“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.” -Fellini
My girlfriend came across Le Caramel while perusing the internet. I love a little dessert snack while watching American Idol or the NBA Playoffs. But the dairy hangover from Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream was crushing. So I switched to a equally sweet but healthier snack…salted caramel on an apple. As described by the creators of Le Caramel: “In the heart of Normandy, only a few miles away from the D-day beaches, the little town of Isigny sur Mer is known worldwide for its quality dairy products; its milk, cream and cheese are considered to be among the best in France. Of all the wonderful recipes derived from these products, one stands out: the salted butter caramel.”
What’s great about these sweet little discoveries is that its creators are bootstrapping it together and doing everything they can to share their passion with the world. Thus, this special groupshop where you get their caramel cream chocolate sauce as their gift to you when you indulge in a few other unforgettable, mindbending treats from Le Caramel. VISIT HERE FOR THE GROUPSHOP. It’s on my storefront on The Open Sky Project, an online farmer’s market.
Its the impassioned people doing it on their own that make the world a sweeter place. In this case, I mean “sweeter” in every sense of the word.
“Southern food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.” Mark Twain
I spent this past weekend in Charleston, South Carolina where I shared my Yoga + Chocolate + Wine “Livin’ the Moment” experience. Charleston is about the sweetest and most charming spot in the nation. And the first step into Jestine’s Kitchen at 54 1/2 Wentworth Street and I knew my fledgling vegetarian diet was in trouble, at least for the evening.
The restaurant is named in honor of Jestine Matthews who died in 1997 at 112 years young. The daughter of a Native American mother and father who was a freed slave, Jestine moved to Charleston in the early 1900’s. As a housekeeper, Jestine formed a lifelong friendship for her employers The Ellison family. The restaurant, owned by the Ellison’s granddaughter, is a tribute to Jestine’s style of home cooking.
I went so far as to ask our super charming waitress if there was anything vegetarian, let alone healthy. Blasphemy. Ok, fine. Twist my arm. I started with cornbread on which I spread honey soaked butter. Then I moved on to a Fried Oyster Po Boy, and Fried Okra. And finished with Chocolate Cake made with Coca-Cola which gives it a spongy texture. I’m not anything close to a food critic so I can’t comment with anything other than two words: freakin’ delicious!
After experiencing epic barbeque in Memphis, tangy daquiris in New Orleans, and Fried Green Tomatoes (forgot about those) in Charleston, I believe Southern food is the best way to sum up the Southern culture: not always so healthy for the body, but such a treat for the soul.
“Food has replaced sex in my life. Now I can’t even get into my own pants.” -Anonymous
I had the pleasure of meeting Alexandra and Andrea at my Yoga for Foodies event in Phoenix. (They have a third partner, Anthony Anderson who is also known as The Raw Model) These are the kind of folks I’d have imagined meeting in the fields of Northern California…certainly not the conservative environment that is Arizona. These women live from the heart and their Blackbird Naturals handmade raw, vegan, cacao truffles are a virtual symphony of freshness, beauty, and love. Seriously, every bite sings to you…like a Grateful Dead show in your mouth.
You can’t even imagine the amount of flavor that comes from six ingredients: dates, cacao, coconut oil, Himalayan pink salt, shredded coconut, and cacao nibs.
To buy Blackbird Raw Vegan Truffles, click the button below which links directly to my storefront on The Open Sky Project, an online farmer’s market. Enter code 15OFFBLACKBIRD at checkout to receive 15% off your order.Enjoy!
Watch this short video from Anthony to learn more.
“The real cost of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.” -Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
“Yoga for Foodies is not saying “Yoga for Food Snobs” but rather “Yoga for People Who Love Delicious Food.” So while it might be obvious to a hardcore foodie that a finishing salt can transform “butterleaf lettuce into a cholophyll dynamo of flavor that strums at the heart of nature,” I honestly didn’t realize.
