Tag Archives: Spiritualism

Zen Mystery | Spiritual Center, Tea Room, and Boutique

18 January

zen mystery spiritual center in Dania Beach

When I met Denis in 2001, he was going to school for a Bachelor in Liberal Arts. I laughed thinking, what is that? who studies Liberal Arts? Of course, that was me back then. I used to think that if someone was going to pay for college, they should major in either engineering, law, or medicine; anything else was a waste of money and time. So I asked him what Liberal Arts entail and what kind of job he would have. He replied that he wanted to open a spiritual school where he and other people could teach spirituality and an integral program similar to that of Ken Wilber’s.

When we started dating and things got serious, I worried for him because finding a job with that degree was going to be difficult and opening a business seemed horribly scary to me. I had always said that I didn’t want people to depend on me to earn a living, I had rather let someone else worry about my paycheck. So a business, to me what not an option. He went back to school and got a master’s degree in Educational Technology, and I was very proud of him and his new career.

Over the years though, as I worked on my spiritual journey, and opened my mind to trust the Universe, I realized that I liked Denis’ idea of a school. I didn’t like to call it a school, I called it a Center, an Integral Lifestyle Center.

Visualizing Zen Mystery

For a few year I dreamed about it, visualized it, and even made a vision board with everything I pictured having there. I had even picked the building where it was going to be. And two years ago, as a trial, Denis and I opened a consulting business in online marketing which is another area we were experts at. Inbound Den opened in August 2011 to help conscious businesses promote their companies online.

Last year, Denis quit his corporate job to work full time on Inbound Den. That gave us the opportunity to feel comfortable in owning and running a business.

Taking a Leap

I’m a big fan of Marie Forleo, Kris Carr, and Mastin Kipp, and I had been dying to go to RHH Live because I was ready to take the leap into our Spiritual Center. But the price, the time, everything wasn’t working out for me to go to NYC and learn how to run a business. Sad about this one day, I opened my email and saw a message from Omega Institute about a workshop on how to start your own business and taught by Stephan Rechtschaffen, founder of Omega and former CEO.  The price was right, the time was right, the topic was exactly what I needed, and who better than Stephan to learn from? WOW. I book that baby right away and went without a doubt.

I had told myself that I was going there just to take notes for Denis so that he could make his dream of a school come true. But the reality was, that I was the one that needed the hand holding. And boy, what a great place to shed the fears away! Omega in Rhinebeck was the perfect space to do just that. I learned a lot from Stephan and my classmates that weekend and was so inspired each minute I was there that I just couldn’t contain myself. I was ready to give birth to our baby: Zen Mystery.

Zen Mystery, Spiritual Center, Tea Room, and Boutique

We found the perfect place four our center. As of today, we are working very hard to open our doors in February 2013 and share with you all Denis’ vision that has been cooking in his heart from over a decade. We will be offering meditation classes, yoga, tai chi, dance, and more. In the tea room we will have vegan pastries and snacks like sandwiches, soups, and salads. In the boutique, we will have some clothing, accessories and other products that are aligned with the Integral Lifestyle. We also want to make the classroom available to anyone in the community that needs space for workshops or classes since it’s difficult to find a central location with plenty of parking.

You can go to our facebook page for Zen Mystery to stay tuned for updates on the opening day and what will be offered there.

We hope to see you soon in Zen Mystery in downtown Dania Beach!

Simple Yoga Sequence at Home

10 September

One of my good friends moved to France about two years ago to study, and she recently asked  me for help with yoga. So I typed up my favorite simple yoga sequence for home, which is the one I also use when I teach or substitute teach for my friends, and send it over to her in Paris to try. Many people since then have asked me to create a routine for them to use at home that is easy for them to do alone without having to watch a video or plug in their computer to get someone in youtube. So here is my favorite yoga sequence for a one hour class/routine.

