The Nourishent of an open Heart

This past weekend I had the honor and pleasure of attending a fabulous yoga retreat with Sybil Nance at Flying L Ranch near  Mt. Adams (somewhere near the bustling ranch community of Glendwood….more cows than people!!).

Its hard to describe the layers of experience of this cozy weekend.  Its much like a good lasagna or a great pot of soup: Hard to describe exactly what aspect of it makes the dish so incredibly fabulous, but the harmony of all flavors together create a synergy that can be felt on a level deeper than just the taste buds.

mmmm……my heart and my palate are humming  just thinking about it all.  My mom came with me, which was a huge gift.  Today when I was chatting with her about the experience she said that the good conversation and the laughter were her nourishment.  I just loved that.  Same for me too…..oh, and the amazing food: the food and the loving community were sweeter than my favorite dessert.

But since we are on the topic of off-white living, I shall recount to you how amazing and nourishing the food and the environment were, especially from an off-white perspective.  I am always gracious when in a  community that supports healthy eating and even all of my quirky food challenges.  In fact, there were others with me that ate just the same  – whoo hoo! 
It was really Sybil and the space that set the inital tone, as can be seen here by some of the friendly details of the cozy kitchen and Sybil\’s lovely breakfast provisions, which we were provided each morning before our 9 am yoga:

Mom and I enjoying a post-yoga meal:

I will leave you with one recipe – a simple black bean and avocado hummus I made to share in our communal meals.  It was a hit, so I suppose its worth a share:

2 cans organic black beans
1 large avocado
1/2 – 3/4 cup fresh cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
1-2 cloves of garlic (make sure they get blended up!)
sea salt, to taste
1-2 tsp cumin

Mix all ingredients in a food processor.  You may need to add up to 1 tbsp EVOO to make a smoothe hummus.  Yields about 4-5 cups.  Serving size: 2 tbsp.

Namaste,

Rebecca