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Deeper Dimensions of Mindfulness, Part 2

Tami Simon speaks with Joseph Goldstein, the cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and the Forest Refuge. Joseph has been teaching insight and lovingkindness meditation since 1974, and with Sounds True he has published many programs, including the new book Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening. In part two of a two-part interview, Tami speaks with Joseph about the Satipatthana Sutta’s wisdom on mindfulness beyond the body—mindfulness of feeling, of mind, and of dharma. Joseph also investigated what it means to be mindful of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths, and how we can bring an engaged heart to our practice. (53 minutes)

The Spiritual Dimension of Reality, Part 2

Though he comes from a background in nuclear physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, Claude Poncelet has been one of the world’s foremost authorities on shamanic practice for more than 25 years. With Sounds True, Claude has released the book The Shaman Within: A Physicist’s Guide to the Deeper Dimensions of Your Life, the Universe, and Everything. In this long-awaited second part of their interview for Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Claude discuss applying shamanic practice to one’s professional life and the advantages therein. They also talk about the spiritual underpinnings of the cosmos—from the stars to the black hole at the center of our galaxy. Finally, Claude and Tami speak on the pursuit of impeccability not only in shamanic practice, but in every aspect of life. (70 minutes)

Vegan Salted Caramel

Vegan Salted Caramel

From the book, Whole Girl by Sadie Radinsky

Yield: Serves 10

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • ½ cup coconut sugar
  • ¾ cup full-fat coconut milk 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • 2 – 5 apples, sliced, for dipping

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Whisk together the coconut sugar and coconut milk in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
  2. Once the mixture has started boiling, turn down the heat to medium-low and let the caramel simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, whisking every couple minutes. If it starts to smell very strong, remove from heat; it could be burning. When the caramel appears to have thickened considerably and darkened in color, remove from heat.
  3. Slowly whisk in the vanilla extract, coconut oil, and sea salt. Let the caramel cool for at least 10 minutes, to thicken up more. Pour the caramel into a small jar. I recommend serving it with sliced apples for a healthy snack. Store any leftover caramel in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

salted caramel

sadie radinsky

Sadie Radinsky is a 19-year-old blogger and recipe creator. For over six years, she has touched the lives of girls and women worldwide with her award-winning website, wholegirl.com, where she shares paleo treat recipes and advice for living an empowered life. She has published articles and recipes in national magazines and other platforms, including Paleo, Shape, Justine, mindbodygreen, and The Primal Kitchen Cookbook. She lives in the mountains of Los Angeles. For more, visit wholegirl.com.

Nourish Your Body With These Wintertime Foods

 

Nature: In general, Ayurveda declares winter (November 15th – March 14th) as the healthiest season. However, the body’s natural intelligence copes with the external cold by automatically increasing the agni in the belly (a physiological response), resulting in increased inner warmth. Naturally, appetite and hunger also increase in parallel. Hence, if we fast in this season or eat a lot of cold and light foods, like salads, vata dosha can go up due to increased quality of lightness and coldness (the principle of “like increases like” at work). So eating nutritious fatty food at the right time (in winter) is a precautionary measure.

Goal: We make the best use of a naturally increased agni in winter and make every meal count. We can eat nourishing foods (see “Preferred Winter Food List” that follows) to proactively build health and immunity for the entire year ahead.

Flavors: Increase intake of sweet, sour, and salty; reduce intake of sour, pungent, and bitter.

Qualities: Prefer heavy over light, and fatty over dry foods.

Specifics: Hearty meat and vegetable soups with added ghee fortify the body. A midday drink of Ayurvedic buttermilk is recommended every day. Eat 1 tablespoon raw honey daily if possible (especially in the morning).

 

Preferred Winter Food List

  • Cereals: Unfermented wheat products (bran, cereal, chapatis, cookies, cream of wheat, crepes, dumplings, pudding, tortillas), white or brown rice, rice pudding. In moderation: quinoa, millet, oats.
  • Legumes and beans: Black gram, black beans, kidney beans, mung.
  • Vegetables: Asparagus, beets, cabbage, carrots, cilantro, eggplant, fennel root (anise), garlic, green beans, green peas, leeks, okra (in early winter only), onions (cooked), parsnips, pumpkin, radish, rutabaga, spaghetti squash, spinach, sweet potatoes, turnips, winter melon, winter squash.
  • Fruits: Amalaki (a nutritious fruit supplement; available online), almonds, apples, dates, figs, grapefruit, guavas, lemon, lime, mandarins, oranges, pears, plums, pomegranate, tangerines.
  • Meat: Chicken, deer, goat, pig, rabbit, seafood soup, turkey.
  • Alcohol: Aged wine is ideal.
  • Seeds: Sesame.
  • Dried fruits and nuts: Almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, raisins, walnuts.
  • Dairy: Sweet butter, Ayurvedic buttermilk (takra), sweet cream, milk (boiled), yogurt, (never frozen or with fruit, always eat with added raw honey or crushed back pepper).
  • Water: Drink boiled water reduced to warm, drinkable temperature.
  • Fat: Ghee is best; all other natural cooking oils are also fine (except mustard oil).
  • Other: Honey, chyawanprash (Ayurvedic supplement), vinegar in moderation.

 

Avoid in Winter

  • Fasting and skipping meals
  • Eating salads and raw foods
  • Consuming chilled foods like ice cream, chilled water, frozen foods

 

Looking for more great reads?

 

Excerpt from Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom by Acharya Shunya.

Acharya Shunya is the founder of Vedika Global, a spiritual foundation dedicated to elevating consciousness, building community, and serving humanity by illuminating India’s Vedic spiritual traditions of Ayurveda, yoga, and Vedanta. In association with its graduates, Vedika Global offers courses at Stanford University’s Health Improvement program. In 2015, she was recognized as a Top 100 teacher of Ayurveda and Yoga by Spirituality & Health Magazine and was invited to represent Ayurveda in the U.S. by India’s Ministry of AYUSH (Health) and Overseas Affairs. She is president of the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine. For more information, visit vedikaglobal.org or acharyashunya.com.

Why attend the Wake Up Festival? – Shiva Rea res...

We’re beginning our preparations for the Wake Up Festival, our five-day gathering of transformation, to be held this August in the glorious Rocky Mountains, and are looking forward to reconnecting and celebrating with our friends around the world.

For those of you still on the fence – or if this is the first you’re hearing about it – take a listen to Shiva Rea, as to why she thinks you might want to attend…

Learn more about the Wake Up Festival here.

Unconditioned Awareness and the Challenges of Everyday...

Friends, many of you commented that you really enjoyed the online video dialogue we recently offered with Peter Fenner and Jeff Foster, moderated by Sounds True founder Tami Simon.

Many of the world’s great wisdom traditions speak of the “natural” state, one of unconditioned awareness where we meet reality directly as it is. What is this experience of unconditioned awareness and how is it related to healing and transformation? Is it some sort of resting place? Is it something we can cultivate through spiritual practice or in some other way? And most importantly, how does the experience of unconditioned awareness shift the way we relate with difficulties in our lives, challenges around intimacy and relationships, our work in the world, and the way we experience feelings and emotions?

I hope you enjoy the dialogue and that you find it meaningful and useful in your life.

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