I posted the below comment on my fbook which spurred a very interesting debate with a friend of mine from high school who i haven’t seen in more than ten years.  To be honest, I am in such a liberal bubble, i didn’t know I had fbook friends that feel the way Candice does below - however, I was very happy to have the conversation and thought I’d share…

proud of obama and colorado’s governor, but north carolina, i have been singing the praises of your beautiful beaches and mountains, funky town of carboro, and incredible school of yoga in asheville, but now you are making me look like an ass. haven’t we learned that separate is not equal?

highlights of my day yesterday:

• walking meditation with my client - silently going around the city block, noticing how each footstep felt, connecting with our breath and supporting each other in the moment.
• realizing through conversation with my supervisor that by calling somatic wellness interventions “hippy dippy” i am selling it short, confirming a stereotype and not pointing out all the science that backs up this amazing work with trauma survivors.
• sneaking the monster on to the bed and falling asleep for 20 mins with my arms around him while i think of how lucky i am he’s still in my life after 11 years of being my constant companion.
• making slow cooked black beans, putting it over spaghetti as my folks taught me, and piling on fresh pico de gallo, avocados, and chalula.
• ending the night with my home practice of yoga while my beau played the guitar.

cooked this up last night, and it was delicious.

(from smitten kitchen)

Curried Lentils With Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard
Adapted from The New York Times 11/14/07

Yields 8 to 10 side-dish servings; 6 main-course servings.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala (didn’t use so added extra curry powder)
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded if desired, then minced
4 to 5 cups vegetable broth as needed (i used 5 cups)
2 pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into
1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 cups dried lentils
1 bay leaf
1 pound Swiss chard, center ribs removed, leaves thinly sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/3 cup finely chopped tamari almonds, for garnish (optional), available in health food stores
(i added a spoonful on plain greek yogurt for garnish)

1. In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, garam masala, curry powder and jalapeno. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

2. Stir in 4 cups broth, sweet potatoes, lentils and bay leaf. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium, partially cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. (If lentils seem dry, add up to 1 cup stock, as needed.) Stir in chard and salt and pepper, and continue cooking until lentils are tender and chard is cooked, about 30 to 45 minutes total.

3. Just before serving, stir in cilantro, lime zest and juice. Spoon into a large, shallow serving dish. Garnish with almonds if desired and scallions.

an excerpt from “yoga threads” in the latest Yoga International:

The words jagatyam jagat use a simple Sanskrit verb of movement in a particular form, which infuses the verb with desire - the desire to move.  All creation is moving; the apparently static oak swirls with atoms; metals creep; the universe expands continuously. And all this movement is infused by the desire of creation itself to create.

Krishna speaks of this desire in the Bhagavad Gita (3.36) when Arjuna asks him, “What compels us to continually fail to live in the moment?” Krishna replies, “It is desire as fire is veiled by smoke or a mirror by dust, as a fetus is covered by a placenta, so is this world of activities covered by desire.”

Do not covet or yearn to keep what is not yours.  Let it go, be free. Enjoy.

dance, when you’re broken open.

dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.

dance in the middle of fighting.

dance in your blood.

dance, when you’re perfectly free.

struck, the dancer hears a tambourine inside her,

like a wave that crests into foam at the very top, begin,

maybe you don’t hear that tambourine,

or the tree leaves clapping time. 

close the ears on your head,

that listen mostly to lies and cynical jokes.

there are other things to see, and hear.

music. dance.

a brilliant city inside your soul!

-rumi