photo credit: Jason Savelsberg

photo credit Scott Miller

Happy May Day!

And eating hot soup!

This soup was inspired by one that my mother-in-law made the other night while we were visiting her home deep in the wilds of West Virginia.  It was approaching dark, we’d all been out all day, Tate and I had just walked out of the woods with a big bag of ramps, and it was time to eat.   She made this soup with what she had on hand, kept it simple, and we all devoured it.

I arrived home the next day, big bag o’ ramps and a handful of foraged morel mushrooms in tow, and attempted to recreate the soup.    The special ingredient is the coconut milk, which brings out the natural sweetness of the potatoes and ramps (yes, potatoes, especially organic Yukon Golds, have a bit of sweetness to them).

If you don’t have access to ramps some nice fresh, local leeks will sub well, as will fresh shiitakes for the morels.

I’m calling it Sweet Spot Soup.  Spring is the sweet spot in weather in Central Virginia.  Under those Ash trees in the hills of West Virginia where we spotted morels popping up, despite being camouflaged with last years leaves, was the sweet spot.  The combo of earthy mushrooms, sweet and pungent spring onions, hearty potatoes, and unexpected coconut milk definitely is a sweet spot.

Disclaimer: I am pretty anti-recipe in general and especially for soups, which I think should as a rule never be exactly the same twice.  This is a suggestion for a combination of ingredients, go forth and experiment!  Let me know if you hit the sweet spot. ]]> http://gracefulfitnessblog.com/2013/04/29/sweet-spot/feed/ 1 http://gracefulfitnessblog.com/2013/04/22/super-local/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=super-local http://gracefulfitnessblog.com/2013/04/22/super-local/#comments Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:30:31 +0000 gracefulfitness http://gracefulfitnessblog.com/?p=6050 Continue reading →]]> I’m a lifelong lazy environmentalist.

I learned the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) at an early age and my family brought canvas bags to the grocery store even before “paper or plastic” was in the vernacular.   In those days the cashier would just look at us like we were nuts and proceed to plastic-bag our goods anyway.

Overtime I’ve made lots of small changes to reduce my impact, like making my own laundry soap, switching to a natural deodorant, switching to ‘green’ companies, making my own kombucha, yogurt, and cooking beans from scratch, holding clothes exchanges, growing a garden, and bike commuting.   I enjoy all of these things (except the laundry soap, after a few batches I went back to the store-bought stuff) and they often save me some money along the way.  That’s where the lazy part comes in, I stick with changes that suit me, ones that enrich my life from many angles, including the reduced environmental impact.

Forget the paper or plastic quandary, the latest question many environmentalists, lazy or otherwise, ask themselves is “how far did my food travel?”.

Looks like I need to do some weeding, eh?

Right into the salad bowl!

Foraging is the act of searching for food, any food, but is often used in the context of seeking and picking wild food.

The above salad contains violet flowers and leaves, redbud flowers, and dandelion greens, all of which grow wild in my yard, along with some wintered-over arugula and kale from my raised beds.

Doesn’t get much more local.

The large and lovely redbud tree in my front yard.

The blossoms are a little bit sour with a nice “pop” when you bite them.

I’ve only eaten them raw but think they could be fun and gorgeous baked into a dessert like my coconut flour lemon muffins.

One of the fun things about foraging for wild food is that the seasons are fleeting.  The redbud blossoms are already drying up and giving way to lush leaves and soon the dandelions will be too tough and bitter to enjoy eating.

If you are interested in foraging for wild food it’s important to pay attention to a few things,

• make sure the area your picking is free from heavy pesticide spray and/or, in the case of low-growing plants, animal poop
• if the land is public than certainly respect any laws surrounding picking and always leave some for the other foragers and the health of the plant
• know what you’re picking!!!
• pick what you like to eat, it’s way more satisfying that way

The lazy (and thrifty!) environmentalist in me loves walking out in my yard and picking beautiful, nutritious produce.

Do you forage?

Happy Earth Day!

To recap, my challenge is this,

April 1-may 12 I will

Run 64 miles
Practice yoga 16 times
Do 16 Pilates workouts 
Meditate 32 minutes a week (this is going to be the hardest to achieve but I need it)

Funny thing about the meditation part.  I wrote 32 minutes a week in the post but somehow got stuck on the idea of 32 minutes TOTAL over the entire 6 weeks.  Subconscious resistance to meditating? No way.

