Saturday Scrumptious Snacks!

Peppery Pear Salsa (courtesy of my mom)

1 cup vingear
8 cups chopped pears
3 finely diced red peppers
3 finely diced green peppers
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard powder
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

- Bring everything to a boil and simmer for at least 5 minutes or until liquid thickens a bit.


  *Optional* I also added 2 jalapenos and 1 red onion to this recipe for a bit more of a kick and less sweet salsa 


Honey Almond Flax Granola

1 cup coconut
5 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups almond meal
3 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup dried blueberries
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil

- Pre-heat oven to 350 F
- Mix together all dry ingredients EXCEPT the dried fruit
- Combine honey, cinnamon, oil in a saucepan and bring to just boiling.
- Coat dry ingredients with honey mixture and spread out evenly in a cookie tray (or two)
- Bake in oven for 20 minutes (or until golden brown) stirring halfway
- Cool and add in dried fruit


Enjoy some Scrumptious Saturday Snacks!

Loves,
Sarah

So I Have a VERY Productive Pear Tree... Now What?

Now what you ask?

Jam! Jelly! Pearsauce! Oh My!

So much thanks to my mother who canned all sorts of goodies when I was younger and a bit of how to/follow the pictures help from Pick Your Own and I was all set to make up some lovely pear jam this evening. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at this batch of 14 jars didn't even put a dent in the massive amount of pears I still need to process (and there is still more on the tree!) But the Jam is ultra tasty and we'll be enjoying it all year long! 

Final Product. Yummy!!

Summer Bounty

 Summer Bounty.... wonderful!

I love fresh flowers, and they are the most satisfying when you've picked them right from your own garden (or perhaps stolen some from the neighbour across the street... ssh don't tell)

DIY Glassless Photo Frame

Cute as a Button Creations

Okay, fresh start. More than two years since I've last posted but since I've been hooked into some "Pinteresting" things lately I thought I'd share some of my craftiness this summer.

Latest and Greatest: DIY Glassless Photo Frame

Supplies:
- Old Picture Frame (or window could be cool) - without the glass
- 10-15 wooden clothespins
- Jute Twine
- Sandpaper
- Staple gun
- Stain/Paint
- Paint Brush
- Old Rag
- Wood Glue (for repair of frame if required)

Start with ugly old broken frame...

Exhibit A

Fix up as required. This one need some serious corner attention as you can see. Follow with a light sanding and then paint or stain your favourite colour. I choose a nice dark walnut stain that managed to cover the original dirty dusty rose with a few coats. Since I had the stain out anyways I also did a quick coat on my clothespins so they wouldn't look so new. If you have nice old ones that a bit used that would be ideal!

Once your frame is good and dry (best to let it dry overnight so you're not dealing with any sticky paint or stain) you can staple on your jute twine (or hemp, or heavy yarn could work too) At the spacing you require for your photos. And Voila! A unique way to display your pictures and a reason to get some prints too and not just leave them stuck in an album on your computer that no one ever gets to see anyways....

Enjoy!

That's all she wrote...

Well, 30 day challenge is done now, and I officially had my last yoga class for the season yesterday. It was a great one, great temperature and great atmosphere. I will miss it that's for sure, but excited for the warmer weather to come and getting some runs in outside in the sunshine on my weekends.

Sailing season has officially started. First trip was crazy, a little of everything. Snow, rain, cold, wind, calm, sunshine, etc. Not to mention 30 kids plus 3 fantastic volunteers that add the the beautiful chaos onboard. So great to be out on the water again and filling the boats with life and laughter.

Life is starting to norm out a bit now as well. I had a few goals over the winter: reno my basement (check!), 30 day challenge (check!) and finish my 150T Masters ticket (check!!) The ticket was huge for me, and I'm so glad that I managed to finish it before I started sailing again. It is a huge weight off my shoulders and now I can live freely again for a while. Although after such a goal orientated winter it's a little strange to be in place with no specific goals in mind yet.

We'll have to see what comes my way I guess.

30 Day Challenge: Complete!

30 classes in 30 days....I did it!

Wow! Feels amazing to be done and tonight's class was a great one. It feels a little anti-climatic to be done. I thought I would feel this great sense of accomplishment at having finished...Yes it does feel good to know that  I completed the 30 days, but it's not like now that I've finished the challenge I'm just going to stop. How could I stop doing something that feels so good and has been so good for me?

Here are a few things that I've learned in the past month:
1/ In regards to water - be aware of when you are drinking and why you are drinking, if you come to class hydrated you probably don't need it, but it's definitely nice to have it when you do need it. No point in suffering!

