Asana Room

Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana - One-legged King Pigeon Pose, one of the challenge poses that I love very much. The pose is simply gorgeous but it does take me some effort and time before I can come fully into this pose, as I think I've a pretty stiff back muscles. Backbending is somehow the most intimidating practice for me. My back is always sore especially lower back after practice. So I use heating pad and tiger balm occasionally to massage them (can't wait to go massage back home!!)

There are many preparatory poses to warm up before, here's one of the article giving a sequence of practices that I found great to follow. My current practice:



- The strap helps me to work on my hip flexors, upper arm stretching as well as opening up my chest



Now before I grab hold of my back bent foot, I use a strap to help working on the rotation of the arm. Step by step, slowly try with one hand, in this case right hand while placing left hand on the left thigh, then I reach out with my left hand to the strap, stretching both upper arms together. It's important to keep the pelvis square instead of tilting one side (may try placing a block or blanket underneath the left hip). To deepen the stretch, walk down the strap or foot thoughtfully, take a few deep breaths while staying in this pose.

Sometimes I can do better, sometimes I feel stiff, no matter what, just keep practicing with faith.

iherb.com

Yesterday I received my order from iherb finally, about 10 days which was not too bad. A friend recommended me this site where you can get all sort of natural and eko products (no animal testing; chemical & paraben free; suitable for vegans) ranging from health supplements to skin care and cosmetics, from great varieties of different brands. You can view all details and reviews of the products, it's nice where you can take your time to compare online at home. What's more, they are so much cheaper than the local stores. Those I purchased range from USD3-12. I only needed to pay USD6 for standard international airmail for weighing less than 4 lbs items, without paying any additional customs import tax.

However, there was 1 missing item in the package. They packed a "Nubian Heritage, African Black soap" (I thought it was a free sample for me lol), which turned out to be good after I checked out the product online and I'm gonna give it to my father to try. So I sent iherb a message about the missing item, wow how efficient they were. They replied me within 12 hrs that they have issued me a refund credit to my credit card, without deducting the price of the bar soap. How nice ;p

I highly recommend you to try iherb and I'm gonna continue buying other products from them too!

Raw Carob & Cashew Nut Cookies

Went to eko market to get this almond butter and carob powder (looks and tastes like mild cocoa powder, substitute for chocolate), this is one of the raw dessert recipes I found online which looked so good and easy.

Mixed the following ingredients in a food processor, leave the cashew nuts for a little bit chunky. If too dry, add a little water or almond butter, in this case I added tiny bit of squeezed orange juice but not too wet either – you want the dough to be firm and sticky enough to mold into cookies. Shape dough into cookies shapes or roll into balls. Store in the fridge after :) They add some honey & salt in the original recipe but I didn't use any and they taste sweet and good enough!

- 3/4 cup cashew nuts
- 1 tablespoon of Almond butter (Original recipe was cashew nut butter)
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup carob
- 4 dates

Why I used carob powder instead of chocolate? Here's some interesting facts by Dr. Michael T Murray (Naturopathic Medicine):

Although carob powder is somewhat bland compared to chocolate, carob improves upon chocolate in a number of beneficial ways:

• Carob is stimulant-free and requires no additional sweetening, while cocoa contains the potent caffeine-like stimulant, theobromine, and requires the addition of a sweetener - one reason why carob has only one third the calories of chocolate.
• Another is that carob is virtually fat-free. In contrast, even low-fat cocoa contains 8 g of fat per 100 g, and high-fat cocoa delivers a whopping 23.7 g of fat, much of it saturated, in 100 g.
• Both carob and low-fat cocoa powders are low in sodium and high in potassium-a desirable quality for individuals with high blood pressure or congestive heart failure, whereas cocoas with moderate to high fat content are often quite high in sodium since they are typically processed with an alkali to enable them to dissolve in water.
• Both carob and cocoa contain calcium, but carob provides twice the amount of calcium found in cocoa (290 mg in 100 g of carob versus 123 to 153 mg in 100 g of cocoa). Plus, unlike cocoa, carob contains no oxalic acid, which interferes with calcium absorption.
• Carob pods are also free of phenylethylamines, small nitrogen-containing molecules found in chocolate that, in susceptible individuals, can trigger migraines.
• Also unlike cocoa, carob powder is high in protein and rich in fiber, particularly pectin.

Get to know more about food additives

One day I bought home a canned organic coconut milk without checking the labelled ingredients. Only after I saw there's "E412" in it, I was aware earlier about these E number things but never really paid attention on them (what an ignorant fool I was). So I googled on the code, it turned out to be a rather safer kind of food additives in the list, a guar gum.

From there I started browsing on other codes and found some familiar food additives which I had consumed always earlier, they were indeed bad for our health. Many of them are not only linked to hyperactivity and asthma, but cancer as well!! And I read on, found out more about other food additives that we should all avoid.

There's this instant noodle which I really loved, the korean spicy shin ramen, I would buy twice a month. So I checked on the ingredients and found this so-called "flavor enhancer" - E621 in it. From the food additive code breaker list, E621=MSG (monosodium glutamate) which is not permitted in foods for infants and young children. Similarly, it is reported that they cause many side-effects for our health such as: Headache, sometimes called MSG headache, chest pain, sweating, sense of facial pressure or tightness etc. From then on, I stopped buying it!
After researched online further, I noticed MSG are found in a lot of the food provided by the fast food chains. So if you are a fans of McDonald's or KFC, or others, please take your time to do some research online and you will find out more about the hidden truth.

Our government is sure well aware of these but they would not be banned from the market because they share the profits from the corporate food manufacturing as well!

I've printed out a handful size of the food additive codes list to bring it with me whenever I do food/grocery shopping so I can always check on them.

Check out this youtube video and an interesting blog on "why we've decided to stop buying food from supermarkets..." Better be a smart and healthy consumer now than too late later. You are what you eat!

A relaxed sunny Saturday

It's been a pretty busy week for me even though there's less yoga classes now because of summer's starting. Sun's been shining bright these days and more and more people are engaging themselves in outdoor activities.

Things I did for the day:
6am-7am: Got up from bed - shower - books reading - meditation & prayer
7am-730am: some warm up exercises & stretching
730am-930am: breakfast, online & emailing, organizing schedules for July in KL & Shanghai
945am: Left home for the following yoga classes
1115am-1210pm - Astanga yoga
1245pm-2pm - Restorative yoga
3-4pm: grocery shopping while waiting for Jani's last class
430pm: Took a walk at a park nearby then home
530pm-730pm: Had early dinner - some houseworks - worked online again
8pm: Dessert of the night - my all-time favourite: frozen bananas (mixed with coconut milk and ate with pineapples) Yummy!

Frozen bananas with blueberries
Frozen bananas with mixed fruits

Almost time to bed...tomorrow will be another long but blessed and productive day :)

Asana room

Paschimottanasana - Seated forward bend is one of the asanas that I've been working on constantly. My biggest obstacle for now is my left side tight hamstring (yes I've imbalance flexibility in my legs where my left leg tends to be more stiff because I had always focused on the right leg only in my dance practice back in the old days).

My current practice:
(i) To begin with both legs straight in front of you, inhale raise the arms up while at the same time lengthening my spine, press the thighs down into the floor and actively through the heels.

(ii) Keeping the torso long, exhale lean forward slowly from the hip joints (not the waist as this would curl your back), lengthen the tailbone to the floor.

(iii) A strap is useful in correcting and strengthening the alignment. Alternatively I would hold my ankles with elbow down on the shinbone, with each inhalation lift and lengthen the front torso bit by bit, and each exhalation fold forward a little more.

I always feel the tightness of my left hamstring whenever I lengthen my torso, it is quite uneasy sensation yet it is what signals me to practice with patience. So I make it to flow better and immersing myself in the asana with slow and deep breath.

It is not yet a perfect paschimottanasana, but I believe eventually I will be able to stretch my arms out beyond the feet on the floor :)

Oh the benefits of paschimottanasana? Check this out:

• Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression
• Stretches the spine, shoulders, hamstrings
• Stimulates the liver, kidneys, ovaries, and uterus
• Improves digestion
• Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause and menstrual discomfort
• Soothes headache and anxiety and reduces fatigue
• Therapeutic for high blood pressure, infertility, insomnia, and sinusitis
• Traditional texts say that Paschimottanasana increases appetite, reduces obesity, and cures diseases.

Raw fruit-n-nut balls!

As I had been baking breads and muffins, Jani asked when I'm gonna make something that's edible for him too (he's a raw vegan), I know I have always wanted to make this raw cake but I just haven't had the chance to get all the ingredients complete and they take much work. So he was suggesting this "fruit and nut balls", immediately I googled its recipe, bingo! Simple and easy! What's more, it's oil-free and you don't need any oven but a blender with a pulse function.

I managed to roll 20 balls out of these ingredients:
- 150g almond nuts (I tried hazelnuts too, both are equally good!)
- 5-6 dried apricots
- 5 pitted dates
- fresh squeezed orange juice (half an orange)
- dessicated coconut with cinnamon powder (prepare in a separate bowl for tossing the balls)

I first pulsed the nuts and apricots, then gradually added in the pitted dates until they were evenly together, which would look something like this.
After added in the fresh squeezed orange juice, that's when they would appear moist and stick together.

I made sure my hands were clean before started rolling them and tossed them in the bowl of cinnamon coconut. I stored them in refrigerator for a while before tasting them.

I looove this fruit-n-nut balls!! I don't usually take sweet stuff (except ice-cream and chocolate ahem ;p). They may look simple and ordinary, but trust me, there's more to offer what's underneath, just one bite on them, they are simply irresistible!