Simple yoga sequence at home

Simple Hatha Yoga Sequence

This sequence is divided in several parts or sections that will create a complete routine that is easy to follow at home.

Beginning Meditation

Come to a comfortable seated position. Grab a towel, bolster, or block to support you if you need to. Bring your hands to your knees or to your heart.

Take a deep breath and relax your mind.

Begin with chanting 3 OMs inhalin and exhaling OM.

Take a deep breath and think of all the wonderful amazing things that happened to you today.

Awakening & Standing Breathing Exercises

These are the warm up exercises

Rotate feet 3 times each way.

Rotate knees 3 times each way.

Rotate shoulders 3 times front and back.

Rotate hands 3 times each way.

Rotate neck 3 times each way.

Rotate head 3 times each way (look to the left, back to center, look to the right, back to center).

Bring your arm over your head, clasp thumbs from both hands together for side stretch (Inhale pull to the left, exhale back to center. Inhale pull to the right, exhale back to center).

Sun Salutations

Sun Salutation are done in rounds meaning one round is both sides. I suggest a minimum of 3 rounds, 5 max.

Simple Sun Salutation Sequence 

The simple sequence is as follows: Inhale (IN), Exhale (EX)

Start by standing in mountain pose at the front of your mat. Face East to do your sun salutations.

IN arms up over your head.

EX bring your arms down and to touch the math or toes (bend your knees if you need to).

IN look halfway up up.

EX bring your right foot to the back of the mat.

IN bring your left foot to meet the other one for plank pose, and hold your breath while in plank.

EX bring your knees down, chest down chin down to the mat,

IN and come and up to upward dog or cobra (which ever you prefer)

EX to downward dog

IN bring your right foot to the front of the mat

EX bring your other foot to meet it

IN come up, arms up

EX bring your hands to prayer (chest)

This is half of one round, then you would do the left foot and that would be 1 complete round.

Some people do chaturanga instead of the knees-chest-chin, come thru before up dog or cobra. But if you have never done a correct chaturanga, is better to stick to knees, chest, chin come thru. I had been doing chaturanga all wrong for 8 years until 2010 when a teacher in an advance class showed us!!! It’s sad but most teachers don’t teach a correct chaturanga, specially at gyms

Advanced Sun Salutation Sequence

Include warrior poses in the simple sequence above, in round 3, after downward dog when your foot comes to the front and you are in  a lunge position, start with warrior I, then II. I never do warrior III in sun salutations though.

And then after one round of warriors, the next round will have triangles (trikonasa).

Add Warrior I and Warrior II to simple sequence (if round 4).

Add prayer twist to simple sequence (if round 5).

Add trikonasa from warrior II to simple sequence (in combination with either 2 above).

Balance

Tree Pose on both sides. Release each side with control. Shake legs after coming out of Tree Pose.

Dancer Pose on both sides. Release each side with control. Shake legs after coming out of Dancer Pose.

Spine

After the balance poses, I like to start working the spine.

Begin with Dandasana, hold for a few breaths and do a forward fold.

Next is, Janu Sirsasana, hold for a few breaths on each side and fold.

Lay on your back and bring knees to chest, head to knees, hold for a few breaths, and release.

Detox Poses

After working the spine, I find that detox poses are best to follow.

Start with a twist from Janu Sirsasana on both sides. Hold for a few breaths in each side.

Laying down twist, knees to chest and bring to each side. Hold for a few breaths in each side.

Laying down twist one leg to the side, do both sides. Hold for a few breaths in each side.

Core Poses

The core is extremely important and one of the hardest to workout in a regular gym routine or yoga routine. I like to do boat pose and when I have advanced students or athletes, I will have them do boat situps, never touching the ground 🙂

Boat pose, hold for a few breaths.

Inversions

My favorite inversion to do in class is dolphin. I don’t believe in head stand for myself. I do enjoy 90 degree hand stand on the wall, but I don’t include either in my routine or classes because they don’t call to me. It’s an inner voice that tells me head stand is not for me. So I practice other inversions such as Dolphin, Plow, or Shoulder stand instead. For this simple routine, Dolphin works great.

