The Laws of Transformation #7-12

Tomorrow is finally the day that my 40 days to Personal Revolution will start! I am so excited, and can't wait to see what the next 40 days have in store for me physically as well as mentally. I'm going to go over the last 7 laws now. Over the course of the next 40 days, I will focus on about 2 laws per week more in depth to help me through my journey.

Law 7: Relax with What Is
"Life is full of pressure and difficult moments. In an instant, we can turn the arrows of strife into opportunities for profound change if we simply learn to relax with what is" (p.27).
AKA- Don't stress over the difficult challenges that come my way! Whether it's while I'm in a pose, or off my mat I need to just chill out.

Law 8: Remove the Rocks
"When we were kids, we were free and innocent. As time passed, we accumulated the rocks of resistance, piling them up until they become mountains in our minds" (p.30)
The example I saw in my mind when I read this was how when we were kids we literally thought we could be anybody and do anything. As we got older, our ambitions changed because things blocked those feelings; we got poor grades, some of us were teased or bullied. The goal is to get those "rocks" out of our minds.

Law 9: Don't Rush the Process
This one I didn't choose a quote for because there were too many that I liked. I need to stop and smell the roses! We're so worried in this life of getting things done that we forget to let things unfold how they're supposed to.

Law 10: Be True to Yourself
"What then is Truth? A difficult question, but I have solved it for myself by saying it is what the voice within tells you" (p.38).
This is a big one for me. I often feel that I need the approval of those around me. I don't usually go against the norm. I realized that this only causes me to have anxiety. I need to work on this one, and I feel that I have already started to in the last few months. I don't just tell people what they want to hear so I don't get ostracised anymore, and that used to be a regret that I had.

Law 11: Be Still and Know
"It is our choice: we can spend our lives nurturing resentments and hungers, or we can venture forward as warriors of light and seekers of truth, cultivating an open heard and real health" (p.42).
I like this one a lot. Why waste time on negative energy?

Law 12: Understand That the Whole is the Goal
"We don't transform in parts. Every aspect of ourselves and our lives in interconnected with ever other one" (p.46).
This really sums up what I want to get out of this revolution. I want to see this "whole" transformation within myself.

Here we go!!!!

Last Week: Dinner Menu

On Saturday of last weekend, I decided to pull together all of the recipes I wanted to try the following week. I got my dinner menu sorted out and then made my grocery list based on that. It has been a little more expensive the last few weeks, because I'm trying to stock my cupboards with all the clean essentials, but once I have what I need for most recipes all I need to buy is the main ingredients. Here is my menu from last week (all recipes are clean unless otherwise stated):

Monday
Tandoori Chicken recipe
Brown rice
Asian ginger sesame asparagus
I also made chocolate chip cookies, they didn't turn out the greatest because I have a cheap food processor and it didn't want to blend the ingredients very well. It tasted good just huge chunks of almonds inside.

Tandoori chicken, brown rice, and Asian style asparagus

Clean chocolate chip cookies

Tuesday
Fish and Chips (homemade multigrain breading, and sweet potato chips) recipe
Salad-my basic salad is always romaine, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, goat cheese or grate Parmesan (fresh from the deli section because the Kraft type is not clean) and homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing

 Wednesday
Chile Chicken Tortillas recipe
Avocado sour cream (this was yummy!)


Thursday
This is leftover night because Mike isn't home Thursdays. I either have leftovers or I make a meal size salad and add in some chicken.

Friday
Alfredo sauce recipe (this sauce was AMAZING!)
Brown rice pasta
Salad

Saturday
Pizza (with whole wheat crust)-this is the only thing that was not clean. I could not find an ingredient to make the dough so I had to settle for just using whole wheat crust. It didn't have preservatives but it did have sugar.
Lots of veggies for toppings
Salad

Slow Cooker Sunday
Beef stew recipe
I substituted the bison in this recipe with lean beef.

Slow cooker beef stew

The Laws of Transformation #1-6

I'm a law abiding citizen...so I'm going to follow these laws just like I would any other laws. The purpose of these laws is to guide you through the revolution and help you discover more about yourself, your views, how you deal with situations/relationships, and how you can change the way you think to benefit you.

Lets get started! I'm going to go through the first 6 laws listed in the book and then give you a quote that gave me that "aha" Oprah kind of moment. I have also given a little bit about how I personally relate.

Law 1: Seek the Truth
"It is simply the willingness to see in full truthfulness what we need to face within ourselves and our lives so that we may get into the right alighnment" (p.6).
When I read this I immediately thought about what it will be like to face all the things about me and my past I'm not happy about. I don't think anyone really wants to outwardly acknowledge their faults, but it's a necessary step in being able to live your life without regret. The first part that struck me was when he says "willingness". I have to be willing to face the truth about me, in order to be balanced (or aligned as he calls it).

