By Lacey Budge

I love being creative in the kitchen especially when it means turning leftovers into a new masterpiece or experimenting with recipes when you really have to use something up. In my case today, it was too many bananas. I made muffins, banana chips in the dehydrator and froze the rest in freezer bags to have on hand for smoothies. My inspiration came from a recipe in the cookbook, Refresh, but as always, I felt the need to add my own touch!

This recipe is delicious, made with organic spelt flour and has no sugar- sweetened with dates and bananas. I also love the crunch of the walnuts.

Ingredients

1 cup dates

6 ripe bananas, blended

2 cups rolled oats

4 cups spelt flour

3 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1.5 tsp sea salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 cup walnuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F. Coat muffin tins with coconut oil.

Soak dates in 1 cup of warm water for 10 minutes. Blend dates with water until smooth. Add bananas with up to 2 cups of water, blend until smooth.

In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder and soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a sauce pan, on low heat, melt coconut oil if required. In a separate bowl, combine oil, apple sauce, vanilla and banana-date puree.

Add wet ingredients to dry as well as the walnuts. Mix until flour is just combined.

Scoop 1/2 cup of batter per muffin into the tray. I like to place a walnut on top of each muffin as a nice treat (and decoration).

Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (the best test!). Cool for 10 minutes.

Best enjoyed straight out of the oven as an afternoon snack or in the morning for breakfast with some almond butter.

About the Author

Lacey Budge

Lacey is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Yoga instructor and manager at Shanti Retreat, located on beautiful Wolfe Island. She is always looking for unique, wholesome and creative recipes for the Shanti menu. Lacey loves all things food including experimenting with raw food, seeking out local ingredients, spending time harvesting in the garden and of course sharing food with others. Any meal prepared with love is a good one!

First bike ride of the year…and wow, did it feel amazing. As the snow melts and the days get longer, it’s so hard to stay inside. I think it’s natural for us to want to get outside and explore after being indoors all winter. It’s so important for our body and mind, to spend as much time as we can getting fresh air and sunshine (Hello Vitamin D…although I was biking as the sun was setting, I was taking in every ray I could!).

Get outside! Go for a walk, a bike ride, spend time in your garden or just sit outside…you will feel refreshed and more present. Do yourself a favor and keep the music and headphones at home. Use this time outdoors as a meditation. You don’t need to be sitting cross-legged in order to meditate. Just become more aware, present and still. You can do this by counting your breath and becoming fully aware of the sensations that you feel with each inhale and exhale as you walk or pedal.

You could also become aware of all the sounds around, really listen to the sound of the birds or the trees cracking…feel the the wind on your face and hands, and take it all in. Smell the scents that come with Spring, this time of transformation and revitalization.

In this case….you may not want to take in ALL the smells..or actually … maybe you do, become present with everything as it is, without trying to change the situation (I mean, nature is perfect).

Without getting too distracted, take in the scenery and stay present…you will never know what you may see… Look an owl!

Ok you got me, it’s not real, but at least I was mindful enough to notice it..right?

With Spring officially here (going by the weather, not the calendar), there is so much to see, smell and feel when we are spending time in nature. Being outside automatically lifts the spirit and this bike ride sure did inspire me. I never went out with the intention of taking a bike ride so I could  blog about it, but it just felt so amazing and rejuvenating that I wanted to share and inspire people to get outside and get moving…that’s why we were given this physical body! Try to create a mind-body experience by bringing your meditation outdoors and truly feeling the connection, the oneness,

About the Author

Lacey is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Yoga instructor and manager at Shanti Retreat, located on beautiful Wolfe Island. She loves being outdoors, spending time in nature, exploring the island by bike… and taking in the rays of the sun! Being outside inspires her and allows her to feel more connected with the Universal Energy that surrounds us all.

Turning your asana into your AH-HAsana! By Zak and Josie

In Sanskrit an asana is defined as a body position or series of positions that are done in Meditation and moving asanas encompass coming into the pose, holding the pose and getting out of the pose.

During meditative asana, the position is held longer than in a moving asana.

Without the mind, body and spirit involvement an asana feels “just” and I emphasize “just” feels like an exercise. When we involve the spirit it becomes an awakening! What does it look like when our mind, body, spirit is connected through our asana? When we come into the pose or stretch it can feel easy, fresh and new or it can be uncomfortable in many different unsettling ways.