Dolphin and Dolphin push-ups (10 if possible and increase as days go by)

For more advanced students, dolphin pushups with one leg up

Final Meditation

For the final meditation, enjoy about 10 minutes in Savanasa, reflecting on your practice or giving thanks to yourself for doing something for your body and mental health. And when you are ready, come up to a comfortable seated position and chant OM.

 

What other poses would you add to this routine to make it your own? Share with us!

 Photo by InboundDen

 

Allergies to Negative People

23 August

Getting rid of negative people

If you are on Facebook, you’ve seen that picture floating around that has an arrow that points to your name and says “This Person is Allergic to Negative People” or the one of the button that says  “I’m allergic to Negative People”. There are several versions of these pictures, and I had posted one on my profile a few months ago. I received many likes and was shared by several of my friends. That inspired me to “unfriend” a lot of people on Facebook that are negative or use FB as a way to rant. I told a friend at work about getting rid of negative people, and she shared with me that she had done the same both in real life and in FB.

It made me think of so many people I know that are nice but are afraid to “break-up” with the negative people in their lives. It’s the hardest detox I know! So I wrote a blog post on MentalBlox.com about this. Here is the post:

 

The Hardest Detox | Getting Rid of Negative People in Your Life

Detoxing is a very important step in recovery; it frees you and empowers you by resetting your body to start the new life you want. However, there is a type of detoxing we all hate to do. We can survive all sorts of cleansing and withdrawals, but this type of detox is one of the most difficult ones to do and can sometimes delay our recovery process: Getting rid of the negative influences in our life.

Staying Strong

Without the correct support, it is difficult to stay strong. Having people that support you on your path is probably as vital as taking the first step. If you have people in your life that are holding you back, your chances of staying strong decrease significantly. I have seen it with many of my friends that refuse to let go of some of the people in their lives that contribute to either addictions and/or have not taken that first step of admitting they have a problem too.

Freeing Yourself

Letting go of negative people in your life is simple, yet challenging. I find that breaking up with friends and family has been harder than breaking up with a partner. We tend to hold tighter to our friends and relatives and we defend them against almost anything.   So how do we “break up” relationships that are not serving us? Well, the first step is to stop denying that a person is holding you back or contributing to your addiction. Voicing it, saying it out loud helps: “(fill in the blank) is no longer serving me and my greater good.” “(fill in the blank) doesn’t have my best interest at heart”, “(fill in the blank) causes drama and negativity in my life”, “(fill in the blank) is not supportive of my health and recovery path”.

I finally broke up a relationship that was draining me; a friend that for years fed me her own drama and addictions. I stayed in the relationship because I thought I could help her, but also I was in denial that I enjoyed her weekly calls with drama and stress. It was hard to admit that to myself, but once I did and was honest that I was feeding my addictions thru her drama, I was able to let go.

Learning to Build and Nourish Healthy Relationships

After being in abusive relationships or accepting life with negative people that bring you down, it’s hard to recognize and accept those in our lives that bring us joy and have our best interest at heart.  It will take time to heal and learn how to build new relationships that are honest and loving. Once you have broken free from the negative people in your life, you will have space for new healthy relationships.   If your cup is full of negativity, how can you fill it with positivity?  Empty it first, and make room.  That’s how!  Remember, most unhealthy relationships are one way street, where only one person gets heard.  Once I stopped taking the weekly calls from my negative friends, I gained so many wonderful, healthy friends and learned to have two way friendships instead of just being “the sponge” that soaked up all the other person’s junk.  Now I have true friends and we love each other for who we are… and we all get time to share our lives with each other.   Now that’s healthy!

