GYY 30 Day Challenge Week 1, Day 2

I hope are all finding time in your busy schedules to commit to this challenge! I know for myself the first few days really set the tone for the rest of the way.  Have you gotten a chance to try out yesterday’s recipes?  If not, not to worry, and here’s a couple more to help keep your options open and abundant!

First off, a delicious smoothie recipe…Back on Track Green Smoothie.  One little trick I have for making a smooth smoothie is to blend up the spinach or kale with some water first to ensure it gets broken down, then add the rest of your ingredients.  I find it tends to help minimize the little leaf particles in your smoothie.  

I have really been enjoying my oatmeal these days and pretty much have it every day for breakfast so when I found this recipe as another way to make steel cut oats I was pretty stoked!   And it’s a savoury dinner one to boot…Mushroom Sun-dried Tomato Oat Risotto.

Not only am I stoked that this is a savoury oat recipe, but it’s a mushroom risotto recipe…could it get any better?!

I hope these recipes make your bellies smile post ingestion 🙂

MYK 

 

Grow Your Yoga & MYK’s 30 Day Challenges Commence Today

Here we go yogis! 30 days of yoga both on and off the mat.  This weeks GYY challenge is Be Healthy; more specifically Eat Healthy. 

What does this mean exactly some of you may be wondering…”Eat Healthy” 

For this week the guidelines are simple, eat local, organic, vegetarian or vegan….or all of the above!  By doing this we not only benefit ourselves and our wonderful bodies from inside out, but we also benefit the environment by cutting down on the processing and transportation that goes into A LOT of the foods many of us eat today.  If you’re thinking it’s bat-$**@-crazy to not eat meat, I ask you to just give it a try for 7 days, and heck I eat meat and I’m going to see how I manage too!  In all honesty though, don’t stress over this, if you can’t give it up, try to get your meat from a local supplier.

Where can you find these local fresh ingredients you ask?

Kelowna’s outdoor farmers and crafters market is every Wednesday and Saturday from 8am-1pm on the corner of Springfield and Dilworth, and let me tell you they have some pretty awesome stuff there! Natures Fare, Urban Fare and Choices Market also do a pretty good job with local products.  Urban Harvest and Lawns to Legumes are great resources also – More to come about each of these guys as we will be featuring them throughout this week.  If you know of some other really great places please let us know!

Last but not least EVERY DAY this week we will be posting a vegetarian or vegan recipe to try out if you so choose! Oh and a smoothie recipe too 🙂 Today’s smoothie recipe is a vegan Mango Banana Green Smoothie!

The Feature Recipe today is for a  vegan Curry Quinoa Wrap with Avo-Citrus Slaw.

I’m proud to say I’ve made this recipe once before and I LOVED IT! It was fairly easy especially since I already had some leftover pre-cooked quinoa in the fridge, and I modified it a bit because I didn’t have all of the ingredients but try it out and see what you think!

All the best challengers,

MYK

A pleasant surprise

I met a super cute and very intelligent older gentleman today, whilst waiting for my car to be fixed, and I was so pleasantly surprised by the conversation we had.

We talked about so many different things and they each made my heart melt a little more as I realized how much in common I had with him and his worldly views.  I feel as though I learnt a lot from him!

We talked about nature and how it is so important to have a deep and loving connection with it, how it can liven a persons spirits etc etc and how after-all it is OUR nature, OUR planet, OUR home and it’s 100% OUR responsibility to keep it flourishing.

We then went on and talked about world issues, boston, north korea, the list trickles on.  We talked about issues that hit a little closer to home, such as Kelowna’s transit system, or lack there of.  Although those topics may be depressing and disheartening our conversation never was, there was always an underlying hope in it.

I felt so content after speaking with this stranger who I had just met and very honoured to be hearing different stories about his life and learning so much from a such a little wise old man. And to think I almost spent that whole time on my smart phone, checking facebook, scrolling through instagram, reading some tweets on twitter or checking my email for the thousandth time this week. Instead I decided to be a little more open and chat with the friendly man outside enjoying the sunshine.