I have been meditating-and loving it-just not quite 32 minutes a week.  My body and mind have started to crave the quiet time and although it’s a huge challenge to be still, physically and mentally, I’m excited by the prospect it holds.  At first I caught myself labeling my mediation time as either ‘successful’ or not and quickly realized how unnecessary and unhelpful that is.  Yes, sometimes I find it almost impossible not to day-dream or make a grocery list as I sit but still, I sit and do the work and will count that as sucess.   Both weeks I ended up sitting for 13 minutes total per week.

I’ve been sore!  I’m finding it a little hard to recognize and respect where my body is at right now.  I’m not that out of shape and it’s coming back quickly but I am still finding it challenging to remind myself that it’s fine if I want to walk after only running a mile or that it’s cool if all the other runners pass me on the trail.  The goal is to push myself within my current limits, not to be the fastest or the most hardcore athlete out there.

Over the last two weeks I’ve run 15.5 miles, practiced yoga 4 times, and done 4 Pilates workouts, as well as taught lots of classes, walked dozens of miles, and ridden my bike a time or two.  I am feeling stronger, calmer, more flexible, and a little leaner than I was on April 1st so I would say I’m right on track!  I will bump up the intensity of my workouts a little as the weeks progress and my body adapts to the challenges I give it.

Do you get motivated to move in the Spring?  Do you notice that your workouts change depending on the season?  Spring and Fall are definitely my favorite running seasons, both because of the weather and because the scenery is beautiful and changing rapidly.

Most of the time I like this, it keeps me entertained and on task.  It also keeps me distracted.  It causes me to avoid just being.

My earliest memories of yoga and meditation are from when I was just a little girl of 4 or 5.  Mom taught hatha yoga in a sunlight, third floor studio and I would sometimes have to sit on the sidelines and color or nap during class.  I can’t picture any of the students or even the postures they practiced but I can hear my momma’s soothing voice talking them through the final relaxation, corpse pose.

I flirted with yoga in junior high but didn’t fall in love until about 16 when I first experienced Vinyasa.   This flowing, dancey form of yoga opened up new worlds in my body and my mind and I found it rather natural to practice a moving meditation.  My mind was clear and focused as I let my body ride from warrior to down-dog    Post-practice I felt refreshed, calm, and confident.

Yoga classes and practices often include a very short seated meditation and a final relaxation and I welcomed those quiet, still moments, as long as they were book-ended with lots of movement.

The idea of mediation has appealed to me for a long time but perhaps I was just posturing, pun intended, because whenever I would attempt it I failed miserably.

Well, my mediation time has come.  It’s something that I’ve been feeling like I need for a while now but you know how it goes, sometimes it’s hard to give ourselves exactly what we need; change is hard and sometimes uncomfortable.  Adding meditation into my life is a change.

I am no authority on mediation.  In fact, I sometimes feel like I am clueless about it.  Here’s what I do know though and why I am starting to practice it more regularly.

• When I sit I have a lot of thoughts come up, naturally.  It helps me to visualize those thoughts as happening in cartoon-like bubbles; forming, floating away from me, and quickly popping.
• I sometimes use a mantra, an idea, or a single word or emotion to help focus my energy and mind as I sit.
• I read once about a daily meditation where you sit and focus everything you have on sending out love to those people most important to you.  One of my desires with practicing meditation is to become more compassionate and less reactionary and defensive so this style of meditation appeals to me.
• I personally always set a timer for my meditations, usually from 3-5 minutes.  This is a really short time and honestly barely long enough but it is achievable to me.  Over time I can see that I will need and want to carve out more space and time for certain meditations.
• Usually I sit cross-legged.  Sometimes I sit up straight but with my back against a wall for support.  If my hip flexors are feeling tight, or I’m sitting for a longer time, I may put a folded towel or something under my hips to boost them up higher than my knees and feet.
• Meditation feels incredibly nurturing to me.  When my little cricket timer goes off I thank and congratulate myself for being good to me, for taking time out to take care of myself.  Similarly to practicing vinyasa, mediation leaves me calm, focused, and with a certain sense of self-confidence and security.
• I like mediating with a little ambient noise, not music with lyrics or others’ conversations but distant street sounds or birds chirping.
• I’m kind of terrified of a meditation group or class.  Sitting still for any longer than 10-15 minutes sounds like mild torture.  I’ve done this only a few times in the past and each times I felt distracted, uncomfortable, and like a bad yogi.  Things change though, maybe I would feel differently now.   I’m going to face my fear and attend a class in the next few weeks.