One of my favorite hobbies is clearing clutter, as in physical junk in my surroundings.  However, now  I knew it was time for me to “clear the clutter” in my relationships. It’s scary at first, but so are all new journeys we take in life.  You will know who those people are and the universe will guide you when you are ready to take that step.  Try to recognize these unhealthy relationships sooner than later so they don’t take a toll on your health and recovery path.

 

How different would your life be without negative people in the picture? Share with us three positive things of not have negative people in your life.

Photo by .Habeeba.

 

 

The Spiritual Vegan Diet

21 August

Ahimsa The Spiritual Vegan Diet

Last year at Bhakti Fest, one of the MCs talked about a lifestyle challenge he entered as a way to improve his health. As he started the new vegan raw diet, he realized that his new diet is part of what Ahimsa in the yoga world means: Non-violence towards animals. I connected to that because being a vegan for me now is more of a choice-of-energy that enters my body than non-cruelty towards animals. But I knew Ahimsa meant much more beyond food. I was inspired by this topic and wrote about it on my post for MentalBlox.com. Here is a copy of the post:

 

Ahimsa | The Non-Violent Spiritual Diet

If you are a student of Yoga, whether it’s the asana practice only or all the other parts of yoga, you have heard the term Ahimsa. It means non-violence and avoiding harming ourselves and others including animals. Many yogis and yoginis are vegetarian or vegan, because, a true practitioner of yoga will take a vow of non-violence. Eating animals is part of Ahimsa because of the suffering and the violence animals are submitted before they died to become food on a plate. Vegetarism is a start, but Ahimsa is much more beyond being a vegetarian.

You Are What You Eat

I chose to become a vegan many years ago, at the beginning for health reasons, but now I choose to stay vegan for energy reasons. I don’t want the energy of another being in my body; I feel it affects my spiritual path, especially if the animal was hurt and tortured during the dying process to become food for humans. I’m fortunate to be allergic to eggs and dairy and therefore I’m not able to eat those either. Many of my friends have been able to get deeper once they adjust their diets to the principal of Ahimsa. And it’s no surprise that many religions avoid eating certain animals because they might not be as “pure” as others or because some animals are sacred and cannot be consumed.

Walking The Walk

When I started learning more about yoga, deepening my practice thru my teacher training, I became more aware of the term Ahimsa and why it was important in order to advance in my spiritual path. I felt great I was a vegan and thought that was all to it. Ahimsa doesn’t just refer to food and the killing of animals for food. It refers to everything in our lives, not having harmful thoughts about ourselves or others and other violent actions that lead to negative emotions like anger, frustration, fear, rage, and anxiety. So I had to stop wishing people on the road traffic tickets for bad driving, getting angry at my cat for spitting hairballs on my white couch, or killing roaches that come in to my house after a rainy day.

But the most difficult part has been not wounding and hurting me with my thoughts. Every time we judge ourselves and say mean things, we hurt our souls and self-esteem. I know it sounds corny but it’s true. Saying “I’m fat and ugly, nothing fits me”, or “I have a horrible hair day”, or “I’m so stupid”. Even not saying it out loud but thinking it, we are hurting ourselves. And if you have children or siblings that look up to you, they are learning from you to say those things about themselves too.

The Process

It may take a while for us to get used to being more loving towards ourselves and others. I started moving to the middle lane when I see a car coming fast behind me on the left lane, so instead of wishing them a ticket, I let them pass me. I stop telling myself how “fat I feel” when clothes don’t fit or calling myself “stupid” for closing a drawer on my fingers. One might be clumsy at times but it doesn’t mean we have to call ourselves a name or attach a negative feeling to that. Love your clumsy curvy self and the roaches or other animals that share this earth with us. That is the first step to Ahimsa.

Are there other ways you have come to realized Ahimsa applies in your life? Share with us!

Moody Mornings | Self Awareness in your Spiritual Path

20 August

Since I have memory, I remember not liking mornings. Specially when I was in school and had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get on a bus and be at school bright and early for prayer, etc. Even in college I had to get up early because of the kids and now because of work. In 2010, I decided I was going to stop saying I wasn’t a morning person and instead decided to try to wake up early and do things, fun things. I also decided to find what makes me wake up in a bad mood.

