The sweetness of the onion and the coconut milk complements the saltiness of the rice, so ensure you season this dish well. You can use red onion if you want a sweeter flavor and add a couple of finely diced fresh green chilies along with the onion, if you’d like more heat. The rice gets a beautiful pink color from the red kidney beans that looks pretty served with a mixed green salad, such as lettuce and sliced avocado.
1/2 x 14 oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
a big handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped (stems and all)
scant 1 cup coconut milk mixed with the same amount of cold water
Preparation
Heat 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil in a heavy-based saucepan and fry the onion and garlic on high heat for 3–4 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and fry for a further 2 minutes, or until soft.
Add the rice and fry for 30 seconds, without stirring too much, then add the kidney beans, cilantro, and some salt and black pepper to taste.
Pour in the coconut milk and water mixture. Bring to a boil, then stir the rice once and cover. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and simmer for 12 minutes without lifting the lid.
Remove from the heat and leave the pan, covered, for a further 5 minutes to allow the rice to finish cooking in the steam.
Remove the lid, fluff up the rice with a fork, and serve hot.
yogajournal.com Bridge Pose Bridge Pose (or Setu Bandha Sarvangasana) is a gentle yoga backbend that can be energizing, rejuvenating, or luxuriously restorative.
yogajournal.com Bridge Pose Bridge Pose (or Setu Bandha Sarvangasana) is a gentle yoga backbend that can be energizing, rejuvenating, or luxuriously restorative.
“Check in with yourself. Be kind to yourself “ #YJrepost Thank you for sharing your journey with us @brownyogigirl head over to Instagram to read the full caption.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Last Thursday night, I unrolled my yoga mat in my small New York City apartment, sunk my hips toward my heels in Child’s Pose, and heard it—the jangle of my poodle mix’s collar as she hopped off the sofa. It had been a long day, and I wanted to dim the city’s noise and find stillness in my practice. But my dog, Sukhi, had other plans.
Her paws hit the hardwood as she came at me from the other room while I took some slow breaths. By the time I was in Down Dog, there was a literal dog beneath me, rolling on her back in a blur of white fur. Sukhi always sparks joy in me, but tonight it was backlit with annoyance. I stepped over her to make my way to the top of the mat and she followed, romping near my toes. I moved through a Sun Salutation, trying to ignore her, but she was everywhere. I didn’t know how to find my balance or move my body with anything resembling grace when her furry body was intercepting all my intentions.
I finally gave in, thinking I’d incorporate Sukhi into my practice by dropping her a kiss on my way from Plank to Chaturanga. Instead she bounded at my face. If yoga was about connection to others, Sukhi was really going for it.
But what exactly is it about my yoga practice that draws her to me from whatever room she’s in?
Group Practice
Friends have also mentioned that as soon as they start to set up for yoga, their animal friends come running.
“My dog always comes over and tries to get belly rubs when I practice,” says Siri Newman, a Wyoming-based yoga teacher and practitioner.
“It’s mostly endearing,” says Lori Walker, a digital marketer and yoga practitioner, with a laugh. “Mostly.”
“My pets zoom underneath me at top speed if I’m in Down Dog!” says Kathryn Chaya Lubow, a Southern California therapist and yoga practitioner.
Many of us have seen videos on social media of pets inviting themselves onto the mat as their humans practice. One post of a cute Australian Shepard practicing alongside her human has had more than 90 thousand shares on Instagram. (Was that the key? Getting your dog their own mat?)
It’s almost uncanny. No matter where our pets are hiding, once yoga practice starts, they tend to wriggle themselves in our way. But why? And how do other practitioners handle the cute madness?
More Than Just Playtime
“I’m not aware of any specific studies to evaluate this pattern of behavior in a scientific context, but I think there are a few possible explanations,” says Christopher Pachel, a doctor of veterinary medicine and certified animal behavior consultant in Portland, Oregon, who also practices yoga.
“Many pets interpret their owner getting down on the floor as an invitation to play or to interact,” says Pachel. “And for humans who routinely practice yoga, it’s only going to take a few repetitions of ‘mat to yoga’ for most pets to figure out that the unrolling of the mat is a predictor of floor time activity.”
This helped me understand why setting up my mat and props brought Sukhi into the room from wherever she’d been hiding. It was almost as effective a way to get her to come to me as saying “treat!”
“Animals love to get involved with what you’re doing,” says Anthony Newman, dog behavior expert and founder of Calm Energy Dog Training. “They want to be included. And when you get on the ground, you’re getting on their ‘level,’ literally and figuratively. Being down low and moving in ways that are non-confrontational, inviting, and playful (including showing your belly) takes you out of a ‘leadership’ position. Around that, dogs feel more free.”
But it isn’t only the act of getting on the floor or unrolling a mat that draws animals to their person. Beyond the physicality of the practice of yoga, there seems to be something…more.
Adaptive yoga teacher and founder of online studio Auzho Audrey L practices on a chair, sofa or bed. Her pup, Ruby, still wants to be part of it. “The weirdest thing has to be when I’m on the sofa during meditation. She just sits at my feet and stares. And when I go to my practice chair she always finds me there,” says Audrey.
