Yoga DVDs, Moroccan Spiced Carrot Soup, and More
Thanks so much, everyone, for your support yesterday. It is appreciated!
Recently, a client asked me which yoga DVDs I recommend. The answer? I have no idea. Though I love to fly and flow and fall flat on my face at Laughing Lotus and other studios here in the city, I’ve never tried a yoga DVD.
Porque? Because I am utterly incapable of working out at home. I love exercise, and I love yoga, but I must leave the premises of my apartment to make them happen. Sure, I’ve tried a few yoga downloads, but I usually walk away to check my email or make tea or brush my hair or something equally silly midway. For me, home space means rest. It’s the studio (or the gym) that signifies action!
But of course, it was my duty to help my client find some quality DVDs–especially since she’s new to yoga, and looking to be inspired. So I reached out to a few fellow bloggers on Twitter, and here’s what I learned!
- For beginners, Heather recommends Yoga for Beginners
- I hear good things about Shiva Rae’s videos from Courtney of The Hungry Yogini
- Gina recommends the Crunch Power Yoga videos
- Melissa recommends the Stott Pilates series
- Jessica recommends the Ana and Ravi Kundalini series (she says that DVDs after 2007 are best)
- Ryan recommends the Rodney Yee videos, which you’ve already tried
- Reader Mika recommends the Ali McGraw Yoga Mind and Body practice
- Polly of Yoga is Yummy has GREAT videos on her blog!
And of course, I checked in with my fitness guru and workout inspiration Melissa. She suggested the following:
- Namaste Yoga on Fit TV
- Yoga Download’s audio classes
- Free, online, daily classes at Yoga Today
My friend Kathleen also wrote in to say that she’s had great luck with Yoga Today classes. Let me share her ringing endorsement:
I’ve been practicing yoga for almost ten years, have studied with many different teachers across the country and over time it has become an integral part of my life. Being a performer and traveling so much can certainly put a hamper on your practice. At this point, when I am away from my favorite classes in New York, I can definitely lead myself through the asanas I feel I need that day. However, sometimes it’s nice to have a little company! Yoga Today has been such a lifesaver in this regard – as long as I have internet, I can use it. It’s $10 a month and the website has over 150 1 hour(ish) classes. I usually like to follow up these shorter classes with 15 minutes of inversions, but of course, the hour class in itself is sufficient for most. Also, for those who don’t want to pay to join, the website offers 1 free class each week. There are great filters on the website to sort through different levels and even find pose-specific or body area specific classes.
Sounds like a terrific resource!
Thanks, guys, for the help. What a nice roundup of choices.
In other news, I have a new soup to share. I often wonder: will my readers get sick of my soups? I sure do make a whole lot of them. But then I figure that, if I’m not yet sick of raw soups, there’s a decent chance that you aren’t, either. And this is a pretty great one: I call it Moroccan spiced carrot soup, but it’s really just a simple blend of carrots, peppers, tomatoes, cumin, and coriander, brought together with the creaminess of tahini. You may have noticed that I seem to be on a sesame seed/Middle Eastern kick lately; if recipes like this continue to emerge from it, may the Middle Eastern kick last!
Moroccan Spiced Carrot Soup (Yields 3 large or 4 small servings)
1/2 bag baby carrots (try to buy organic!)
1 large red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 bunch parsley
1/4 cup tahini
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp agave nectar, or 1 date
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp flax oil
Blend all ingredients but the flax oil in a high speed blender till smooth. If you’re working with a blender that isn’t as powerful as you’d like, you may wish to steam the carrots before you blend.
When the mix is well blended, add the flax oil in a thin stream. Keep blending till really thick and smooth. Serve, and enjoy!
This soup made for a wonderful lunch last weekend, as I ploughed through some editorial deadlines.
Before I go, a reminder to enter some fabulous bloggie giveaways and holiday deals!
1) My friends Michelle and Lori are giving away some of their own fabulous raw goodies. I’d rather keep this giveaway all to myself, but ’tis the season for generosity: go enter now!
2) Melissa is giving away one of these adorable Food Tees!!
3) My friend Sarma is having a promotional sale on her cute One Lucky Duck tote bags (I’m the proud owner of two). Enter the promo code “newbag” at the One Lucky Duck site and get 40% off!
Happy Friday, folks!
xo
32 Responses to “Yoga DVDs, Moroccan Spiced Carrot Soup, and More”
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Not only does she have great advice when I am struggling, but her realistic approach helped me make major changes despite having no time and limited funds. Her recipes and ideas are for real people with lives beyond their diets, and they are great. Gena is down to earth and non-judgmental. She strikes a great balance between encouraging me to go a little father but to keep things in perspective and have fun with the process.
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Some of you have asked me whether it’s wiser to buy a juicer or a Vitamix.
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great post! I wish everything at OLD was 40% off! I love crunch videos, so i will definitely check out the yoga one!
Thanks for the yoga recs! I need to get on that.
I love yogadownload.com. Very affordable and they have lots to choose from.
This is useful for me, since I’m your workout opposite and prefer to do DVDs as opposed to live classes. I have one Rodney Yee DVD that I LOVE, but I’ve been thinking about doing yoga more consistently and will therefore need some more variety. Maybe the Yoga Today membership would be a fun idea!
And your soup sounds delish!
