West meets East

I have been churning over the idea in my head for a while now about whether the yoga profession should employ the concept of continuing professional development/education.  I have been a pharmacist since 2009 and each year I have had to complete a certain number of CPD points in order to keep my registration.  The Pharmacy Profession puts this condition on registration to ensure that pharmacists are kept up-to-date with their knowledge and on the whole it is quite effective.  Sure there are those pharmacists that borrow answers off others and plug them into the website resulting in absolutely no learning.  But for those who put in the time to complete the 40 points their knowledge  is increased which hopefully translates to better advice to doctors and patients ultimately leading to better health outcomes.  Sounds very Western doesn't it?!

Entertain me for a minute - what if the yoga profession could employ something similar to CPD, how would that change the profession?  At the moment the yoga progression appears to be very unregulated - for example you can go to a nine week training and come out the other side learning not much more than dialogue, a sprinkling of philosophy, even less on the actual asanas you are then certified to teach, and quite a few thousand dollars lighter.  What then encourages this new yoga teacher to continue their development?  Unless they have a mentor guiding them along the way and suggesting different texts etc to review, this new teacher starts learning the habits of "senior" teachers who have "years" of experience.  How do we measure that experience?  Yoga is so different to pharmacy - pharmacists transition from junior to senior pharmacists when their skill sets are reviewed and deemed at a level to transition.  In yoga, how does one transition from a novice?

The idea of CPD would ensure the knowledge of yoga teachers continues to grow and doesn't stagnate to their own little bubble.  How would one start a CPD concept for yoga?  I have thrown around the ideas such as accredited activities - i.e. workshops accredited by a governing body where if you attend you get "x" number of points.  Perhaps recognised texts could be read and reviewed awarding "x" number of points.  Further education i.e. other teacher trainings, courses or certificates would go towards accumulating your CPD.  The evidence for these activities is then submitted online and you retain your registration for another year.  As the years tick by you accumulate more and more knowledge to bring into your teaching, and then by years of experience it is much more likely that you do become a senior teacher in every definition of the phrase. 

Next question, and I'll leave it for you to think about - should the yoga profession employ something like CPD or is this putting a Western concept into an Eastern ideology? 

Pregnant with Twins

...well that's how my stomach felt when I first started eating legumes.  The topic came up the other day when I was chatting with a work colleague who had eaten more chickpeas than usual and was finding her stomach was less than thrilled with her.  I then proceeded to analyse how she had prepared and cooked the chickpeas which lead me to this week's blog topic.

It's been over 18 months since I set sail on my vegan lifestyle and let me say the first few months of discovering legumes were very windy!  Actually, it took me close to a year to truly figure out how to prepare and cook legumes so they didn't irritate my stomach and in between that there was a lot of "pregnant with twins" moments and some not so silent but deadlies.  So I am going to share with you how I discovered to eat beans that are good for my heart and not make me fart.

But first, let's look at why it's important to integrate legumes into any diet especially a plant-based diet.  Beans are a great source of protein and fibre so for the meat eaters out there that are trying to have a couple of vegetarian/vegan nights each week, swap your meat in curries to these fibrous bundles of goodness.  For the vegetarians and vegans you will most likely have already discovered beans and their versatility - last week I had the most delicious chickpea brownie made by my beautiful work colleague (I am so spoilt!  Here's the recipe).

Goodies from my co-op buy.

When you're eating a plant-based diet it is important to be mindful of how you're nourishing your body and ensuring you are getting the right balance of the nutrients your body requires i.e. eating "beige" plant food (read fried chips) is not going to cut the mustard.  I was conscious of this from the beginning of my vegan adventure and beans started to go in almost all of my meals.  As I started to clean up my diet I discovered the benefits of co-op buying where I could buy dried beans, nuts and superfoods in bulk and save $$$.  I had no experience cooking dried beans and hence the many misadventures with my stomach!  This lead me to do my own research and I have a few go-to resources for beans:

From Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Wellness Website

• Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Guide to Beans - this is a great summary chart that has the water required for soaking, the cooking time required after an overnight soak, and the protein content per cup of cooked beans.

