Welcome to another edition of The Living Yoga Newsletter,
your source for the reliable information and support you
need to reclaim your health and energy, naturally.
In this issue you will find:
Local events
Thanksgiving Fruit: The Pomegranate
Holiday Recipes
Feature articles:
6 Steps to Conquering Food Cravings
Yoga for the Raw Lifestyle Part II: Santosha
If you read my last newsletter, I hope you are now beginning
to enjoy November's persimmon bounty! In this edition I
introduce another fun fall fruit, the pomegranate. As our
harvest season comes to a close in the north, we must import
some food from the tropics in order to stay on a healthy raw
diet. As usual, I've included recipes that feature foods
that are in season elsewhere, and readily available here as
fresh as possible. There is still good food to eat!
My feature article is about food cravings, since I'm getting
so many questions about this lately. We are heading into a
potentially challenging season for northern raw fooders,
especially those of us trying to maintain a healthy high
fruit, low fat raw diet. This article will help you to
understand and manage those powerful cravings that can grip
us all. I've also included another exploration of yoga
philosophy for the raw food/healthy lifestyle journey.
Please stay tuned, as I will be making an announcement soon
about a very special trip I will be making to Costa Rica in
January. . . .
Local Events:
Arbor Farms on Tuesday, December 11th, 7-8 pm. Call the
store to register, 996-8111. Please come show your support
Raw Food Potluck, Sunday, December 16th, 1 - 3 pm, 1801
Avondale Ave. 995-0875
(Jan. potluck date & location TBA; Feb. potluck scheduled
for Sunday, Feb. 17th at 1801 Avondale)
Friday mornings at 9:00. Call Ellen to register, 995-0875.
Thanksgiving Fruit: The Pomegranate
by Ellen Livingston
The pomegranate is a special fruit, much more appreciated in
the East than here in America. It grows wild as a large and
beautiful shrub, and is found in southern Asia and other hot
areas of the world, including the Mediterranean region,
Central and South America, and the southern U.S. The
pomegranate is in season from October through January, and
it is a good source of vitamin C and vitamin K. Unopened
fruits will stay fresh at room temperature for up to two
weeks, and can last up to two months in the refrigerator.
Fresh seeds will last up to a week in an airtight container
in the refrigerator, or can be frozen and stored for several
months (spread out on a baking sheet and freeze separately
before transferring them to a freezer bag).
an orange or grapefruit in size, is roughly six-sided, and
is covered in a tough, leathery brownish-yellow to red skin.
It is really a several-celled, many-seeded berry. Each
seed is encased in a bright red, acid, juicy pulp - it is
this that we eat. These pulp covered seeds can be scooped
out of the pomegranate skin, separated from the dry white
membrane, and eaten. They make an especially nice garnish
for salads, with greens and/or other acid fruits. To get
the seeds out, slice off both ends of the pomegranate and
score the husk in quarters. Submerge the fruit in a bowl of
water and break it apart. The pulp-encased seeds will break
free and sink to the bottom of the bowl, while the membrane
will float to the top. Remove the membrane, drain the liquid,
and the seeds are ready to be eaten.
the fruit in your hands until it is entirely soft, slit
the skin with a knife carefully, then suck out the
deliciously refreshing juice. This is really fun!
This fruit is ripe when its skin is becoming wrinkled and
pomegranate, for it purges the system of envy and hatred."
Dried pomegranate seeds have also been used forever to purge
the body of tapeworm. Just beware the staining power of the
brilliant red juice! Enjoy the pomegranate in the "Colorful
Thanksgiving Salad" recipe I have included below.
*Can you handle the raw truth*?
of raw foods -- there are certain key concepts to know and pitfalls
to avoid. This is the subject of the best-selling e-book,
The Raw Secrets. For more information, go to this website:
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/cmd.php?Clk=1999274
Recipes: All of these can make festive holiday fare!
Fill a big bowl with chopped mixed salad greens and optional
chopped, peeled cucumber. Peel lots of satsuma tangerines,
chop each section in half and place in a bowl. To remove
pomegranate seeds, see preceding article. Add the
pulp-encased seeds to the chopped tangerine sections, and
mix together well. Pour this fruit mixture onto the bowl of
greens, squeeze on the juice of an orange, and toss all
well. For even more vibrant color, you can top with a ring
of bright green kiwi slices. This is a refreshing salad
that will get rave reviews!
This salad could also be tossed with a richer dressing made
from orange juice blended with a few tablespoons of raw
tahini (found in the refrigerated section of health food
stores).
