The Minimalist Yogi

  This weekend I did something I never thought I’d cross off my bucket list, or be able to do, which is to do a half-marathon. As some of you know I regularly run marathons during the summer, but mostly 5k. I’ve ran about five 5k, and last year I ran  my first  10k. The 10k was an absolute success and my timing was just perfect, so this year I thought I’d challenge myself and run a half-marathon. By far this has been the most challenging and rewarding race I’ve done.  It wasn’t what I expected; it was so much more, and there were so much emotions experienced. This is something I think you can’t describe, but only feel. Perhaps it’s what people call a runner’s high or perhaps it’s the realization that you’ve just ran 20 miles and you have less than 2 miles left. Perhaps it’s the sense of vulnerability that you experience, the sense of knowing that in that very moment you are in your most vulnerable state; anything is possib...

As a lot of you know based on my previous blog post when it comes to breakfast I tend to be the most boring person ever. When I find something I like I stick with it and try as much as possible not to change it. As a result of this mundane outlook my breakfast has been the same for the last two to threes years with little departure every now and then Given my love and strong obsession with oatmeal as a fuel to start the day I found a way to make it less dull and tasteless by adding my favorite fruits. This has resulted in the most amazing breakfast. I read somewhere that one way to make yourself wake up early was to have to plan an awesome breakfast that you could have the next morning. This allows you to have something to look forward to the next day but also acts a good motivation to get up either 5am or 6 am. This awesome breakfast has been my motivation for those days when I had work 6 am and I had to wake up by 5 am. This almond butter oatmeal is full of nutritious you ...

I’ve recently had a conversation with a friend, which then turned into a conversation about breakfast, I don't know how, but   reflecting on the conversation later I realize how dull my daily breakfast is. When I find something I like I tend to stick with it, hence my breakfasts have been very simple and I’ve been having the same things for the last years without ever changing it. The usual breakfasts are, yogurt with different topping such as, granola, fruits, and chia seeds sided with a green smoothie, and tea or lemon or water. My other go to breakfast is simple oatmeal; I can eat oatmeal for the rest of my life and be completely content. But then again I am creature of habit, I have strict routine that I follow and have difficulty with challenging them. Following my conversation with my friend I thought perhaps I should change things up a little and try something new. So today I’ve decided to make my favourite breakfast, which I haven’t had in years now, French toast. As ...

At any given moment you have the power to say this is not how the story is going to end, or how the story is going to continue. A new day, month or season seems like another ordinary day, but that's not true. A new day or even a month has many unlock potential. It is a time to decide whether you want things to continue as they are, or to stop narrating the story, and say I am going to end here or change how this narrative will be read in the future. It’s easy to feel like you are not in control of things, but you’d be surprise by how much you are in control, each us constructs and lives a narrative wrote the British Neurologist Oliver Sacks, this narrative is us. The self is constantly or perpetually written story and in the end we become the autobiographical narrative by which we tell about our lives (Jerome Bruner).   As humans we are powerful in that sense, we have control over our lives and how the narrative about us is told, we can deny it but ultimately it is us who ...

Yesterday I had the most amazing practice or it felts like the most amazing practice in a while; I've recently decided to do all of my practice at home because I am currently unemployed and cannot effort going to a studio every day, so instead I have decided to take control of my practice by doing an hour of yoga everyday starting with simple asana flow sequences than doing challenging poses. Yesterday I decided to do a semi-challenging pose that I haven't done  in a while and I was surprise by how easy the pose has become, all it took was just practice. This is one of those really challenging but great arm balance that requires using pretty much every aspect of you body which I absolutely love because you are not just working on your legs, but also you arms, hips, upper body etc.. It require both open hips, deep twisting and upper body strength, which is something I absolutely lack. The key to this pose is finding a place where you are comfortable and build from there; b...

Not long time ago I was smitten and enamoured with drinking coffee daily, like many out there I wake up every morning on my way to work or school a got to my favourite cafe and order my medium dark roast coffee. Later in the evening heading home I'll stop by the coffee place and buy another medium-medium. But then after a while I realize that the coffee did not have the same affect that it used; instead of being wake a and less stressed I found my body being tired and my stressed level which is high  normal tripled. This is when I realized my body was trying to tell me to stop drinking coffee, so four months ago I decided to go cold turkey and just stop drinking coffee, and I feel great. So now instead buying coffee on by way to work or class I buy my medium lemongrass. For those you are wondering whether it's worth going cold turkey on coffee or not, here are some benefits to why you should start drinking tea rather than coffee; the  Today Health.com   provided a rea...

I realize today that I haven’t had pancake in YEARS! (5-6 years)! So for lunch I thought why not have pancakes! To be honest the only reason I don’t do a lot of baking it’s because I suck at baking. I love cooking but not baking. I know making pancakes is not really baking, but in my book it is baking. I have to say though that this pancake turned out way better than I expected it to be, and it was delicious. Also,  it's  gluten free, wheat free and milk free, which makes a great breakfast for the weekend  INGREDIENTS •      1 Cups flour (El Peto Product) •     2 tbsp. baking powder •     1 tbsp. vanilla extract •     1tbsp. poppy seeds •     1 tbsp. vegetable oil •     1 tbsp. salt •     2 cup of almond milk •     Maple Syrup INSTRUCTIONS In a mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients (Flour, baking powd...

 After a long hours at the gym or a yoga class it's almost near to impossible to find a healthy energy bar that's  vegan, raw, without food preservatives or unwanted chemicals. So  I’ve decided to take actions into my own hands and create a raw vegan energy bar that’s completely naturally and YUMMM!  This is a yummy treat that takes less than an hour to do giving me enough time to try a new yoga pose (Pada Bakasana A) and cost me only $10.00, which is a pretty good deal for someone who does not like spending too much money. INGREDIENTS   ·        ½ cup of raw almonds ·        1 cup of pitted dates (20 pieces) ·        ½ cup dried unsweetened cherries ·        ¼ cup raw pecans ·        ½ kosher ·        ½ cup of white or red quinoa ·     ...