•  Thermomix recipe book "A Taste of Vegetarian" - as soon as I bought my Thermie my next purchase was this recipe book along with Quirky Cooking by Jo Whitton.  Both of these textbooks (yes, I call them textbooks - for me I refer to these books just as I would a pharmacy or a yoga text) outline how long to soak specific beans and how long to cook them for to ensure they are easily digestible.

Canellini beans, chickpeas, red and brown lentils

 soaking.

What I have personally discovered is that an overnight soak is best - I did try Jo's quick soak method but for my stomach the quick soak method was not long enough.  I thought this method would be great because it meant less meal planning.  Alas, it was not meant to be, and the only way I could workaround not having to meal plan was to pre-cook my beans and freeze them.  So now I always have a variety of pre-cooked beans in my freezer ready to use.  To prepare my beans I soak one cup of dried beans in six cups of water overnight, drain, and then cook them in my Thermomix for the specified time - if you do not have a Thermomix you can cook them on the stove top.  My only exception to this is lentils which do not require the overnight soak - I soak them for 3-6 hours before I cook them.  Sarah Wilson has a great article on lentils and soaking/cooking times which you can read here.  Finally my stomach is happy with my bean-based meals and I can leave the feeling of being pregnant with twins to later on in life.

The "H" Word

This week I listened to a lecture given by James Pawelski on Positive Psychology, which is "the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive".  This lecture inspired me to do more digging around the topic of positive psychology because recently I have been asking myself those light questions like - what is my purpose?  How can I contribute more to this beautiful world we call home?

The idea of positive psychology originated from Martin Seligman who presents the theory in a very interesting TED Talk (people who know me, know that I love TED Talks and it is why I have used 50% of my download with half the month still to go!).  Dr. Seligman believes that psychology should not only focus on healing those with mental illness but also focus on us day-to-day-ers.  Accordingly, Dr. Seligman discusses that psychology should:

• Be interested in peoples' strengths as well as their weaknesses,
• Be as equally interested in developing the best things in peoples' lives as well as repairing the worst things, and
• Be able to provide tools to people to create even more fulfilling lives by nurturing their high talents.

Dr Seligman coined three "happy" lives, each one creating more lasting happiness than the one before:

1. The Pleasant Life - this is the life that relies on experiencing as much positive emotion as possible and amplifying it.  The drawbacks of this life are that it is often bestowed to you by your parents and not very flexible (I wonder if yoga would help with this?!).  It habituates i.e. the first time something great happens it is amazing, by the sixth time it occurs it's old news.
2. The Good Life - being engaged in life.  Working out what your signature strengths are and re-crafting your life to maximise their use thereby having the side effect of increasing your positive experiences at work, love and play. 
3. The Meaningful Life - knowing your highest strengths and using these in the service of something larger than yourself, being altruistic.  I'll never forget the time that an old (read ex-) friend of mine said to me "Why would you want to volunteer your time?  You don't get paid!!" 

What I love about positive psychology is that it strives to nurture a belief that humans want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives.  And it does this by cultivating the best talent within an individual and subsequently enhancing that individual's experiences of love, work and play by maximising the use of this strength.  So how do we get to this meaningful and fulfilling life?

Let's look at the happiness formula (yes, for the maths nerds out there, there is a formula):

H = S + C + V

H = enduring happiness i.e. how you have been feeling in the last 6-9 months.

S = set range which is biologically influenced similar to our weight set point.

C = circumstances i.e. our environment - winning the lotto, becoming paraplegic.  I know, these two are pretty radical extremes but it has been shown that once the initial effects of extremely happy and extremely tragic events settle, your happiness returns to your set point.

V = volition i.e. your personal choices.  Interestingly here the question comes up - can we guide our personal choices to help make us lastingly happier?

