Posts by Christine Briel

“Everything we do in our lives we infuse with our attitudes.” – Elena Brower Below is part 1 of 9 video modules on Shakti Expansion, a yoga class by Elena Brower, who I absolutely love. It’s a beautiful stand alone to watch when you have 5 minutes to just sit, listen and breathe. I find it to be very peaceful and hope you enjoy it too! The beautiful take away from this, besides the peaceful moment, is a wonderful attitude adjustment and enlightening way of looking at life and it’s challenges. In the video Elena shares that our breathing is our connection to the freedom already residing in our own hearts… shakti… manifests in our daily life as we choose how we spend our energy and focus our love. With one breath we can...

I remember when I was young that when I had something I needed to say to someone I would write it down first. Often I would take that sheet of paper and either read it out loud to the person or leave it for them to read later. I felt I wasn’t very good at staying calm, cool and collecting my thoughts enough to convey what I wanted in person. I’ve gotten better at this, although it is still a challenge when I have something important to convey to others. With the many different ways that we communicate with others today: email, facebook, text, twitter you would think that we would all be able to collect our thoughts and stay calm and cool because none of these forms of communication require instant responses. They offer us an opportunity to think out...

We all know how important it is to feed our bodies and especially to do it with good, nutritious food. Eating junk food, heavy food, etc. only makes us sluggish and unhealthy. Similarly, many people will talk about feeding the mind. This is also very important and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Positive input vs negative input can really have an effect on our thoughts. What about feeding your soul? Is this something tangible? Can you feel it, do you know any good food for the soul? It’s my opinion that this is a very personal thing. It’s about what moves you, what fills you up, what gives you a great sense of love, peace, appreciation, etc. If you know the things that do this to you… then be sure to feed your soul and do it regularly....

Another spring season comes around and at my age (40ish) I still find wonders in nature. This past weekend Cary and I went to Beaver Lake Nature Center to do a hike around the lake and a short way in decided to stray off the beaten path. We ended up walking what seemed to be a perimeter of Beaver Lake’s property line which was really fun and fed my adventurous side. After about an hour we ended up back at the Nature Center. Before we arrived in the parking lot to the left I noticed a very well groomed area. We walked over to it and discovered an amazing “trail” we’d never found before that had over 30+ different trees planted all throughout with little plaques in front of them stating the type of tree and a little blurb about...

This quote from BKS Iyengar says it well: “Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one’s being, from bodily health to self-realization. Yoga means union – the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.” My yoga practice began about three years ago with my very first yoga class at CNY Healing Arts in Syracuse. It was a Kripalu class and I’ve since enjoyed Kundalini yoga, Hatha Yoga and many other styles. I now see yoga more as a lifestyle than just the time I spend on the mat. It’s a constant evolution of self. Yoga has...

This year I thought I’d try growing tomatoes from seed. I normally buy them as plants when it’s time to put them in my veggie garden. But I really wanted to grow more this year. So, one day while Cary was off getting some parts he needed for a home repair job, at our local Lowe’s, I wandered around the gardening area and grabbed myself a little greenhouse thing, a packet of big tomato seeds and a packet of cherry tomato seeds. I was in business! I have the perfect south facing window in our daughter, Jessie’s, old bedroom so decided that was where these guys would be residing for the next couple of months. Within 7 days I had tons of seedlings poking up through the soil and many with their first set of leaves. Over the years I’ve...

It’s so important for a balanced life to make time to connect to the natural world by spending time outside. It can be easy to spend the whole day inside, especially during the winter season. Make time for a brisk walk and you’ll be amazed at how refreshed you feel afterward. Be sure to remain present and take some time to enjoy nature with all of your senses. Our visual sense can sometimes overpower our hearing. Close your eyes for a few moments and just listen. Click on the arrow below and enjoy the sounds of an early spring thaw. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your...

I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with tofu in the past 6 months since I discovered THE best tofu – soy boy – at one of my favorite places to shop, Syracuse Real Food Co-op. I recently learned that Wegmans also stocks soy boy tofu in their organic section, which is really convenient. You may not think this matters but if you’ve ever purchased the tofu off the shelf in the non-perishable section (cardboard container) and opened it to find a white, mushy block… believe me, buy this tofu and you’ll know what I mean. So, let’s get to this delicious recipe. This morning I realized I was out of eggs but not tofu so I figured, why not try a tofu scramble instead. This was so easy and SO yummy. I hope you get the chance to try it. Make it for your...

I’ve had this cute little book/journal for about two years, maybe longer. A dear friend, Kristen Magnacca, gave it to me one year as a gift for a holiday. She’s one of those friends that when you haven’t seen her for a while she always comes bearing gifts. The funny thing is that it just sat on my shelf for a while, I would look at it but wasn’t actually using it yet. I already had a journal and wrote in that regularly and I guess I just hadn’t quite found the way to use this one yet…. until this year. Around the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 I found myself in a bit of a slump and was trying a few daily things to pull myself up and out of it! Back to the cute little journal. It has on it’s cover the question,...

Who needs ham or turkey anyway? This is one of my favorite no-meat sandwiches to eat for lunch. It’s really filling and packed with tons of nutrition! Try it, I think you’ll love it Ingredients: 2 slices of toasted Alvarado St. Bakery California Style Complete Protein Bread organic guacamole sliced cucumber green pepper sliced lengthwise rolled up peppered tofurkey slices (3 or 4 – however many you want) lettuce or fresh spinach leaves (sometimes I use sprouts instead) sliced radishes sliced tomatoes organic vegenaise Directions: It’s pretty simple, spread guacamole on the bottom slice then starting with the cucumber pile everything up until you get to the vegenaise and spread that on the top slice. Now sink your teeth in. It’s delish…...