Do your practice, especially today!

With an introduction to Bhramari Pranayama

By Manuel Molina de la Torre

Unlike the way our ancestors lived for so many generations, today’s pace of life is extremely fast. Although we are aware of the negative impact this hurried way of living has on the planet, increasing global warming, and we know the effect high levels of stress has on our health, it seems that we usually cannot stop this behavior. As a society, we are somehow forced to run towards the dead end of self-destruction. As individuals, society is constantly pushing us to quickly adapt to a faster world, without having much time to pause, reflect or to look back on our lives. Who hasn’t at one time or another felt like they are living in a “rat race”?

I was having a good conversation with a close friend of mine and he taught me for the first time about the term “VUCA” — have you ever heard about it?

VUCA is an acronym that stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. The notion VUCA was used for the first time by the U.S. Army describing the extreme conditions which resulted from the end of the Cold War. Nowadays VUCA is a trendy term, which is being used in reference to modern society, environment, business, economics and a wide range of organizations. VUCA, in a way, describes very precisely the world we live in.

One of the most unfortunate ways we are witnessing the destruction of nature is the disappearance and even extinction of certain species. There is one insect that is vital to our ecosystem, as it plays a very important role. I am referring to bees.

Albert Einstein once said that if bees disappeared from the surface of the Earth, from that moment onwards human beings would only have four years of life left. At first, it may seem that there is not much connection between humans and bees, but think for a moment about the main function of bees in nature: they are essential for pollination. Without pollination there would be no more plants, which means no more food.

A wake up call

In today’s fast world, we tend to forget about the importance of taking good care of ourselves. Often we simply procrastinate, ignoring this responsibility to ourselves. It’s common to get caught up with the upheavals of life until we get a strong sign that often comes in the form of illness, accident, etc. It is like a “wake up call”, a demand from our own body to see reality more clearly. A call to stop for a moment and to turn our attention inwards. . . to breathe. That is what our organism is requiring. There is nothing (and there is so much!) extraordinary about this; it is simply the wisdom of Mother Nature in action. Sometimes the problem is that having that “waking up call” can be painful, and in some cases we could have avoided going through that pain, if we have had paid more attention to our life, if we had been more connected to our inner wisdom and had the opportunity to listen to our ourselves.

But the question is: How do we connect with that innate wisdom?

There are many ways we can connect with our innate intuitive wisdom, and perhaps the main one is getting in contact with nature – the sea, the mountains, the woods, a river. Or, if you are not surrounded by nature, spending sometime in the park can be enough. It is so easy to feel at ease when we are in nature and there is so much we can learn about it. Great are the benefits of taking a moment for ourselves every day and getting outside to breathe some fresh air.

Another way to enhance our connection to our inner world is having a daily practice like meditation, asana or pranayama. Since practice is always about creating a space where we can connect with ourselves, were we can learn about ourselves.

Bhramari Pranayama or the humming bee breath

In this post I would like to introduce a very simple, yet calming Pranayama technique called Bhramari. This practice is also known as the female humming bee breath. Traditionally, it is known to clam the mind and to help with insomnia, which makes it a perfect practice to do at the end of the day, before bedtime. This is one of the Pranayamas we teach here at Samahita, as it was passed down to our teacher, Paul, from his teacher, Sri O.P. Tiwari.

Bhramari is a nice and soothing practice, which can really help when your mind is disturbed or stressed.

Here are the steps

-Find a comfortable seat, in a quiet and peaceful place, and take a few deep breaths.

-Start by softly inhaling through both nostrils and as you exhale (also through both nostrils), gently create a “Mmmmm…” sound. It is like the final part of the mantra Om, just try to lengthen it. Find the vibration of the sound in the back of your head. Eventually, you should be able to lengthen the exaltation with the sound up to double the time of the inhale, but stay within your comfort zone.

– Complete 10 to 20 rounds, and after you finish sit silently for a moment, noticing the effect of this practice. After a minute or so, take Shavasana.

Thank you for reading and enjoy your practice!

