Here’s a favorite summer recipe from Hohm:

Cleanse Pops

Juice 4 apples,

1/2 lime

1 inch ginger

1 med cucumber

3 stalks celery

10 mint leaves

pour into molds freeze and CLEANSE cool!

I just had to share how beautiful the kayaking it is here. See how calm the water is? It’s almost ALWAYS like this on the North Fork or Long Long Island’s East End. I had to spend two days in the city to work with Steve Goodman, my business partner, and meet some truly wonderful people making some truly exciting and wonderful products ( hint: GORGEOUS eco yoga clothing!) So while I was doing my city thing, Liv ( our newest staff member: you’ll be reading some great blogs from her in upcoming weeks) and, Annette, a regular juice faster,   and raw foodist in training– discovered this great spot to drop the kayaks and bliss out with nature. Charles was on hand to snap these beautiful pictures. Maybe soon we will take videos to share wtih you while on these beautiful and fun moments. Annette thought this was a very good way to spend an afternoon in between juices!  Hope you can come hohm soon and float along with us sometime this summer!

mary

Breaking the Fast Beautifully

The sacredness of breaking your fast and the realization of the blessed gift of food are incredibly beneficial parts of the juice fasting process. While I was preparing the morning break-fast fruit plates  for our wonderful guests, I was contemplating the beauty and sacredness of the first meal after a fast. After days of not eating, we can come to our food as though we are infants, as though we have been reborn to the sumptuous experience of eating. The fresh watermelon, crisp and airy, floats in the mouth like a full, pink cloud. The grapes are sweet and striking on the tongue. As I cut the watermelon into pyramids and arranged the plate into a blossom of color, the sun came through the window like a gentle flame and shone upon my fingers.

The world paused. When we are present to the aliveness of our food, we can discover the aliveness of ourselves. When we are present for the life cycle of our food, we are more present in the cycles of our own lives. This is why keeping a garden can be such a grounding, transformative experience. As we dig our hands though the soft soil and place our seedlings into the ground, our bodies become a part of the birthing of our food. We are a part of the growth process from start to finish, and when we finally taste the “fruit” (or lettuce, or zucchini) of our labor, we intrinsically understand that we are provided with everything we could ever need. And when we keep present during our food preparation, our food is truly blessed.
If keeping a garden is impossible for you, support your local growers. Stay close to your sweet feet.  Here at Hohm, we keep our own garden, and buy from our local farmers. Next time you have a meal, try taking a deep breath before you eat. Smell your food. Admire it’s color and richness. Enjoy!

Namaste,
Liv

Mr Kenny Page, esquire departed today 10 pounds lighter refreshed and inspired with new kundalini yoga sets!
We rarely can accept men here at our sacred retreat, unless they come as the beloved’s of one of our regular yogini clients. But this man won us over, and we are so glad. We loved meeting and supporting Kenny through his first ever juice cleanse, and  look froward to welcoming him back hohm often. He has an intense law practice in New York City so really needed the restorative time to tune back in to his center. We hope he made some headway on a very cool novel he his writing!

Recent smiles

Showers here at our cleanse. Perfect yoga flow to the sound of soft rain, wind chimes in the distance, and an incredible crackling fire. Outside the daffodils are happily drinking rain and patiently awaiting the sun. Good cleanse weather! Spring cleaning our house too. Found this great book, such fantastic rescource! Check it out if you are looking for “yogini approved” housekeeping formulas and tips:  <http://www.supernaturalhomequiz.com/> 

happiness day breakfast smile

Marci Shimof just released her best selling book, “Happy for no Reason” in paperback. That’s reason enough to be happy.

She lists in only 7 steps anyone can take to feel happy right now, no matter what. But really happy reason: there are a GAZILLION free gifts that will make you happy, abundant, slim, confident, on that link.

LOVE Marci, so in honor of her book I decided to just make today “Happy for No Reason” day at American Yogini, and invented a breakfast smoothie that tasted HAPPY!

And Charles and I went out into the snow ( sigh) and drew a happy face, wrapped up in blankets and sipped our breakfast Happiness smoothie!

Hope you enjoy it too, the recipe is in our newsletter, so be sure to open today’s issue if you haven’t already. Its tastes HAPPY!,  And its a really happy coral pink color.:)

Love and happiness!

Mary

3 Goodies below!

#1: my favorite MLK,jr quote, #2 Maya Angelou Poem, #3 Dance with MLK,jr.