So I want to say thank you to that gentleman today, thanks for sharing your kindred wisdom and making the time fly by – and sorry for not catching your name

 

It’s been a busy busy week here at MYK! There are tons of Moksha Teachers here taking the Flow Training! So come on down and sweat it out with some new faces 🙂  If you haven’t bought your ticket yet for Ted Grand, I say jump on it, as the Workshop is this Saturday April 27th from 10am-12pm and there are only a few spots left! You won’t regret it – obviously though right….”I totally regret that yoga class” – said no one ever

That’s all for now folks,

MYK

Be okay with the now…

 

My Mom sent me this quote the other day and I felt that it really spoke to where I am at in my life.  I’m sharing it with you all this week in hopes that it can help those on the journey to fulfilling their dreams in knowing that it’s okay to not know, as that is what LIFE is all about….the journey.  She sent me another quote that reiterates this…”The journey to your goals is ‘life’ – you don’t have to rush! Enjoy the journey – enjoy life!”  Very simple yet powerful dontcha think?  Sometimes I think we all forget what life is really all about – being present in the now, and being okay with it! A little something yoga teaches us too!

So yes, be okay with the uncertainty, be okay with the hard times, be okay with the now and most of all be okay in knowing that the possibilities are endless. 

A quick reminder:

The HOT FLOW training taking place here at MYK starts up this weekend and runs through all next week so be sure to double check the schedule as there may be a few slight changes! 

MYK

Why go to a workshop?

Well because they’re awesome!

I went to my first ever workshop this past weekend, and a 12 hour long Baron Baptiste workshop at that.  Baron Baptiste is the founder of Baptiste Power Yoga and man what an experience it was to spend an entire day learning from him.  I took so much away from it and it felt so great to put everything I learned into my practice this past week.  I now want to go to every workshop I can so I can keep learning and improving my practice both on and off the mat!

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, the date has been set for Ted Grand, co-founder of Moksha’s Workshop.  This fundamental workshop designed to explore breath awareness, posture containment and expression is on Saturday April 27th from 9:30am-12:00pm.  Tickets are only $45 and spots are filling up quickly so don’t delay!

Starting May 1st MYK is doing a 30 day challenge, and what better way to implement what you learned at the workshop than in a 30 day challenge!!  Early bird pricing is $99 until April 20th then $120 after that.

In conjunction with the 30 day challenge, the whole Moksha Yoga Community is coming together with a 30 day off the mat challenge called Grow Your Yoga.

The challenges are based on the founding 7 pillars Moksha and encourage participants to eat well, seek peace, communicate kindly with others, and reach out to support their communities. Each year, GROW YOUR YOGA supports a different organization, and for 2013, our goal is to raise $100,000 for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, an organization that creates sustainable economic benefits for the Maasai people by preserving regional ecosystems and cultural heritage.

What a great way to connect with the whole global Moksha community! Follow the link above to obtain more info and to sign up online.

MYK

‘Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon’ – Ikkyu ( a Japanese Zen Monk)

That is the favourite quote of the, amazingly wonderful and talented, co-founder of Moksha and the Moksha series, Ted Grand.  Why does this matter you ask? It matters because on April 27th from 9:30am-12:00pm Ted Grand will be right here at MYK putting on a Workshop.  ~More details pertaining to this workshop will come shortly!~ 

Not only did he co-found Moksha but he also helped found a group called the New Leaf Yoga Foundation which goes out into youth detention facilities and brings them yoga….pretty awesome stuff if you ask me! 

It is a great treat and honour to be hosting such an incredible person, who has indirectly affected my life so much, and probably yours too if you practice with us here at Moksha Yoga Kelowna.  Tickets will be available soon and I’m sure they will sell like hot cakes so be sure to keep up with your MYK’s latest news to ensure your spot!

More exciting news from MYK….From April 21st-27th we will be hosting the Moksha Flow Teacher training, so expect to see a few schedule changes during that time as well as some Hot Flow classes added to the schedule!!  There will be 50 teachers from Moksha Studios all around the world here to learn and experience what MYK is all about.  Needless to say, MYK will be the place to be to get your flow on, hang out and meet some pretty awesome people!

Chow for now

-MYK

Spring is finally here!!

…..And we couldn’t be happier little yogi’s here at Moksha!  With the sun shining I feel even more drawn to my mat and drawn to the never ending potential of deepening my practice.  The days seem longer now and around here that only means one thing…more time to get into the hot room, and of course more time to get everything else done throughout your extra long sunshiny day!

Many people forgo the hot room when it starts to get warm outside for fear of over heating or something like that…crazies right? We hike, bike, run and play in 40 degree weather, why not practice in it all year long!  However now is really one of the best times to really focus on your practice.  Not only will it help with gearing your body up for all of those spring time activities, but it will help your body recover from all of these “new” stresses that you’re subjecting it to.  

