 From Michelle
It’s soup season! This recipe is from my dear friend Chef Jeremy Rock Smith of Kripalu fame. It’s simply amazing!! Remember to peel your chickpeas and massage the kale with a little oil before cutting. By the way, a chiffonade is simply rolling the kale and thinly slicing it into ribbons. Feel free to cut it your own way, just take out the fibrous stems. Let us know how it comes out! Butternut Squash, Quinoa & Kale “Chili” Yield: Bigger Batch 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup yellow onion diced 1/2 cup carrots small diced 1/3 cup celery small diced 4 cups butternut squash medium diced 1 tablespoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 2 teaspoons cumin 2 teaspoons coriander 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1 tablespoon dry oregano 1 can 15 oz chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 2 cup cooked chickpeas) 3 cloves garlic chopped 3 bay leaves 2 each 15 oz cans fire roasted or plain diced tomatoes 7 cups vegetable broth or stock 1 cup raw quinoa (red, white or black)** 2 cups chiffonade kale Salt and black pepper to taste **1/4 cup for soupy version **1/2 cup for chili version **1 cup for a thicker stew like consistency In a large stockpot over medium heat add onions, carrots, celery with a sprinkle of salt and sweat with the lid on until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add butternut squash and cook with the lid on for 5-6 minutes or until the squash begins to soften, stirring periodically. Remove the lid and stir in chili powder, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, cayenne, thyme, and oregano. Turn heat up and add more oil if needed. Cook for 2 minutes with the lid off to allow the spices to bloom. Add chickpeas, garlic and bay leaves and cook until you can smell the garlic. Add the tomatoes, stock and quinoa and bring to a simmer then cook for 15 minutes or until quinoa is soft. Stir in the kale and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste.
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 Aligning with the New Moon, by Molly Rose
A new moon occurs when the sun and moon move together in the sky and are positioned in the same zodiac constellation. The deeply feeling, intuitive, feminine energy of the moon merges with the fiery, passionate, action oriented, masculine energy of the sun. Together, these two celestial bodies ignite a powerful possibility of new beginnings in both our individual and collective consciousness. The new moon is the beginning of the lunar cycle, it is the time when farmers who followed the lunar calendar would plant the seeds for the crops they planned to grow in that coming season. Just as those farmers, when the moon is dark we are invited to tend to the fertile soils of our internal landscape and plant new seeds of intention. What are you envisioning for yourself in the coming month? Is there anything you’ve noticed yourself thinking or daydreaming about more frequently recently? The energy of each new moon is colored by the energy of the particular zodiac sign that the sun and moon are sitting in. On Saturday September 28 we have the new moon in Libra, an air sign ruled by the planet Venus. Venus represents all things love, beauty, and abundance. Represented as the two scales, Libra herself is a sign of balance, harmonious relationships, and justice. Therefore the focus of your manifestations this new moon may be around love, self-worth, money, health, and relationships. The ritual of creating a vision board is a fun way to use the new moon energy to help you dream up and call in your future desires. Allow your creativity to flow under the guidance of the moon in Libra to help you clarify where you can level up and step into a higher vibrational state in these particular areas of your life. In what ways can you invite more balance, love, and harmony into your relationships with both yourself and others?
Think hot, wet and humid. Ayurveda identifies these qualities as characteristics and also offers ways to pacify, in this case cool, when we are feeling overheated. This quality can make us uncomfortable in our bodies and in daily life –think hot temper (like in summer traffic!), hot in the temperature of the body and perhaps more anxiety or even lethargy.