The Why

So I started asking myself: Why do people wake up in a good mood every morning? Is that the rule for everyone? Am I the only human that wakes up in an awful mood and ready to “kill someone and destroy the world”? When did I become this way? Was I always so angry in the morning? I found out a few of my friends don’t like morning either, but they don’t wake up angry. Denis didn’t used to like to wake up early and most days doesn’t get enough sleep, but his mood is best in the morning.

I went through many theories in my head and testing each to see what affects me and makes me wake up angry. It doesn’t happen every morning, some are less than others. I’ve been lucky to wake up in a good mood a few times. Last year I counted three mornings when I woke up happy. Earlier this year, every morning I woke up angry and more angry as the days went until I dealt with a huge issue that was starting me up in the face for a few years now.

The Solution

I know in my case, the anger comes from a horrible childhood and what happened to me during the night that makes me wake up angry. But if I dealt with all these issues why is the anger still there? It turns out we hold anger in our liver. I’ve been learning a lot about where we hold emotions. The Liver holds anger, fear, frustration, and jealousy; emotions I’m very familiar with. As I read more and educated myself on the Liver, I realized a lot of little things I’ve physically shown for many years were in fact symptoms of Liver Qi Stagnation.

Acupuncture for Liver Qi

I recently started acupuncture and Chinese Medicine treatment for the liver and the anger. It has worked well and many symptoms have left. I don’t get angry much often or in the way I used to before: ready to explode. I’m also being treated for stress and mood swings, which is awesome because that’s always been an issue for me.

Doing the Homework

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine alone are not the cure. Meditation, acceptance, forgiveness, and awareness is what helps to not have that moody morning. There is no pill to cure our issues, we MUST show up and do the work everyday! It’s hard, I KNOW! I hate doing the work, but I want to stay healthy, I have to do my spiritual work to stay balanced.

What are some of the emotions you are holding on to? Share with us and tell us what type of spiritual work you do to release them.

 

Zen and Diet: Can Food Assist You on Your Spiritual Path?

22 July

denis sunduki

Denis and his friends started this project last week. It’s a documentary on whether a person with a strong spiritual practice can take their practice to a higher level with the introduction of a healthy diet. Here is some information on the current project as described by Denis below.

Outline for the Documentary

  • Carlos Londono as Director/Star, Frank Padron as Director of Photography, Denis Soukhanov as Producer/Expert
  • Daily spiritual practice should include: meditation, yoga, satsang, kirtan
  • Weekly recorded conversations
  • Expert Interviews
  • Daily Video Journal
  • Diet is based on pH Miracle by Robert Young

Phase 1: Yogic Diet (30 days)

  • End of First Week: coffee replaced with green tea
  • Whole Food Vegetarian Diet
  •  “Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible, before being consumed. Whole foods typically do not contain added ingredients, such as salt, carbohydrates, or fat.” – Wikipedia
  • Organic when possible
  • Avoid stimulants (coffee, alcohol, drugs)
  • Multi-vitamin whole foods supplement
  • “In the Ayurvedic tradition, foods that are considered sattvic include most vegetables, ghee (clarified butter), fruits, legumes, and whole grains.” – Yoga Journal
  • Learning Ahimsa
  • Fasting on Ekadashi days (11th lunar day, twice a month)

Phase 2: Beyond Ahimsa – Vegan Diet (30 days)

  • All of the above
  • Avoid all animal products (no dairy, no honey, no eggs)
  • At least one big salad a day
  • Learning about pH of the foods
  • Multi-vitamin whole foods supplement

Phase 3: Alkaline Diet  (30 days)

  • First week (Green Juice fast)
  • 80/20 pH balanced
  •  80/20 Raw Vegan
  • Green Juices and Green Smoothies for breakfast
  • Multi-vitamin whole foods supplement

 

My New Edible Beach Garden

10 July

Beach Organic Garden

Each Spring, Denis and I plant hot peppers and other foods to grow. Living on the beach hasn’t change that. We have been able to grow kale, collards, red peppers, figs, herbs, and more.