Persimmon Pudding
Scoop the soupy flesh of several very soft, RIPE Hachiya
persimmons (see previous newsletter article) into the
blender and blend until creamy. Pour into pudding cups and
top with a sprinkle of finely chopped dates. Eat with a
celery stick for extra fun & nutrition!
Persimmon-Date Salad - this one is a bit messy to make, but
oh so sweetly scrumptious!
Make a big bowl of chopped salad greens, including some baby
spinach and optional peeled, chopped cucumber. Scoop the
very soft flesh of several RIPE persimmons onto the greens,
and use both hands to thoroughly mix the persimmons with the
greens. This will create a wonderful sweet dressing. Toss
in a few chopped dates to complete - yummy delicious!!
Dates for Dipping - makes a great appetizer, popular with
kids!
Blend soft dates with just enough water to make a thick
puree. Slice a variety of colorful apples and/or pears and
arrange on a platter, alternating with celery sticks, with
date sauce in a small bowl in the middle for dipping.
green color
Chop one medium - large tomato, half of a red bell pepper,
and 2 stalks of celery, place into blender, squeeze in juice
of half a large orange and blend well. Add baby spinach
until the blender container is almost full. Blend well.
Add a whole small avocado and blend well again. Pour into
bowls and top with chopped celery and remaining red bell
pepper (and a handful of sprouts if you have 'em!). Serves 2.
A healthy raw diet is based on FRUIT, and is low in fat.
Variety can be found throughout the year, but each meal is
best kept very simple, and during the winter season in the
north it is a reality that variety will be a bit limited.
It is common for me to eat some citrus fruits nearly every
day for several months throughout the winter, then avoid
them altogether for the rest of the year, when other fruits
become more available. And bananas are definitely a staple
winter food for me, with dates for an extra treat.
A fruit-loving raw fooder learns to eat with the seasons,
and to eagerly anticipate each delicious fruit variety as it
comes into full season, knowing we will enjoy lots of that
fruit for several weeks or even months!
6 Steps to Conquering Food Cravings
by Ellen Livingston
It's that time of year, when powerful food cravings can
really sneak up on you and threaten to undermine all of your
diligent dietary efforts! When you cave in to these
cravings, you may feel disappointed and frustrated with
yourself, confused, and even powerless. If that isn't
enough, you may suffer some unpleasant physical symptoms as
well! Let's face it, cravings are real, and they really
test your commitment to health. Many of the food-stuffs you
may crave contain addictive substances, such as the many
opioids in grains and chocolate (addictive, toxic,
morphine-like molecules), or the caso-morphine in cheese.
Salt and spices also excite your system and lead to cravings.
And for different people, certain foods trigger emotional
associations, which can also exert a powerful influence.
I want you to know that these cravings are not a mysterious,
incomprehensible phenomena, and you need not become a
victim. With appropriate knowledge, you can take back your
power and learn how to stay ahead of cravings. Health comes
from healthy living, and that means knowing and respecting
nature's laws. These laws govern all aspects of life,
including diet, exercise, fresh air and sunshine, sleep,
emotional poise, relationships, right livelihood,
spirituality, creative expression, etc. Your health will
only ever be as good as your weakest links.
Even if your diet is great, if you are over-stressed and
sleep-deprived, you may still find yourself at times feeling
overcome with powerful cravings for unhealthy foods. I have
been on all raw food for nearly 6 years, and yes, I still
experience a craving every now and then, and I certainly
experienced them quite often in the early transitional
years. I have learned what it takes to mostly eliminate
these cravings, and to stop them in their tracks when they
do appear.
In this article I simplify for you 6 areas of greatest
importance for managing cravings.
1. Eat enough simple carbohydrates from fruit during the
day. This really is the number one mistake most people make
when transitioning to a raw diet. Until you learn to
consume sufficient daytime carbs (and calories) from fruit,
you will keep finding yourself reaching for concentrated
sources of calories at the end of the day. This will cause
you to either overeat on raw fats such as nuts, seeds, or
avocados, or to stray to cooked foods such as grains
(complex carbs) or cheese. Tastebuds deranged from years of
eating cooked and spiced foods will also seek out
excito-toxins (such as salt, onion, garlic, spices) in the
confused search for fulfillment. These excite your
tastebuds, and trigger cravings for more.
Making fruit your primary fuel requires new learning and
lots of practice. This transition can be greatly enhanced
and facilitated with personal coaching assistance and/or the
appropriate info-products. See my services and products
sections of my website, www.LivingYogaNow.com.
