Join Us on Tuesday Jan. 1 for Yoga!!!

This year the 1st falls on a Tuesday -- so come join me and let's melt away those hangovers with Hatha and Restorative yoga. Class will be at the normal time (5:45-6:45) at Body in Balance!

Happy Holidays Everbody!!!

Namaste,
Rach

Yoga Cards

Various of you have asked me about yoga card decks that I really like and so I'm finally posting my two favorites. Here they are!! Check them out on Amazon.com -- the first has line drawings and the second uses photos.

The Yoga Deck: 50 Poses & Meditations for Body, Mind, & Spirit by Olivia Miller


Yoga: The Poetry of the Body: A 50-Card Practice Deck by Rodney Yee

Yoga when you're under the weather...

Everyone at work seems to be sick right now ... and I managed to pick up the pesky bug myself. Yoga with a cold or flu is usually ok but only you can judge whether even a gentler practice is a good idea. I find that inversions are not really very fun -- makes my head feel even stuffier and congested. Even restorative poses may need to be modified; in the same way it can be hard to sleep at night lying flat with a cold, lying flat for yoga may not feel great either. You can try using props to raise your head and upper body a bit so you are in a supported and slightly angled reclined position for poses like Savasana. Remember to keep your tissues handy when you practice. And of course, force the fluids, take a hot bath, have some chicken soup or veggie broth and take your vitamin C!

Coffe Cake Recipe from last week's Restorative Class

I brought this cake for a treat after last week's class and several of you wanted the recipe. It's from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It's a great book and well worth buying!

Sweet Corn Coffee Cake with Berries

1 1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter melted, or corn oil
1-2 cups berries (raspberries,blueberries or blackberries)
powdered sugar

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Preheat oven to 375. Butter and flour or spray an 8-inch springform cake pan or an 8-inch square pan.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a second owl, combine the wet ingredients. Quickly stir them together, then scrape into the pan. Scatter the berries over the top and bake in the center of the oven until the cake is browned and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 45 minutes. Remove the rim if you've used a springform pan, transfer the cake to a serving plate, and dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm.

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Rach's notes:

This has never taken 45 minutes for me -- I put the timer on for 30 or 35 and test with toothpick and it's usually done (toothpick has a few moist crumbs clinging).

I've used plain yogurt when I didn't have buttermilk in the house and it worked just fine.

I usually mix half white flour and half whole wheat pastry flour in this recipe to make it a little healthier.

I've also served this at the end of a meal as dessert -- I make a lemon juice and sugar syrup and pour that over as a glaze, but a berry glaze would be awesome too.

Bonus Restorative Class!

There will be a restorative class on Sunday August 19th at Body in Balance -- but in the morning (9:30-11:30) instead of our usual afternoon time! It should be fun to do a restorative in the morning - nice way to roll into Sunday and start the day off right!

Hope to see you there...

Namaste,
R.

July Yoga Classes

This month I'll be away a lot traveling for my work as Co-Director of Internet Scout, a research center at the UW-Madison. So Jules and Katie will be teaching my classes on Tuesday nights -- Jules will be teaching on the 10th and 17th and the 31st and Katie will be teaching on the 24th. This is a great opportunity to take a class with both these wonderful teachers!

Another Fabulous Yoga Lunch Sunday, June 10th

We had a lot of fun at the first yoga lunch and so we're doing it again. This one will be on Sunday June 10th from 11 to 1. Remember to check out Deb's School Woods menu for more details and make your reservations soon!

Celebrate Spring with Yoga and Lunch, May 12th!

My dear friend Deb is hosting this event at her School Woods Supper Club! Please join us for an hour of gentle Hatha yoga followed by a yummy lunch. For details check out http://schoolwoods.com/yoga.html -- and sign up soon, 'cause spots are going fast!

Spring Ahead!

It's warming up in Madison -- and the snow is melting. It's the time of year when you know that you made it through another winter and get to enjoy another lovely Madison spring and summer... which means lakeside activities, farmer's market and lunch outside in the sunshine.

Spring is a great time to energize your yoga practice and try something new. There are lots of great resources out there to experiment with -- you can take out books or a dvd from the public library, try a class with a different instructor or next time you're traveling, try digging around on the web to look for yoga studios at your destination and take a class on the road! A great place to start checking for other instructors or when you're traveling is the Yoga Alliance web site.

Winter, Warmth and Yoga

It's chilly as can be here in Madison this week with the highs this weekend promising to be just above zero. Yikes. It can be tough to practice yoga with a cold body - so here are a few thoughts on making your home practice successful (and safe) when it's chilly.

I'm a big fan of a hot bath or shower before I practice in the winter. Or, if it's an option, practice in front of the fireplace. A small heater can be extremely nice - making your yoga space warmer and more inviting. Dress in layers and remove layers as you need. Keep a wool shawl or blanket and socks handy for your final resting pose. And go slowly at first - it's easy to hurt yourself when your body is not warm enough and you move into a pose too deeply. Which is good advice no matter what the temp :-)