Polly’s yoga DVDs are the best, in my opinion!
http://www.yogaisyummy.net/?page_id=1262
I agree I have a hard time to get a really good yoga session in when I do it at home, my goal in the new year is to go to a yoga studio! Thanks for sharing all these amazing yoga information!
I also love aliveyoga.com and yogichocolate.com. Heidi Sormaz and Kathryn Budig are my favorite instructors on those websites, respectively. They teach classes that are a bit more advanced and usually include inversions (at the wall and at the center of the room). The classes aren’t free, but they are worth every penny!
(I also love yogatoday.com)!
Gena you read my mind! I was feeling a bit ill yesterday and was really craving a soup, specifically a spicy carrot one. I’ve already had your raw tortilla soup three times this week (I like to un-cook in bulk and it’s my favourite) so thought I should mix it up a bit. Off to the markets today, so looks like I know what I’m having for lunch
Tahini questions: having trouble finding raw tahini and when i did… quite pricey. i’ve used roasted in raw dishes and don’t know that i enjoy the flavor so much. could the roasted affect the taste very mcuh? is there a good place to buy it?
thanks!!!
My parents lived in Morocco for a few years and I’ve always grown up loving Moroccan flavors as a result – I’ll definitely have to try this one!
That soup looks pretty yum, I love carrots, most of my favorite foods are orange haha.
Yoga is amazing. I used to do this 50 minute yoga series by Baron Baptise featured on Free on Demand for IO, it KICKED my butt and I loved it until they took it off, so mad! But I highly recommend trying it, it was called “Yoga Long and Lean”
Keep the soup recipes coming. LOVE ‘em!
i saw a girl with that bag on the subway platform the other day and nearly stopped her to comment – until i realized i would have NO clue what to even say. ummm, hi, i like your bag, yeah for o.l.d? ha. anyways. i just voted for you in the raw awards.
First, that soup is making my mouth water! It looks so good and I love the ingredients! I’ve made a couple of your recipes now, and loved everything, so I pretty much trust that anything you post is going to be awesome. Hope I can find time to make it after finals.
Also, my coworker just gave me The Biggest Loser Yoga DVD. I can’t say it’s great for relaxation or traditional yoga, but in terms of fitness, it’s really good. I only did the first 7 minutes and I was sore in all new places the next day!
I enjoy so many of your recipes as staples now, and this soup looks like another winner… thanks!
Hi Gena!
Well I love yoga as you know and am a teacher and so I actually don’t really listen to too many other teachers podcasts or dvds, I just do my own thing…BUT for my trip, I downloaded a ton of free podcasts from itunes with some teachers that get high praise and am going to “audit” their classes; listen with a teacher’s ear to their pacing, sequencing, their flow, vibe and the whole bit. I’ll let u know if i come across anything newsworthy!
And of course, the soup looks awesome!!
nitey nite
The soup sounds yummy! I´m going to try it with some avo instead of the tahini, it´s not going to be the same of cause but I´m not doing very well on any kinds of nuts and seeds at the moment.
Thanks for the recommendations, I really like Maya Fiennes´ kundaliniyoga DVDs (www.mayaspace.com).
I really love yogatoday.com. They used to have free downloads everyday, but then they got so popular, they began to charge $10 a month. I do their free yoga class every week and I’ve had yet to be disappointed. One day, I’ll actually sign up for the $10 a month… I’m just too poor…
And the soup looks delicious!
Another great yoga resource is My Yoga Online. Has changed my life. Worth a serious check out… http://www.myyogaonline.com.
Thanks for the other info.
I’ll have to check out some of these other yoga recommendations!
This soup looks so yummy. I’m making it tomorrow!
I made the carrot soup tonight-AWESOME! All the spices combined together gave it the most incredible taste! I loved it and will make it over and over.
I love your blog-thanks for sharing all that you do.
Jan
Hi Gena!
I’m just getting my blog started (along with my life as a high-raw vegan!) and I would love for you to check it out and possibly, if you like it, become a follower!
I’m really excited about getting my blog going and sharing healthy tips and recipes along with some opinion pieces here and there.
Obviously I’m not necessarily expecting you to become a follower (how many blogs can one girl really follow, after all =P), but I’d just be really honoured and glad to know you checked it out
Have a good one!
PS: That soup looks scrumptious!
I put the link in under “website” but in case it doesn’t show up the link is
http://rawandunbleached.blogspot.com
thanks for all the great yoga links!!!
that carrot soup and fresh salad looks amazing!!!
happy Sunday, lovely Gena!!
Hhmmmm…. carrot soup! Yum – sounds amazing!
Yay! Thanks for all the yoga links! I have tried a lot of them, but didn’t know about Yoga Today – I’m so excited! Carrot soup also sounds fantastic.
The recipe looks yummy!(as always) Definitely will try it this week. Some really great yoga DVDs I love are Hemalayaa Behl, Micheline Berry (Liquid Asanas) and Teen Yoga (Awesome for Adults) by Kathleen Kastner. Congratulations on your nominations!! I voted!!! Best of luck!
Cheers!
great roundup for the yoga dvds! i am a newbie, but have found polly’s website and video very welcoming
we won’t tire of soups, especially with the changing weather!
Soup looks yummy Gena! Thanks for all the tips on buying yoga dvd’s. Ive wanted to pick up my practice again, but my teacher isnt teaching anymore. Polly’s videos have been helpful for me