Join online yoga classes (Wed & Fri)

Dear yoga community,  First of all, I hope you & your loved ones are safe & healthy. In these special times, we need yoga more than ever, to keep our bodies healthy and our minds calm. Hence I’ve set up a ZOOM account to propose online group yoga classes.

This way, you can practice yoga from the safety & comfort of your home using your own yoga mat. All you need is a PC (or smartphone) with a decent internet connection & a free ZOOM account.

The price per class is 12€.

For now, these are the possibilities :

• Wednesdays at 12:30PM
• Fridays at 12:30PM

Each class will be 1 hour  & follow the Sivananda tradition, hatha yoga, accessible for all levels: relaxation, pranayama (breathing exercise), sun salutations, asanas & final relaxation.

Next step: register via ZOOM and I’ll send you an email to confirm your participation to the class(es) & then I’ll send you the login details.

I very much hope that together we can keep the yoga community going strong & to create positive vibes in & around ourselves.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

 

 

Practice easy breathing with Jala Neti (neti pot)

Currently, we spend so much time at home & are quite worried about our health. One way to occupy yourself in a positive way is to practice prevention regarding your health.

Yoga and yoga cleansing exercises for example.

Yoga cleansing exercises are known as ‘kriyas’. They assist our bodily functions to remove waste products. Since we live in a world where the air, water & food are more and more polluted, we need ‘kriyas’ as our bodies can’t quite deal with this pollution on its own anymore.

There are 2 ‘kriyas’ which are easy to practice on a daily basis:

• Jala Neti – nasal cleaning
• Kapalabhati – cleanings of lungs and bronchial tubes

Jala Neti is a simple technique for cleaning the nose, nasal passages and sinuses. This cleansing method is especially beneficial for people that suffer from allergies, often have congested sinuses OR common colds. It’ll help to maintain easy breathing and combats pollution. The neti pot is used together with lukewarm water and some Himalayan or sea salt. Instead of buying expensive nasal sprays, jala neti is an easy, cheap way to prevent you from getting sick.

Jala Neti (sanskrit) means water cleaning. You can buy a neti pot online (i.e.: online) or in a yoga studio near you (i.e. Sampoorna in Brussels) and only need some salt (i.e. sea salt or Himalayan salt). A neti pot will cost you between 5 & 20 euros (depending on the quality, type (plastic or ceramic).

How to use the neti pot?

1. Poor lukewarm water (ideally filtered water) in your neti pot,
2. Add a teaspoon (but less in the beginning, experiment as it may burn) of salt to the water, cover the neti pot with your clean hands and shake well,
3. Hang your head over the sink & poor the water into one nostril, keeping the head tilted pot-side up,
4. Keep your mouth open to breathe through your mouth,
5. The water will come out of the other nostril, let the entire content of the neti pot run through your nostrils,
6. Blow out the excess water through both nostrils and repeat the process with the other nostril.

In the beginning you might find it scary or some water will come into your mouth, don’t worry nor get scared, take your time, experiment with more or less salt, colder or warmer water until you’ve found which combination of salt/ water works best for you. Do not swallow the water, it’ll simply flow through the nostrils through the tilting of your head.

You’ll be amazed of what comes out of your nose and how much lighter your head feels after this cleaning exercise.

Repeat it on a daily basis.

If you feel a cold coming up, you can repeat jala neti two to three times a day.

TIP: add the jala neti to your morning ritual, after a little practice you’ll only need a few minutes for both nostrils and will immediately after feel the difference as it’ll be much easier to breathe & do your Pranayama.

Useful yoga practices during self isolation

Dear yogi,

In these difficult and strange times we need yoga and meditation more than ever. I’ve compiled some tips of my own personal practice to share with you & hopefully inspire you to bring some more yoga in your (daily) life.

Knowledge

Personally, I am taking time to develop my own knowledge. There is so much information out there & finally I am making time to learn and feed my brain and mind with the yoga mantras, yoga sutras, Bhagavad Gita, …

Recommended: Veda Belgium, DiscoverVedanta, YogaKnowledge, Arsha Vidya,

Meditation practice

I’ve taken up a daily practice again. Meditation is a lifelong study. Sometimes you stop for a while, but when you need it or when you want, you can always go back to it. Insight Times is the app I use. You can access plenty of free meditations (donations are welcomed), and the premium version is now -50%, so only 33€ for a year. You have access to many great teachers and courses. I love it to start my day with an inspirational commentary and to end my day with a relaxing meditation.