2/ It's not all about flexibility - although I was aware of this before, it was something I came to understand more and more throughout the challenge. It doesn't matter how much you look like Gumby, but it does matter that you try to 100% of your ability and try it the right way.
3/ As my teachers have drilled it into me now: Intensity and Frequency = Results
4/ Your body is different from one day to the next, so expect your classes to be too.
5/ Everything outside the room affects what goes on inside the room - This one really surprised me. I understood the relationship between what I ate (fresh fruit and veggies vs. coffee and cookies...for example) and my classes, but I was really shocked at how much my mental/emotional state and stress levels affected my classes. It was a really interested experiment in a way because the yoga was always a constant; the same thing every day as a way to view how different aspects of my life affected me.
6/ It's all about the breath - believe it or not, breathing and relaxing through postures will help increase your depth and strength.
7/ Make sure you have fun - if it's not enjoyable, you're not going to want to do it. I love yoga! It's never really been a challenge wanting to go to class, sometimes finding the time is an issue, but I love going and pretty much always feel amazing when class is over.

So those are a few of the things that I've learned. There is so much more that I  learned along the way and a TON of corrections for each of the individual postures. I know I've come a long way in my practice and am sad that it will be over as of March 14 until November. I will be heading out sailing 5 (or more) days a week as of the 15th so I have to let my membership expire. I'll be back though!

To everyone on the 101 Day Challenge: Keep on plugging away, it'll be freakin' fantastic when you're done!

Quotes of the Challenge:

"Don't change the posture, just change your mind....it's easy" - Owl

"Motion is the lotion for your joints" - David

"Do it for Chuck!" - Peter

"It could be worse,  you could be in Acapulco." - David

"Don't give up on yourself" - Ida

"Did you touch your forehead? Okay, we'll wait for you, then we'll have a 'Sarah touched her toes to  her forehead party!" - Eric

p.s. for the record...I haven't managed to touch my forehead to my toes yet, I'm so close! Still working on it though!

Second to Last

Only one more class to go now. I'm kinda of sad that this is almost over...
Today's class was really good. Everyone was in a fantastic mood after Canada won the gold and we practiced to the yells, screaming, and honking of the celebratory world outside.

Still feeling the back and leg, but was able to relax in class and just enjoy it for what it was today. The room was a great temperature too. Hot enough to sweat, but cool enough to keep my sanity! Thoroughly enjoyable, and definitely looking forward to the last hurrah tomorrow night!

Double Day #2

So as I said previously, I had to skip Thursday and Friday's classes which meant that today was a double class day. I'm going to back track a bit here, and briefly talk about the two days that I missed.

I was surprised at how much I missed doing the yoga! The first day off it just felt like something was missing out of my day, and the second day I started experiencing quite a bit of stiffness in my back (lumbar area) which has turned into quite a bit of pain actually.  I also felt a lot more lethargic and tired and overall low on energy; work seemed to drag on a bit and the days there seemed long. It's quite astounding actually the differences I noticed in only two days.

So back to class this morning at 0930. I was feeling pretty tired and stiff. I don't normally do morning classes. I walked in and learned that Ida was teaching which helped me make up my mind to just go in there and do it. She is an amazing teacher, I always learn something new in her classes. It's amazing how a seemingly minor adjustment can change a whole pose. She is quite an inspirational teacher and is somehow able to instruct and motivate at the same time with a strict but caring demeanor and an eye for every detail...

I like to be able to push myself a lot in class and found this morning's class frustrating with the pain in my back. I wasn't able to do the sit-ups at all because of a sharp pain in my back when I attempted them so I had to start rolling from side to side to sit up. It just felt defeating to not be able to do something that I've always been able to do. It was nice to be back in the hot room again though and I was hoping that it would help to relax out the tension in my back so my second class would go better.

No such luck...In fact this evening's class was worse on the pain scale and also a strain that I've been feeling in my inner thigh was exaggerated as well. It was an odd class because while I was still able to push myself into the depths that felt like they were working through the muscles and joints, during the transitions between postures I was really struggling. Another weird thing: despite the pain in my back during my daily life and in the transitions, I felt no pain in the postures, not even in the spine strengthening series where I assumed I would experience quite a bit! Strange...

2 classes left now. I hope that this back issue sorts its self out tonight. It would really stink to spend my last two classes of this challenge in pain...

26 of 30

26th Class in a row.  And now unfortunately I have to take the next two days off... So you're thinking I'm cheating, but it's in the "rules" you can miss two days and make them up by doing a double on another day. I know that is not the point. You should be finding time in your everyday life to fit in the yoga, but sometimes things come up.