Now how do we increase H?  There are three simple exercises that have been shown to increase your Enduring Happiness:

1. The Three Blessings exercise - before you go to bed write down three good things that happened during the day and why each of them happened.  This takes the focus off what went wrong during the day or what you didn't achieve.  The study that Dr. Seligman conducted using this exercise showed that participants' happiness increased up to 6 months after the experiment and the reason for this was they enjoyed the exercise so much they continued it!
2. The Gratitude Visit - think of someone who did something important for you whom you have not yet thanked properly.  Write down in a letter exactly what they did for you and the specific consequences that occurred in your life because of their actions.  Take care in the presentation of the letter and the content.  Meet with the person face-to-face and read them the gratitude letter (with tissues!).  Dr. Seligman demonstrated that this exercise produced a spike in happiness one week and one month after the visit but by six months the participant's happiness had returned to baseline and possibly another visit was due.
3. Find Your Signature Strengths and then use your signature strengths in new ways:
1. Work out what your signature strengths are by using the above link (you'll have to register a log in...don't sigh, just do it!  Do you want a Meaningful Life?!).
2. Think of ways you already use them.
3. Brainstorm ways you can use these strengths even more.
4. Commit to using your strengths in new ways this week.

• Dr Seligman showed with this exercise that it improved happiness a week after, a month after and six months after this was implemented into the participant's life.

My beautiful gratitude diary that I was given for Christmas from my gorgeous sister-in-law to be.

Fun vs. Philanthropy

Tying it altogether - how can we use our signature strengths to create lasting happiness?  Well let's conduct an experiment: 

• In the next week do something fun for fun's sake and then do something philanthropic that has special meaning for you.  
• As you engage in these activities note how they each make you feel - you may find that although the fun is fun, the emotion wears off; the philanthropic activity however, tends to have a lasting positive effect on your happiness.

Report in after you have done your experiment - how did both activities make you feel?  Are you more likely to repeat the philanthropic activity?  Has this helped you to find your own special and unique Meaningful Life?

 

Love 90% of the Time

My fiance and I were chatting recently about how I stay on track with my healthy eating.  He is working away and a few kilos have crept on him and his question made me stop and think how I got to where I am today.

When I say my fiance is living away...he's-closer-to-Papua-New-Guinea-away

If someone said to me two years ago you will be eating a clean vegan diet with very little fructose I would have told them they were as nutty as nut mylk!  When I look back at the changes that have happened in the last five years to my health it has been a considerable journey. 

It all started in a somewhat smelly hot room...enter into my life Bikram yoga.  My first class was early on in 2010 and straightaway I was hooked and gradually reduced my gym attendance in preference for hot room attendance.  After class one day I picked up the free magazine, Profile, which featured Jessica Ainscough, known on the Sunshine Coast as the Wellness Warrior and the latter explains the impact she had in her short time.  Jess' passion for a healthy, clean lifestyle was very inspiring and following her on Facebook lead me to discover the Food Matters folks.  I noticed that Food Matters were endorsing a nutrition course offered by the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and offering $1000 off the tuition fee if you signed up through them.  So I looked into the course and by September 2013 I was un-learning everything I had been taught about "good" nutrition.

There were many key messages that lead me to dramatically change my relationship to food but the two which had the most impact were:

1. Before you eat anything ask yourself "If I eat this am I showing my body love?".
2. Eat well 90% of the time and indulge the other 10%.

The first of these key messages lead me to embracing a vegan lifestyle.  I learned a great deal about the health benefits of a vegan diet during the course and once you start on that journey you soon start realising the positive impact that a vegan diet can have on the world let alone your own body!  December 26th this year will be my second year anniversary of choosing a vegan lifestyle and what I have noticed is for me it allows me to show my body that I love and appreciate it with every meal.  It also makes eating well 90% of the time a piece of cake...mmm vegan cheesecake - white chocolate is my favourite!!