The Yogi's detox experience & Kitcheri recipe

Having some healthy drinks with other people on a detox

I have been going through a detox for the last 7 days at Samahita retreat and all I can say is that it has been an amazing and life-changing experience.
At first, I thought it was going to be really hard to go through the whole process and I expected to deal with hunger and very low energy levels.  Also, I was a little worried about loosing to much weight during this detox. Losing weight wasn't something I was aiming at . Surprisingly I felt great most of the time. I didn't lose much weight and I can surely feel the effects of having a healthier body and clearer mind.
Some of the other programs are more intensive and restrictive in terms of food allowance but, being my first experience, I was advised to do the Yogi's detox . With this program I get to eat fruits, salads,
kitcheri and delicious mung soups. I had plenty of juices, coconut juice, pro-biotic drinks and natural supplements like ayurvedic herbs, pro-biotics or vitamin C that supported my diet.

The best of the experience so far was the time spent at the wellness centre, sharing moments and experiences with the other guests who were as well on a detox and with the friendly and supportive staff. One of the major things about doing a detox at Samahita is that the programs are pretty well designed and the staff are very professional. They have a lot of experience and that reason makes them so knowledgeable. You can just put yourself on their hands and they will provide you with the best guidance.
I started feeling some changes on my energy and mood around the second night. I talked to the nutrition advisor at wellness and they recommended to add some wholegrain rice into my program. That was great for me and that made such a big change that I could go through the detox without having to give up my yoga practice.

Food and supplements 

The part that I liked the less was the liver flush on my fifth night, which is a therapy that allows the liver to clean up from toxins. The liver is an important detox organ in the body and this treatment can help the liver to do its work more efficiently and can be a chance to release gallstones that are formed in the liver and gall bladder. The fifth night I didn't have dinner because after five days eating clean foods I was ready for my liver flush and so I just had Epson Salts and lemon juice mixed with olive oil before going to bed.
I didn't like the bitter taste of the Epson salts and when I woke up the day after I could notice some discomfort on my stomach. It didn't last for long after my morning enema but during that day I was feeling very low of energy. I took it as a day for resting from yoga practice and I spent most of the time in my room just taking it easy. For me, this was the hardest part of the detox, however, it was interesting to see how this part wasn't bad at all for other people that were doing the detox at the same time as me.

Another important aspect of the detox are the treatments and therapies like massages, hydro-colon therapy and the infra-red sauna. They are a great help for the different systems of the body to get rid of toxins that can be blocked up deep into the body. You can always take advantage of the Yoga, Pranayama and Meditation classes going on on a daily basis during your stay, all the teachers are great and even though they come from the same school, every one has a different background and approach which make the experience to be so rich. During your detox you will also have some "home work" to do at your room like morning enemas or kriyas like Tratak (candle gazing). The Samahita's approach  is to combine ancient knowledge of Yoga and Ayurveda with modern scientific research and advances in natural therapies. The results are optimal. If you are planing to do a detox my advice is: do not hesitate putting yourself on the hands of professionals. I highly recommend doing your detox at Samahita retreat in Thailand.

 Today's recipe is Kitcheri since it was included everyday in my yogi's detox program. It is a recipe from India and it is very nourising and easy to digest. This dish is a soupy mixture of rice, mung beans, vegetables and spices. Kitcheri it is consider to be a pure and clean food from an ayurvedic perspective, it can be a great dish anytime, especially when you are recovering from illness.

Soupy Kitchery

Ingredients:

-1 cup of chopped carrot and potatoes
-1 cup of rice
-1 cup of mung beans
-1 tbs ghee
-1/2 thumb of fresh ginger choped or grated
-Fresh cilantro leaves
-1 tsp whole cumin seeds
-1 tsp ground cumin
-1 tsp tumeric powder
-1/2 tsp mustard seeds
-1 pinch of asafoetida
-1 pinch of mineral salt
-4-6 cups of water (depending on how soupy you like your Kitcheri)


Process:

Wash the rice and mung beans until the water becomes clear, then soak them for one or two hours. Hit the ghee in a saucepan and sauté the seeds in the ghee until they pop. Then add the rest of spices and the ginger and cook for another minute or two until the ginger became golden and you can smell the fragrance from the spices. Add the salt, followed by the vegetables. Stir for one minute and add the rice, mung beans and the water. Bring to boil and then cover and cook in a low flame for 15/20 mins until the grains are soft. Serve, garnish with fresh chopped cilantro leaves and enjoy!

