… and with this, 2016 comes to an end. ⠀ It’s a good time to turn inwards and reflect on these last twelve months before letting a new year in. Music is a great way to channel your feelings so light a candle, play some tunes and flow with whatever comes up. Here’s my end of the year soundtrack. Enjoy ♡
Are you looking for christmas presents to give to your loved ones but don`t want to join in the shopping craziness? Then I have the perfect solution for you: homemade treats! When I started making jams, cremes and spreads for my family and friends two years ago everyone was loving it – including myself. My kitchen smelled delicious, the house felt warm and cozy, and the decoration of the jars and cans brought out a whole new level of creativity. One of my favorite recipes and the last one in my apple series is this velvety apple jam – with just the right amount of sweetness it melts on your tongue and makes every scone or croissant oh so exquisite. Apple Jam ∼ 6 pints ∼ 6 lbs cored and chopped apples 2 cups sugar ⅓ cup Lemon Juice Core and chop apples into desired size. Put apples in a very large pot, pour 1 cup of sugar over the apples and mix well. Cover the pot with a towel and let it sit overnight in a …
What are you dreaming of? Maybe you are dreaming to accomplish something? Maybe you are dreaming to realize a specific task or project? Maybe you are dreaming to invite certain qualities into your life? Whether it is the relationship we want to bring into our lives, the family we wish to build, the job we fantasize about, or the travel we dream to embark on…. each and every one of us has dreams that have not yet materialized. While some of us seemingly effortlessly shape the life they are envisioning for themselves, others need to leave feelings of doubt, insecurity and fear behind to begin to tap into their own power. But how do we know, what we are truly longing for? In order to know what you truly desire, it is crucial to be connected to your own intuition: this little voice in your heart, that knows with astounding clarity what serves you best. Unfortunately most times the chatter in our mind is so loud, that it overshadows our inner voice. When I was growing …
It`s this time of the year when all I want to do is curl up under cozy blankets and eat warm, comforting food. Thankfully, this weekend we were blessed with a few days of rain and since there are still some apples left from Colorado I made my mothers famous Apple Crumble ♡ Apple Crumble ∼ 6-8 portions ∼ For the filling: 600 gr. apples 100 gr. raisins 5 tablespoons brown sugar 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon For the crumble: 100 gr. non-dairy butter 175 gr. whole wheat flour 100 gr. sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon Mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and add the cold butter in small patches. Use your hands to knead the mixture into crumbles and store in a cool place. Preaheat the oven to 200 degrees. Rinse the raisins under hot water. Peel and cut the apples into thin slices and mix them with the sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and raisins. Pour the mixture into a greased pan. Spread the crumbles over the mixture and …
If you don`t like it, change it. If you can`t change it, surrender. I have only recently come to understand how powerful this concept really is. In my life so far, I have been blessed. Rarely ever did I have to face a situation that was unchangeable, and if it was, it did not impact my life in major ways. I have always had shelter, food and enough means to get by. I have never been severely ill, nor have any of my beloved family members or friends. I have lost and found love, but never felt victimized by my heartaches. Essentially, all of this is still true. With one minor change in detail: Since I joined my partner in the US, where we decided to get married and begin the Green Card application process, I have – if even only temporarily – lost major agency in some very important realms of my life. I left my home, my apartment, my family and my friends behind. I gave up all my yoga classes, be it …
Low Cobra imprints correct body alignment and builds strength in the muscles along your spine so you can safely enter deeper backbends. Once you have mastered Low Cobra, you may opt for Upward Facing Dog aka Urdvha Mukha Svanasana instead of Low Cobra at times in your Sun Salutations and Vinyasas. How to get into the pose: From Low Cobra, straighten your arms. Make sure, that your wrists are right underneath your shoulders, with your palms and fingers spread wide and the creases of your wrists parallel to the short end of your mat. Root down firmly through the inner edges of your hands as you draw the outer upper arms back. Work the bottom tips of your shoulderblades up and into the chest as you soften the front ribs in. Relax your shoulders away from your neck. You may also bend your elbows slightly to pull your chest through the upper arms to open your heart space before you restraighten the arms. Draw the pit of the abdomen up and in to support your …
November is a month of stillness for me. The birthday month of October has passed and the festivities of December have not yet begun. Back home, the weather starts to get really chilly at this time of the year, the days become significantly shorter and life draws inwards. Here in Los Angeles, November feels like an early October to me, with the temperatures being slightly colder and somewhat autumnish. However, the feeling of November stays with me. It`s incredible how deeply our roots are inscribed in our memory. This playlist is 60 minutes short and a perfect compilation of my November feels. Enjoy ♡
In late summer, we spend two weeks at my mother-in-law`s Orchard in Colorado. It`s an old centennial farm surrounded by an apple and a pine tree plantation in a remote area nearby Telluride – an absolutely magical place! Since the apple business is no longer up and running, the trees were loaded with apples when we arrived and we tried to pick as many as we could while we were there. Three boxes filled with Jonathan, Red Delicious and Golden Delicious made it back to Los Angeles with us – roughly 100 pounds! – and since then it`s all about apples in our home. Even though we don`t really like to part with our apples – the apartment smells delicious since they are here! – we had to get creative about conserving our apples and making homemade applesauce has become a great way to keep them around a little longer 🙂 It`s a really fast and easy recipe, especially if you get a peeler/corer/slicer, which you can buy for very little money on amazon. Applesauce …
In my last post from the Monday Mantra series Speak Your Truth I was talking about the importance of learning how to address your concerns and desires in a way that opens the space for truthful, yet kind conversations. Especially if your personality is such that you find it hard to speak for yourself or to take the lead in important conversations, you may have experienced this: by the time you actually manage to address something, you have brooded over it since a while and hence the outcome is rather eruptive and anything but kind or gentle. As a matter of fact, I even used to get upset with the people around me because I would blame them for bringing me in a situation where something needed to be addressed – like they should really have been more considerate in the first place, or something. I projected the discomfort I had with confrontations right onto them instead of trying to figure out where it came from and how I could outgrow it. Then I experienced …
Over the course of my life I have developed lot of strength in my upper back and arms, something that started with surfing and swimming and found its continuation in yoga. This is great for Plank Pose and Chaturanga Dandasana and also helps in soft backbends like Low Cobra aka Bhujangasana, since the muscles along the spine are responsible for the lifting of the head, shoulders and chest in this asana. If you suffer from backpain you should work on strengthening the muscles along your spine to support a strong back and healthy posture. A few Low Cobras as part of your morning routine will awaken your spine and leave you feeling energized throughout the day. How to get into the pose: From Chaturanga Dandasana, lower all the way to the ground. Rest your forehead on the ground, keeping the neck long and relaxed. Align your wrists with your lower ribs alongside your torso and spread your palms and fingers. Find a 90 degree angle between your wrists and forearms as well as forearms and upper …
marah nanda yoga 