Class with Dharma, Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls, Slaw Dressing, Patience

Hello Bloggie Friends!  Well, Monday and most of Tuesday are behind us.  What have you been up to?  I had a super, amazing special day on Monday.  I haven't done something this cool in ages!!!!!  I went to a 2.5 Hour Master Class with Dharma Mittra! 

 photo from here

The non-yogi readers are like, huh, who?  Kinda like I am when my husband told me something important happened with football this past weekend.  I was like huh?  More on my Master Class with Dharma in a hot second.  But first, thanks for all the amazing compliments you left me on my Vegan Gluten Free Pancakes!

Yes, Pancakes were one of those kitchen frontiers I was sorta scared of.  Not any longer!  Seriously, my recipe is pretty much goof-proof.  Heather told me in my Comments Section (who was told by one of her readers) that unless you use Baking Soda in the presence of an acid, i.e. buttermilk, that it won't activate.  For my recipe, therefore, only Baking Powder will become activated because it is heat activated, but since I didn't even use Baking Powder, and they still "turned out", it basically means that you don't have to use either, and they'll still "work". 

 

Now that your eyes are thoroughly glossed over, we can move along.  In case Alton Brown's reading or anything, I wanted to give the science behind the baking powder vs. soda issue.

The pancakes were so good, can you hear the toot-toot of my own horn?  Thought so.  Alisa the Dairy Free Goddess has a great vegan, GF, SF Waffle Recipe very similar to my pancakes if you're interested, check it out.

Next there was yesterday's epic Yoga FAQ Post!  Everything you'd ever want to know about getting into yoga, what styles to look for, what DVDs I'd recommend, how to score free podcasts on itunes, yoga attire, types of yoga classes/levels, the whole yoga magilla.   

Plus Tons of Yoga Pose Pics

 

All in one post

I worked pretty hard assembling that beast, so I hope you check it out and if you do have questions or there are aspects of yoga you'd like to see me cover more in depth, let me know!  I'd love to help!  And for all of you who said you wished I could be your teacher and that this post really helped you, thank you, soooo much!!!! muah!!!!!!!!

Moving Along to My Super Cool Day with Dharma Mittra...and about 250 other yogis, I kid you not, it was packed.  

The day started out beautifully.  A cloudless, crisp, sunny, but still chilly, winter day in Scottsdale, AZ.

And I drove to the Intercontinental Montelucia Resort & Spa.  A pretty swanky place which was a nice bonus!  And I walked through this lovely archway with crawling ivy.

And an open air courtyard

And walked Into a Ballroom

Complete with 200+ sweaty yogis, who's mats are literally touching or inches apart.

And Chandeliers shined brightly and annoyingly in our eyes illuminated our hearts.

And here is the Master: Dharma Mittra

The man has been teaching yoga daily, daily!!!!!, since 1967.

He's in his mid 70s.  Like many of the masters', his birth year is simply sometime in the later 1930s, not really sure when.  

If you look closely, you can see my reflection in the mirror as I am snapping pictures.  No shame, I tell you, gotta get the shot!

Before Class Started, I asked the girl next to me to take my picture.  Her comment, "Wow, you look so happy?!"  I said, "Why wouldn't I be...I am doing yoga with a Master in a roomful of like-minded yogis with all this great energy; I'm ecstatic!!!!  She said, "Wow, that's a good way to be!"  As if this was somehow news to her.  It was like Christmas morning for me....how could I possibly be anything BUT ecstatic!!

After class, I handed my camera off to another random girl after standing in the photo op line for about 20 minutes.  I noticed she had a really bad case of shaky hands.   After she took the picture, I asked, are you sure you got it?  "Oh Yeah, I did!" she exclaimed.   I didn't bother to review the pics.  I was kind of blissed out and not wanting to deal with technology at the moment.

She captured a blurry lovely picture of me and Dharma!  More than a little bummed 'bout the blur, but hey, my yoga work is letting go of a chance-of-a-lifetime photo op that went blurry.  Om shanti, let the blurry pic go.

All in all, it was an utterly fabulous class.  The sense of sangha (community) was palpable, the energy in the room was glorious, the messages that Dharma had for the students were beautiful.  A few highlights were: 

• Sirsasana (headstand) is the second most important pose, and do it for 10 minutes per day (we held a 5-minute headstand in class.  People were droppin' like flies, but not me) . 