Why is this? As we hold the position, we allow time to be in stillness and we begin to delve into layers of different areas within ourselves, within our soul and our ego. When we learn to accept, we let go!

When we experience our AH HAsana it can be in the form of an old wound, an emotion or a realization. Whatever it is we are holding onto we awaken and we deal with it. Once we lift the veil we realize what is blocking us from acquiring our true bliss. When we rid of the dark, we allow light to radiate within us. This feeling may resonate when we come out of the pose until we decide to let it go. Once we fully let it go we are able to taste, to feel the sweetness of our true essence, our true self and we feel bliss!!

At our Blissalicious Retreats you will smile, laugh, sigh you may cry, and you will become more self-aware through yoga, qi gong and healing meditations, that will keep YOU feeling EMPOWERED, RELAXED and FILLED TO THE BRIM with BLISS!

Stay Blessed,

Josie & Zak

About the authors

The Yogi & The Meditator

Josie is passionate about guiding people into balance though natural means. She believes strongly in integrating mental, emotional, spiritual and physical realms in order to help clients achieve and maintain healthy and fulfilling lives. Josie loves the creative aspect of teaching and she brings a smile, positive spirit and insightful meaning to her classes. Through the use of Homeopathy, Yoga and Qi Gong.

Josie will help you regain and maintain balance!

Zak “zoe” touches the lives of everyone she meets through her healing hands and heart. Whether in a group meditation or one on one, Zak has this innate and magical ability to connect on such a deep level with others. She surrounds herself and her clients with the powerful energy of angels, archangels, ascended masters and elders. Each session is more flavorful than the last addressing mental, emotional and physical realms to help clients leave feeling rejuvenated, blessed, strong and grounded!

Warrior 2  (virabhadrasana 2) 

By Darin & Wendy

Wendy & Darin, Mazunte, Mexico

Warrior 2  (virabhadrasana 2) is a beautiful pose with so many benefits at the level of the physical body. There is a  powerful stretch for the legs, groins, and chest. It also increases stamina, and helps to relieve backaches, and stimulate healthy digestion.

This is a deep hip-opening pose that strengthens the muscles in the thighs and buttocks. It tones the abdomen, ankles, and arches of the feet. This pose also opens the chest and shoulders, improving breathing capacity and increasing circulation throughout the body. It is also known to be therapeutic for flat feet, sciatica, infertility, and osteoporosis.

As with all  yoga poses virabhadrasana 2 is much more than just a physical posture. It increases your ability to concentrate. As you hone your gaze, you direct your mind clearly and with intention. Distractions disappear and your energy becomes powerful and focused. From the level of the energy body and the chakras it works with the third chakra (manipura chakra) which associated with the qualities of courage, confidence, dynamism, will-power and determination.

About the authors

Darin and Wendy have been studying, practicing and living yoga for more than 20 years. Their desire to explore this ancient philosophy has taken them on many journeys around the globe. Both are trained in classical Hatha yoga, in the Sivananda tradition, and have studied extensively a form of energy and chakra yoga, Agama Yoga, in southern Thailand www.agamayoga.com. Their daily Spiritual Heart (Hridaya) meditation practice follows Ramana Maharshi’s Self Inquiry Method.  During the winter season they take the opportunity to deepen their practice by participating in 10 day silent medition retreats in Mazunte, Mexico at Hridaya Yoga School  www.hridaya-yoga.com .

We are excited to announce that in partnership with  Alive Magazine Canada, we will be offering one free ticket (4 day all inclusive package) to the 1st annual Wolfe Island Yoga & Bhakti Festival to be held this Victoria Day Long Weekend (May 16-19, 2014).  

Escape to Shanti Retreat, located on beautiful scenic Wolfe Island, for a 4 day weekend of yoga, performances and workshops by Canadian and International kirtan artists including David Newman (Durga Das), Brenda McMorrow, Adam Bauer, Lea Longo, Lana Sugarman, John de Kadt and more, delicious vegetarian cuisine, bhakti dance party and the opportunity to tent in nature or sleep in a yurt!

This truly is a one time offer!

The contest is open until April 30, 2014.

ENTER NOW