2. Get sufficient rest and sleep, and manage stress.
Fatigue is a major factor in food cravings. It sets up an
unhealthy cycle of giving in to cravings for "comfort", which
further depletes your energy and vitality. Often when you
are exhausted at the end of the day, what your body really
wants is rest, not food at all. I'm sure you know that when
you are well rested, everything in your world looks brighter
and feels easier. Changing your eating and lifestyle habits
requires focus and commitment, and these are much easier to
maintain when you are well rested.
3. Go outside and play! Make your exercise fun, and
integrate it into your lifestyle (such as walking or
bike-riding to work) and you will be sure to make it happen.
You "work" your body harder when you perceive that
you are playing, such as in a tennis match, or in a game of tag
with the kids, than when you perceive that you are doing "a
workout".
Daily exercise and recreation are very important activities
in a healthy lifestyle, and will help immensely toward
curbing food cravings. Exercising outdoors in fresh air and
sunshine is especially beneficial. When you exercise, you
help to detoxify your body, you earn your calories, and you
will tend to reach for and delight more and more in healthy
fuel such as fresh fruit. You will also sleep better . . .
do you begin to see how it all comes together in the "wheel"
of natural health?
4. Eliminate and replace addictive foods. Many of the
foods and food-stuffs common in the Standard American Diet
are truly addictive, and cause your body to crave more of
these substances. Even trace amounts of some of these foods
can trigger your addictive response, and keep you stuck in
an unhealthy cycle. While your body is cleansing on a raw
diet, and actively circulating old toxic substances through
your bloodstream and out of the body, it is common to
experience cravings.
like cooked grains and starches, cheese, and condiments,
salts and spices, and to keep them to the occasional, small
quantity. Almost invariably this approach will lead to a
physically and emotionally destructive kind of "yo-yo-ing"
between raw and cooked food meals. It is just too easy to
slip back into the apparent "comfort" of more and more of
the addictive cooked foods, and to lose the ground you've
gained on your raw program.
For many people it is actually easier to completely
eliminate these tempting cooked foods, and to make an effort
to diligently replace them with appealing raw alternatives.
For example, if you know you will be at a party with
tempting sweet treats, bring along a bag of dates, or even
some raw "cookies". If you are headed to a restaurant,
make a raw salad dressing at home and bring it with you.
Eat lots of fruit just before you go, and you will be
satisfied with a large, raw-dressed salad.
cravings by planning ahead to prepare simple, attractive raw
dinners for yourself. Revel in the beauty of the simplicity
of your meals! Warm your winter foods by removing them from
the fridge several hours before you plan to eat, dunking
them in very warm water for a few minutes, or, if you have a
high-powered blender like a Vitamix, you can even warm your
raw soups or salad dressings by letting them blend a little
extra long. Add simple garnishes and make your meals
beautiful.
When you allow your body to gradually rid itself of the
toxins from all the cooked foods and stimulants, and all the
residues finally leave your body, your cravings will
subside.
5. Remember what you really want! Review my article in the
last newsletter about "tapas", and find the inner strength
to create what you really want (i.e. health!), out of the
kind of love and respect that only you can have for
yourself. I'm sure you've heard the term "emotional
eating". Humans have learned how to subdue uncomfortable
emotions by distracting the body's vital energy with food.
Your body cannot effectively experience emotions and digest
food simultaneously. If you eat while strong emotion is
present (even if it is more subtle, partly unconscious
emotion), you may be able to temporarily "stuff" the
emotion, and you will likely also end up with indigestion!
Uncomfortable emotions can trigger cravings. By
effectively, if temporarily, numbing your uncomfortable
emotions, indulging in unhealthy food "comforts" you. It is
helpful to understand this very human scenario, and to
forgive yourself. In order to short-circuit this harmful
pattern, you will need to be willing to sit with your
emotions, and learn to replace the unhealthy eating pattern
with other activities that will truly nourish and comfort
you.
cravings on many levels. Yoga relieves stress, gives you
exercise, and helps to cleanse your body of toxic overload.
Engaging in a few yoga postures at home in the moment when a
food craving comes up can help you to resist the craving,
and can allow you to just be with your emotions while
channeling them safely into the nourishing, focusing
activity of yoga. Regular yoga practice can help you to
feel more connection to your true Self, and to a supportive
energy beyond the self. You learn to observe and appreciate
your emotions without needing to let them control your
behavior. You can develop the emotional poise that will
enable you to take back your power and self-control, and
from this core of strength you will be able to put cravings
in their proper place!
For a schedue of classes, visit www.LivingYogaNow.com.