Law 2: Be Willing to Come Apart
"For many of us, we need to get to the point where we are finally willing to give up control so that we can experience the healing we so desperately need" (p.9).
I need to be willing to just let go of everything, all of my expectations of what life should be like and how things are "supposed to be". I can't control every aspect of my life, I need to just let it all go, and deal with things as they come. Life is chaotic and unstable and I find that when I'm trying to control things I don't have power over I become stressed. Stress is my worst enemy! I barely get sick but when I do it's always at a time where I've been stressed about something going on in my life.

Law 3: Step out of Your Comfort Zone
"The comfort zone may feel cozy and familiar, but it is like sweet poison, silently killing off our childlike spontaneity and our vitality" (p.11).
Ugh...the dreaded conversation in your head that goes "Do I look stupid? What will they think of me? What if they don't like me?". Brutal, I know! Stepping out of my comfort zone is a challenge for me. But slowly over the past year my self-talk has been more along the lines of "Who cares what I look like! Who cares what they think! Who cares if they don't like me, I like me!". It's a lot harder than it seems, but slowly things have been changing for me. I still have my moments, trust me.

Law 4: Commit to Growth
"Either you commit to a change of heart and mind and live it out, or you are just playing around" (p.15).
When I read this I thought about how many times I've gone through a phase in my life where I've gotten really excited about an idea, and then realized later I wasn't 100% committed to that idea. Take for instance my education. I've been to college twice now, and still do not work in either of those professions. Yoga has been a serious committment to me, so my intention is to really commit to this program.

Law 5: Shift Your Vision
"Whatever spiritual or physical transformation process we are going through, we are seeking to undo and unlearn a thought system that has blinded our true vision" (p.19).
I'm really excited about this one! I can't wait to unlearn the thought system I currently have. My intention is to be more open to everything that comes my way. Learn not to sweat the small stuff, and not to get caught up in other people's drama.

Law 6: Drop What You Know
"At a certain point we all need to make the shift from living from our head into trusting what's in our heart" (p.23).
This one is huge for me. I can be an over-analyzer. I go through the what ifs in my head, and sometimes let my emotions take over because of it. When he says "trusting what's in our heart", I take that as believing in ourselves. I need to stop letting all these thoughts (which are just thoughts, they aren't the reality) run my life.

Next up...Laws 7-12

Getting ready for 40 days...cleaned out a nice lil spot in the office! Complete with  mini heater, candle, and posture flash cards

Baptiste, B. (2004). 40 days to personal revolution. New York, NY: Fireside.

Slow Cooker Sunday!

I have declared Sundays in my house to now be Slow Cooker Sundays! Sundays are always the day of the week when I do all of my house chores. By the time I'm finished all the cleaning, grocery shopping, and laundry, the last thing I want to do is start cooking a meal. I find that if I start my slow cooker meal around 11am, it's ready just in time for dinner. This week I made a clean chili, and it was very tasty! Mike and I both had 2 bowls each.

This Sunday's yummy clean chili

Here's what's in the pot:
1lb ground turkey
1 can diced tomatoes (no salt/preservatives)
1 can red kidney beans (no sugar added-I used PC Organics)
1 can black beans (no sugar added-I used PC Blue Menu)
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves garlic (I used my garlic press, but you can just chop them really small)
1.5 cups of frozen corn
1 small jar of salsa (I used PC brand Organics hot salsa because it has no added sugar, and uses sea salt)
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp chili flakes (if you like your chili a little spicier like we do)

1. Cook onion and garlic until onion is translucent, add in turkey and break up while cooking
2. Drain and rinse the beans
3. Put tomatoes, beans, corn, salsa, and spices into slow cooker and turn on high
4. Add cooked turkey/onions/garlic to slow cooker
5. Cook on high for about 3 hours, low for 2 hours
6. Bowl it up and let it cool for a couple minutes before you dig in because it is hot!

I also had fresh multi grain bread on the side. I sliced the bread about and inch thick, brushed some olive oil on, and added a little fresh garlic. Baked in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes and it was nice and crispy.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Revolution

Welcome to my kitchen!

When I started reading about the personal revolution I am about to embark on, I realized I would have to make a change to my diet and eating habits. I'd heard of "clean eating" about 6 months ago, and slowly became more educated about it through blogs and research (aka google haha).

I have been eating "clean" now for about 2 weeks, and I have already noticed changes in how I look and feel. Not only has it been really fun searching for and trying new recipes, it has also been fun trying to shop clean (there is a lot of label reading involved!).

I started realizing about a year ago that what I put into my body has a huge effect on my overall health. I started eating about 6 meals a day, and every 3-4 hours. I try to include at least one serving of fruits/vegetables in each of those meals as well. I find that I tend to eat more fruit during the day so I need to work on getting some more veggies in the mix.