The overall message that the course founder, Joshua Rosenthal, reinforces is: we all have different bodies with different needs so the food that fuels one person may poison another.  I appreciate that a vegan diet may not be suitable for everyone, I do believe, however, that if you start to integrate these two key messages into your approach to food you may very well change your life in more ways than you can imagine.

Soy milk, nut milk or coconut milk...which milk and why?

This is a question that has been nagging me since becoming vegan and often comes up in conversation with an answer never really decided upon.  There is a lot of bad press about soy but trying to enjoy an almond or coconut milk coffee can be challenging to say the least.  So I've decided to do some good ol' investigating to make up my mind - which milk and why.

Soy Milk

There are a few concerns that arise time and again with soy and I'm going to try to address a couple of these:

• Genetically modified soy (GMO - genetically modified organism):

• What is GMO?  GMO means that the original organism, i.e. a soy bean, can be genetically modified to include a gene that makes it more "pest resistant", disease resistant, or reduce the spoilage from the crop.
• Although we have been selecting plants and animals for desired traits since the dawn of agriculture, nowadays, technology has taken this manipulation to new heights.  Now we can splice genes from one species and put it into the DNA of another species...just like mother nature intended.  Some of this manipulation has been used to develop new medical treatments for genetic diseases and to increase food production for our growing population.  See this article for more information.
• Naturally this manipulation of nature has created some controversy.  Many experts state the GMOs are safe, however, there are others that argue the production and consumption of GMOs is unethical and untested - in short scientists aren't sure what the consequences will be from consuming GMO food.  I think my mind was made up when I read that one of Monsanto's GMO crops is named Roundup Ready 2 Yield(R).  This innocent little soybean seed is resistant to Roundup(R) (one of Monsanto's herbicides) which means farmers can spray Roundup(R) all over the crop and not affect the yield of the soy.  I think I'll have my soy coffee Roundup(R) free thanks!

• Cancer concerns: 
• So if you find a GMO free soy milk, is it still safe to drink?  Most people are aware of the concerns surrounding the phytoestrogens contained in soy and that these hormone-like molecules may contribute to the growth of estrogen-dependent cancers.  A recent review article in the Journal of Alternative Therapies came up with the following conclusion: 

• "While the long-term health effects specific to the relatively new forms of popular, processed soy products are unclear and in need of further study, consumption of modest amounts of minimally processed and fermented soy products, such as tempeh, natto, miso, and soy sauce, which have been a component of traditional Asian diets for centuries, appear to be the safest form of soy consumption and may offer some protection against certain forms of cancer, coronary heart disease, and relief from menopausal symptoms." 

• For me, this will quell that nagging voice whenever I have the occasional cup of non-GMO soy milk coffee.

Coconut Milk

There are plenty of different coconut milks on the market, many that contain a lot more than just coconut milk and water!  It has taken me close to a year to become accustomed to the taste of a coconut milk cappuccino and now, I have to admit, it is my favourite milk for my coffee.  Make sure you check your brands, even if they are organic - reading the list of ingredients shouldn't require a science degree!  One of the key take home messages from the nutrition course I completed last year, was make sure the ingredients can be pronounced and that there are no more than 5, otherwise, leave it on the shelf! 

Nut Milk

I discovered this week a nut milk that I actually love with my coffee - macadamia milk!  I have tried almond milk many times, and often only made it half way through the coffee before giving up.  Macadamia milk is a delicious surprise!  It gives the coffee a beautiful nutty flavour and it doesn't separate like almond milks can. Just like the coconut milk, choose organic and make sure the ingredients in the nut milk can be pronounced and are not much more than water, nuts, a sweetener and gum thickeners.  Better yet, make your own!  Check out the different non-dairy milk recipes on Quirky Cooking.  

So there you have it folks, my take on dairy free milks.  Let me know what you think, what you have discovered, and which milk you love the most and why.