If you put even one of these 6 principles into place in your
life, you will be on your way to conquering cravings!
Believe in your strength, believe you are more powerful than
the cravings, and you will succeed. You simply have some
unlearning and retraining to do. In time, your tastebuds
will heal, your body will cleanse itself, and cravings will
lessen and fade away. But you need to take consistent
action. You are not a victim unless you choose to be!
Every day, in every moment, remember what you really want,
and go for it!
I can help you put these principles into action, and give
you many, many more tips and strategies through personal
coaching. Check out my Healthy Lifestyles Coaching service
at www.LivingYogaNow.com, and contact me to schedule your
consultation. Or call me at 995-0875.
Yoga for the Raw Lifestyle Part II: Santosha
By Ellen Livingston
In my last newsletter I began an exploration of the Yamas
and Niyamas, a series of 10 disciplines or steps, presented
thousands of years ago by the great sage Patanjali, which
purify the body and mind and help lead the yogi to
enlightenment. I wrote to you about "tapas", or
self-discipline, and offered a way of making this practice
be about self love and self respect. Today I'd like to look
at another one of the Niyamas, "santosha", or contentment.
In anticipation of Thanksgiving, I am especially inspired to
speak about the practice of expressing gratitude for what
is, and contentment with yourself and your life.
Patanjali knew that contentment is a requirement for peace
of mind, and that contentment is our natural state. Today's
culture, however, mostly fosters discontent. When you
listen to our society's mainstream messages, you probably
feel inadequate, and find yourself grasping for material
wealth and accomplishment, and superficial gratification.
When you allow this external grasping to control you, the
seemingly insatiable desire for sensual stimulation has
devastating consequences, both for the self and for the
planet we call home. Think about what you just read in the
above article about cravings, which are really just strong
desires for sensual excitement. Indulging in these cravings
leads a person to ill health, and when practiced by humans
on a large scale, it leads our planet toward destruction.
It is easy to find yourself believing that somehow happiness
can come from satisfying your cravings, be they for
stimulating foods, or for other material things or
accomplishments, or even for love. In truth, egoism,
attachment, clinging to the sensual, and ignorance are
obstacles to the contentment you seek. Contentment is your
natural state. It exists within, independent of any
stimulation of any kind from outside of yourself.
You must make a conscious decision, a moral choice, to allow
this natural state of contentment to shine forth. Only then
can creativity and love emerge, and the state of happiness
you seek become established. When you act upon a decision
to foster contentment, you will spend less time in
agitation, dramatic mood swings will subside, and "crises"
will diminish in their power over you. You will be on your
way to experiencing lasting peace of mind and emotional
equanimity.
Contentment has been described as being full and not needing
any more, or, like being empty and not needing anything. So
perhaps contentment is being full and being empty at the
same time. How does contentment feel to you?
Contentment is about serenity, but not complacency, comfort,
but not submission. It's about opening up to a bigger
picture, full of expansive possibilities, not about apathy
or playing small.
There are many ways to cultivate santosha, or contentment.
Observing and experiencing the awesome beauty of nature can
be a very direct route. Keeping a simple daily journal of
what you are grateful for is also highly effective. Make a
point of pausing to observe beautiful moments throughout
each day. Yoga postures, pranayama (breathing techniques),
and meditation are all wonderfully useful tools for
encouraging santosha.
contentment mean to you? Sometimes, it may require that you
intelligently do nothing, while at other times it will guide
you to courageous action. Sometimes, it may require
spending time alone, while at other times it will move you
deeper into community. Always, true contentment inspires a
greater love of Self, and of all sentient beings. No matter
how your external life circumstances appear, you can decide
today to experience contentment. Start by making a
conscious effort to simply be present in each and every
moment. Now is all you have, and love is all there is.
Mastering the Hidden Force that Undermines Health
& Happiness, by Douglas J. Lisle, Ph.D. & Alan Goldhamer,
D.C., Healthy Living Publications, 2003.
and non-essentials, peace will always elude them.
By Danna Faulds
all manner of miracles occur -
old wounds heal, the past
reveals itself to be released,
present dramas play themselves
out without sinking emotional
talons into my soft skin. The
witness welcomes truth and
dares to meet reality on its
own terms. It is the ground
in which the seeds of
transformation take root
and finally flower. When
the witness is awake, the
lake of mind is still, and
in that mirrored surface,
I see my own true face as
Spirit smiling back at me.
peace inside that small nation which is our own being.
Home | About Ellen | Services | Products | Articles | Newsletters | Contact
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Purchase Agreement
Copyright © 2007 Ellen Livingston