Mike has been my guinea pig with all my new recipes, and so far so good! I've been making some of his faves like lasagna and Shepherd's pie and he's been eating everything on his plate (and the leftovers) so I take that as a sign that his tummy is satisfied, unless of course he's feeding his dinner to the puppy under the table!

I've also committed to not drinking alcohol (because it is mainly all sugar), at least until my 40 days is completed. I've never been a huge drinker unless there was a party or unless we were getting together with friends for dinner or something. I would have the odd glass of wine at home during the week while cooking, but other than that I've mostly been a weekend drinker, and not every weekend. I've been alcohol free now since Jan.1, and haven't had any issues. I don't have a problem not having a drink when others are drinking around me. It's a personal choice right now and I'll see how I fee about it after the program. I may have a glass of wine here and there as a treat, but other than that I don't think I will go back to drinking the way I used to. I think I'm at a point in my life right now where that is not a priority at all, and I can't see it becoming one again anytime soon.

I will be posting "clean" recipes on this page as I discover them. This is week 2 of my clean eating adventure and I haven't made anything I haven't liked so far. Here is a list of places I've been finding my recipes:

• http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/ (she even has a meal plan in case you don't have time to make one yourself)
• http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/
• http://www.eatcleandiet.com/ (Tosca Reno also has great cookbooks. I just picked one up at Chapters for only $7)
• http://www.thecleaneatingmama.com/ (her name is Tasha too!)

Each of these sites have tasty recipes. The best part about clean eating is that even if I don't have a recipe to follow all I have to do is use fresh ingredients that are as close to their natural form as possible.



Our beautiful kitchen...where all the "magic" happens



I'll also be posting  tips here that I've found helpful for making the transition to clean, and I'll be letting you know my progress.

Happy cooking!

The Beginning

Hello!
Welcome to my journey through the "40 Days to Personal Revolution". This program involves:

• a daily yoga practice
• diet cleansing and eating plan
• meditation
• changing your beliefs and patterns

I'm really excited to get started, and plan to start my 40 days on February 1st to allow myself enough time to prepare. Before I start I thought I would explain to you how I came to love yoga and why I decided to do this program.

My first experience with yoga was at age 19 at my local gym. They had a Hatha yoga class offered twice a week, and my friends and I would go most weeks. The class was taught by a 60 year old man, whom I was jealous of for his insane flexibility. Those of you who aren't too familiar with yoga, Hatha is a slower style more focused on breathing and meditation during your poses. It was challenging, and provided a great stretch, but I wasn't sold yet, I needed more. My friends and I would often get caught in giggle fits in the middle of class because it was so quiet and serious!
I didn't really practice for a few years while we were away in Calgary. When we moved back home, my friend Sean brought me to a hot yoga class at Power Yoga Canada (PYC). He had been bugging me for months to go to a class with him, and I finally ran out of excuses. I was so concerned with not being flexible enough, and not knowing what to expect. He said it didn't matter and to just come to a class and see for myself. I still remember it was a Monday night class 6:30pm with Pauline (a co-founder at PYC). She introduced herself before the class and explained that I just needed to follow along, do what I could, and she would show modifications for a beginner level throughout the class. By the end of the class I felt different. Not only had I sweat more than I had ever sweat in my life, but I felt so connected to my body and to my mind. Pauline made a comment in class about living your life off your mat, the same way to do on your mat. Challenge yourself, push yourself to your limit, you can do anything, you're stronger than you think. Now when I'm on my mat I let go of any expectations I have of myself and just set an intention to do the best that I can on that particular day. No two practices are the same for me, and this is something else I love about yoga.

After that class I started practicing 4-6 times a week. When we moved to Brampton and it was a 45 min drive to the PYC studio, I visited some studios closer to home, including Yoga Loft and Moksha Yoga Brampton. Yoga Loft offered some classes in the Baptiste power yoga style, which was nice. Moksha style is a lot different from power yoga in that it follows a sequence of about 40 poses, so it is generally the same each time. They do offer a power yoga class once a week as well. It's a different style than I'm used to but I do enjoy their studio and so this is where I practice now.

Me and my base (my friend Sean) at a partner yoga workshop at PYC

Why do the 40 days program myself when it is offered at a studio? Well first of all the closest PYC studio is about 45 mins away as I mentioned. It also costs $225+hst. I unfortunately do not have the luxury of practicing in a studio as often as I did when I began practicing. These reasons combined with other reasons in my life (like having a puppy who requires a lot of my time!) led me to the decision to try to do this on my own. I was lucky enough to get the 40 days book for Christmas and the rest is history.

Next up...the 12 Laws of Tranformation.

Namaste!

P.S. If you want to know more about me check out the "Yogi in Training" tab at the top of my blog.