Do you meditate?  Please share your knowledge, experience, and tips!

One thing that’s helping my energy level and mood is

SPRING!!!

It’s that sweet spot in Central Virginia  it’s warm to hot but not boiling, everything is flourishing, and the mosquitoes haven’t descended yet.   If you are in a colder climate (or another hemisphere!), I don’t mean to brag, your Spring will eventually come!

Naturally my mind is in the garden.  I’ve been eating up my winter greens to make space for new plantings.   Charlottesville is fairly mild in the winter and I was able to keep kale, arugula, chard, and lettuce growing, although very slowly.

It’s been in the ground since last fall and it’s still so little!

This week I’ve planted sugar snap peas, lettuce, beets, radishes, more kale, and more arugula, all from seed.

It’s so hot here this week (in the 80′s today!) that I’m chopping at the bit to get more seeds in the ground but we could have a frost still.

I have a lot to learn about gardening but my method is this;

Plant from seed late-winter thru spring

• greens
• radishes
• beets
• sugar snap peas
• carrots

Plant from seed after danger of frost

• cucumbers
• summer squash
• bush and pole beans
• basil

Plant from start after danger of frost

• tomatoes
• peppers

This list is by no means comprehensive for a home garden but those are the veggies/herbs that I prioritize growing.   Check out my gardening page and the post Seed or Start for more info!

Perhaps the best thing in my yard this time of year are the cherry blossoms!

These gorgeous blossoms remind me to stop and smell the flowers and be grateful for SPRING!

1. Back in the 1960′s my grandfather was on a plane and “discovered” yoga.  He was having a drink in the lounge (double-decker plane!) when he met a couple that looked incredible for their age.  He, of course, wanted to know what they did to take care of themselves.  They replied that they practiced yoga.  Zeyda went out and bought the book Yoga for Americans and started practicing in his bedroom each morning before catching the train from Long Island into Manhattan for work.   He was so impressed with how yoga made him feel that he bought the book in bulk and started including it as a ‘thank-you’ gift for new clients to his textile business  Keep in mind that my grandfather was a 40-something Jewish business man with a family at this point, not a hippy or beatnik.  He continued practicing yoga for the next 50 years.
2. I’ve always been extremely proud of my Zeyda.  He was exceptionally generous and very successful in business but what impressed me most was that he was a progressive thinker and kept an open mind.
3. Although he never attended college, my Zeyda felt like education was really important and encouraged each of his seven grandchildren to go to school.  I definitely felt pressure to get a degree but my grandfather always encouraged me as a dancer and artist, I never felt pushed into a more traditional career path.  He and my grandma have always supported the arts and have seen at least as much modern dance as me!
4.My Zeyda thrived on family and community and was never happier than when multiple generations were gathered to celebrate.  He would walk around with a huge grin on his face and snap pictures of anyone and everything.  His love for photography led him to have envelopes printed up that read “You’ve been snapped by Abby” and he used them for decades to gift people with shots of themselves.  This proclivity for the camera was passed on to his kids and grand-kids, we are all fond of taking pictures and my cousin has made a career of it.
5. My grandfather was a very generous man and thrived from giving.  He was always ready, willing, and able to offer anything from money to advice to a shoulder to lean on or an ear to bounce an idea off of.
6. “Never stop moving”.  My Zeyda knew how important exercise was and until recently walked at least 2 miles a day, did water aerobics, played golf, and practiced yoga.

7. A man of faith.  Judaism played a starring role in my Zeyda’s life and he was always excited to pass on his beliefs to the next generations.
8. When I started this blog in 2010 one of my first comments was from my Zeyda.  He continued to be one of my biggest fans, despite being, ummmm, not exactly my target demographic.  He would print every post and bring it with him to coffee dates with friends to share.  I was always so proud that he was proud of me for this endeavor.