“Pets feel the shift in our energy,” says Olivia LaBarre, an animal communicator, Reiki practitioner, and pet loss bereavement specialist. “Our animal companions are very aware of our emotions, nervous system states, and overall energy, and they sense the shifts that happen when we begin a practice such as yoga.”
It seems a sense of ease and happiness in us is not only palpable to our pets but inviting. “I do suspect that some dogs and cats pick up on breathwork, calmer energy, a focused mindset that typically go along with a yoga practice,” says Pachel. “They then seek out interactions with their caregivers at those times based on the positive vibes.”
How interesting that the yoga practice—accessible and available to all—can be felt throughout the animal realm, not just by humans. Maybe I wasn’t imagining it when I had thought my happier yoga vibes could be drawing Sukhi to the mat.
An Invitation
If animals can sense our energy, maybe we can use the practice of yoga to connect in new ways with our animal friends. Just as they affect us, we affect them. We can use the breathing and gentle movements to help calm our pets as we calm ourselves.
I keep going back to that old adage: what you resist persists. Framed that way, I took a second look at my practices with Sukhi. Instead of trying to rigidly adhere to my routine or urge her off the mat, I started to expand what my idea of a home yoga practice could be and challenge myself to take in Sukhi’s presence in my practice, no matter how wildly she shows up. Rather than just step around the situation, I allow it to bring my focus back to me.
It’s a different experience than practicing in a quiet studio for sure, but it lights my heart now that I’ve opened to it. And it reminds me of aspects of the practice that I’d become disconnected from. Perhaps it’s a chance to be playful and to remind myself to take in the present moment and soften into it rather than hit a set number of Warrior poses. In the play is something profound.
When I adopted Sukhi from a Los Angeles shelter, she went without a name for two weeks. The staff had called her “Heidi,” but that didn’t seem to fit her. I wasn’t sure what name would until my favorite Sanskrit teacher suggested Sukhi, related to sukha, which translates to “happiness” and “ease.” Maybe that’s exactly what we’re intended to experience when we share our practice.
About Our Contributor
Sarah Herrington is a writer, poet, and teacher. She is the founder of OM Schooled kids yoga teacher trainings and Mindful Writing Workshops.
Sarah Herrington is a writer and teacher. She is the founder of OM Schooled kids yoga teacher trainings and the Mindful Writing Workshop. Her work has appeared in New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Poets & Writers Magazine, and more.
You Can Do This 15-Minute Yoga Flow Anytime, Anywhere
Ah the hour-long yoga class. It’s quite luxurious, isn’t it? But let’s be frank—some days, it seems impossible to carve out a large chunk of time for your practice. If you ever feel this way (and who hasn’t?) know this: even a few minutes of movement can make a huge difference in how you approach … Continued
yogajournal.com Bridge Pose Bridge Pose (or Setu Bandha Sarvangasana) is a gentle yoga backbend that can be energizing, rejuvenating, or luxuriously restorative.
5 Steps to Seriously Superior Salads Apply these tried-and-true cooking tricks to salad-making, and you’ll be making the best veggie-packed dishes ever. July 31, 2021Ivy Manning
Your go-to bowl of greens may be a good salad, but is it the best salad? Some of the best cooking tricks can be applied to salad-making. Here are five game changers that will help take your salads to a new level. 1. Season it We season everything else, so why skip your salad? A pinch of coarse sea salt and a few grinds of pepper enhance the flavors in salads, too. But don’t stop there! Spices can amp up the natural sweetness of vegetables both raw and cooked. Try this homemade toasted spice blend on salads to turn a ho-hum salads into the best salad with grilled shrimp, sprinkle nutritional yeast on slaws for a savory boost, or herby-tart za’atar blend on a cucumber tomato salad with feta. 2. Underdress Err on the side of underdressing your salads. You need less dressing than you think, and you can always add more, but you can’t remove dressing from a soggy salad. As a general rule, add ½ tablespoon of dressing, gently toss, taste, and add more until the ingredients are very lightly coated. Another option for chronic over-dressers, pour out small amounts of dressing (about 1 tablespoon per person) into a small ramekin and dip your fork into it before each bite of undressed salad. 3. Hands on Toss your salads with your hands in a large bowl, this helps coat all the ingredients with seasonings and dressing and it’s gentler on tender greens. If you’d rather not get your hands dirty, use kitchen tongs to even toss things together. 4. Balance textures Try to choose a balance of elements – fluffy leaves, creamy elements like avocado or cheese, crunchy items like nuts or seeds, something substantial like roasted squash, meat, seafood and juicy/crisp elements like apple, tomato, or celery. And remember, we eat with our eyes, so arrange elements artfully for a more satisfying meal. Click here for a handy chart on how to build a well composed, best salad recipes ever. 5. Herbs are salad leaves, too. Herbs are a mainstay of salad dressing, but they are also delicious by themselves tucked into leafy salads. Fresh, tender herbs like basil, cilantro, dill, basil, parsley, and mint blend right in with lettuce plus they add little pops of fresh flavor that are unexpected and make salads more interesting. Make sure to remove any tough or stringy stems…concentrating on the juicy leaves instead.
“
Fitnessaware 