The other night, my girlfriend sprinkled some Iburi Jio Cherry salt on a roasted vegetable pasta. Sourced by The Meadow, a Portland, Oregon based company, this Iburi Jio Cherry is a premium quality sea salt that is made from labor and time-intensive production processes – collecting unpolluted, deep sea water from off shore of the Oga Peninsula in Akita Prefecture in northern Japan, and slowly crystallizing the salt in a large pot over a wood burning fire for three days. This salt is smoked with roasting pure cherry wood, with neither additives nor chemical treatments of any kind applied to the salt. The excellent flavor of the sea salt only acquires its fragrant smoky flavor and aroma from the cherry wood and it both smells and tastes very similar to bacon. Yes, I said bacon. To make it simple…it’s AMAZING and adds previously uncharted flavor to your eating experience.
Visit here to pick up a jar of magic at my storefront on The Open Sky Project.
“Simplicity is the nature of great souls.” Anonymous
Today I had an experience that truly changed my life forever. It only happened 2 hours ago but it was one of those moments where my brain didn’t just shift 2 degrees left but spun around 12 times and left me in a spiritual tizzy. Sri Kumaré is a revered Himalayan Yoga Master, often known to his contemporaries as Adarsha or “The Mirror.” He is currently traveling through the United States to get a sense of the real America. I was contacted by his entourage, who’s filming a documentary about “guruji’s” journey. They thought it’d be an interesting meeting between a pure guru from India and a wine-drinking, chocolate eating yoga teacher from the US (dat be me).
After chatting with his superfriendly entourage for a while, the guru appeared dressed in an orange robe and carrying a stick with an OM symbol on top. He was the real deal. Powerful, with a clean and rich vibration, and ageless. There was no knowing if he was young or old. He had the innocence of a 4 year old and the wisdom of a 94 year old. We talked about food, I asked if he wanted to join me for lunch, and he told me he prefers to eat at home (his temporary place of residence in Arizona) because he wants to know where the food is coming from and more importantly, he wants to eat with family. I thought about how many meals I eat alone or while watching TV.
To Guruji, which is how he’s referred to by those around him, food is not something to stuff down the throat, but something sacred that should be carefully observed, appreciated, and enjoyed with those you love. It’s not just food but all aspects of life. When a fly circled around him, he studied it carefully, rather than swatting it away. I couldn’t help but think the only time I’ve met someone who moved so deliberately was a friend in a Dead show parking lot in 1993. When I asked him for a high five (see above video), even that he did mindfully. The only time I’ve met someone who gave a mindful high five, was, ah, well, the same guy after the same Dead show in 1993. It was a quite a night after that Dead show. And today was quite a day.
Please pardon the Dead show references, but being in the presence of a living master as is Sri Kumare, I’m tripping out a bit. While I’ve got a million things to get done today, I can’t seem to remember a single one. If that’s not a brush with enlightenment, than I don’t know what is. Wait, what?
Cnythia Olivera, Barry Kapp, and Audre Gutierrez of Wisdom of the Earth
“Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains; another, a moonlit beach; a third, a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a Midwestern town.” Diane Ackerman
From those Drakkar Noir-inspired teenage nights to the creosote bush after a desert rain., a waft of somethin’ special is a sensory wormhole. Take Patchouli, for instance, It will forever remind me of the pre-show butterflies I sensed while trolling the parking lot at Grateful Dead concerts hoping to find veggie burritos, or best of all, a Miracle ticket. But the single most beautiful scent I’ve ever experienced is a gorgeous, potent handmade lavendar oil that I’ve been using in my yoga workshops for the better part of the past decade.
