What are your favorite vegan-friendly restaurants?

 

One year since I turned my vegetarian diet into “flexi-vegan” (which basically means I am vegan at home and whenever possible, but revert to vegetarianism if I am eating at someone else’s home, or if I am traveling and cannot find foods that would allow me to eat a balanced vegan diet). As a result, I decided to share with you my favorite places to eat in DC. Wherever you are, share yours! 

 

Le Pain Quotidien (http://www.lepainquotidien.us/#/en_US/locations)

Tons of vegan choices, including dessert (love their chia pudding) and pastries (seasonal scones and muffins). Mains include salads, vegan soups every day, tartines, and their evening menu includes a seared quinoa cake which keeps me coming back for more. The menu specifies which dishes are vegan. 

 

 

 Heritage India (http://www.heritageindiausa.com/georgetown.htm) 

Yummy Indian food. You can eat at the restaurant or order for delivery or take-out. Their menu has a separate section listing their vegan dishes. Ordering made easy! 

 

Pizzeria Paradiso (http://www.eatyourpizza.com/

The best pizza in DC, and they have an excellent  tapioca-based vegan cheese–yes, it melts! 

 

 

 

Julia’s Empanadas (http://www.juliasempanadas.com)

There’s always a vegan empanada, and  fillings change seasonally. Ideal for a quick lunch on the go. 

 

The Financial Times decided to write about “the mind business” (and it’s making me sick)

As soon as I saw the front cover of this weekend’s FT Magazine (which reads “The Mind Business: How Eastern Vision is Changing Western Corporate Life”), I put aside all other newspapers, and sat to read the article, expecting lots of things–but not what I found.

The article focuses mainly on the experience of General Mills (the company behind brands like Haagen-Dazs, Cheerios, and Betty Crocker, among many others)  with mindfulness and yoga in the workplace. Leaving aside how we feel about big food companies, the article presents the goal of the now 7-year project (known as Mindful Leadership) as quite shallow: “The idea is that calmer workers will be less stressed, more productive and even become better leaders, therefore benefitting the entire organization.” [My mindfulness practice helps me with stress, but the main point is becoming a more present and aware person in every aspect of my life, not  a more productive employee.] The same lack of depth in the way mindfulness is approached is seen on another paragraph where William George, a board member of Goldman Sachs is presented as a meditator since 1974 (as an aside, if you have a meditation practice could you stomach working for GS???).  According to him: “The main business case for meditation is that if you’re fully present on the job, you will be more effective as a leader, you will make better decisions and you will work better with other people”, he tells the FT reporter.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s great that companies are offering their employees the chance to do yoga and have a mindfulness practice. What worries me is the fact that these practices are simply framed as a gateway to greater productivity, rather than as a means to overall well-being and spiritual development.

The article also mentions how General Mills has started to conduct research into the outcomes of the program, saying, for example, that after one of the 7-week courses they offer “83 per cent of participants said they were ‘taking time each day to optimise my personal productivity.'” Am I the only one who is troubled by the fact that mindfulness is being used to make employees work as better oiled machines?

To finish, the FT says Ms. Marturano  (one of the people who spearheaded the Mindful Leadership program at GM) “is not troubled by any apparent contradiction around using compassion to breed better capitalist.”

Absent from the article is any mention of whether mindfulness in the workplace can lead to grater corporate social responsibility, changes in business models, or investment decisions.  Yoga and meditation are spiritual practices that can help us become more whole and wise individuals, and maybe–after a lifetime of practice–lead to a glimpse of  enlightenment. Seeing them used as the FT describes is deeply troubling.

This is a long way away from the teachings of the  Buddha and the yoga sutras of Patanjali.

Free Online Seminar: YOGA INJURIES – FACTS AND FICTION

Hi! I thought it was worth spreading the news that Yoga U is offering this free online seminar on yoga injuries with Judith Hanson Lasater, Roger Cole, Tias Little, Dr. Timothy McCall, Ellen Saltonstall, Julie Gudmestad, Dr. Loren Fishman, and Peggy Cappy, this Saturday, August 25, 2012, 12 pm to 4 pm EDT/9 am to 1 pm PDT. You can register here:  http://yogauonline.com/yogaspirit/yoga-injuries-register

Do you keep up your mindfulness practice when you’re feeling poorly?

Quick question for my fellow mindfulness practitioners: do you keep up your practice when you feel kind of sick? My nose looks and feels like a potato, I can’t stop sneezing and have a splitting headache. I skipped my practice yesterday because I was running a fever and with a foggy head I found it impossible to focus… Any ideas???

MBSR — Finished the 8-week course and keeping up the practice!

 

It’s been a while since I posted about how the course was going. I went on vacation, when I came back my computer died, and then I had ten days at home without Internet, so I am still catching up with things I need to do.

I finished the course, and have continued with a daily mindfulness practice. I haven’t been able to let go of the CDs, though. I am yet to see how it feels to go for the 40-minute sitting without listening to Kabat-Zinn’s guidance. I’ve been doing a mix of sittings and body scans. I haven’t done the yoga practice Kabat-Zinn offers in the CDs (as I do a lot of yoga already), or the walking meditation.