We buy supplies and the vegetables we are planning on growing at different places. One place we like a lot is the organic nursery at Food and Thought in Naples, FL. We also get edible plants, vegetables, and other small fruit trees from our local farmers in Homestead and Miami.

We make our own compost in two batches and then mix it with the existing soil as well as new organic soil to grow food.

Even though we are not great at gardening, we have been able to get a lot of food from our own tiny urban backyard. Our neighbors also grow many greens and herbs in a much bigger space than we do and often share with us their collards and kale. And since I recently started to eat a little steamed vegetables, I enjoy steaming collards for less than 10 minutes to stay alkaline all the time.

Organic Fig grown at the beach

Planting a edible garden is not that difficult even for busy people like Denis and I with no green thumbs! So I hope more of you get inspired to convert your backyards into a food source. Not only is a rewarding experience, but also a great family project!

Read more about Urban gardening at my favorite place to read about growing food in your own backyard.

organic grown vegetables at the beach

After planting all new vegetables including hot peppers and herbs.

 

 

Taking a Break

09 May

I used to hear older people say that once you turn 18 life goes fast. I turned 18 and, well it went fast but not too fast.

I started hearing that it would get worse when you turn 30. Well I just turn 30 and yes life still going fast, but not because I got older. I believe it is because I took on too much since the beginning of 2010.

It all started with going to Bhakti Fest and “preparing” for it. And when I came back from Joshua Tree, I decided to go get certified to teach yoga immediately. It was 20 weekends, and with a full time job, it was extremely busy for me. I also  turned 30 and threw a party to celebrate, then it was thanksgiving, the holidays, and I got married.

Then came New Year’s, still in school, and lots of projects at work. So blogging went out the window and so did reading. I even open a new website/blog that hasn’t taken off yet, but will soon. With all the work and homework and reading and attending yoga classes, I was absolutely ready to quit everything.

In March, I Finally  graduated from Yoga Teacher School and had a breather. But not by much. Friends from out of town came to visit, other friends turned 30 and there were parties to attend, and then at work we decided to move another building. Yey, fun for me!

So instead of drinking heavily, I took on reading fiction series until the next Anita Blake novel is out June 🙂

Taking a break has been great, but I’m ready to blog again and have many ideas for not just this blog but also my new yoga blog.  So stay tuned for more to come here at panyvinito! I think I may actually finish the post with all the “Before & After” pictures… yes! Long over due!

Blessings,

Lina

If I was Having a Wedding – Green Wedding

08 January

Miami Beach Courthouse Wedding

We eloped to the Miami Beach Courthouse

I wrote this post last year when Denis and I were thinking of getting married but somehow it got lost in the shuffle and I never actually published it.

Most wedding aren’t environmental friendly. Unless both the bride and the groom are very conscious, they will make more than an effort to keep it  “green” in every aspect.

Denis and I are very true to our beliefs, and we have been for the last nine years we have been together. We also are just not the wedding kinda people.  While most young girls plan their weddings their entire lives, I was never interested in marriage. I strongly believed that if someone loved me, there wasn’t a document they could sign to prove it.

BUT, unfortunately living partners do not have the benefits that married partners do. Not even heterosexual couples… (don’t even get me started on how unfair I believe it is not allowing homosexual couples to get married!!).

Anyways, and unfo rtunately, in order to prevent a Stig Larsson case, (not that I’m a writer), we wanted to ensure Denis could visit me in the hospital and make decisions if ever came up to that. Why me in hospital and not Denis? Cause I’m most likely to get into a car accident than he is… long story and not for this blog post 🙂

Anyways, so I came up with this thought about  “If we had the money to spend, what kind of wedding ceremony would we have?” And here is what I came up with:

If I was having a wedding, I would….

