I am re-reading Journey Into Power : How to Sculpt Your Ideal Body, Free Your True Self, and Transform Your Life With Yoga by Baron Baptiste. And,..I am inspired…again.  I got back on my yoga mat last week after an inconsistent couple of months. Unlike any other form of exercise, my yoga mat welcomes me, engages me and keeps me connected to my practice. A treadmill does not connect me to running, a bike does not connect me to cycling and a piece of gym equipment does not connect me to weight lifting. When I do those activities I do them for improvement. I do them with a goal in mind and I usually do them thinking about what I can do next or what I could be doing if I wasn’t doing that.

When I am practicing yoga, it isn’t about the goal but about the practice. I love to do it.

With that knowledge, I still can’t understand one thing. If yoga makes me so happy, so grounded, and so healthy, then why can’t I easily step onto my mat every day?

P.S. Did you order your free yoga dvd yet?

To read about the true spirit of love and compassion, I highly recommend….

The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood

my favorite paragraph: Christopher Hogwood was a runt among runts. He was the smallest of them all—half the size of the other runts. He is a particularly endearing piglet, Mary told us, with enormous ears and black and white spots, and a black patch over one eye like Spuds McKenzie, the bull terrier in the beer commercial. But Mary was convinced he would never survive. It would be more humane to kill him, she urged, than to let him suffer. But George said—as he often does—”Where there’s life, there’s hope.” The little piglet hung on.

more about the book:

THE GOOD GOOD PIG celebrates Christopher Hogwood in all his glory, from his inauspicious infancy to hog heaven in rural New Hampshire, where his boundless zest for life and his large, loving heart made him absolute monarch over a (mostly) peaceable kingdom. At first, his domain included only Sy’s cosseted hens and her beautiful border collie, Tess. Then the neighbors began fetching Christopher home from his unauthorized jaunts, the little girls next door started giving him warm, soapy baths, and the villagers brought him delicious leftovers. His intelligence and fame increased along with his girth. He was featured in USA Today and on several

National Public Radio environmental programs. On election day, some voters even wrote in Christopher’s name on their ballots. But as this enchanting book describes, Christopher Hogwood’s influence extended far beyond celebrity; for he was, as a friend said, a great big Buddha master. Sy reveals what she and others learned from this generous soul who just so happened to be a pig—lessons about self-acceptance, the meaning of family, the value of community, and the pleasures of the sweet green Earth. THE GOOD GOOD PIG provides proof that with love, almost anything is possible.

I am all about a smooth soup. I typically blend almost any soup I make so I was really excited to find a soup recipe that included blending in the directions! I recently wrote about The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet HERE. The latest addition to my Vegan cookbook collection is The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat (thanks Mom and Dad!)

I made several (all very successful) recipes from this book over the weekend and this was one of my favorites.

tomato bisque

• Sea salt                                                                         1 (28oz) can whole fire roasted
• 4 tablespoons Earth Balance                                     tomatoes, juice included
• 1 onion, chopped                                                        1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1 carrot, chopped                                                       Leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 stalk celery, chopped                                             1  bay leaf
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed                                         Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour      1 1/2 cups regular Cashew Cream
• 5 cups faux chicken stock                                       Parsley for garnish

1. Place a large stockpot over medium heat. Sprinkle the bottom with a pinch of salt and heat for 1 minute. Add the Earth Balance adn stir until melted, being careful not to let it burn. This will create a nonstick effect. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and continue cooking and stirring for 2 minutes.

2. Add the stock, tomatoes with juice, parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then add the Cashew Cream. Continue to simmer (do not boil) for 10 minutes.

3. Remove the bay leaf. Working in batches, pour the soup into a blender, cover the lid with a towel (the hot liquid tends to erupt), and blend on high for several minutes, until very smooth. Pour the soup through a fine-mesh sieve. Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley.

Find Tal Ronnen’s recipe for cashew cream (great in soups, dips, sauces and desserts!) HERE.

I bought The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone on Wednesday and have read it almost two times and made four recipes! Typically if I find one or two recipes I like from a cookbook, I think it is worth the $$$ spent. Last night I made a the Ginger Pasta with Zucchini (but substituted broccoli) and Baby Bok Choy Drizzled with Ume Vinaigrette. Bok Choy could be one of my new favorite veggies. There are Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups in my refrigerator and Ginger-Baked Tofu in my oven right now! No animals were harmed in any way to prepare these dishes.

While I love the recipes, I am crazy about the message in The Kind Diet. Eat foods that are kind to your body, kind to animals and kind to the planet. Eat and live in such a way that you become healthier, feel better and change the world.

I will post more about my experiences with The Kind Diet and if you buy the book, tell me what your favorite recipes are!

The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet