friends

My heart cracks open and I get a little weak in the knees when I think of all the beautiful people in my life that let me call them my friends. I bet you feel the same way, even if it's just for one or two people. Friends are the places where we hide away our love, store it away for a day when we really are going to need it and a true friend never fails to be there on that day when youre ready to cash in on all your savings. My goodness, doesn't it sometimes feel like friends are the hands of Love reaching directly into your life? They are fun. Oh man are they fun! They are free and they are plenty but, still, oh so rare.Friends are people that leave us luminous, they are places to hide, to be free, to open our deepest selves to. They are our guidance, our comrades, our way to plug into the world around us, to make sense of it all.

Other people have the ability to influence us directly and profoundly with little or no effort at all. To be surrounded by those miraculous and lovely humans that come to you with nothing more than love and curiousity is perhaps one of the most important things that we could do, dont you think? I know what it feels like when I leave a conversation that I just had with a loving, kind person. Super charged, inspired with a sense of appreciation for life. And I know what it feels like when I walk away from a moment with someone who perhaps isnt as interested in honest, open, loving connection as I am. Depleted, scattered with a wafting hopelessness. I'm in no way saying to avoid some people simply because of how they make you feel, not at all. I think there is enough goodness in one person to get around to everyone. But, doesn't exploring who you click with or not just make you appreciate those human treasures who happen to be your perfect fit? I was speaking with one of my favorite friends the other day, one who never fails to look at me with the most clear and honest soul, and she said that she feels like her friends are her family. I have to agree with her. It's something special to have people in your life who, by no obligation put upon them by the past or a shared last name, love you simply because they like you so much that they needed a bigger word. One that can hold all the unconditional goodness that they hope for you.

In this world in which we find ourselves that often times leaves us feeling so frightened, so alone, so lost, so tired and so in need, what a glorious thing it is that we are given each other. We have the opportunity to be something, that precious, precious something for another that is forever worth more than all the treasures of this world. What a gift to be able to give. What a purpose to be able to have. The only thing that really matters. The power to be love for someone, be laughter and light is simply a trememndous honor and responsibility. You can be the incarnation of Love that could lift someones spirit so they might spread their wings and ride the winds of their destiny. And, like I've said in the past, it's catching. I think maybe that's how we change the world, make it a better place. Love a little more...and I say start with your friends.

A poet from long ago called Hafiz put it this way,

Like a Life-Giving Sun

You could become a great horseman
And help to free yourself and this world
Though only if you and prayer become sweet
Lovers.
It is a naive man who thinks we are not
Engaged in a fierce battle,
For I see and hear brave foot soldiers
All around me going mad,
Falling on the ground in excruciating pain.
You could become a victorious horseman
And carry your heart through this world
Like a life-giving sun
Though only if you and God become sweet lovers!

Or words from another group of poet prophets, U2:

"We're One but we're not the same.
We get to carry each other, carry each other."

We get to. Get to. Indeed, what a privelege it is.

I had just a few of my favorite people over the other night to feast with me on vegan delights. We had Dal (lentils prepared Indian style), brown rice, a big herb salad, seitan veggie skewers, roasted brussel sprouts and Nori Burritos. Oh yeah and cookies! It was yum yum yummy. It's one of my favorite things to do, to cook loving, healthy, healing food for the people in my life.

I think the best part was the Nori Burritos. Here's the recipe! It's from, you guessed it, The Kind Diet.

NORI BURRITOS
1 Package of nori
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 avocado
alfalfa sprouts
basil
1/4 shredded carrot
mixed baby greens
Hoison sauce

Place a few spoonfulls of rice onto one sheet of Nori.
Add a bit of avocado, some sprouts, a little shredded carrot,
tear up a basil leaf and add that too and a few leaves of the baby greens.
Finish with a drizzle of hoisin sauce.

Either roll it into a cone shape or fold the bottom and roll it like a burrito (that's what I did). Wet your fingers with a little water and press gently on the edges of the nori to seal it shut. So good!


They were delicious and here's why they are nutritious...
Nori:
•Vitamin A --You can consume enough vitamin A per day with just two sheets of nori.
•Vitamin B --Two sheets of nori also contain Vitamin B1 and B2 in amounts equivalent to 50~60 grams of pork, a sufficient daily amount.
•Vitamin C --Nori has twice the vitamin C as the same amount of tangerines do. In general, vitamin C is easily destroyed by heat, but in the case of nori, vitamin C is stronger and is retained even when heated.
•Iron --Two sheets of nori contain an amount of iron equal to 600 cc of milk or one egg.
Plus plenty of fiber and protein in the brown rice
(about 4 grams fiber and 5 grams protein), omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in the avocado, vitamin A and C in the carrot carrot and a little calcium as well.

Friends!

Veggies and wine mmmmm...

his arch nemesis! ;)

enjoying The Kind Diet

girls LOVE food. period.

to yoke

yoga: to come together, to unite

If there is anything in my life, besides the food that I eat and the love that I'm given that sustains my health, it is yoga. I once said to my husband as I came into our bedroom one morning with a song in my heart and my feet barely touching the floor, "I wake up like a dying fish out of water until I get a little yoga." And it's the truth. I wake into this world with the all too familiar hue of dreariness. I'm scattered and cannot see past the cloud of my unrelenting self. Until there is union I am dying. Yoga, for me, is a pathway to that union, the union that rubs the sleep out of my eyes so that I might truly see.

and I can't help but let the poet in me speak...

Yoga is the stilling of my mind, it is the river I ride into presence,
the release of freedom in the cells of my very being when i step through that invisible doorway out of this world and into one where the scenery is the same but what I see glistens with bliss. It is the movement that hastens the merging of me and life, it's the path, the destination, the union of all parts-body mind spirit. But here, here is the kernel of something so sweet that collapses my house of cards and evicts all the fear filled tenants, yoga is the realization that these three parts-body mind spirit-spread beyond the confines of this flesh. My entirety yokes and soon I begin to see the boundaries dissolve and I'm merging, all three facets, with this thing called world until I'm not quite sure where my feet stop and the buoyancy of the grass begins.
Here is wholeness, here is health vibrant. For what is health but the degree of uninhibited life in a person? And what could be more exuberantly full of life than this?


Just as with a plant based diet the benefits of yoga seep in and through the body, out the mind and thus lift the soul. Yoga was created as a spiritual practice, one that would aid the practitioner in clearing away all the clutter of ones self so that the truth of what really is might be seen clearly and experienced directly. This is still it's purpose and it's real gift. But, the glorious thing about yoga is that it's benefits just cannot be contained! If you're in it to find health in one of these three: body mind or spirit, you better expect the other two to get one hell of a makeover too.

For your physical health there is nothing like yoga. I mentioned before that I used to struggle with asthma, but since I've developed a steady yoga practice I don't anymore. As a little girl I was on a steroid inhaler, a regular inhaler and a liquid and pill form of the inhaler medicine everyday! But now I'm free! If I ever begin to feel a bit constrained in my chest these days, I simply become very present and focus on my breath (what I learned in yoga class) and soon enough I am free to breath again. That's major. To be able to breath should not be a luxury. Yoga can help heal.
The strengthening of your respiratory and cardiovascular system, increased flexibility, lubrication of the joints and ligaments, toned muscles, detoxification and massaging of the organs are just a few of the benefits. Don't it feel good too? It feels wonderful to be able to touch my toes! Finally! There really is something to be said about the flexibility in a body. For, if in fact we are an interwoven unit of body mind spirit, then the flexibility in one would affect the flexibility in the others. When I open my heart in a back bend I truly feel as if I am opening my heart. This reminds me of these words...

"Man at his birth is supple and tender
but in death he is rigid and hard.
Plants when young are sinuous and moist
but when old are brittle and dry.
Thus suppleness and tenderness are signs of life
While rigidity and hardness are signs of death."
-Tao Te Ching

True in body as it is true in mind. The space created when I stretch my limbs is creating a stretch and openness in my mind.

Plus, where else does a grown woman get to stand on her head and, maybe, fall on her ass just because? I'm telling you there is nothing more healing than tumbling to the ground out of a pose. My goodness how liberating it is to not take yourself so seriously. Kids fall all over the place all the time! They're still fascinated with their bodies and how far they can take them. In my yoga practice I get to be with my body in that same way. "Oh my gosh crow pose! I did it! I'm a crow! I'm a crow! KAH KAH KAH!" boom. smash.

And where else do we get encouraged to explore ourselves? We never ask ourselves what am I? what's this leg thing do? what exactly is breathing? We just assume we know. What has that cost us? We think we know it all and the mere suggestion that we don't is met with rolled eyes and a sad layer of cynicism that kills all sense of wonder, awe and consequently joy. But, on my mat I get to reclaim that wonder. I get to rediscover myself, just as I am. And, if only for an hour and a half, I am awed at what I am. I am awed at what I can do or can't do. What's that curious feeling that floods in when I am present there on the mat? Oh, yes, it is love. I am learning to love myself right where I am just as I am, and if that ain't healing I don't know what is.

Yoga is where I practice accepting all of life's challenges, stiffness and sore spots as blessings with the miracle that is my body. And when I do I leave my mat happier, healthier, with an open heart and a curious ambition to love deeper and more freely.

My dear friend Eric gave me this cookbook for Christmas.

It's majorly yummy! Lots of spices and garlic, cooking with healing water and a complete absence of traditional measurements. It encourages you to use your intuition and cook not with just ingredients but with intention and love as well. It's mostly vegan with some cheese thrown in here and there. The yogic tradition encourages a vegetarian diet. Why? Non-violence. :)
My husband had some friends over the other night so I thought I'd make them some kundalini yoga munchies...
FALAFEL
handful of chickpeas
4 garlic cloves
few pinches of baking powder
olive oil
cumin
paprika
sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Add all the ingredients together in a food processor and blend.
(I just smashed my mix up myself. Boy did I go to town on those beans!)
Roll into small balls about the size of a walnut
Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and cook for about 30 minutes

I drizzled mine with olive oil and a bit of Braggs liquid aminos and served it with a delicious dip, my mom says it tastes just like a sour cream and onion dip. If you've never tried veganaise, please do and be amazed. It's a dairy free, healthier version of mayonnaise. Incredible for vegans and non vegans alike.

DELICIOUS DIP
Veganaise
garlic powder
onion powder
dried parsley
A scoop or two of veganaise a shake each of the rest and voila!

VAND CHAKNA GUACAMOLE
"Vand Chakna" means to sit together and eat.
3 avocados
chopped onion
2 handfuls fresh parsley (I went with traditional cilantro)
1 small green chili diced
1 tomato diced
juice of 2 limes
2 large green bell peppers

Place all ingredients together except bell peppers
Again it calls for a food processor but I just mixed it with a spoon
Cut off tops of bell peppers, deseed, fill with mix and serve

Served it with tortilla chips. Happy healthy fun food.


If you're at all inspired and jonesin for a yoga class check out this studio

www.risinglotusyoga.com
The most amazing community. Wonderful teachers. It's a sanctuary on Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks. Tell them Ciera sent you!

namaste

The sweetest things

There is nothing more healing for the body or the mind than the embrace and release of Love.
I've found that to be true in my experience of life again and again. Sometimes though, I hate myself or someone else, a situation or maybe even the weather. I hate it. I let the heat of that hate bellow up from deep within and twist my perceptions along with my insides. I lash out and find every excuse not to love. And then, then I suffer. Then I hurt like hell. I wake up with a sore throat and a dizzy moment of remembrance akin to what one might feel after a heavy night of drinking, a sort of "oh gawd, what have I done?". I look around at what or who I've broken and swallow the bitterness of guilt. But, as soon as I let it, Love enters and never fails to heal. In a moment all is washed away. I'm clean. I'm free. Where once there was that heat of hate I now feel joy. I'm all of a sudden laughing. I'm smiling. I can see things for what they really are. And the great thing about Love is that it's catching. Can't carry it to long without dropping some into a neighbors lap. Look see, now we're both smiling. Ah, Love. Friendly current, opening, thing itself. Sure, Valentines Day can be cheesy, but a chance to give a little Love is anything but. I LOVE YOU!

And, I have to share, I LOVE my sweet husband. We just got back from a trip to NYC (amazing!) and that quesadilla and pizza loving boy took me out to a vegan macrobiotic restaurant. Now that's love. It's called Souen, www.souen.net, and is quite possibly my favorite restaurant ever. It's macrobiotic which I feel is the healthiest way to eat and how I eat most of the time. Loads of balancing whole grains, veggies, sea veggies and beans. Simple and so good. If you're ever in NYC and find yourself there, try the Burdock Kimpira!



Sweet husband is, like I mentioned, not a vegan. But, he is slowly and surely making little changes in his diet since he's been learning the truth about the food he eats. Go him! Just a few years ago he ate his first salad ever! Now, I make him sauteed kale everyday and he LOVES it. So much so, that he ordered a kale shot at dinner and downed it all in one gulp. This thing was huge. I was amazed. And after chugging a whole glass of fresh juiced apple juice he was on one kick.



We went to the theater and before the end of the first act I think even the cast members could hear a strange growl emanating from that boys stomach. He rushed off to the bathroom and came back with quite a story! In his own words, "he lost 4 lbs". So, if you're ever constipated or feel a bit sluggish in the gut, lay off the laxatives and rely on good ol mother nature to get it and you through. ;)



I baked some vegan Valentines treats for my classmates at my acting school. There's always a way to indulge and stay healthy. Here's the recipes!

CHOCOLATE APRICOT COINS
from "The Kind Diet"

2 cups vegan chocolate chips
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons safflower oil
20 dried Turkish apricots

Place the chocolate chips, syrup and oil in the top of a double boiler and place over a pot of simmering water. If you don't have a double boiler, place a stainless steel bowl over boiling water and melt the ingredients in it. Turn off the heat, cover and let sit until the chocolate melts, 5-10 minutes.

While the chocolate melts, use a rolling pin to pound the apricots to an even 1/4" thickness (be careful not to squish them!). Dip the apricots in the melted chocolate and place on a sheet of wax paper. Chill in the fridge until hardened.

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY COOKIES
from "The Vegan Table"

1/3 cup nondairy butter (Earth Balance is delicious)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
as much preserves as needed (i used raspberry)

Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheet with foil.
Beat butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, milk and vanilla extract together until creamy. In another bowl combine flour and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined.
Roll batter into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Use your thumb to make a well in the center of each cookie, flattening each down as you go but keeping it intact.
Using a little spoon fill in each well with preserves. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes (mine took about 14).


I had a bunch of melted chocolate from the CHOCOLATE DIPPED APRICOTS left over so I made these...

Just tossed some shredded coconut into the chocolate, mixed it, shaped it into little hearts and stuck them in the freezer to harden. Yum...

"The Kind Diet"

It seems fitting to me to start this health and happiness blogging off with a shout out to the book that inspired it all.
"The Kind Diet" by Alicia Silverstone has truly changed my vision of what it is to be a vegan and a human-heck it's changed my life. It's so good, so profound, that I stayed up all night hungrily reading it the first day I bought it...and I do mean hungrily, the recipes in this book are ridiculous!

In a nutshell the book explains in depth all the philosophical, statistical, nutritional and delectable reasons to exchange our standard american diet of heavily processed foods, meats and cheeses for a plant-based diet. But, it's anything but a lecture. It's kind. It's written from the heart of someone who's only intention is to share what she deeply believes will bring more joy and healing into the readers life. It's fun and enlightening, very practical and non-judgmental.

It's broken up into sections. First, there is a thorough examination of the truth behind the food that we are taught to believe is good for us and how, frankly, it's destroying our bodies, our planet and our hope for a healthy, harmonious future. For me, even though I have been a vegan for years, I was surprised by some of the things that I was learning. The truth behind the amount of hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, mass production, destruction of the planet, links to diseases and lies driven by greed was quite appalling. It felt so good to finally have this information though, and after having it a change in diet seemed the only logical and ethical decision, for me that is. Depressing much? No! The book doesn't stop there! It continues on in a very gentle and inspired way to go into detail about the amazing healing powers of an organic plant-based diet: veggies, fruits, beans, nuts, legumes and whole grains. It's broken up into 3 chapters to help gradually move a person into flirting with the idea of adding more healthy foods to their diet. And it ends with a load of delicious and decadent recipes! Food! My favorite part!

Just a Few Food Facts...
*Number of acres of U.S. forest which have been cleared to create cropland to produce a meat- centered diet: 260,000,000
*Amount of trees spared per year by each individual who switches to a pure vegetarian diet: 1 acre
*Risk of death from heart attack for the average American man: 50%
*Risk of death from heart attack for the average American man who consumes no meat, dairy products or eggs: 4%
*Percentage of total antibiotics used in U.S. fed routinely to livestock: 55
*Sea vegetables have 26X calcium as cows milk
*Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on 1 acre of land: 20,000
*Pounds of beef that can be produced on 1 acre of land: 165
*How frequently a child dies of starvation: Every 2.3 seconds

Although I was pretty healthy when I read the book I was still very much in the dark about a lot of things. I was eating a lot of processed foods, ignoring my need for whole grains, loading up on the salt, obsessing over a need for excess protein (a myth debunked in the book along with many others, like milk being the only place to get calcium) and just in a funk with my boring broccoli and almond diet. My diet has been transformed. Loads of whole grains, sea vegetables and just more balanced meals have blossomed out of the understanding and knowledge that I gained from the book. I wasn't looking to for sure, but since the adoption of a kinder diet I've lost 5 pounds, just sorta fell off. But more importantly I feel amazing body and mind! You can too!

