Meditation

"Meditation is not a mysterious technique you learn to do, but an inner experience you learn to identify. It's learning to recognize and consciously join something that's already a real aspect of yourself. It's taking the emphasis off of doing and putting it on consciously being. And what does it mean to consciously be?"

by George Fowler

Snow art

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/simon-beck-snow-art

This snow art is just amazing!
Enjoy and be inspired.

Sense and feel

B.K.S. Iyengar said that for true awareness every pore of the skin has to become an eye. I love that! It is such an incredible way to do yoga (or to do anything). When I first began yoga it was with coarse movements.......turn the right foot, lift the arm, breathe here, etc. But with more and more sensitivity yoga has become such a delight and a dance with both body and mind. The body loves being seen and heard by the mind through the senses. The body can become this incredible, beautiful place to dwell when it is nourished - with movement, food, touch, and housing (clothes, a roof, etc).

It is so worthwhile to daily sense, feel, and experience the body - to feel the breath move in and out and to sense the air and clothes on the skin, to feel delight in how the arm lifts up to reach for a cup of tea, or how the fingers quickly fly over the keyboard. It is a wonderful way to become present to your own life. So - practice daily! It's a recipe for joy!

Super Sensuous Skin Scrub

This is a recipe for incredibly soft skin. You'll love it and so will anyone that touches you. I've made this for years usually during the end of winter when skin is dry and also, to create a spa experience in the bath or shower. The recipe is by Linda Ledbetter and I found it in a magazine called SageWoman - No. 53 - Spring 2002.

Super Sensuous Skin Scrub

2 cups fine sea salt
1 cup cold-or expeller-pressed vegetable oil (almond, olive, or apricot)
2 vitamin E oil capsules
30 drops orange essential oil
15 drops cedarwood essential oil
5 drops geranium essential oil

Blend the vegetable oil and essential oils together, then poke a hole in each vitamin E capsule and squeeze the contents into the oil mixture. Stir in the sea salt, and you've made magic! Store your scrub in an unbreakable wide-mouth jar.

You can use this scrub in the shower; first wash yourself as usual under shower than step out and rub a handful of scrub all over your body in a circular motion (not on face). Step back into shower and quickly rinse off salt but don't wash off nourishing oils. In the bath, soak in warm water for a few minutes, and then sit on edge of the tub and scrub your entire body with this potion. Slide back in the tub to soak in the oil and salt. Heavenly!

Butternut Squash Soup

I love cleaning the fridge - well, today at least I do :0)
and trying to figure out what to do with the leftover stuff, a little of this, and a little of that. I had a squash that was not doing too well and this is what I made ...... yummy!

Butternut Squash Soup with Poppy Seeds

1 large butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 quart vegetable stock
1/2 cup water
1 large red apple, chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/4 cup poppy seeds (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C)

Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise, creating two equal halves. Scoop the seeds, and place squash, cut-side up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle each half with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Put 1 garlic clove in each cavity. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put the squash in the oven for about 45 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven and let cool. When cooled, peel, and chop into chunks.

In a large pot, heat grapeseed oil and add onion and cook for about 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock and water. Add butternut squash, apple, and the 2 baked garlic cloves. Cook about 20 minutes. Add spices. Puree the soup until smooth. Garnish with poppy seeds.

From the book: SKINNY BITCH: ULTIMATE EVERYDAY COOKBOOK by Kim Barnouin

Be who you are

It's not easy being who you are - there is so much programming, information, and advertising about how we should be. However, even inquiring into who you are is helpful. Sneak underneath the everyday thoughts and see what lurks below just waiting to be heard.

"Be who you are and say what you feel,
because those who mind don't matter
and those who matter don't mind".

Dr. Seuss