…and then there's Yoga practice to squeeze in! I'm here to tell you that it can be done. Read on for my secrets to starting the day off on a healthy foot!

Secret #1: Cook in advance. I like to cook on Sundays for the week. I don't make every meal in advance, but making at least a breakfast dish keeps my week running far more smoothly.

Secret #2: Make it healthy. Choose something with whole grains, greens and protein. Skip the sugary pastries! This way, you'll have plenty of energy to power through the morning, plus you're ahead of the game with one serving of green vegetables in you before 9am!

Secret #3: Schedule breakfast in to your week. This sounds obvious, but I mean it. Sit down, take a look at your calendar and make what changes are necessary to be able to eat breakfast every day. I don't see a single client or teach any classes until I get a good night's sleep, do my morning practice and eat a good breakfast.

Back to the fun part…what does the Renegade Yogini eat for breakfast? When I don't cook in advance or in the summertime, I will often eat an egg with some avocado slices. This makes a dynamite sandwich if you eat bread! My favorite grab-and-go option is this recipe for Flourless Breakfast Muffins. It is easy to adapt to fit your taste and budget, and can be modified endlessly to avoid boredom. I also like this Kale, Mozzarella and Egg Bake. It's similar to a frittata, and you can certainly add greens to a frittata as well.

Savory Oatmeal with Greens

In the winter, I get really into savory oatmeal. Oh, did you not know that oatmeal can be eaten without sugar? IT IS SO GOOD! Seriously, try it. Oats are just another grain, so why not eat them with veggies and spices?

Important note: Don't buy the instant, pre-flavored oatmeal packets. The processing of the grain makes it a high glycemic index food, plus the packets are loaded with sugar, salt and artificial flavors. What that means is that your body will burn the instant oatmeal really quickly. This can bring on a sugar crash mid-morning, which can lead to increased caffeine intake. But that's a topic for another post!

Without further ado, I give you:

Jan's Savory Green Oats

Servings: 4-5

Ingredients:


• 2.5 cups water
• 1 cup steel-cut oats

• 1 onion
• 1 pound mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
•  A big pile of greens (collards or kale are my favorites), thoroughly washed, stems removed and chopped
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
(liberal)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 cup Coconut milk – optional
• Splash of cooking wine
• Liberal shake of Bragg’s Sprinkle
• Liberal splash of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

Directions:
Boil water and stir in oats, reducing heat to medium. Cook for about 40 minutes. Add more water if needed and stir regularly – they have a tendency to stick. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, sautée onion in coconut oil, add garlic and then mushrooms. Add greens and stir. Add coconut milk, wine and nutritional yeast. Then season with salt and pepper, Bragg’s Sprinkle and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos. Add more than usual to offset the blandness of the oats.

Serve with an egg on top. Sriracha sauce or Korean go chee jang sauce is great with this if you like spicy food!

Buon appetito!

Happy New Year!

This morning we welcomed and blessed the New Year with a long, delicious Yoga practice. We began with a gentle asana (physical pose) practice to warm and stretch the body. Then I covered a bit of background about the practice of chanting and using mala (prayer beads) in the Yoga tradition.

Traditionally, japa mala is the practice of reciting a mantra (word or sound repeated to aid in meditation) with prayer beads. This can be done silently or out loud. Mala usually have 108 beads, so the mantra or prayer is recited 108 times. The symbolism of the number 108 in the Buddhist and Yogic traditions is complex and deep. Today, I spoke about the Sun and the Moon, both of which are an average distance away from the Earth that equals 108 times their respective diameters.

This seems especially meaningful to me as I practice and teach Hatha Yoga. Hatha means "sun and moon", and one goal of our practice is to balance the sun and moon energy within our bodies, as well as to be in harmony with the heavens. Balance and harmony…these are goals anyone can get behind.

Today, we chanted Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu. This translates to "may all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may my life contribute to that goal". What better way to begin a new year than to raise the vibration of the entire world? All of the positive things that we desire for the new year - health, love, happiness, prosperity…all of these things can come to us if we become them.

I have found that the easiest way to become more positive is to serve others. Service shifts us away from the ego. It distracts us from our internal dialogue, that running commentary that so easily ensnares us in routine and old habits. Giving also allows us to receive more readily. It is by giving to others that we learn to let go and trust that we will be provided with all that we need.

But service has a final benefit that may trump all others - making others happy. Did you know that making other people happy can make you happier? And healthier? Yes, it's a thing. The intention and energy that goes into an invocational chant such as this one has its own power. It is a form of service.

As a group, we chanted this mantra the full 108 times. It was a thing of beauty, this group chant. Steady and strong, our voices filled the room. Afterwards, we took a few minutes of silent meditation. My head felt clear and utterly empty. It was filled with the buzzing of bees, a sensation of fullness and emptiness at the same time. The thoughts that generally fill my consciousness were absent. I experienced a state of bliss that is very difficult to put into words, but that I saw on the faces of the other participants.

Lastly, we practiced some restorative Yoga. I guided the participants through a meditation in which we released things we no longer need, envisioned our desires for 2015 and then soaked in a good long gratitude bath. It was powerful. We all emerged energized and relaxed. The tulips I'd put in water bloomed beautifully. I say they bloomed more than they should have in two hours. The combined power of determined yogis and yoginis is mighty!

This year, I choose to make my actions contribute to the happiness and freedom of all beings. Join me, maybe?