Yoga asana & pranayama practice 

Warrior pose

Yoga asana is especially useful in these times where we are stuck inside most of the day.  To keep our physical bodies fit and healthy. To keep our immune system in great shape. I prefer to practice in the morning, a more invigorating practice including pranayama & sun salutations combined with some asanas. If you take 15-30 minutes, it’s already great. If you have more time, please practice longer. You could also take time in the evening for a yin yoga session or yoga nidra practice. There are fabulous teachers out there who are now available via online classes, or via YouTube. We can practice with a teacher, live, online, or on our own with either your own improvised session. Below, I share some of the teachers I love to practice with online these days.

Taking daily walks is hopefully also part of your daily routine.

Home cooking

Noodle soup

Hopefully you have more time nowadays for delicious home cooking. Maybe you prepare lots of food in the weekend to have wonderful home cooked food the whole week. Or make nourishing, but simple food during the week & more elaborate meals during the weekend?

If you are already vegan, you could develop your skills or share your recipes with your entourage. If you aren’t yet vegan, I can only hope you’re interested to discover vegan recipes, one step at the time: join a vegan challenge (online); check recipes from your favourite chefs; or start here in my recipes section.

Some tips to practice yoga asana & pranayama

1/ Sampoorna yoga studio offers online yoga classes with teachers of the studio. My class takes place at the usual time, it’s just being casted from my living room to your home (Wednesday 6PM).

• Two daily classes, morning and evening
• Prenatal yoga once a week (Thursdays)
• Kids yoga moments twice a week (Tuesdays in Dutch, Fridays in French)

How to register: it is necessary to register in advance. Currently please use Facebook or the MindBody App. Registration is possible until 30 minutes before start of class.

2/ Practice yoga nidra or restorative yoga with Lucia Vimercati.

3/ Practice yoga or meditation with Susie Jones from Yogaroots studio.

#staysafe #staysane #practiceyoga

Om shanti –ॐ शान्ति

 

 

Mushroom risotto Ⓥ

I love risotto, but only the ones I make myself (or those made by my Italian friend, chef & fellow yogini Lucia). Tonight I was inspired by this recipe, which I tweaked a bit.

I added some cherry tomatoes & 2 garlic cloves (with their skin), pepper & salt in the oven, as well as 2 of the big mushrooms, sliced, tossed with pepper, salt & olive oil. I put the vegetables in 2 different oven dishes for about 20-25 minutes at 190 degrees.

Ingredients

• 1,5 cups of arborio rice, rinsed
• 5 cups of vegan stock
• 1 cup white wine
• 5 to 6 big mushrooms (about 500g)
• 1 red onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• Unsweetened soy cream
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Nutritional yeast (optional)
• 2 tbsp vegan margarine (optional)

Preparation

1. Prepare the 5 cups vegetable stock/ broth and set aside.
2. Rinse the rice and set aside.
3. Add the olive oil to a pot, add the onion and sauté on medium high for a couple of minutes.
4. Then add in the sliced mushrooms, stir fry for a couple of minutes until the mushrooms are golden.
5. Add the garlic and stir fry for a few minutes.
6. Add the rice and sauté for a minute or so.
7. Add the white wine and allow to be absorbed.
8. Add 3 cups of vegetable stock/broth, stir well and simmer until the broth is mostly absorbed.
9. Then add 1 cup vegetable stock/broth, stir well again and cover and simmer until the broth is mostly absorbed.
10. Then add the last 1 cup of vegetable stock/broth, stir well again and simmer for a final few minutes.
11. Once all the stock/broth has been mostly absorbed by the rice, add a few tablespoons of soy cream and mix well.
12. Turn off the heat and stir in the 2 Tbsp of vegan butter.
13. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
14. Serve with some nutritional yeast.
15. Serve with the roasted cherry tomatoes and mushrooms.
16. Enjoy.