  • Host it at the beach: Of course, we love the ocean and it’s a great place for a party and “legalizing” an union.
  • Ask an Shaman to do the ceremony.
  • Wear a bikini, not white for sure! And Denis would wear swimming trunks. Guests would wear beach gear and no one would be allowed speedos or thongs!
  • Have my friends play music & do a drumming circle with the sage and all.
  • Serve all local seasonal raw vegan organic food catered by a friend or prepared by me. All the food left would be composted of course. The plates and utensils etc would all be re-usable of course.
  • Send email invitations, not paper.
  • Register at non-profit organizations like 350.org, PETA,J/P RHO, Humane Society, and have people donate money instead of gifts.
  • Have everyone that is coming farther than 30 miles be picked up in a hybrid vehicle. And anyone who was flying in, their trip would be offset.
  • Offset any carbon footprint left because of the party.

I think that’s all… I’m not familiar with what else happens at weddings so these are as much as I would do.

We certainly cannot afford something like this anyways at this time in our lives and anything else would not be true to our beliefs. Therefore, please know that as much as we would love to have you all be part of this moment, we are going to have to do what we can that meets our standards.

So yes, consider this post as your “Save the Date” email (sorry it’s now late though!). But who knows, maybe in 10 years we will be able to do something as such again, one never knows.

Much love,

Lina

As I mentioned in the beginning, I wrote this in October or November and somehow it got lost with all the other drafts.
 So here are pictures of our actually wedding ceremony.

Wedding Miami Beach Courthouse

We are officially Mr. & Mrs. Gonzalez

Recycle Wedding Rings - Green Wedding Rings

The rings are recycled silver coins. They read "Liberty" 🙂

After the ceremony at the courthouse, we went to a new raw vegan restaurant that opened in SoBe, T.H.R.I.V.E.

Wedding Raw Vegan Food at T.H.R.I.V.E.

I had called ahead and asked the owner Sheryn, to make a nontraditional “wedding” cake for Denis and I that would have chocolate and berries. And this is the result:

Raw Vegan Wedding Cake

Raw Vegan Wedding Cake by T.H.R.I.V.E.

Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Raw Anniversary!

25 November

Thanksgiving Lunch Nov. 2010

Today Denis and I celebrated Thanksgiving and our 3 year anniversary of being 100% raw vegans.  I didn’t want to put a big production as I usually do every year so we kept it to just the two of us today.

Last week, I got asked: “What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?” and it’s been so overwhelming for us in the last month that I realized I was not planning ahead for this weekend. I answered back: “I’m just trying to get thru today!” Which was true! I’ve been so busy with my school and work and life that I’ve been just taking it one day at the time.

Oh and no, I’m still not ready to share what I’m going to school for… in case you were hoping I spilled the beans here 🙂 .

So I woke up this morning and I asked Denis what he wanted to eat. His response was: “Nori rolls!”  I smiled and got my phone to show him pictures of last year’s Thanksgiving food and even what I made for Christmas last year to see if it would inspire him to ask for something other than nori rolls. But he still wanted nori rolls and instead he said: “If you feel inspired to make something, go ahead.” And I did.

After all, I was grateful that I didn’t have to stress about having people over, clean the house, and roll out the “big carpet” as I always do for my guests. I LOVE having people over, but with all the weekends I’ve had to give up, I haven’t been able to rest. So these four days were strictly for me and Denis to rest, spend time alone, and beach! And that’s what we did!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Three Year Anniversary to Denis and I! Here is what I wind up “putting together” for today’s holiday:

Avocado Steaks with Sun-dried tomato gravy, cranberry sauce,  stuffing, and salad with hearts of palm and olives on the side and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Raw Thanksgiving Dinner in Islamorada, Nov. 2007