Cook For Good Project, 2nd post.

Today is the fifth day we have been following the "Cook for Good" plan on frugal, socially conscious eating. We were already on a similar plan but this one is quite a bit more intense.http://cookforgood.com/

Day one: Went grocery shopping at Kroger, purchased everything on the grocery list, and took a trip to the health food store for Tahini and Local Honey.

Day two: prepared bread and pizza dough, yogurt, and hummus from scratch. See below post for menu's for Sat. menu. Made high protein pasta with a homemade tomato veggie sauce with a bit of Parmesan.

Day three: See previous post, ate mostly leftovers from the day before and fixed a large pot of beans. This was a pretty lazy day, everyone was expected to eat leftovers, fruit and yogurt or peanut butter, homemade bread and cheese.

Day four: Monday: I had to get to work early and had a full day so I could not cook.
Breakfast: Yogurt and Fruit with Pecans and honey, coffee.
Lunch: for me leftover pasta with veggie sauce and cheese, water
Kids and Blake: Pork Tenderloin my Dad made and gave us, high protein pasta with cheese, and homemade bread (I told him to give them apples but he chose bread. Oh well Daddy was in charge what can I say, the man thinks mac and cheese counts as a vegetable. I have to be happy they ate and he cleaned the kitchen!)

Dinner: Kids ate at church for VBS, Blake and I went to a Chinese Restaurant and split a meal for cost $15.00
Evening snack: Homemade bread with butter and honey and grapefruit. My teenage son had two bean burritos with cheese (yes he eats six meals a day!)

Last night I whipped up a batch of bread. Today I will make: 2 loaves of bread, two cheese and veggies pizza, homemade yogurt, large batch of Cuban Black Beans to share with friends.

Currently I can't say we have saved any money but by day five we are usually nearly out of groceries and our fridge is still full, as well as the pantry. This is a sign to me that we are saving money. It will take a month to see if we can keep our cost down overall. It seems pretty positive to me and I get a rush knowing I am actively saving money and the planet!! Off to put on my cape, I mean my apron:).

Courtney

What kind of example are we leading here?

Last night I was told about a woman going into church's and conferences preaching that Yoga (all yoga) was teaching Hinduism. This is clearly not the case, and I can say this with the background and experience to support it. I googled and found this woman who clearly took her fundamentalist theology and got very crafty with her Bible verses, and is using her ideology to market praise yoga,not Christian Yoga, praise yoga. She even says that Christian Yoga is dangerous, it just gets kookier, you can google praise yoga if you would like.

Here is a good article my friend Uma sent me on how yoga pertains to your personal religious belief system.

http://http//www.dlshq.org/religions/yogachristian.htm

If you are reading this and you do not know me you may wonder where my beliefs lay. I would label myself a Progressive Liberal Christian with a social justice agenda. I also happen to be a yoga instructor who has taught for eight years and practiced for twenty. My Christian faith is the foundation of everything I stand for.

When did this country start believing that in order to be a Christian you had to vote a certain way, think homosexuals were ruining marriage, believe sex education was a bad thing, and feel that judging others for their beliefs would lead them to Christ. What would the world look like if we quit fear mongering and loved each other. This is not condoning, if you don't condone it don't do it. Didn't these people get the memo that you can't control others behavior. Be kind, give lots of hugs, smile at people, get your butt up and do something for someone else, give what you can, spend some time in service and less time thinking about how to change everyone.

A woman told me the other day that she didn't speak to her daughter much and her grandchildren because they didn't study the bible the way she thought they ought to. Now what if that woman spent time with her family, led by example in her actions, called her kid and grand kids regularly and said "I wanted to call and say I love you, and I am proud of you". Which scenario is going to make those family members be more like grandma?

Time to teach, Oh #$%^^!

My life in no way resembles my yoga..... well that sounds a bit harsh. From the outside my life looks super busy and hectic. On the inside I use the philosophy and the breathing of my yoga everyday. At present I need to take my son to the eye doctor in about six minutes but here I am blogging. Tomorrow I have to teach a workshop called "Deeper Explorations Into Hatha Yoga." I have no idea who is going to show up. I don't know where to start. If I start with the basics then the advanced students will be bored silly. If I delve into "lines of energy" the new students will run like hell for the door or at the very least be perplexed. For me writing my thoughts and concerns down is a form of yoga, it's a form of letting go of the ego. Sorting it all out, facing my fears, honoring that even though I have taught over fifteen hundred classes, I still get scared and feel like I don't know what I am doing. The fact is I have so much information in my head that I don't know where to start. If an advanced student comes to me and starts speaking about her favorite Guru or her fifty favorite Sanskrit poses I may not know all about what she is speaking of. On the other hand I have oodles and oodles of information in my head about the practice, science and philosophy of yoga.
My friend John, who is a pastor, told me that I am at a place where I need to teach, because at the place where you know you don't know it all, is a good place to start teaching (not his exact words but what I got from him). My friend Mary, a yoga teacher, tells me that I will learn more teaching others to teach than from all the practice. I hold fast to these truths and know the one and only goal of my yoga, the goal I preach is "loss of ego." I am at a place of humility and I am hoping that is the place to serve others the best.