So I already, in anticipation of tomorrow, did a double earlier this month and I will have to do a double this weekend to make up for my missed class of Friday. It is unfortunate that these two days fall back to back, but I guess that is how the dice fall sometimes. Thursday is the S.A.L.T.S. AGM and Offshore Documentary Premier and Friday I'll be cooking for Street Cafe down at the Mustard Seed and there is no possible way I can make it do any other class that day. The closest would be the 6am class, but I still wouldn't make it to work on time. Drats!

Tonight's class I really tried to focus on the relaxation aspect of yoga. It's easy to get caught up in the deeper, harder, stronger, better, more! more! more! and to forget about the "meditation" side of things. I really tried to keep my mind clear and focused on what I was doing and, while pushing myself in postures, to concentrate on keeping my breath even and my mind witnessing what was going on in each posture. It was a great class and it was a good challenge to try and increase my awareness of everything that was going on in my body and not just what the posture looked like in the mirror. 

On a separate note. After having done a number of classes with no water, I thought that to be fair I should try a few classes drinking more often that I normally did just to see. So yesterday and tonight were the starting test of that "theory." Honestly, I'm not sure what I think. When I'm having a great class, water doesn't really matter, when I'm having a "crappy" class then water seems like it matters a lot, but really it's not helping me that much it's just my mind trying to distract itself from the uncomfortableness of the situation. I will say though that I do really appreciate having my water there to take small sips from as my mouth gets dry or chalky tasting...it doesn't always happen, but when it does it's hard to distract my mind from that parched feeling inside my mouth. So I've done it all, water in the room and not drinking it, no water in the room period, drinking more often, drinking less often and I think my opinion is that it is nice to have the water in the room for those moments that a small sip will allow you move more fluidly through class, but best not to focus on the water and do NOT drink, under ANY circumstances during the spine strengthening series. I've never done it because I can't fathom that nasty feeling you'd get in your stomach as it presses into the floor during all those postures, bleh!

25 down and 5 to go

Well only five classes left... I'm not sure what I'm going to do when all this is over? I need to celebrate! I'll take a day off, but then I'll probably go into withdrawal...

Both yesterday and tonight's classes were great. Back on track with energy levels and still feeling good about being in class. I'm soooooo close to touching my forehead to my toes, just a couple centimeter's away... I even stayed extra after class tonight to try again, to no avail, but I KNOW that SOMEWHERE between my feet and my head I can find the extra half inch that I need. I WILL do it before this challenge is over!

In general I'm really starting to see and feel the connections between the breath and postures to a greater degree. If you can control your breathing, you can control your posture; filling your lungs and then stretching on the exhale, it feels amazing to go that extra little bit that the release of your breath allows.

One posture that this has been really evident in lately is Rabbit Pose. This posture seemed so weird to me at first... I used to feel a lot of pressure in my neck/cervical spine when I started doing this pose, but now I can really feel it in the rest of my back as I exhale and push my hips more up and round out my spine more and more. It took me a while to "get" this pose, but now I look forward to it as a release after doing Camel (which is one of the deepest backward bends in the series). It also happens to fall very close to the end of the entire series so it's a mark of being close to the finish as well.

My marks have changed as my practice has, but there are always some postures you use to mark different parts of the series as you go and you look forward to one, and then challenge yourself more as you work through a posture that is more difficult. Each class is different though, so you just have to remember to breath through everything and acknowledge each class for what it is that day.

One Week Left

Well. Here we are. 23 down and 7 to go.

4 days ago I would've said that it felt like this challenge was rushing by, but the last few classes have made it seem like I have a long way to go yet. Today's class was a bit of a turnaround though. Mentally, it felt a lot better than the last couple and physically I was going strong until the last two or three poses. This is a vast improvement on the past couple of days, although still not back to where I want to be again.

It has been really interesting to watch the progression of each class in the challenge thus far and how different things outside of the hot room affect my class. Some classes have whizzed by so fast I felt like I was barely in the room at all, and others have dragged on forever. I wish I enjoyed the classes that dragged on forever more than the the ones that pass quickly, but that is not the case.

When classes get difficult, or hot, or you are tired you have to focus on the posture and the correctness of your form. It can be the hardest thing to do though. You just want to think about how hot or uncomfortable you are, how you wish it was over, or the fans were on, or the door was opened for a few seconds... One of the instructors said once "Don't change the posture, just change your mind. It's easy."

Yeah...right...

But if it's all about intent and intensity, then I guess you don't have to master the mental challenges right away just as you wouldn't expect to master the physical ones.

Class 22

Eight classes to go.
I've felt really weak and tired in the last couple classes so hopefully there is a turn around here in the next few.
Oh, and my computer is in the shop....so if you don't hear from me, that's why.

