Playlist Thursday - Second Verse, Same as the First

Hey kids!

Here's a little trick to sequencing that no one tells you in teacher training:

Yoga teachers recycle!

If I didn't have some fall-back lesson plans to work with, I'd spend my entire life sequencing. It's not to say that I don't love throwing new stuff in the repertoire. If I had my way, I'd spend 90% of life learning new yoga from teachers, videos, articles, etc. I love to live and breathe yoga. Unfortunately, meals and sleep and family intervene and I'm often left with less prep time for class than I would like.

The same goes for playlists. I have some fall-backs that I like to use. Certain songs that I mix up and throw together when I need a soundtrack for class and I don't have time to prep one.

The following is a mix of some of my favourite stand-by yoga jams. You'll notice some repeats and that's cool. I know that as a yoga student, it's as comforting to hear familiar songs as it is exciting to hear new ones.

Here we go again:

* When I'm With You: Alias (Acoustic Live Version)

* Love on Top: Beyonce (What's a yoga class without Beyonce?)

* Into the Mystic: Colin James (There are many versions of this song that I'm totally in love with, but this is by far my favourite)

* Crash Into Me: Dave Matthews Band

* Hysteria: Def Leppard

* Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters: Elton John

* Levon: Elton John

Note: I don't normally put two songs by one artist back-to-back unless I feel like the songs somehow "go together"

* On Top of the World: Imagine Dragons

* Have a Little Faith in Me: Jewel (Because what's a yoga class without a song that makes the teacher cry?)

* Danny's Song: Kenny Loggins (go ahead and hate, Kenny Loggins haters.)

* Wildflowers: Tom Petty

* Ain't That a Kick in the Head: Dean Martin

* So Much Magnificence: Deva Premal and Miten (While I was doing my yoga teacher training, I always promised myself I would play this song for my first Savasana. I kept the promise to myself and have used it for many Savasanas since)

There are some spares on this list as well. They're interchangeable with the above songs and I pick and choose depending on my mood:

* Hot Child in the City: Nick Gilder (pre-google, Lins and I were convinced this was sung by a woman)

* More Than This: Roxy Music (my favourite song of all-time because of this scene)

* Cry to Me: Otis Redding (for me, there is always Otis)

* Sun Light: MC Yogi

* Vienna: Billy Joel

* Anything Could Happen: Ellie Goulding

I wish you many happy hours spent listening to mixed tapes,

Er

Playlist Thursady - Universal DJ

Confession: I just got a new IPhone and I have no idea how to use it. I've been a Blackberry gal all this time because I love the keyboard. My IPod bit the dust the same day I got my new phone, so I've been transferring all my music from pod to phone.

I remember being a kid and having dinner with friends of ours'. While doing dishes, our friend, S would wash and then leave the dishes in the rack, "God's doing the drying."

That's how this playlist came about. It's 80% randomness because I don't know how to use my phone  and 20% I-really-love-that-song.

Sometimes you've just gotta let the Universal DJ do his thang...

(Sometimes, there's no other choice)

* Get Back to Serenity - Vargo (from the Very Best of Cafe del Mar)

* Heading for the Sunrise - Steen Thottrup & Annette Berg (also from Cafe del Mar)

* Helpless - The Band feat. Neil Young (Concert Version from The Last Waltz)
(Cried during my own class while this one played.)

* Smile - Sierra Leon's Refugee All Stars (You need to watch their story) My hubby and I saw them at Starbelly Jam this past summer. The only thing more striking than their story of triumph of the human spirit is their catchy smiles and joyful lyrics)

* Tura Lura Lura - The Band (Live at The Last Waltz)
Also made me cry.

* 100 Billion Stars - Lux (also from Cafe del Mar)

* Arms of Mary - Chilliwack (I love this song. It's about doin' it. Just sayin'.)

* #Beautiful - Mariah Carey feat. Miguel.
Go ahead and judge me. I'm 31 now and I don't care if you know that I like Mariah Carey.

* Girl on Fire - Alicia Keys
Go Girl.

* Heart of Gold - Neil Young

* I'm Goin' Down - Bruce Springsteen
I have a Bruce Springsteen problem...

* The Long Run (Live) - The Eagles

* OM Namah Shivaya - MC Yogi feat. Bhagavan Das
What's a yoga class without a little Sanskrit?

* 6th Avenue Heartache - The Wallflowers
WTF ever happened to The Wallflowers? Anybody?

* Beach Waves - Nature Sounds

* Desire (Ambient Mix) - Blank & Jones

This has been a crazy week, filled with crazy times for this crazy chick. As an aside, I was greatly aided by this book:

 It's not just for artists. It's for anyone (everyone) who's looking to overcome Resistance and get closer to the life we're all hoping to live. It's as practical and pragmatic a guide as you're ever going to get.