 

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

Sampoorna yoga studio offers online classes now

Dear yogi,

In these difficult and strange times we need yoga and meditation more than ever. The studio remains closed due to the Corona virus outbreak, but we have good news for you:

From Friday 20 March Sampoorna yoga studio offers online yoga classes with teachers of the studio.

My class takes place at the usual time, it’s just being casted from my living room to your home (Wednesday 6PM).

• Two daily classes, morning and evening
• Prenatal yoga once a week (Thursdays)
• Kids yoga moments twice a week (Tuesdays in Dutch, Fridays in French)

How to register:

It is necessary to register in advance. Currently please use Facebook or the MindBody App as we are still working to get it up on our website – we recommend the MindBody App as the quickest and easiest way.

Registration is possible until 30 minutes before start of class.

At that point, we will send everyone a Zoom link for the class.

You will need to download the free Zoom app in advance!

Private online yoga classes with our teachers are also available – ask for more info!

We hope to see you soon in the online classes, thank you for practicing yoga with us.

Take good care of yourself and your loved ones, stay at home, stay safe!

PS. Should you experience any difficulty in registering for the new online classes just send an email – this is new for us all well, and we are learning as we go.

Om shanti –ॐ शान्ति

 

 

Want to join online yoga classes as from 17 March 2020?

Dear yoga community,  First of all, I hope you & your loved ones are safe & healthy. In these special times, we need yoga more than ever, to keep our bodies healthy and our minds calm. Hence I’ve set up a ZOOM account to propose online group yoga classes.

This way, you can practice yoga from the safety & comfort of your home using your own yoga mat. All you need is a PC with internet connection & a free ZOOM account.

I accept 10 students per class as to be able to check & correct you all when necessary. If you’re interested, please send me a private message so I can explain you how to set this up. The price per class is 12€. A class will take place with at least registered 5 students.

For now, these are the possibilities starting this week (from 17 March):

• Wednesdays at 12:30PM (1 hour class)
• Fridays at 12:30PM (1 hour class)

Each class will be 1 hour  & follow the Sivananda tradition, hatha yoga, accessible for all levels: relaxation, pranayama (breathing exercise), sun salutations, asanas & final relaxation.

Next step: send me an email to confirm your participation to the class(es) & then I’ll send you the login details.

I very much hope that together we can keep the yoga community going strong & to create positive vibes in & around ourselves.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति

 

 

Kale stoemp, mushrooms & mince Ⓥ

Kale stoemp is a typical Dutch winter dish. In The Netherlands people eat it with a sausage and gravy (non-vegan style). I made a vegan version and on day 1 I ate this simply stoemp made of mashed potatoes, kale and soy cream with a vegan sausage, mustard and small pickled onions.

On day 2 I made with the leftover stoemp an oven dish pimped with mushrooms and mince ‘meat’. It was delicious.

 

Ingredients

Stoemp

• 1 KG of potatoes
• 450 (or more) kale (I used organic, frozen)
• Unsweetened soy cream to taste (or use oat or rice, but they often are too sweet for me)
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Topping/ filling

• 250g mushrooms
• 400g mince (I used the Naturli brand)
• 2 garlic cloves
• Soy sauce
• 1 tsp of Cayenne pepper
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil

Preparation

1. Make the stoemp: peel the potatoes, cut in quarters and boil for about 15 minutes in some lightly salted water.
2. Prepare the kale according to the package instructions (about 12 minutes in this case).
3. Once the potatoes & kale are properly cooked, save some of the water from the kale, throw out the water of the potatoes and mix well to obtain a nice consistency. Mix everything well with a fork or mixer for very smooth consistency. Add pepper & salt to taste. Add some soy cream & olive oil for creaminess. Set aside.
4. Clean (with paper towel, not water) the mushrooms and slice them.
5. Finely cut the garlic cloves.
6. Preheat the oven to about 180°.
7. Fry up the mushrooms until nicely golden brown, add the garlic for a few minutes, set aside.
8. Fry the mince in a skillet, add some soy sauce, Cayenne and black pepper.
9. Add some olive oil in the oven dish, spread half of the stoemp in an equal layer, add some mushrooms, then the mince, finish with the rest of the stoemp and some mushrooms on top.
10. Put the dish for about 15-20 minutes in the oven.
11. Enjoy.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति