To read my answers and post your comments, check out lululemon.com!

http://www.lululemon.com/community/blog/ask-a-yogi-answers-what-to-eat/

We have so far been blessed with two girls who love to eat everything we eat. (I have probably just jinxed myself and from tomorrow on, will have two picky eaters). Gabbie, our three year old, loves tofu.  Fried tofu would have been a great addition to this recipe, for those of you who want more protein in your diet. It was a delicious lunch and I hope you enjoy it as much as we all did.

1 cup organic quinoa
1 cup frozen organic peas
1 bunch dark green organic kale chopped
15 shitake mushrooms, sliced and stems removed
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
olive oil
Boil 2 cups of water in a pot over the stove. Add the quinoa into the boiling water and cover. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Once cooked, turn off the heat. Add the frozen peas and cover. Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat a good amount of olive oil and add the shitake. Once, slightly brown, add the garlic, stirring until fragrant. Add the chopped kale and soy sauce and saute for a few minutes, just until the kale is a beautiful dark green color.  Stir in the sesame oil and serve over the quinoa.

Gloria Latham and Gurmukh at City Center Semperviva

I truly believe that things come to you when we are ready to receive them. If I had been introduced to Kundalini yoga a few years ago, I would not have appreciated this practice of Hatha yoga. For those of you not familiar to Kundalini, it is a physical and meditative practice that utilizes breathing techniques and mantra. Kundalini is the prana or life force, lying dormant in chakras in the body. It is conceptualized as a coiled up serpent that sleeps at the base of one’s spine. Kundalini yoga is said to awaken the kundalini which is our individual light that already exists in each one of us.  Along with many others, I had the pleasure to spend five hours with Gurmukh, one of the co-founders of Golden Bridge Yoga in Los Angeles and New York, at Semperviva’s City Center studio. Gurmukh exudes love, peace and humour along with an extremely fit body! She started off the Sunday workshop talking about food and how it affects our bodies and the clarity of our minds. She led us through a physically challenging practice and meditation. As a result of this workshop, I am motivated to do my own spring cleanse this month with some of my students and take more of Gloria’s Kundalini classes! Contact me if you want to join our amazing yoga kula with this cleanse.

Now that we are coming into spring, I enjoy having granola with unsweetened soy, rice or almond milk.  I will usually double or triple this batch since I love giving bags of granola out to friends.  This recipe is to all my friends who have been asking for this and especially for Danielle (another yogini) who just told my class last week that granola was her favorite food.

3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup pine nuts, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
1/2 cup crushed pecans or walnuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup raisins or chopped dates

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a large bowl stir together oats, nuts, seeds, cinnamon and salt.  In a small saucepan melt butter with honey over low heat, stirring.  Off the heat, add vanilla and pour butter mixture over oat mixture and stir until combined well.
On a large baking sheet, spread the granola evenly in a thin layer.  Bake, stirring every 5 to 8 minutes to keep from burning, until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Do not overcook.  The granola will crisp more once cooled.  Cool the granola on the pan on top of the stove and stir in dried fruit.  Granola can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Serve with your favorite type of milk or yogurt.  Enjoy!

Happy April Fool’s Day! I decided to have a little fun with my hot class tonight at Flow. After the chair series, I instructed the class of 50 students to find a partner, extend their arms out and give their partner a hug. The entire class looked puzzled. About one third of the students reluctantly embraced each other, some with smiles.  I giggled and announced “April Fool’s”  as the entire class burst out laughing.  Before that moment, the class was completely serious, which wasn’t bad.  Students should focus on their Drishti and breath but at the same time, why are we practicing together if we are only going to ignore each other?  We have a beautiful community of practitioners and can all encourage each other to show up to our mats.  I believe in laughter, and we could all use more of it.

Check me out on the  lululemon homepage, and send me your questions!

You can also see the rest of the photoshoot on Flickr

Coconut Mochi

Whenever I bring coconut mochi to a party, people ask me for the recipe.  Scott grew up in Hawaii, and as I mentioned, I lived there with him for a couple of years, pre-babies.  Your life changes drastically after having kids that you can clearly divide your life into two parts:  The prehistoric era before babies that you barely remember, and the one after.  Anyway, the food in Hawaii is a mix of everything, like many of us.  Hawaiian, Asian and European inspirations work their way into the food.  One of my favorite desserts from Hawaii is coconut mochi.  It’s also really simple and gluten free.  (More on the gluten free thing at a later date.)

1 lb Mochiko
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cans coconut milk
5 large eggs
¼ cup melted and cooled butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit
Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl, mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.  Then combine.
Pour batter into an ungreased 13 by 9 inch baking pan.  Bake for 1 ½ hours.  Cool cake in pan on a rack for 2 hours before cutting.

I am very excited to have my website up and running and starting my first blog post!  For starters, I will have two blog sections, “the practice” and “tabemono.”
The practice blog will cover a wide range of yoga and yoga-related topics including discussions regarding recent classes, inspirational quotes, yoga practice pointers and exploring ways we can lead a more conscious life.  I do not profess to have all the answers but like to ask questions and explore ideas. For example, how can I become more present as a parent, partner, teacher, student, daughter and friend?  Is there a struggle to find a balance between work and play?  What are the off-the-mat lessons we try to learn when we balance in airplane pose?

Tabemono, meaning things you can eat, will be all about one of my other passions, food.   You will see some recipes with Asian influences since I am half Japanese and grew up in Los Angeles and lived for a few years in Hawaii, both cultural melting pots.  You will also likely see some discussion regarding ideas or viewpoints about what, how and when we eat.

I hope you enjoy the first recipe blog!