Valentine Yoga Classes at Yoga Manila

Makati, Ortigas, Alabang Studios
February 14, 2009, Saturday

Experience something different with your very special someone! Try out a Partners’ Yoga class!

On February 14, Saturday, Partners’ Yoga will be held in lieu of the regular Led Ashtanga class:

Makati	10:30 - 12nn
Ortigas	10:30 - 12nn
Alabang	8:30 – 10am

Have fun as you & your partner move in tandem to come into and hold various yoga poses. Come away with the feeling you have connected in a meaningful way!

Students can use their 6 or 10 class cards for their special guest!

Soupy Dhal

Fry 1 tsp black mustard seeds and 1 tsp cumin seeds in 1-2 tbsp olive oil over really low heat until the seed begins to pop. Add 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, and mix well.

Be careful not to burn the spices.

Add 1 cup moong dhal, chopped potatoes and carrots (about 1 cup each), 4-6 cups water depending on your desired consistency, 1 chopped tomato, 1 veg stock cube.

Increase the heat and bring to boil. When boiling, decrease heat and simmer until everything is cooked.

Add salt and pepper to taste, a dash of chilli powder. Add a handful of chopped coriander and stir well before serving.

Eat with steamed brown rice.

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"Activity of mind is brought about by vasana (motivation directed towards satisfying a physiological or psychological need) and samirana (respiration). If one of them ceases to act then both cease to function." - Hathapradipika IV:22

Sandy's Teaching Schedule at Pulse

My first yoga teacher Sandy is back in Manila and will be teaching at Pulse while she's here. If you're looking for flow/power classes infused with traditional yogic wisdom and philosophy, you should take her classes.

I learned a lot from Sandy and she taught me a lot about yoga philosophy and lifestyle. She's a great cook as well and has taught me some of her secret recipes. ;-)

Here is her teaching schedule:

MAKATI

Mon Jan 26 POWER 6pm
Wed Jan 28 POWER 730am
Wed Jan 28 POWER 6pm
Fri Jan 30 POWER 6pm
Sat Jan 31 POWER 930am
Mon Feb 9 HOTFLW 730pm
Tues Feb 10 HOTFLW 630pm
Wed Feb 11 POWER 6pm
Thur Feb12 HOTFLW 630pm
Tues Feb 17 HOTFLW 630pm
Thur Feb 19 HOTFLW 630pm
Tues Feb 24 VINY 9am

GREENHILLS
Mon Feb 2 HOTFLW 645pm
Tues Feb 3 HOTFLW 7pm
Wed Feb 4 POWER 1 7pm
Thur Feb5 POWER hr 12N
Thur Feb 5 HOTFL 7pm
Fri Feb 6 HOTFL 645pm
Sat Feb 7 POWER 930 am
Fri Feb 13 POWER 7pm
Mon Feb16 HOTFL 645pm
Wed Feb 18 POWER 7pm
Fri Feb 20 HOTFL 645pm

Banana and Chocolate Bread

Thanks M. :-)

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i made this at home over x-mas, and everybody loved it . I replaced the chocolate chips with chopped pecans though forless sweetness and more texture... mmmmm

Enjoy!! with a nice coffee or hot chocolate....

Serves 10-12

Ingredients
250g (9oz) self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
150g (5oz) caster sugar
100g (3 ½ oz) butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
475g (17oz) whole bananas (about 4 small ones), peeled
75g (3oz) dark chocolate chips

13 x 23cm (5x9in) loaf tin

Preheat the oven to 170oC (325oF), Gas mark 3. Lightly butter and line the loaf tin with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the sugar and butter and, using your fingertips, rub it in until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Whisk the eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest in another bowl. Add the bananas and mash very well with a potato masher. Add the chocolate chips.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the banana mixture. Gently but thoroughly bring all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon, then pour into the prepared loaf tin. Smooth the top and bake in the oven for 1-1 ¼ hours or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing the cake from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Minestrone Soup

Saute 2 cloves minced garlic and 1 chopped small white onion in 2 tbsp olive oil for a minute or so. Add chopped tomatoes (5 ripe medium sized tomatoes), lower heat and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes begin to disintegrate.

Add chopped potatoes and carrots, 1 cup red kidney beans, 1 cup elbow macaroni, mix well. Add about 4-5 cups water, a mushroom stock cube, dash of red chilli powder to taste, salt and pepper.

Allow to boil and then lower heat and simmer until the vegetables and pasta are cooked and tender. Use less water for thicker soup.

When done, remove from heat and add a handful of chopped fresh basil and coriander.

Serve with wheat pandesal (or your favorite bread) and butter.

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Just arrived from Makati. Taught a class this morning and then had lunch with Joey, a fellow Pinoy ashtangi I met in Mysore. He's been to Mysore about 4 times already and is one of the very few Filipinos who can proudly say that they've studied with Guruji himself.

I never got to study with Guruji when I was in Mysore because he was no longer teaching. I still feel blessed though to have seen him in person.

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"Wherever the mind attaches itself first, it becomes steady there; and then it becomes absorbed in it." - Hathapradipika IV:88

Simple Pasta Dish

Saute minced garlic in 1/2 cup olive oil, about 5 big cloves. Add thinly sliced green and red capsicum. Stir in 1 mushroom stock cube. Remove from heat and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add a handful of chopped basil leaves and mix well.

Pour the sauce into cooked spaghetti (400 grams uncooked), serve and enjoy.

Top with some basil leaves, crushed red pepper and your favorite cheese. Being "skinny and a little bit short of money" at this time, I used Eden processed cheese. It's cheap and I believe suits the Filipino tongue very well.