9. I get my travelers spirit from my grandparents, I’m pretty sure they have seen every continent!
10.Adventurous!  Zeyda was up for anything, from whitewater rafting to skiing to hang-gliding!
11.The ultimate optimist.  This man’s glass wasn’t just half-full, it was full and sometimes even overflowing! He once said “we can maximize our pleasure by trying to see the positive side of everything we do.”
12. My Zeyda accomplished great financial success but believed that “who we are and what we do are the most dynamic and satisfying qualities” not how much money we make. 

13. Described by his rabbi as a “sweetheart of a man”, my grandfather was always giving hugs and kisses and huge smiles. 
14. A food lover.  Zeyda had three specialties that I knew of; waffles, air-popped popcorn, and grilled fish.  Okay, so he wasn’t much of a cook, he loved food though and when I once asked him if there was anything he didn’t like he thought for a while then replied “well, I don’t really eat pork”.  Of course he didn’t eat pork, he was a devout Jew!  I’ll take that as a ‘no’, there’s no food he didn’t like. 
15. Zeyda was a fighter and a survivor.  In 1982 he was diagnosed with lymphoma but made a complete recovery after a series of treatments. 

16. My Zeyda loved gadgets and got a huge kick out of technology.  

17. Zeyda never stopped learning, adventuring, or seeking knowledge and connections with others.

18.My Zeyda used the following quote as one of the guiding principles for his life,

Do more than exist, live. 

Do more than touch, feel.

Do more than look, observe.

Do more than read, absorb.

Do more than listen, understand.

Do more than care, love.

-Anon

In LOVING memory of

Abner Levine

June 18, 1918-April 2 2013

*Zeyda is a Yiddish word for grandfather and 18 is a symbol for life in Judaism.

I’ve written about my ebb and flow approach to goals and planning a few times before but basically I’ve found that sometimes it works great for me to have a concrete schedule for a set period and time and a goal to strive for. Other times I take each day as it comes and don’t plan or track my workouts.
It’s spring. I feel energized! I feel like I’m coming out of hibernation! March was a very challenging month. I spent a lot of it sick and away from home. I didn’t get a lot of exercise.  The whole combination left me out of breath and feeling a little soft.  I’m totally in the mood for a fitness challenge and some goal setting.
In 6 weeks I will turn 32. As some of you may remember, I kinda like “preparing” for my birthday and the start of a new year of my life by setting some goals or making some resolutions. (Here’s my pre-31st birthday post and my pre-30th birthday post). Moving is one of the things that makes me feel most in touch with myself and most alive so a 6 week fitness challenge to close out my year of being 31 seems perfect.
Like I mentioned, I’m feeling really out of shape. My “normal” routine of teaching 6 classes and running just a few miles last week left me sore in places I haven’t felt in a while. Perhaps, hopefully, it’s exaggerated by leftover sickness but in any case I am setting a challenge from where my body is at right now. It’s so important, yet hard, to respect our body’s edges and limits. Four years ago at this time I was training for a May marathon.  A 10 miler was a short training run! My weekly goal for this challenge will be 10 miles!

I’m not a big numbers girl, I’ve never really had a “lucky” or “favorite” one, but 32 seemed like a fun framework for this challenge.
April 1-may 12 I will

Run 64 miles
Practice yoga 16 times
Do 16 Pilates workouts
Meditate 32 minutes a week (this is going to be the hardest to achieve but I need it)
And yeah, I’m not opposed to losing 3.2 pounds

Thanks for listening, it helps me feel more committed to write my plan down for everyone to see. Are you interested on my progress? Should I post my weekly accomplishments and challenges or is that kinda boring/useless to you?

Do you take an always-have-a-goal/schedule/training plan, a “plan? What plan?”, or an ebb and flow approach to your workouts? Got any spring goals?!

Ps Hey Cville! Want to meet people, workout hard, have fun, and be outside? Next week I’m starting a Fit Camp.  We’ll meet at an area park and I’ll run you through a full body workout using the natural features of the landscape.  Email me if you are interested gracefulfitness[at]live.com