In an effort to find balance in the body, Ayurveda offers anecdotes to balance the Doshas of our body and of the season. So, where to start? First, pay attention to how you feel –how you really feel. Are you tired? Take rest. Are you hungry? Eat! Are you thirsty? Drink. More specifically, it’s a great time to begin self care rituals that are simple, easy to incorporate and maybe even fun to do! By nature, pitta is oily, sharp, hot, light, spreading, and liquid, so eating foods that neutralize these qualities—foods that are dry, mild, cooling, grounding, stabilizing, and dense—can help to balance excess pitta. The intention is to give you a more intuitive grasp of what will reduce pitta, without having to constantly reference lengthy lists of foods to favor and avoid. My friend, teacher and Dean of The School of Ayurveda at Kripalu offers these tips to ensure a balanced Pitta season: -Avoid heating foods such as coffee, alcohol, meats, and fried food. Favor fresh, local vegetables, cooked grains. -Drink cool (not iced) water with lemons, limes, and mint. Watermelon, cucumbers, and yogurt lassi with mint are also excellent heat busters. -Coconut water and oil are great cooling foods. You can drink coconut water and cook with the oil. If you practice self-massage, switch out the sesame oil for coconut oil. -A little black pepper or a dash of cayenne on your food helps with digestion without overheating. -Try a restorative or yin yoga practice, both great for cooling the system. -Go swimming! Swimming increases digestive strength without overheating. Remember to always consult your doctor or naturopath for your specific needs! Michelle has been a student of yoga, nutrition and wellness for over 30 years and continues to be inspired each day from her students, fellow teachers and family. Her path has led her to share her knowledge and expertise through yoga teacher trainings, workshops,weekly yoga classes and seasonal cooking classes that empower and educate her students to do the same. Michelle has over 1500 hours of formal training in yoga and Ayurveda, is a trained professional chef and is the owner of innerglow yoga in Mashpee and Plymouth as well as Cape Cod Yoga School.  Ashaya Yoga 101
If you’ve seen a flyer or received an email about my upcoming workshop at innerglow yoga, you might be curious: Who is Todd Norian, and what is Ashaya Yoga? These are reasonable questions. I am a stranger to many of you, although certainly not to Michelle and I am grateful for this opportunity to introduce myself and tell you more about Ashaya Yoga. I took my first yoga class in 1980, when I was a jazz student at the University of Miami. It was not a particularly hard class, yet it was very challenging for me. I couldn’t even touch my toes but I stuck it out and, as we settled into savasana at the end of class, I relaxed as if for the first time in my life. I breathed in the sandalwood incense and listened to the gentle music. Something was touched deep inside of me. I was transformed. I immediately began to study yoga intensely. Quickly, my body became more limber. My mind became more calm and more relaxed, even as I consistently experienced a heightened awareness of everything around me. I began to practice daily and soon became a yoga teacher. I found my purpose. Even as I studied in many schools of yoga and under many other masters, I was exploring discovering my own ways of doing things. In 2012, the time had come for me to share the alignment principles and core philosophies that I had been practicing and teaching for so many years. I struck out on my own and founded Ashaya Yoga. Ashaya is a Sanskrit word meaning, “abode of the heart.” Ashaya Yoga is the practice of Radical Affirmation. It’s about learning how to say yes to life with all of your being. In an Ashaya Yoga workshop, you will learn how to align your body to practice asana (yoga positions) and move through your daily life without physical pain. You’ll also learn about meditation, chanting, and other Tanta Yoga practices that will enable you to weave the dispersed parts of yourself back together, enabling you to find deeper happiness every day…happiness that flows from the inside out and is untouched by the circumstances in which you find yourself. My yoga practice has guided my life every day for nearly 40 years. It has awakened my inherent potential. It has healed my body, mind, and heart. It has brought wellness, peace, and love into my life. You can have all of this, too! Teaching you how is my life’s work. I will be at innerglow yoga on Wednesday August 14th 6:00-8:00 pm, offering Art of Masterful Living: Embodying The Five Elements Through Yoga. This workshop is appropriate for students of all levels, even those new to yoga. Sign up here. I invite you to join me and learn how to say yes to life with all your being. Can’t make it this time? Visit my website to learn about other opportunities to study with me, including workshops, the Ashaya Yoga 2020 Tropical Retreat, and the upcoming In-Depth Study/200-Hour Teacher Training, beginning in September at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute in beautiful Lenox, Massachusetts. 9/6/2018 Begin the journey: A conversation with Emily Roberts, recent graduate of innerglow yoga's 200 hour yoga teacher trainingRead Now We sat down with Emily Roberts, recent graduate of innerglow yoga's 200 hour teacher training to learn about her experience. We were so pleased to gain her perspective, and hope it offers insight if you are considering training with innerglow yoga. Thank you Emily!
What brought you to teacher training? I wanted to enroll in teacher trainings for years but last winter I finally had a schedule that could accommodate the time commitment. I jumped at the opportunity and searched for trainings that had doable dates. I had been practicing at Innerglow in the summer for years so when I discovered Michelle had a training that started that next month, I reached out immediately. After connecting with Michelle, I realized we shared many of the same beliefs about the transformative benefits of yoga. It was an easy decision to train through the Cape Cod Yoga School. What was your experience in it? Before I started the training, I saw it as a means to an end. I wanted to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to lead successful classes and then get out and start teaching ASAP. After night one of the training, my perspective completely changed. Training weekends became a monthly treat. I absolutely loved each and every one of the women in my training. There was so much more joy, laughter, and learning than I had anticipated. It is a very memorable experience. What was the biggest surprise? The biggest surprise for me was how much my own practice grew and transformed. In training, you are exposed to so much new information about yoga. Michelle introduced my group to a number of teaching styles and schools of yoga that opened my eyes to completely different perspectives. Some I loved and some just didn't speak to me but having an awareness of the greater yoga community enriched my practice. What advice would you give to people wanting to take a teacher training? I would say that teacher training isn’t just about training to be a teacher- it’s about growing and developing your own practice. Training will help you get in touch with what yoga means to you. If you are interested in teaching, having this kind of understanding will help you find direction in terms of what you will be offering to the public. This sense of purpose and direction will in turn allow you to teach with more sincerity and authenticity. |