Two Thirds + 1

I can't believe I missed blogging yesterday! It was such a landmark class in the grand scheme of thirty days! Alas...

My reflection on today is about differences.

It is amazing how different one day and one class can be from another. Yesterday's class number twenty was an amazing class. It felt fantastic and really focused and intense. Beautiful yoga.

Today my class was one of the harder ones I have ever had. I felt nauseous, weak, and tired and it was all I could to go from one pose to the next. After Stick Pose, which is the 5th out of 26, I pretty much wanted to just give up and not do anything... I did managed to push myself through all the poses, but it was probably the most mentally challenging classes I have ever had.

I know why the difference was, and it is an eye-opener to see how everything in your day affects everything else. Diet for example: Yesterday I ate really healthily, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables at every meal and tons of water. Today there was lots of water too, but I had a grilled sandwich for lunch, a sugary mocha, a giant cookie... it was "Bean Friday," it's tradition! Also, mood. Yesterday was fun and less stressful and I was in great relaxed mood when I got to class. Today was fun and productive, but I was in a bad mood by the end of the day and in a rush to get to class and it made a difference.

So. Lesson learned. Eat well.

Live. Laugh. Love. Yoga.

19. When Chuck Norris does yoga...

Please complete the sentence...

I honestly didn't ever think that the two would go together, but my teacher tonight thought that one of the students had a resemblance to this reknowned roundhouse kicker and proved me wrong managing to bring "Chuck Norris" into our practice a least 5 times that I can recall. (Only one thing wrong. In the reference to his mother telling him to go outside and dig a hole, and then Chuck Norris digs a hole to China and comes back three weeks later with a black belt in Tae-Kwon Do: Tae-Kwon Do is Korean not Chinese....)

Aside from all things Chuck Norris.... Class 19 was a great one. I really feel like I'm getting into my groove again. It's amazing how much doing the yoga revitalizes me. Coming into the room is immediately calming. About ten minutes before I left my house to come to class tonight I was curled up in bed hiding under the covers, exhausted from a physical day at work, and feeling like maybe I should just take a break tonight and pull a double on the weekend... But I managed to get myself out the door and as soon as I got into the room it just felt right. It's so great to be able to do something, even at the end of a long day, that energizes and relaxes me all at the same time.

I knew it would be a good class as soon as I hit the first backward bend. I just had this great release of all my tension and nothing matter but breathing and working through each posture as they came. I love classes like that!

I'm also sold on the "no water" theory. Tonight was three classes in a row and the new challenge was to not even bring my water bottle in the room. Previously I had always had it in the room, you know, "just in case." It just felt safer that way somehow, but it was unnecessary and I'm enjoying the challenge and focus of a practice without it.

Eighteen.

First and most importantly: Happy 21st Birthday to my Sister!!!!

And we got to do another class together tonight which is always fun. Tonight's class was number two without water and I'm still enjoying it. So far I've still have my water bottle in the room, but maybe I'll try tomorrow without even bringing it in... I really do think that it increases the intentionality and focus of my practice without the water. I'll keep going "sans H20" for a bit here and see how I like it.

I'm starting to feel like the the finish line is coming up and I'm getting excited about having the end in sight, despite the fact that I will miss it and probably go into withdrawal at first... One of the major goals that I would love to attain by the time this challenge is over is touching my head to my toes in Stretching Pose I'm so close, about a thumbs width away, so I think I can do it. I've been that far away for a while now though and then regressed during my period of hip-stiffness, so I'm just getting back to that depth within the last two days, hopefully this road keeps heading upwards.

You know it's funny; I make these little goals for myself in the different postures, and I'm a fairly competitive person, but something I really enjoy about the class is the lack of competitiveness while we are practicing. It's not about who can bend themselves into a pretzel and you really don't even notice the people around you, but at the same time there is a group energy that happens when everyone is doing everything at the same time. They say it is an "awake meditation" which is a pretty accurate description; it is a very intensely focused 90 minutes.

No Water...What?

Class 17 and one of the best I've ever had.

During the second leg of the first set of standing bow I managed to stay in the pose, (with my elevated leg soooo close to being locked out), for the WHOLE time. AND I feel like I got up higher than ever today in locust pose! This is what it ultimately looks like and this is probably similar to what I looked like today, although it's hard to say. You can't exactly look at yourself in the mirror to see your alignment on this one because your face is all mashed into the floor.... but I definitely felt like my hips were just leaving the floor. Yowza! So proud of that one, this pose is HARD. When I started could probably lift my legs about a foot off the floor. I also didn't have ANY of the stiffness that I've been feeling for the past while. It was just magically gone!