Namasté

Manu.

Living in Bangkok + Pad Thai recipe

This writing is mainly for those of us who are living in a large metropolis and those who are planing to visit one in the future. Here are some practical tips that can help you to make life in a big city, a more bearable experience.
This is based on my own experience living in Bangkok for two months. Bangkok is a huge city with about 6 million inhabitants, with high levels of noise and air pollution, a very hot and humid tropical climate which makes you feel sweaty at all times. There is a great number of shopping malls creating totally artificial environments that made me think about the incredible strength and adaptability of humans to the environment in which they live. I found large city to be an hostile environment sometimes and I wondered how was possible for its citizen, to live healthily and happily in this habitat.
Of course, when you live in a big city, you will always have the positive side as well. Bangkok has also amazing things that contrast to the hardness of the daily life. My favourite one was to find sweetness in many moments in which local people, would grant me with a wide and sincere smile.
If you are not used to the big-city environment, the act of spending some hours around the city or at the crowded shopping mall, can be devastating on an energy level. As being present and attentive to the infinite amount of sensory stimuli to which will be exposed, requires attention and energy.

Home & Food

The home is at the very first place because, after our own physical body, our home is our most intimate and vital space. We will try our best to create a nice environment with a restful , relaxing and clean atmosphere.
The accelerated-like city life will demands a lot of your energy , so make sure your home is a place where you will be able to recharge your batteries . Rest and sleep. If it is possible, sleep at least eight hours.
If you are able to invest some time for cooking at home, that is a good idea too. I would suggest the idea of cooking at home versus eating out. Cooking your own food is not only healthy way to play with your creativity, but it is also the ultimate act of freedom . You are choosing and deciding what is that you and your loved ones will be fuelling your energy with.
 Choose biological and local and seasonal food when possible, consume enough water and lots of natural juices and herbal teas.
Opt by a more plant-based foods and include foods that helps detoxifying your body of heavy metals. Cilantro , algae , teas, lemon , fruits, vegetables , whole grains and plant proteins are good ideas. Avoid eating heavy especially at night.
Doing a detox once or twice a year can be a great idea.


Nature & Silence

Nature is a basic need in humans . For millions of years we have lived tied to it and only in recent years we have cut the umbilical cord that binds us to Nature. I believe this separation is causing so much suffering in many Human beings.
Go to the park, walk barefoot in the grass or the sand , lie on the ground. Observes nature around you, plants and animal life, allow yourself to be open and learn from them. Animals and children can be the link between us and Mother Nature. Spend some time with them.
Practising some sport in the park can be great, look for people with affinities and share moments.,
Cultivate silence, it is rare in the city. I vividly recommend the practice of yoga and / or meditation. Search for silence when you can choose, it is essential to your own health. It is the most effective way to listen to your inner voice.
Observe your breath during the day , get aware of your posture and of how much you speak .
One good thing about big cities is that you have the possibility of practising yoga and meditation. Find a good instructor and dedicate some time each day to implement these disciplines. The benefit you get is invaluable.  Planning to spend some holidays in a yoga retreat is a good way to reconnect with that silence.

 Protection & Technology

In tropical cities, I would recommend wearing a hat and sunglasses as well as the use of mask fumes.
Try to avoid large temperature contrasts. This is one of the major drawbacks I met when I lived in Bangkok. The sharp contrast in temperature due to the tropical climate and the use of air conditioning in commercial areas or transportation. I recommend you bring a sweater, jacket or a scarf for such occasion in which you see yourself exposed to a great temperature contrast.
Advise regarding transportation, I would choose to walk or use public transportation whenever possible. Avoid driving your own vehicle, you will probably lose hours in traffic jams.Wise idea to invest in a nice and comfortable pair of shoes.
Low Your level of demands. In large cities with lots of artificial environments, we are constantly exposed and bombarded by advertisements and archetypes of happiness, smiles and healthy appearances. It's all just an illusion, try not to fall into the trap and allow yourself to have your moments of downturn without having to judge or feel guilty about it. Learn to respect and honour your "downs".
Nowadays it is very common to be too attached to technology. Try to find a balance in here and remember we share this reality with other interesting humans that, perhaps are in front of you right now and we are not even to noticing them because we would be to busy just surfing the web.