IT’s a PLAY day!
Could anything be more beautiful than Martin Luther King Day and the enauguration of President Obama side by side in 2009?

A Smiling Martin Luther King, Jr.GOODIE #1:

My favorite MLK quote:
“Darkness cannot dispel darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot defeat hate; only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Just thinking about how joyful the scene must be at the White House and in Washington DC, and surrounding the family and friends of President Obama today! The world can bask and enjoy this moment, and what better time could it be?  to be present and enjoy a release from recent economic fears and sorrows. Let it all go for today, for this week, maybe forever, and allow hope and freedom to seep into you today. Dr. King and President Obama remind us that this can manifest at anytime for any one of us and for all of us collectively .  
Goodie #2: Pause and Reflect

A Poem by Maya Angelou

“Touched by an Angel”

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

Goodie #3: Dance and Play!

Dance to this right now -just like a kid!

Seems around the world we COLLECTIVELY AGREE that a pause to acknowledge and celebrate and touch down with our loved ones and our earth during the winter months- wether for Christmas, Hanucka, Soltice, Kwanza, or just hibernation, Here is some interesting information about why. 

The Earth is actually nearer the sun in January than it is in June — by three million miles. Pretty much irrelevant to our planet. What causes the seasons is something completely different. The Earth leans slightly on its axis like a spinning top frozen in one off-kilter position. Astronomers have even pinpointed the precise angle of the tilt. It’s 23 degrees and 27 minutes off the perpendicular to the plane of orbit. This planetary pose is what causes all the variety of our climate; all the drama and poetry of our seasons, since it determines how many hours and minutes each hemisphere receives precious sunlight.

Solstice means…

standing-still-sun

4,000 Years of Christmas, puts its theory right up in the title. The Mesopotamians were first, it claims, with a 12-day festival of renewal, designed to help the god Marduk tame the monsters of chaos for one more year.

Winter solstice in many cultures.

Native Americans had winter solstice rites. The sun images at right are from rock paintings of the Chumash, who occupied coastal California for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived. Solstices were tremendously important to them, and the winter solstice celebration lasted several days.

And what of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights that occurs around this time every year? Is it related to other celebrations of the season?

The placement of Hanukkah is tied to both the lunar and solar calendars. It begins on the 25th of Kislev, three days before the new moon closest to the Winter Solstice. In fact, this year, the first night of Hanukkah occurs on Winter Solstice!

As a symbolic celebration of growing light and as a commemoration of spiritual rebirth, it also seems closely related to other observances.

A time of magic.

In many cultures, customs practiced at Christmas go back to pre-Christian times. Many involve divination–foretelling the future at a magic time: the season turning of solstice.

In Russia, there’s a Christmas divination that involves candles. A girl would sit in a darkened room, with two lighted candles and two mirrors, pointed so that one reflects the candlelight into the other. The viewer would seek the seventh reflection, then look until her future would be seen.
The early Germans built a stone altar to Hertha, or Bertha, goddess of domesticity and the home, during winter solstice. With a fire of fir boughs stoked on the altar, Hertha was able to descend through the smoke and guide those who were wise in Saga lore to foretell the fortunes of those at the feast.
In Spain, there’s an old custom that is a holdover from Roman days. The urn of fate is a large bowl containing slips of paper on which are written all the names of those at a family get-togehter. The slips of paper are drawn out two at a time. Those whose names are so joined are to be devoted friends for the year. Apparently, there’s often a little finagling to help matchmaking along, as well.

In Scandinavia, some families place all their shoes together, as this will cause them to live in harmony throughout the year.

And in many, many cultures, it’s considered bad luck for a fire or a candle to go out on Christmas Day. So keep those candles burning!

Great site where I found much of these excerpts:  http://www.candlegrove.com and Earl Count’s “4000 years of Christmas”

Juice Cleansing is really something we do when we are about to change, transform something or everything about our lives. So doing new things, or just the urge to do them happens. We have guests that set up easels around the house to paint, some that knit by the fire and produce an entire project over the course of a juice fast, some that do things they have never done before such as our recent guest Jenny who had so much energy she learned how to kayak, and to horseback ride! Even thought it is DECEMBER upon us, just this past week juice cleanse retreat guest enjoyed a day of kayaking ( wow LOVED this! We just bundled up in a parka and even felt HOT while paddling) one day and took english saddle riding lessons for the two days following. This group was taking a class, learning about water,  juice smoothies to maintain the restoration acheived during a five day juice cleanse.

a really wonderful break fast at hohm