Each year Wisdom of the Earth founder and master medicinal aromatherapist Barry Kapp travels with fellow Medicinal Aromatherapist & Partner. Audre Gutierrez,and life partner Cynthia Olivera to the French Alps. They journey to pick lavender from varying elevations ranging from the rarest growth at1800 meters to the highlands at 1200 meters. They make their own, pure, loving oil whose scent has to be experienced in order to be understood. In every single Savasana of every single Yoga + Chocolate, Yoga + Wine, and Yoga for Foodies event I’ve ever taught, I rub a few drops of this special lavender on the participants. It’s less the comments than the audible sighs and visible expressions of true and total surrender. If such a thing was possible as putting an exotic European vacation, epic Savasana, and soothing head message into a tiny bottle…
I recently completed a 3 day juice fast by BluePrint Cleanse and while there were extreme hunger pangs at times, there were also moments of beautiful clarity and a powerful, natural high. That high has been addicting and since coming off the cleanse I’m definitely eating healthier and trying to hold on to a sliver of that feeling. But I wasn’t nearly as effected by this natural high as Susan O’Brien, who I met during my recent Yoga for Foodies tour stop in Dallas. Susan tried the Master Cleanse (one of the many types of juice fasts) several years ago and was so deeply impacted by the high, that she switched to a raw food diet and started a company, Hail Merry.
Susan explained that when we cook food, we kill its living enzymes which aid in digestion. Without these enzymes, our body has to use lots of energy toward digestion that could be used for other purposes. In other words, people that eat raw food feel higher than people that don’t. Hmmmm
Susan’s mission is to make raw food more accessible. While so much of what’s raw is green, brown and odd looking, her products include macaroons made with organic expeller pressed coconut oil, shredded coconut, almond flour, pure maple syrup, organic Mexican vanilla & sea salt…or Grawnola made with fresh squeezed orange juice, organic apples, cranberries, pecans, and flax seeds.
If you, like me, have a problem with feeling completely exhausted after eating, Susan recommends just eating 50% raw food and watch your body undergo an amazing transformation. She explained, “There are people who will go months and months without eating anything raw in their entire diet except the lettuce on a hamburger.”
Therein lies the debate. Is the buzz of cold beers and a hamburger nearly as good as the high that comes from raw food? Might be worth the experiment.
I never thought twice about buying a bar of Soap while running into CVS. But on a recent trip to the Cleveland suburb of Chagrin Falls, I met a dude named Sam Friedman who makes his own soap. I know what you must be thinking and the answer is no, I was not high. I just happened to be in Cleveland to teach a yoga workshop and was at a Bela Fleck concert when I met the soapmaker. He told me something really interesting while we were enjoying the concert: “Most products you think of as soap are actually detergents. Detergent is great when you are cleaning laundry or dishes, but NOT when you are cleaning your skin, which happens to be the largest organ in the body. And please stop asking me so many questions.”
Soap. Who woulda thunk it? Ever since, I’ve been using this guys homemade soaps. And I’ve found incredible changes in my life including increased productivity, virility, and muscle tone. Although that could be the Adderall. But really, I love this guy’s soap. Currently I’ve got a bar of Chocolate Almond Soap in my shower. And while it’s a very subtle change in the whole scheme of things, it requires no major dietary shift (ie saying goodbye to the beloved cheeseburger), it’s relatively cheap ($7.00 for a ginormous bar), and it’s made by a truly nice guy who actually cares about the world vs something filled with nasty chemicals and made in a factory by people who could care less about my health.
The ancient philosopher Seneca once said, “To wish to be well is a part of becoming well.” If you are like me and truly want to lead a healthier life but have a hard time walking away from the cheeseburger and fries after a big night out, take baby steps. Surround yourself with the little things that enhance the little moments in your day and make you feel better not just about yourself but about supporting those rare, old school folk like Sam Friedman, who still works with his hands, and leads with his heart.
Visit here to buy Chagrin Valley products from my storefront on The Open Sky Project
I recently completed a 3 day juice fast by 
never thought twice about buying a bar of Soap while running into CVS. But on a recent trip to the Cleveland suburb of Chagrin Falls, I met a dude named Sam Friedman who makes his own soap. I know what you must be thinking and the answer is no, I was not high. I just happened to be in Cleveland to teach a yoga workshop and was at a Bela Fleck concert when I met the soapmaker. He told me something really interesting while we were enjoying the concert: “Most products you think of as soap are actually detergents. Detergent is great when you are cleaning laundry or dishes, but NOT when you are cleaning your skin, which happens to be the largest organ in the body. And please stop asking me so many questions.”