 

 



Stop. Camel Time. Haha. Get it?

 

 

 

Looking forward (giddily) to practicing with those of you who can make it to class today. It's a really special day to me because it's a karma class to benefit Bridges to Community. Bridges is a group that's really close to my heart. A few years back I travelled with a girlfriend of mine to Nicaragua. We fund raised for six months and participated in the building of two houses. It improved the lives of people who became very dear to us and it sure as heck changed us in the process. If you'd like to learn more, visit them right here

 

 

One last thing. S and I made this video upon our return:  here

 

 

 Love you more than you know,

 

Er



Playlist Thursdays - Yoga Gots Soul

I've just returned from teaching a new corporate class - it's always a bit nerve-wracking to start a new class but I feel really passionately that those of us who spend our days at a desk need extra yoga tlc.
(Hence the silly office yoga that transpired in front of my iphone camera)

And back to playlists...

I create a yoga playlist similarly to the way I used to create playlists when I ran a lot and mixed tapes back in the day - I usually find inspiration in a theme or a song I become obsessed with (or fall back in love with) and then build around it. I like to start slow and end slow

This week's playlist was built around The Temptations because I love them. Truthfully, I thought of that scene in Thelma and Louise where they're singing The Way You Do the Things You Do...

Here comes some soul. Can ya dig it?


* Ain't No Sunshine by Aaron Neville

* Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin

* Far Away Like a Radio by Colin James (holla!)

* Someday We'll Be Together by The Supremes

* The Way You Do the Things You Do by The Temptations

* Little Sister by Elvis Presley

* What's Happening Brother? by Marvin Gaye

* Band of Gold by Freda Payne

* Too Late for Lovers by Gin Wigmore (are you listening to Gin Wigmore?????Why nooooot?)

* Hurt Me Tomorrow by K'Naan

* Again by Lenny Kravitz

* I Don't Want to Fight Anymore by Tina Turner

* Right Back Where We Started From by Maxine Nightengale

* Come to my Window by Melissa Ethridge

* Angel of Harlem by U2

* Ain't Too Proud to Beg by The Temptations

*(Sittin' On) The dock of the Bay by Otis Redding

* You Put the Soul in the Song by Waylon Jennings (Waylon's got soul. He just looks country)

* Change Gonna Come by Otis Redding

* Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino

* America by Simon and Garfunkel (which makes me cry and is therefore left for the end of class when everyone is napping)

So there it is, yoga/music friends. I hope you enjoy it and spend many happy hours at your mat.


Love your soul,

Er

Chocolate Quinoa Cupcakes!!!

When I posed this pic on my Facebook and Instagram last night, I received a ton of requests for the recipe.

 

Not that I blame you - I'm always looking for yummy gluten-free recipes also. This gem comes from some colleagues of mine in Invermere, BC (holla!). The author of the brilliance that are these cupcakes is Nicole Du Vent aka Betty Delicious and you should all check out her website http://eatpurefood.ca/

 

Here's the recipe :)

 

*makes 12 (when I doubled the recipe, it only made 20. but I may have been a little heavy handed with my spoons)

 

*3  Large eggs

 

*1 tsp pure vanilla extract (do I even need to mention that you should buy the really   good stuff because we're grown-ups now??)

 

*2/3 cup of coconut oil melted (can substitute butter or grape seed oil)

 

*2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa (2/3 cup raw)

 

*3/4 cup honey

 

*1 cup coca sifted (again - good is better than cheap)

 

*1 tsp baking soda

 

*1/2 tsp baking powder

 

*1/2 tsp sea salt

 

 

Note from me - I think we could all use more quinoa in our lives. I put it in everything. I make my hamburgers with it in place of bread crumbs or oats. it doesn't bind quite as well, but it keeps them really moist

 

Back to cupcakes:

 

*Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin tin (or use fancy tulip cupcake wrappers if you are me)

 

1. Combine the eggs, vanilla, melted coconut oil, honey and quinoa in a food processor or blender. Blend until very smooth. Stop to stir and mix if necessary (note: mine never did get very smooth but it didn't seem to matter much. they still cooked beautifully)

 

2. In a medium bowl sift the cocoa. Add the baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. Add to the quinoa mixture and stir to combine. *If you are using a food processor you can add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth.

 

3. Spoon into muffin tins filling cups 3/4 full. Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes or until the centers spring back when gently pressed.

 

4. Let cool for 10 minutes then run a knife around the edges of each cupcake and tap out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Now. As much as I respect the author of this brilliant website/recipe, she doesn't think that these cupcakes require icing. Here is where we differ, because I think that EVERYTHING NEEDS ICING.  I used store bought icing because it was 9:30 and it was the best I could do but I feel like this would be perfectly wonderful with peppermint buttercream.

