Food, glorious food! I love to eat. I love to cook. I love to talk about eating and cooking too. It seemed that there were lots of people just as excited to do the same because the studio was packed for Renee’s presentation on how to eat with compassion.
Renee is a raw food culinary artist, a new Mom and a yoga teacher. She started the workshop by having everyone sit in a circle and join hands. She reminded us that, somedays, we touch more plastic than other human beings. We’re losing our connection to each other and the environment from which we obtain our food. Sobering thought!
She talked about ahimsa (= non-violence) and how eating can be a way of practicing our yoga off the mat. Renee stressed that, with every bite, we can each make a difference. She was aware that not everyone had opted for a vegetarian or vegan diet. It was a personal choice and might be affected by health issues. Instead, she emphasized that we should be open-hearted in our approach to food and consider its source (organic, local, method of production).
She made a mint smoothie using raw cocao nibs and coconut water (cool, chocolatey and minty), a sprouted quinoa taboulleh salad (crunchy and fresh) and a vegan chocolate walnut fudge (how good is that?). It was so yummy, there weren’t a lot of leftovers! Renee recommended this very powerful blender called the Vitamix so that the food could be eaten raw and “au naturel”, thus benefitting us with all the goodness of fresh and/or organic. One attendee said that Costco has the Vitamix on sale, twice a year. Another yogini said that you can order the Vitamix on-line and get it shipped locally.
I got to help out with serving samples to the 30 people that attended (did I mention that I love food?) . It never ceases to amaze me how a meal brings people together. Everyone was enjoying themselves, snacking and sharing stories. Renee gave us several recipes to try out at home. A lot of the ingredients could be purchased at local, independent stores like Enchie and Healthy Nuts. Renee and Dianne were planning to organize a vegetarian potluck event at the studio in the near future. That sounds like fun.
This was our last workshop for the yoga teacher training program. Only two more weeks of classes and then shala is done! We’ve definitely learned a lot about yoga during these 6 months and that’s only scratching the surface.
What’s that noise in the kitchen? I think it’s some vegan fudge calling my name…