Namaste.

"Peace is within you" at the Skytrain.

Pad Thai 

Pad Thai is so far one of my favourite Thai recipes. I would eat it very often while I was living in Bangkok. At the moment I am living in the beautiful island of Koh Samui. I can not believe that it has been one month already since I arrived for my work-study at Samahita.

I feel so grateful and inspired to be here one year after my yoga TTC, working with my beloved teachers.

Part of my "duty" here is to be involve in an amazing project. It is to revise the actual Cookbook here at the retreat. The recipe I am sharing comes directly from this book.

 Enjoy :-)

Ingredients:

16 oz medium rice noodles

1/2 cup cabbage

1 cup bean sprouts

2 tbsp white vinegar

4-6 tbsp black soy sauce

2-3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 eggs (optional)

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp veggie soup stock powder 

soup stock

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup peanuts

Instructions:

Boil the noodles in salted water until tender, around 5-7 mins. Drain in cool water and set aside. To prepare the peanuts, heat the pan or wok, put the peanuts on the heated wok. Cook for 5 mins., remove from heat and let cool. Chop when cooled. Heat oil in wok or frying pan, add cabbage and half the sprouts. Stir fry for 5 mins. Add eggs, noodles, vinegar, soy sauce, black soy sauce, veggie soup stock powder and stir together in wok. Cook for another 5 mins. Just before serving, add the peanuts and the remaining sprouts, stir to distribute. The amounts of soy sauce, sugar, pepper can be adjusted to taste.

Serves 4  

Sweet Caponata di verdure.

This is a quite easy and very tasty recipe, it is called "Caponata di verdure" and I learnt it in Southern Italy. I like to use sweet root vegetables like carrot or sweet potato and sweet round vegetables like pumpkin...The natural sweetness in the ingredients will penetrate deep in your soul!  It makes a nice side dish.

Ingredients:

-2 Courgettes
-2 big carrots
-2 onions
-1/2 small pumpkin
-2 sweet potato
-3 medium potato
-Fresh herbs (parsley, rosemary, SAGE, mint...)
-5 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
-Salt


Process:

Preheat the oven 200ºC.
Wash the vegetables thoroughly and chop them in medium squares. If they are organic, which I recommend, do not pell them, keep the skin even in the pumpkin.
Use a baking paper to cover the bottom of the oven tray and place the vegetables in. Use olive oil to coat the mix of veggies, using your hands mixing everything softly. Add salt and place them in the oven at 180ºC. 40-45 mins approx.
Take all the herbs you have and chop them together. set aside. Take out the oven tray when the vegetables are roasted and mix them with the fresh herbs using a wooden spoon and adding more salt if necessary.

 Enjoy!!

Almond milk.

Milk and dairy products are often subject to controversy. As an European raised in the 80's, I have been exposed to the mainstream idea of getting your daily amount of calcium from cows milk. Nowadays a great number of people have realized that they are intolerant to dairy or have understand that their kids are sensitive too. Whether you consume milk or not, there are a few facts that I consider important to be known:

As a mammal, Human Being is the only animal that consumes milk after it has been raised, in this case, taking the milk from another mammal. This fact shows up that WE DO NOT NEED MILK TO GET OUR DAILY AMOUNT OF CALCIUM. In Europe, as well as in other places in the world, we have been consuming milk & dairy products for thousands of years and in some cases, we have developed digestive enzymes that break down lactose helping milk assimilation. However, in most part of dairy-consumers food traditions, there are ways to eat or drink dairy products in form of fermented or as probiotics, making milk a easier-to-digest food. Today we buy yoghurt and milk in a box or cheese in a plastic tray from the supermarket, and that, somehow denatures the product itself. Also, we have to bare in mind that a few generations ago, industrial farming wasn't a reality as it is today, animals were not subject to exploitation, antibiotic vaccination and use to live in a more healthy environment, grazing pesticides-free grass. 