 

PS If you are my brother and you are reading this, you will say that I am a terrible baker and to you I will say that I have finally stopped rebelling against recipes. I follow them and things turn out. No more improv.

 

Happy Baking,

 

Er

Faith for the Faithless

“The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”
― J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird

“A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

Faith and the lack thereof is something I feel very passionately about - how to find some faith when you're tapped.

For me, faith has always been fairly easy to come by. It's an interesting juxtaposition because I've had a messy life. When I made my own messes and f*cked everything up, there was always a perfect book

(like this: http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=267)


or a great podcast (like this: http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=7772) or a conference to attend (like this: http://www.hayhouse.com/event_details.php?event_id=1916).

And I got results. I cleaned up my thoughts. I believed in higher powers. I believed in the beauty of my own dreams. And every single time I followed what the spiritual literature recommended, things in my life improved.

These are very important first steps on the path. And for some people, they may be the only steps necessary to get the life you've always dreamed of.

For the rest of us (hands up), life does not always work out. Sometimes, as clean as our thoughts are, as many books as we read, Life will still disappoint us. Bad things will happen to good people. Life will have lessons in store for us that will make absolutely no sense.

This happened to me quite recently. Something that I wanted very badly and believed in to the point where I literally didn't consider any alternative was taken away from me. It had already been integrated into my existence and having it yanked out from under me literally threw me into a full-on crisis of faith. It was easier to have faith when I was screwing up. To have faith when I'd done nothing "wrong" was another beast entirely.

Here's how I'm clawing my way back from faithlessness:

- find something, anything to have faith in. Perhaps your faith in God is shattered and you'd like to spit in Buddha's chubby, happy face. But there is always something you can put faith in. I had faith in the good in my friends and family even when my faith in the goodness of the Universe was tested to max capacity. Perhaps it's a pet or a yoga teacher or a stranger (warning: don't stalk. it exacerbates the problem). Whatever it is, cling to it until you can believe in Life again. Connection is key here, especially if you want to isolate.

It's easy to have faith in this chick

-get outside. This is crucial for me. When I'm feeling cooped up in my life, it usually means I've been cooping myself up indoors. I know it gets more difficult to force ourselves outside for those of us who live in parts of the world where it's getting to be not-so-nice weather-wise. Do it anyway. Get your feet wet and dirty (barefoot if at all possible without risking losing digits to frostbite). Nature is healing. It's been scientifically proven many times over. Moreover, I've proven it to myself. Even if the best you can do is sit outside and cry. Do it anyway.

-don't read the comforting stuff if it pisses you off. Instead, read some stuff about some people who've had a hard time and somehow managed to make it back
(I recommend this book http://serabeak.com/red-hot-and-holy/ for its irreverence and get-down-to-itness)

-find something purposeful to throw yourself into. It really does help to help other people. If you can't go that far, find a project that you're excited by (even if it's just a little one). Get crafty, get creative, sing in the shower.

-I found it immensely comforting to realize that sometimes, life's just not all that fair. But it's still good. Remember what you have. In fact...

-Make a list. Go ahead. Right now. List the few, tiny things that you're able to be grateful for.

Here's mine:
*good coffee
*friends that make me laugh
*Community (if you haven't already, do it. It's on Netflix)
*my garden (I'm going to count it until the bitter end)

-sometimes, the only thing to do is to have a cry. Sometimes, it needs to be days and days worth of tears. I highly suggest you find someone to hang onto while you cry. Even if it's your cat.

One day, in spite of our intentions to remain hopeless forever, the light trickles its way back in. Be patient with yourself while you're in the process and please, please, know that you're not alone.

"Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in". - Leonard Cohen

I promise it will get better. I really do. I've been there.

Love to hear your coping strategies,

Er

***PS Our new home is coming along beautifully. Fingies crossed we'll be go for launch by next week***

Playlist Thursdays!

I'm super psyched for a new feature here on the Be a Tree blog!

 

Playlist Thursdays!

"Now, the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do's and don'ts. First of all you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing" - High Fidelity

I don't mean to brag, but I'm kind of a master at playlists. When I teach my yoga classes, I'm often asked to share my songs with people and I'm totally happy to share them with you all here.

I tend to be a bit unorthodox in terms of yoga playlists - keeping in mind that by being myself I ensure that I'm not everybody's teacher and neither am I everybody's dj. I am madly in love with devotional music of every genre, but I don't necessarily believe that a yoga class requires only Sanskrit music in order to move people. I'm most moved when the music speaks to my history, makes me feel nostalgic and connects me back to my self.

With that in mind, I've decided to share my yoga music with you for your home practice or just to groove out to. Every Thursday. Pinkie Swear!

