Yoga... What's the point?

When you think about Yoga what comes to mind? A bunch of women doing some fancy breathing and bending into weird positions all the while passing gas? That is what I used to think about yoga, but that all changed when I decided to take yoga my sophomore year of high school.

 Before I started yoga I thought I would take it, it would bean easy A and I could take it after school to free up my schedule, I mean it's just a bunch of stretching and breathing, right? I don't think I could have been any more wrong. Yoga was not as easy as I had thought, aside from people consistently passing gas, everything I had thought was pretty off point.

Sure, we did a lot of breathing and stretching, but it certainly was not easy. We were constantly moving, "Now move into downward facing dog, raise your right leg in the air and then bring it forward, then move into Warrior 1 pose... etc. etc." It doesn't sound very difficult, but keeping proper form and and focusing so hard on breathing is a lot more challenging than I had expected for my first time at yoga.My favorite part of class quickly became the end of every class when we would do a pose called Savasana or Corpse Pose.  In this pose you simply lay on your back on the floor.

Despite how difficult yoga had been at first, I quickly began to really enjoy it, I could feel myself becoming stronger and more flexible, I had gained some muscle, and it became increasingly relaxing. After taking just a few classes we had already started to learn the first steps to standing on our heads! I had no idea that I could gain so much from something as simple as a little bit of fancy breathing and stretching. In addition to feeling good, yoga has many health benefits including increased flexibility and muscle strength and tone as well as things like maintaining a balanced metabolism. Doing yoga even improves posture and has been known to lower blood pressure as well as cholesterol. 

One of the best things about yoga is that ANYBODY can do it. Not all yoga consists of constant movement and learning specific poses, some yoga is more relaxed and meditative, and some yoga is extremely warm rooms and the routines are intense. There is even yoga for pregnant women. 

Yoga can be done anywhere, in any form all of the time. I encourage everybody to at least try doing yoga two or three times. It can change your life in more ways than you would think. If you want to try out yoga but you don't want to take a class, youtube has some great yoga routines and Netflix also has some yoga videos to follow along to. 

Namaste.

'Tis the Season

Have you ever wondered why the same tomatoes that you bought in the middle of Summer that were so flavorful are so flavorless when you have them again in November? Or why the basil is so limp in the winter? Well, it's because they are not in Season. Eating seasonally isn't as challenging as one might think, it may seem time consuming, or like it might be difficult to figure out what is in season, but if you give a little bit of extra effort it will pay off in a lot of different areas. In this post I will explain how to figure out which fruits and veggies are currently in season in your area and explain the importance and benefits of buying locally grown and seasonal produce.

First off, how does buying locally grown and seasonal produce benefit you? It is pretty simple, buying locally can seem expensive but when you buy produce that is grown locally and seasonally it can take a huge load off of your wallet! When you buy a tomato in the middle of winter (at least in Oregon) the tomatoes have either been shipped here from somewhere where tomatoes grow naturally that time of year or it is picked from a hot house, either way it is an expensive process. If you ever try buying tomatoes during the winter I am sure you have noticed they often lack in flavor and the price is pretty ridiculous, but when the tomato has to grow in a facility that uses lots of energy or has to travel long distances the production cost of the produce skyrockets (and you certainly don't get as much bang for your buck)! Not only is the produce travelling long distances, but it has to be picked when it isn't as ripe because the growers need to ensure that the produce won't rot as quickly through the transport. The reason buying seasonally and locally is so good on your wallet is because it is grown near by, so the transport is very close, and it is in season so it is not only at it's finest but there is also an abundance of the produce which means prices are cheap!

So, now that I have completely sold you on buying local and seasonal produce I will teach you the easiest way to figure out what grows seasonally where you live. The process of finding out what is grown seasonally in the area you live is a lot simpler than you might expect because all you have to do is Google where you live and seasonal produce. You can either read lots of articles, which is the long way, or you can just look for a chart in images that you think is easy to understand in Google Images. The chart depicted is an example of what a chart may look like.

Seasonal produce in Oregon.

 

Eating seasonally can seem like a big hassle, but in reality what takes just a minute to search on the internet can benefit your taste buds as well as your wallet and the economy. Below are a few fall recipes that use locally grown produce, enjoy and keep staying healthy!

1. Squash-Apple Turnovers

2. Bacon and Butternut Pasta

3. Pumpkin Pie Pudding