If you like to consume milk, yoghurt or cheese I would recommend to buy ORGANIC. You can make your own yoghurt  from organic fresh milk and using goats milk could be a great option too. Also, there are plenty of vegan milks made out from cereals or nuts and the can be a healthier option. 

Today I will share a very easy recipe as a healthy alternative to dairy milk. 

Natural almond milk.

The processes for making almond milk is so easy. All you need is a blender, a fine-mesh nut bag or cheese cloth, a strainer and some bowls. 

Ingredients:

-1 cup of almonds, preferably organic and peeled.

-2 cups of water plus more for soaking.

-Sweetener like cinnamon, honey, agave, etc...

Process:

Soak the almonds overnight or up to two days. The longer you soak them, the creamier results.

Drain and rinse the almonds under cool running water and place them in the blender or food processor with the two cups of water. Blend them for 2 minutes in the higher speed.

Place the nut bag into a bowl and pour the mix into the nut bag. Use your clean hands to squeeze and press the mix so the milk separates from the meal.

Sweeten the milk and use it or keep it in a glass container into the fridge for a maximum of 2 days.

You can use the almond meal and your own creativity as an ingredient for your cakes or as a base for a vegan cheese. For vegan cheese, mix the meal with some raw garlic, salt, pepper and fresh herbs and make little round shaped chesses. Coat them with dry herbs or spices like smoked paprika or black pepper. 

Enjoy!

Jo's Curry Dip.

 Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands,  is one of the most amazing places I have ever lived. I consider it to be quite "extreme" from many perspectives. It is a volcanic desert island surrounded by a powerful Atlantic ocean with strong winds and a stunning sunlight almost all the year-round . The Four elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Air are present everywhere and you will feel their presence no matter what. If I have to describe the energy of this place in one word, I would use INTENSITY.

 Those who enjoy wilderness, sun light and surf will probably enjoy this unique paradise. I hope to go back one day and pay a visit to my friends and the places that I loved.

While I was living there I heard several times that  living in this part of the world, could make your karmic wheel to run faster than usual. From my own experience I feel this is true as there was always "something going on"  in terms of facing life challenges. 

The period that I lived in Fuerteventura, I realized and understood an important lesson: To acknowledge fierce emotions within myself and to recognise and embrace my dark side. 

Like it or not, we all have a dark side, a shadow that we were taught to run away from. We are taught that emotions like fear, anger, sadness, envy, rage...were "negative emotions" and we learn to suppress or to hide them not providing a space for that part of ourselves that was trying to manifest itself. We tend to bury those feelings in the belief that they are terrible and, thinking that this is the best thing we can do, completely unaware that sooner or latter we will face. They will find a way to manifest through our physical/mental/energetic/emotional body, perhaps in the form of a disease.

Asana practice or meditation are greats tools for facing/embracing our dark side on a daily basis. If they are well understood, they can be a sophisticated instrument for spiritual growth. Sadly enough, it is common to come across "spiritual teachers" who wont admit this dark side of the human personality and will claim that there is not space for it in spiritual evolution.

Emotions were created to be felt as they are part of our inner wisdom.

My feeling is that  there cannot be light without darkness and, in order to find our light, we must first give a place to our darkness, acknowledge it, honour it and finally overcome it.  

Today's recipe is a curry dip, I learned it from my dear friend and workmate Jo Dombernowsy, She is an amazing cook and working with her was a very inspirational experience. She wrote a great cook book which contains recipes that I often use. This is one of my favourites:

 Ingredients:

-100 ml. sunflower seeds
-100ml. extra virgin olive oil
-1 teaspoon of apple vinegar
-1 tablespoon lemon juice
-4 teaspoon of mild or soft curry
-1 teaspoon of turmeric
-1 apple peeled and cut into chunks
-Sea salt for seasoning

Process:

Blend all the ingredients together until it gets a soft consistency and serve it with bread, raw veggies or crackers.

ENJOY!!

Seitan: Making your own vegetarian meat.