I highly recommend the book for anyone who is toying with the idea of making a few changes in their diet. It's, like I said, very non-judgemental and just plain good. I mean really good! How about some chocolate peanut-butter cups, pizza, cookies-all for your health??

More to come soon! Happiness and health to you and your lovely bones!

Heres a recipe I can't wait to try from The Kind Diet:

Moroccan Couscous



SERVES 6

INGREDIENTS
2 cups peeled butternut squash, cut into 1/4” to 1/2” cubes
2 cups yellow onion, large dice
1 1/2 cups carrots, cut into 1/4” to 1/2” cubes
1 1/2 cups zucchini, cut into 3/4” cubes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Fine sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons Earth Balance butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
1 1/2 cups whole wheat couscous
2 scallions, white and green parts, chopped

STEPS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the squash, onion, carrots and zucchini on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.
Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, turning once with a spatula about midway through.
While the vegetables roast, bring the vegetable broth to a boil in a saucepan.
Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the butter, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, cumin, saffron and salt to taste.
Cover the pan and steep for 15 minutes.
Scrape the roasted vegetables and their juices into a large bowl, and add the couscous.
Bring the vegetable broth back to a boil, and pour over the couscous mixture all at once.
Cover tightly with a plate and allow to stand for 15 minutes.
Add the scallions, toss the couscous and vegetables with a fork, and serve.

Voila!

To begin

I have discovered the beauty, depth and wholeness of health. I'd like to share that depth with you.

Let me give a brief history of the health of this journey called me. I grew up extrememly toxic. No one ever cooked in my house growing up. I ate nothing but fast food. Dinner was a #3 with a diet coke or a whole bag of Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles. I was anorexic, bulimic, asthmatic, alcoholic, a drug addict and a pot head. I was quite unhappy too. But I was a vegetarian and then a vegan and slowly these little pieces of my life, that when taken on had little to do with health concerns, bloomed into a way of life that aided in my freedom from all these disorders.

I am now just about 24 years old and my health today is a far stretch from yesterday. I am more healthy now than ever before. Why? Because I am more aware in my life now than ever before. I no longer struggle with an eating disorder, I no longer have asthma, I have not been sick in I don't know how long, I have beautiful skin and hair, I am never constipated, I have tons of energy, I am fit, I am strong, I am joyful, I am more loving and I am of a clear mind. I did not start out this way. My health-body mind and soul-is in my hands and it was only when I realized this that I was able to heal and allow my life to blossom in ways that I could not have forseen.

I truly believe that by being more conscious about what you eat and how you treat your body can lead to greater happiness and deep self-realization. Being conscious in this essential part of your life has the power to transform in astounding ways. It forces you to become more aware in your life. It teaches you that there are consequences for every action-no matter how small-and those consequences can either lift you up or tear you down. It illustrates your place in the whole of life and how vast and outstetching that place is no matter how small you are, or feel you are, because you begin to see how your choices affect the entirety. It gives you the opportunity to practice compassion on a daily basis. It teaches you how you are not a body, but that you have a body and you are that which decides how you will treat it. And it puts the power of change and ascension back in your hands. You feel better. You look better. Everything in your life is touched with the health you are gaining physically, mentally and emotionally. The planet thrives and you become part of the solution. You become aligned with the outflowing and expanding harmony that orchestrates all of creation. You are tuned into it. You've removed the rift. Your simplest of actions are aiding and not destroying. That which is best for your health, the planet and your fellow man you are taking part in. And that just feels damn good. It tastes damn good too.

This is what has become a living reality in my life. I wish for nothing more than to share this with anyone who is searching, curious or with the slightest interest in perhaps bringing more joy and longevity into their world.

With this blog I will share anything and everything that I think might bring information about what may be good for your health, whether that be the health of your body mind or soul. Expect lots of vegan facts, delicious recipies and inspiring stories of weight loss and healing through a plant based diet. But also poetry, opportunities to outreach, ways to conserve and give, secret joys and just about anything else that tickles my fancy. I am only on my humble journey so please let me know what you think or if you have any tips. And please ask if you have any questions at all!

I feel the great pull of expression in my heart that brings my fingers to these keys, but YOU are why I do this. I dedicate this blog to you, that it's love may meet you with the same fervor from which it sprang.

from my hands to yours.