Another added bonus to spring and summer hot yoga, besides lookin smokinnn in your beach wear, yep it’s definitely that time…I said beach, is the fact that you don’t have to put on a hundred layers to get to and from yoga, thus decreasing your changing time and serendipitously increasing your savasana time!

Take home point –> don’t forget about your practice, that wonderous time on your mat, sweating your toxins out, when the sun is calling your name, because when it comes down to it, you can still hike up knox or bike along the myra canyon and make it to the hot room all in the same super long day that’s only going to keep getting longer and longer…hip hip hoooooray!!

– In Love MYK

P.S. Isn’t this photo beautiful! I dream of being able to do this one day and am so excited for that day 🙂

We did it!!

30 Days came and went, and man did they ever fly by!

I have to say that I could not be more grateful for what Kylie and Stacy shared with me over this past month.  This challenge was exactly what I needed to kick start my butt back into high gear.  I now have not only a studio where I’ve always felt at home, but a truly awesome “gym” that I too feel comfortable going to.  I have to admit I had always wanted to try addicted fitness as a friend of mine worked there, and there were 1 week free passes at Moksha that had intrigued me and I had even picked one up but never ended up using it because I guess I was too scared or something.  Then long behold this challenge came about. 

I must say working out again on a consistent basis has given me this really good boost of energy.  I know eating super clean and healthy is a huge contributing factor to the way I’ve been feeling too.  And like we’ve been saying over and over again, it’s really all about finding balance; trying your best as much as you can and avoiding the extra sugars, additives and processed foods, really watching what you’re eating if you go out, and enjoying the little treats that come along the way too.  Finding a healthy balance is the key to finding success.  No one wants to be constantly stressing over how much they can or can’t eat so as long as you are making healthy choices then you really never have to worry!  If you are stuck or are looking for some good healthy options, take a look at Stacy’s blog.

So yes, I am feeling really, REALLY good and optimistic for the future and I am so excited to see how I feel (and look!) after 60 days, 90 days, and so on and so forth, as myself and Kylie are continuing on, like we had mentioned earlier.  

Once again I would like to send out a HUGE thank you to Kylie and Stacy for helping me find my way again with respect to leading a healthy lifestyle, so that I too can have the confidence to be a role model for others, as I feel I should be, because I have the education and now the first hand experience with falling off the wagon and jumping back on and adhering to exercise and healthy living/eating to back it all up!  I needed this in my life so bad and I couldn’t be more thankful for what you guys have done for me…Namaste ❤  

I hope you all enjoyed following us along our little journey and I encourage all of you to go out there and try a little challenge of your own.  It doesn’t necessarily need to be 30 days long or maybe it does, I’ll let you decide that for yourself.  Maybe you could help someone else get back into the groove by suggesting to do a challenge with a family member or a friend who may be needing it.

With that I leave the blogging world for now and thank you all for your support throughout!!

Going confidently in the direction of my dreams, 

Kaylan

 

 

 

It’s past my bed time!!

Alrighty, well it’s been a lonnngggg day! I’m just heading to bed now and have to wake up in just over 5 hours. Hence why this is going to be a super speedy post. 

I had every intention of going to yoga this evening (I typically like to go in the am but I had the whole day off today and so I decided to not set an alarm and just wake up whenever I woke up, which happened to be 10:08. Which was glorious to say the least.). So ye yoga was my plan, however when the opportunity arose to go and watch my cousins hockey game I opted for that instead. They won 4-3!!

I’m off to get some shut eye before a full day of active activities tomorrow! 

Kaylan

6 days to go!

It felt as though I hadn’t practised in the hot room forever, as I’d gone to Suzie’s warm vinyasa flow both times last week.  Even though it had only been a week, I could certainly feel a difference.  I found the lovely Sarah Martin’s class this morning a little tougher than most days.  I am pretty tired though and it’s nearing the end of the week, and a really good hard working week at that!  So maybe that was part of it.  I also noticed that I wasn’t as in-tune with my breath as I normally am.  I now have something that I can use an intention next time I set foot on my mat…stay with the breath.

I have the rest of the afternoon off and I think I’m going to try and have a nap! A glorious wonderful nap.  It’s been WAY too long since I’ve had a nap.  I always seem to find myself with something else to do, or to clean.  But today I’m going to put the laundry on the back burner for at least an hour or so and get some quality rest!

Kaylan

P.S. You guys should all come and check out the new mala’s at the studio, they are all so beautiful and there are tons to choose from!