 One of the things I get more inspiration from is going out to nature. It makes me feel connected and sometimes it gives me insights. As I was having an early walk this morning, I thought about the purpose of life, Why am I here? What is my purpose in this life...? I know it may sound cliché but I think everyone of us has come to this kind of question at some point.

 I raised my gaze to the sky and suddenly, something beautiful happened: a magnificent falcon flew few meters right above my head crossing like an arrow in the morning winter sky. I felt overwhelmed with awe by this beautiful event and some tears came out from my eyes. That made me think that perhaps my purpose in this life has to do with nature...but maybe this is just an idea, who knows?

I like to think that the ultimate purpose of life is just to live this life, nothing else...Just do the things that make us feel connected, happy and peaceful. I believe that if we want to align our personal purpose with a Higher purpose, then the most direct way must begin from our heart.

Vegetarianism and yoga are very related nowadays. I love vegetarian food and I personally believe in the benefits of practising yoga and having a healthy life style which may include adding more veggies to your diet. However, I do not agree with fanaticism of any kind and, when it comes to diet, I believe the more important thing to do is listening to your own body. Sometimes we may decide to be a vegetarian or a vegan from an idealistic position, following this without listening what the body is trying to say. Our guts are just like another brain and any decision about our eating habits should come from down there more than our head. Having a healthy lifestyle will surely help you to connect with that inner wisdom that will orient you towards being capable of feeling and understanding what is good or bad for you.

 Sometimes we may think we are more on the spiritual path by practising yoga or eating just vegetarian food, but that is just our own ego talking. In the end I think Life itself is the ultimate and absolute spiritual experience and practice, and the rest are just tools that sooner or later we must transcend in order to advance our evolution as human beings. Respect, starting from what I feel, is one of the things at which I am aiming.

Today's recipe is seitan. It is a popular mock meat made from wheat. It is a well known product among vegetarians and it is high in protein. You can find it in almost every healthy store, sometimes as the base ingredient for other commercial meat substitutes like sausages, etc.

Seitan is highly versatile as an ingredient and it taste so good, if you are planning to cut off some animal products from your diet, you can use it as your "meat-substitute" as it has a very similar texture to meat and it  is a vegetarian quality protein.

 If you like seitan and you have some spare time to invest in your kitchen, then probably it is worth for you to learn this recipe.

Seitan with "papas arrugadas" on a pumpkin-cream bed. 

Ingredients:

(For 250gr. approx.)
-1/2 kg of wheat flour.
-1/2 onion.
-2 garlic cloves.
-2 cm ginger root chopped.
-8 tablespoon of soya sauce.
-1 teaspoon of dry oregano.
-A piece of Kombu or another seaweed.
-1/2 teaspoon of dry ground garlic.
-A pinch of cumin.
-A pinch of smoked paprika.

Process:

Seitan is pure gluten (the main protein found in wheat). It is made primarily with wheat flour and in the process, we basically are going to separate the starch from the gluten, and we will aim to keep the last one.

The first thing we need to make is a dough by mixing and kneading wheat flour and water. Once the dough is done, place it in a bowl and cover it with water.

After the dough has been under water for at least two hours, we are going to start working it in the sink. Here start the process of separating the starch and the gluten. Place the bowl in the sink under the water tap and knead the dough into the bowl, letting all the starch (which will colour the water in white) come out. You must try to knead "compressing" the dough, this will allow the gluten to stick together while the starch dissolves and goes away. Change the water in the bowl a few times while you are working the dough, it will take some time until you clearly see that most part of the starch is gone and the remaining is a chew-gum-like sweet little monster.

This is the remaining gluten, our sweet little monster.


Next step is doing a broth where we are going to cook the gluten. This will give some consistence and flavour to our seitan.
 In a litter of boiling water add 4 tablespoon of soya sauce, the onion, the garlic cloves, ginger, oregano and seaweed. Feel free to be creative here and add whatever you think will give a nice flavour. 
Place the gluten inside and cook in a medium flame for 45 mins.

And there it is: your home-made seitan. Cut it in chunks or slices and marinate with 4 tablespoon of soya sauce, the spices and the dry garlic before you use and cook as you would do with  meat.


Enjoy!!