Thoughts for the day:

1. Just sit down and be, take a few deep breaths and observe. That's it.

2. Stretch a few times a day and notice how your body feels. Say to yourself , how does my arm feel, my fingers, just notice your body, you will learn to respect and honor it.

3. Be grateful every day for three things: Sure cure for the blues.

How to Meditate (A Process Paper for Writing Class)

Meditating can be incredibly challenging. One conjures up picture's of a hippy style GURU, or these days a chic yuppie, sitting in the lotus position looking very peaceful. In actuality there are many ways to meditate and its not just for hippie's or yuppies. I started to meditate in my late teens when I started practicing yoga. Most of the time my meditation was a silent mediation or maybe some body scanning thrown in. Are you lost? Body scanning, lotus position, "What is this crazy lady talking about?" Well let me tell you, you are in for a treat. It would be best to read this and then allow someone you are comfortable with to read it while you go into mediation, or try some form of the steps own your own. This practice will take you ten to twenty minutes or so.

Guided Meditation Lying Down

First wear comfortable clothing. You should avoid heavy, spicy food before practice. Its best to remove your jewelry and glasses.
Second lie down on your back on a yoga mat or blanket. If you need to roll a small towel up under your neck, or use a small bolster pillow. If your back hurts you may bend your knees with your feet on the floor, this is called a modification.

Now put your hands to your sides facing up, about six inches from your hips, your fingers curl naturally. Take a big breath in, deep into your lungs, imagine the breath filling your pelvic belly.
Your legs and feet fall open. Imagine a plumb line coming up between your ankles, your knees, then up through your navel, your sternum, your chin, the bridge of your nose, between your eyebrows and out the top of your head.

As you breath in feel your body expand, imagine a hot air balloon. As this balloon fills with warm air it rises, as you exhale let your body begin to soften just like a balloon does when the heat and warm air is turned down. Your body expands on inhalation, and softens on exhalation.

Release the skin of your scalp, soften the corners of your eyes to your temple skin, then release the valley from your cheeks to the bridge of your nose. Release the corners of your mouth and unhinge your jaw. You neck is long and soft, your collar bones are wide. Take a big sigh of relief and allow your shoulders to release to the floor. Feel the expansion of your ribs as you inhale and the contraction as you exhale. Your arms are soft against the floor. Feel the natural pulse in your hands and notice how your fingers curl when you relax the muscles in your hand.

Bring your awareness to your pelvic belly, feel the rise and fall of the belly with each breath. Your back begins to soften, first your back ribs, then your sacrum, and now your tail bone. Release the area where you hips and thighs connect. Soften your front thighs and release your hamstrings to the mat. Your knees feel spacious, your calves are wide, now feel the length in your shins. Your ankles are open and you are aware of the length of the bones running down from your ankles to your toes. Notice the air on the bottoms of your feet.

Take a big breath in and feel your body grow, exhale and feel your body float back down softly to your mat. Let your mind be an observer of your body. Take a few deep breaths, exhaling fully with each breath.

Now wiggle your fingers and toes. Inhale and raise your hands over your head, stretch the length of your body, as if you were on a taffy pull, stretching in opposites. Now as you exhale allow your body to fully release back to the floor, keeping your right arm up and your left arm across your belly. Bend your knees and roll to your right side, just like you were going to nap on your mat. This is called Rescue Position, lie here with your head softly on your arm and breathe deep, as if your breath could fill your hips, now exhale and let your body soften. Your facial muscles release as if they were melting into a pool on the floor.

Press yourself up to sitting. Sit in a cross legged position, in yoga it's called Easy Pose, in the average Americans life we say Indian style. Lift your bottom so you are on your sit bones at the base of your pelvis. Put your hands in the center of your chest like you are praying. Inhale (four counts) and stretch your hands and arms out and up, take up lots of space, just like you are spreading your wings. Now exhale for six counts and take your arms out, in reverse and back into the Prayer Posture. Do this four times. Then on the return of the last pose, holding your hands in Prayer Pose, Say "Namaste" and come forward to bring your head towards the floor. (Namaste means, "The best in me salutes the best in you", even if you are the only one there.)

This concludes your blissed out session of meditation. I hope you enjoyed it. Use this any time you need to recoup, its good to bring energy or relaxation. Mediation brings calm and serenity to your day while giving you healthy energy as if you had taken a four hour nap.

Allow yourself to feel uncomfortable at first. Its normal for the mind to wander about. Keep it up and you will find your life has more clarity and purpose.

Namaste,
Courtney