• But, the most important pose is sitting tall & upright with a straight spine.  On the floor is better, but sitting in a chair is fine, too.  Keeping your spine straight keeps your energy channels clear so you can tap into your 7th and highest chakra at the top of your head.
  

• God is in your heart.

• Alternate nostril breathing for 12 cycles per day (minimum).  His words, and I quote, "Get High Without Drugs!"
  

• Find bliss and happiness from inside and within, especially when you are young, because nothing external will ever fulfill you and this only intensifies as we age.  

• Be comfortable sitting with yourself, doing nothing, just being still.  He mentioned that most people can't even sit still for 10 minutes, I agree.

So, from a wise sage, those are your Tips of the Day!!!!!!!


Moving onto Some Food Round Here...

My Pumpkin has a little cold

Poor thing, watching your kiddo sniffle and cough breaks a mama's heart.  But she's still making goofy faces for the camera, so she's hanging in there like a trooper!

I decided to give her some Kidz Amazing Grass

Grape Vitamin Water, basically.  And she digs it.  Cool because it's better than Flinstones Vitamins!

The Food...
A Raw Veggie Salad:  Brock, Sugar Snap Peas, Carrots, Tomatoes, Mixed Greens, Cukes, & Brussels Sprouts (I steam the Brussels for 1 minute in 1 inch of water in the micro)

And I tossed Everything with a fresh batch of my Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing

This batch of Averie's Vegan Slaw Dressing contained:
1 c Veganaise
1/3 c sugar (if you don't like sugar, don't use is.  Use something else like stevia, Truvia, lucama, agave)
1/3 c ACV
Whisk

It will keep in the fridge for a long time...at least 2 weeks.  This will last our family about 4-5 days.  I like to strike a balance between very freshly made items coupled with practicality and common sense:  If I am gonna make my own salad dressing, I need to do it smart so that I am not enslaved to my kitchen and prep work.  Batch cooking whenever possible is the name of my tune!

For Dessert, I had made a fresh batch of my high Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls episode.  For full recipe info, click right on over to here!  10 minutes til heaven in your mouth if you get started now!
 
Cashews & Oats

Grind

Add the Liquids (Maple and/or Agave or both, Vanilla Extract)

Add the Chocolate Chips

Blend for a Second or by hand

Form the balls

After refrigeration they looked like this.  And they will keep for weeks in the fridge.  I forgot about a batch I made before we went on our 3+ week long trip to Aruba and when I came home, they were fine.  I mean, I don't recommend it on purpose, but there you have it, they're "good keepers".

I love the big hunks of (vegan) chocolate chips. 

I have never met cookie dough I don't love, though!

Yoga Today is Everything I Just Mentioned!

Tip of the Day: Dharma Mittra's Tips that I mentioned above!  Do any of those bullet-pointed tips resonate with you?  Do you have an easy or a difficult time sitting still and just doing nothing?  In our fast-paced, instant-gratification culture, it seems that we want everything.....yesterday.  And that heavens forbid, if we have to work, sacrifice, plan, or have patience or faith for something it throws everyone into an anxiety-ridden tizzy!  It seems that many people have a hard time just sitting back, and letting things unfold, letting things come to them, having the faith and patience that things will work out if you just let it.  Or if you work, sacrifice, and plan for them.  I believe good things come to those who wait; and also to those that  make a conscientious, focused, and honest effort. 


Do you have a hard time being patient?  What's something that drives you absolutely nuts to wait for?  I admit, that waiting in lines at the supermarket when I know I have tons of things to do at home, or worse, waiting for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, that I clearly don't "need" but that I want, but that the waiting is making me late for something else, I get impatient!  But I'm working on it!

I also used to have a hard, ridiculously hard time, with sitting still with my thoughts, letting my mind let go but also remaining present.  The perfect balance between checking in and checking out, mentally-speaking, was so hard.  And to keep my physical body still in the process and not fidget!  I have improved dramatically on this front; some would call it meditation but I would call it just being. 


What things are you working on being patient for or with?  Maybe it's having patience for a certain individual?  Do tell!

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