Some days the sitting feels great, and some days it’s truly challenging (with my mind going in all directions). But I’m very happy I’ve done this, and I am committed to sticking with it. The more time goes by, the easier it’s become to dedicate it the daily time. I have also started cutting myself some slack: if I am travelling, I will do the sitting on the plane (knowing that it has added difficulties, given the noise and movement around you), rather than wating till I arrive at my destination, as I was doing at the beginning.

How about those who have finished the course a while ago? Have you managed to keep it up? I’d love to know what the experience has been for other people.

MBSR — Weeks 5 & 6 + food for thought

Week 5 ended uneventfully, with a mix of 39′ sittings and body scans.

 

Week 6

Days 1 and 2:

-39′ sittings with Kabat-Zinn’s CD. My legs go to sleep, but have been managing to stay put without shifting until the end of the practice. I guess it’s good training staying with something uncomfortable and with a bit of pain, as I typically move away immediately  from anything that causes me discomfort. 

 

Day 3:

-Used my meditation bench for the 39′ sitting today. With the bench I feel no pain and my legs don’t go to sleep, but (oddly) I find it harder to focus–my mind seems to go all over the place. Conversely, when I sit cross-legged and I feel some pain and my legs give me trouble, the only way of staying put is to intently focus on my breathing, the sounds (and silence), or the sensations in my body. Strange… some discomfort seems to be conducive to a more mindful sitting (I will continue exploring this). And here is where things get interesting… can this be the case also in life? If we let them, can the difficulties we face sharpen our awareness? Make us more mindful?  This would certainly mean looking at things in a whole new light–of course, this is easier said than done!!!   

 

 

What has yoga done for you?

Yoga has also allowed me to see things from a different perspective

My yoga practice has given me many things. On the physical level, it has allowed me to more fully inhabit my body. From being a couch potato, I’ve become someone who looks forward to exercise, and who is willing to go outside her comfort zone to try new things (horse-back riding lessons are my latest adventure). I am stronger, and I can feel it. I have also become more flexible. [And these two last things apply both to body and mind.]

My yoga practice led me to enrolling in–and completing–a yoga teacher training that would open up many new doors for me (including mindfulness meditation, one of the most significant practices in my life). In all, I am a happier, kinder, and more self-assured woman.

What has yoga done for you? What keeps you going back to the mat? Why would you recommend it to others?

MBSR — Week 5 (days 3-4)

This is the latest report of my journey with Jon Kabat-Zinn‘s mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program, as outlined in Full Catastrophe Living.

 

Day 3: 

-Yes! Managed to sit through Kabat-Zinn’s 39-minute sitting practice CD without shifting. It wasn’t easy, and I am so happy I did it!!! I got very anxious about the prospect of sitting for so long, and got random itches and pains, but I guess it was just my mind freaking out about committing to what is (for me) such a lengthy sit. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow…

 

Day 4:

-Again, Kabat-Zinn’s 39-minute sitting practice CD without shifting. Mouch more relaxed this time, even though my legs went to sleep, and I couldn’t feel them. Yesterday, I had used my meditation bench; today I sat on the floor with my hips raised on folded blankets. I think it’s worthwhile for me to explore different sitting positions at this point. I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M ABLE TO DO THIS!

 

 

 

 

MBSR — Week 5 is here!

Big day today, as the start of week 5 means this week I’ll be doing sittings of up to 45 minutes at a time. We’ll see how it goes!

 

Day 1:

-As I couldn’t complete the 45′ in one go (I stopped after 25′ in the afternoon), I decided to sit for 20′ in the evening to complete the daily 45′. 

 

Day 2:

-Did the body scan in the afternoon,  but was asleep even before I finished the left leg! So, I decided to sit in the evening: the plan was to do 30′ with no shifting. Internal dialogue during the sitting went something like this:

-I wish the alarm would go off already.

-You can do this; if you sit for 20′, you can sit for 30′.

-I’M BORED. When will the 30′ end???

-Me to my mind: Enough. I can do this. Give it your best shot to try to make me stop [random itching had already started]; I’m not moving from here until I am done.  I CAN DO THIS.

-I’m bored. 

-It doesn’t matter if you’re bored, you’re staying here, and you are not shifting your position or scratching. Go back to your breath. 

-Alarm went off! I did it!!!!

  

 

In case you haven’t seen my previous posts, this is the report of my journey with  Jon Kabat-Zinn‘s mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program, as outlined in Full Catastrophe Living.

 

Day 5: 

-Yummy body scan early afternoon. I dozed off several times (which is not the point of the exercise), but it was extremely relaxing.

-20′ sitting before going to sleep, and after a great prana flow yoga class. 

 

Day 6: 

-20′ sitting in the afternoon. It was a good idea to do it to center myself as I am traveling tonight, and no matter what I always scramble to finish everything a couple of hours before leaving for the airport (we’ll see how the body scan turns out–it will be my first transatlantic body scan–and of course I’ll be sitting in coach!). 

-Did the body scan on the plane–it was extremely hard to follow the directions, but I discovered it helped me relax a lot. After I finished it, I decided to play it again to see if I would manage to fall sleep–and it helped me doze off for a little while!

 

Day 7:

-Totally knackered after the red eye from DC, only did a 20′ sitting today.  

 

Week 5 starts tomorrow, bringing changes to the daily practice. Stay tuned! I can’t believe I am already past the mid-point in the 8-week program.