So what did I do differently? The only thing was that I didn't drink any water during class. I have very recently read an article by Mary Jarvis about the importance of NOT consuming water during class. She has practiced for 26 years and maintains that water does not help, but hinders you during class. Yes you should be hydrating coming to class, and Yes you should drink afterwards, but during class you should abstain from H2O. Her theory is that people drink for a variety of reasons, but none that help the postures. Most people drink because they think they will "die" without it! or it's habit, or boredom, or an escape... She is right though. You don't NEED water, you just WANT it. It's a good mental challenge too, to try and push through and realize the difference between needs and wants. It's the same thing with wiping the sweat. Do I need to wipe that sweat off my face? No, I just want to.

So I thought I'd give it a try, and you know what? Before class, I thought I would die, but in reality, it was fine. I had a great class, one of my best ever actually, and I didn't miss it either. So I'll try it again, we'll see...I'll keep you posted.

Valentine's Day - Free Day!

16 classes down and Yay for Free Day!

This meant that I could invite anyone I wanted to, to come and try out yoga for free! So I sent Bonice a valentine with an invitation to try it out, and she, along with Elske, came.

Bonice is an amazing woman. She is so solid and ready for any challenge life throws and I am always surprised at her incredible strength; you would never guess it from looking at her! She did amazing! For her first time she stayed in the room the whole time and did every pose!

I'm looking forward to this week, just to see how my practice changes again. It's changed quite a bit (for the better) just in the last two weeks, so I'm excited to see where it goes next!

Halfway there...

Wow, I just realized that I'm halfway through my thirty day challenge!

15 Classes! Woot! Woot!

However, class today was actually one of my worst classes. I felt like I had I no concentration and fell out of almost every pose in the standing series, especially anything on one leg and I even managed to fall out of some of the floor series which is really, pretty incredible because you are already on the ground. Maybe I should I clarify what "falling out" means - it doesn't necessarily mean that you fall down (although that did happen once in standing bow!) but that you leave a posture early for whatever reason)

I'm hoping that I have an increased attention/concentration span for tomorrows class. Also, I don't really want to look like a fool in front of all the new yogis coming tomorrow to "Free Day" It's Valentine's day and you get to bring someone you love for free.

Two Weeks - I'd rather be in Acapulco!

Quote of the day: Motion is the Lotion for your joints. - David

Ok, so for those of you who think I'm superstitiously avoiding number 13, it's not true, yes I DID do a class yesterday, but I did completely forget to blog about it. Which is a surprise actually because it was really a turn around class as far as the stiffness I've been experiencing in my hips. It really started to release yesterday and more-so today. I'm back on track to increase of flexibility, but with the added bonus of more correct form. Because I was experiencing a really deep, painful at some points, stiffness in my hips I had to really start focusing on the posture and correctness more which has totally improved my overall practice.

Tonight's class was actually the first class that I've been able to do with my sister since we started this 30 day challenge together. It was great to be able to practice together and the class was a great one. It was small enough so it wasn't crazy hot and the instructor, David, was pulling some hilarious one-liners. It was all I could do to not start busting in the middle of class and at one point I definitely did and Diana did too and then the whole class was laughing...oops! He was using this analogy. If you ride a bike for 90 minutes and stretch for 5 min before and after, then you are slowing going to start increasing tension in your hamstrings, and then your back, and your traps, and then you'll get migraines, and you won't be able to tie your shoes, and then not be able to zip up your pants, and then eventually you just won't be able to move at all...Motion is the Lotion for your joints.
(Maybe you had to be there, but when he finally got to not being able to move I lost it, it's just so ridiculous...but there is truth there too I suppose)

There were quite a few other witty remarks made, some poking a bit of fun at one of the other teachers, then at the end he was saying how Peter (one of the other instructors) did his training in Acapulco and it was actually hotter outside the room than inside, so....

"It could be worse, you could be in Acapulco!"

Two-Sixths

New favourite pose! Well actually it's not that new, it's one that I've really been working hard on the past few months. The pose is called Bow Pose. Now that picture is a bit insane, I'm not quite their yet...but I'm working on it! I love it thought and lately I've been get this really fantastic "burn" in my quads.

In this posture, you can't rely on gravity to help your back curve and push your legs up. So you really have rely on your legs and butt muscles to kick up there. You need to let your arms be pulled back so you can't use your arm muscles at all and ideally you must keep your knees, legs and feet no more than six inches apart. I love the process of breathing through it and on every exhale getting just a little bit deeper.

Haaaaaaaaaaaa (*sigh of bliss) :)