A few words on building yoga class soundtracks:

- I like to play chilled out Indian tunes, quiet kirtan (call and answer) or nature sounds for when people are gathering on their mats at the start of class
- I always start out slow. No one wants to be blasted during their warm-up
- I like to slow it right down for Savasana. Yoga Nap = quiet time

Namaste, babies!

Enjoy,

Er

Last Thursday's Jam

Africa Must Wake up - Distant Relatives (hip-hop supergroup comprised of Nas, Damian "Jr Gong" Marley and K'naan)

Rosanna - Toto

The Great Divide - The Mowgli's (this comes up a lot because I am obsessed with it's catchy brightness)

Domino - Van Morrison (loves me some Van)

Some Nights - Fun. (this is Sierra's fave song right now)

Mandolin Wind - Rod Stewart

Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis (I heard this in a bar in Dublin and rekindled my junior high love affair with Oasis)

Caravan - Van Morrison again. (I like the version from The Last Waltz best)

Ganesh is Fresh - MC Yogi (what's a yoga class without a little Deity)

Elenore - The Turtles

Bright Side of the Road - Van Morrison (this is the happiest song in the Universe)

Motherless Child - Eric Clapton

Songbird - Fleetwood Mac (makes me weepy, but the students are usually on their backs by this point)

Jane Says - Jane's Addiction (this song was a little bit out-of-place. If I used it again, I'd move it up a bit)

A Case of You - Joni Mitchell

 

**Head's up!! I'm moving this blog to a new home in the not-so-distant-future. Stay tuned!***

Book Lust

I have a confession to make...

My husband is leaving tomorrow for work. He'll be gone for a little more than three weeks prior to being back for one.

We had a lovely family dinner of bacon and eggs in bed while watching The Incredibles for possibly the eighteenth time this week.

I want to get in as much time with him as possible before he goes...

 

But I've fallen in love.

Book Love.

Actually, at this point, it's only Book Lust. But I can feel the love coming. The all-consuming love that makes me ignore my family and my phone, my work and occasionally hygiene in order to find out what happens next to my favourite characters

It doesn't happen very often. Maybe once or twice a year if you're lucky.



I remember when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows first came out. I'd pre-ordered it from Amazon. I waited impatiently. It arrived. I had house guests. I decided to prepare a delicious and complex meal so that I could spend the evening in the kitchen, sneaking in pages in between stirring. So rude!

I can't help myself.

I've been a Book Luster my whole life. Summer holidays stretched before me and my equally book wormy bff, L. We were completely taken aback when the local library limited the number of books we could take out in a week. I think it was twelve...we'd sit side by side with two stacks of Babysitter's Club books and chew through twenty four in a week. That's a little less than two hundred books a summer.

Currently my lust is attached to the I Am Number Four series. Series Lust is the worst. There's already all that foreplay...

The Fall of Five will be my constant companion from now until I turn the last page. It's YA (Young Adult. Which I am not). I have a special fondness for the YA genre. Perhaps because of all my time spent with it as an eleven-year-old. There's no Book Love like First Book Love.

I would not be a writer without the books I've loved. They were the constant companions of a shy pre-teen and a lonely single mom and all my other iterations in between.

Because all I want to do is get back to reading, I'll leave you with a list of some of my more recent Book Boyfriends:

- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

A beautiful and richly imagined Universe. I haven't wanted to be in a book so badly since Hogwarts.

-  The Quartet by Lois Lowry

The Giver was the first book in this series and it came out when I was still in elementary school (which was, to be brief, a few years ago). Last summer, I re-read it as I often do and decided to google "What happened to Jonas at the end of The Giver?" Instead of receiving the straightforward Internet answer I'd been hoping for, I received the life-changing news that Lois Lowry has written MORE BOOKS and that The Giver was actually a series.
Kiss me goodbye for at least a week.

- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Completely my friend A's fault and she was the one who paid the price. A brilliant fantasy novel with complex, flawed characters and breathtaking plot turns. Described (well) as Harry Potter for grown-ups. The sequel is equally readable and there's a third somewhere on the horizon.

- I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

I picked this up shortly after she died. She was a brilliant writer and taught me a lot about who I want to be as a writer just by being so transparent. This is a lovely, lovely memoir. So funny. Please read.

 

-The Perks of Being a Wallflower  by Stephen Chbosky

I know this has been made into a film and although I'm obsessed with Emma Watson because of my aforementioned Harry Potter addiction I loved this book too much to watch it.

-Outrageous Openness: Letting the Divine Take the Lead by Tosha Silver

Tosha is brilliant. If you have met me, I have very likely recommended this book to you already.  It's hilarious and insightful without being the least bit didactic. Also, I'm friends with her on facebook which makes me feel hella cool.

I'd love to write more, but I have some reading to do...

What are you reading? What are your Lifelong Book Loves?

I'll be the one cheering on Loriens from the sidelines,

Er