After my morning class in Makati yesterday, I decided to go to Marikina and get Indian spices from Assad Indian mini-mart. I got everything that I need so watch out for simple, nutritious and mouth-watering Indian dishes in the next few days.

I still have leftover brown rice in the fridge and I'm thinking of making rice milk for brunch.

Namaste.

Veg Macaroni Soup

Dinner last night. The green curry stayed in the fridge and will be my housemate's lunch or dinner today.

Saute 2 cloves garlic, minced, sliced onions, in 1 tbsp olive oil. Add chopped potatoes, carrots, peas, about 1 cup each. Add 6 cups water, 1.5 cups elbow macaroni, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drop one mushroom stock cube, season with salt and pepper, and dried rosemary.

When the pasta and vegetables are cooked, slowly pour in about 1 cup milk (I used evaporated milk), and stir well. Allow to simmer for another minute and stir in a handful of finely chopped fresh basil leaves.

Went to the Assad Indian mini-mart in Marikina this morning after my class in Makati. It was an adventure figuring out where to go. Glad to have been able to buy all the spices and dhals that I need to make authentic Indian dishes.

It's hello kitcherie again in the next few days. Oh, and rice milk... yummy!

Still got one class later. Not really mine now but started the program 4-5 years ago and left it with Joji when I moved to Saudi. It would be good to see the group again.

Thai Green Curry

This was lunch today... and probably dinner as well.

Fry 1 tbsp of thai green curry paste on 1 tbsp olive oil (any vegetable cooking oil will do actually) until fragrant (should be over really low heat as the paste tends to burn easily).

Add 1/2 tsp minced galangal, 1/2 tsp minced lemon grass, 2 kaffir lime leaf, 1 tbsp coconut milk. Mix well.

Add 3 cups of squash/pumpkin cut into small cubes (I added carrots here as I still had some in the fridge. Thought the combination isn't that great though but was still good.)

Add 1/2 cup coconut milk and mix everything together. Allow to simmer then add 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp brown sugar (I used an Indonesian sweet soy sauce so it made the sauce look a little bit dark. It actually looked like Brown curry, hehehe).

Thin the sauce with some water. Cover and allow the vegetables to cook and soften.

Add a tbsp of coconut milk to garnish and some basil leaves.

Pour over steamed rice and enjoy.

I used the organic brown rice that I received from Mam Ces last xmas. I added too much water so it was too soft. When I was in Saudi, most of the rice needed twice as much water compared to the ones we have here in the Philippines. At least I know now that it requires less water.

Got to take a nap now and prepare for this afternoon's class.

Namaste.

Pumpkin Hummus and Peanut Sauce

Ground equal parts of cashews and roasted sesame seeds. Add 1-2 tablespoon/s soy sauce, 1 tbsp calamansi juice (or lemon), some cooked pumpkin, chopped coriander, dash of sesame oil. Mix and mash... spread on toast or pita bread and yummy!!! My non-veg friends loved it!

For the peanut sauce, saute one chopped tomato in 1 tbsp oil until it begins to disintegrate. Add 1 tbsp green curry paste and fry until fragrant for 30 seconds. Make sure you keep the heat really low. Add 4-6 tbsp coconut milk, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 cup ground roasted peanuts. Mix well and set aside. It can be used as a dip or sauce for pad thai.

For a really quick and easy dish, use it for fresh spring roll. Arrange 1 large basil leaf, some carrots and singkamas (turnips) cut into thin strips, on to a fresh spring roll wrapper, spread about 1 tsp of the peanut sauce, wrap, roll and enjoy. This was also a hit except that they found it too spicy.

The pumpkin hummus can also be used as a sauce for the spring roll for variation.

Learned these recipes in Bangkok last November and only got to try it again this evening.

Cheers.

Trees for Mount Apo

A little inspiration to start the year.

Plant more trees.

Protect Mount Apo.

Make it cleaner...

Make it greener.

(I honestly don't have any clue what's the status with Mt. Apo,
I just thought those lines would compliment the photo well.)

Photos by Bob Mata.

Ashtanga Yoga with Bela Lipat

Kids of Hope

“Kids of Hope” is about children with cancer from Mindanao at Davao Medical Center and the people who care for them. Young as they are, these patients have exuded great courage in the battle against this terrible disease. They are all living proof that hope could spring even from the youngest hearts and can encourage greater strength to all.

My brother does not have cancer but he was born with arthrogryposis multiplex. He's our constant source of hope, love, strength and inspiration.

And he's a vegetarian!

Vipassana Meditation Philippines

Photo by Chona

Next 10-day course is on April 1-12, 2009. Click here for the Vipassana Philippines webpage and here to apply for the 10-day course.

"Sleeping late, practicing late, no pranayama, all asanas." This is how I'd describe my days in the last 2 weeks.

Practice was good this morning although I could feel the stiffness of the body. I wonder if my daily morning coffee is making the muscle tremble in the state of asana.

Most probably.

But I just bought my first Monk's Blend coffee yesterday and man it's one of the best I've had. The last pack that I bought was the Batangas Blend and although it was also good, I believe I've found my local blend.

Not sattvic, I know. But what to do? Guruji used to say (or so I heard), "have coffee before practice... gives you courage." Especially during dropbacks and kapotasana.

As always, moderation is the key.

My new year's mantra, "support local products... tatak Pinoy, tatak Pilipino!" :-p

Kaivalyadham 2008

Just want to share with you a video on Kaivalyadham Yoga Institute in Lonavla, India, where I studied classical pranayama last November.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!