by Brianna | Feb 2, 2017 | Breathing, Change, Chanting, Fear, Power of Thought, practice, Yoga
“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace I often return to Ticht Nhat Hanh’s beautiful teachings on presence and peace in times of personal unease. His words help me, to: calm myself, turn inward, tune in, and serve as a reminder to wake up. His simple teachings are a firm reminder to: be here, now. Recently, as part of my practice, I listened to an interview between him and Krista Tippett on: On Being As an aside, I listen to On Being, a lot – which is why I have noted it before. One of my self care rituals is to rest supine in a restorative pose and listen to this brilliant show, where beings – from many disciplines – wax poetic about their beliefs, their thoughts, their motivations. Its fascinating really. Its definitely worth discovering. An additional aside, self care becomes MORE necessary during difficult times. What simple things are you doing today to take care of you? Right now, I am finding the energy of the world very chaotic. Currently, there is a lot of strife, upset, and intensity in our country and abroad. There is a lot of fear. We are living in a very tense and intense time both politically and socially. For me, the landscape is proving more and more difficult to navigate. As a librarian and historian I am finding it challenging to wrap my mind around the notion of “alternative facts” or that one religious group should be the...
by Brianna | Jan 12, 2017 | Healing, Healing Recipes
I love simple food and I am especially fond of simple soup. There is something so nurturing about a pot of something simmering on the stove and filling the house with its aroma. This soup is about as simple as it can get and doesn’t contain cream or flour so it is both vegan and gluten free. Next time you have a friend on a limited diet dish this decadent and creamy soup up. Brianna’s Potato Leek Soup 2 leeks, root and top 1/3 removed, sliced into 4″ pieces 4 Potatoes, peeled, rinsed and quartered 4 stems of Thyme (remove stem) 4 stems of Rosemary (remove stem) 4 cloves garlic, peeled 6 cups veggie stock (homemade stock is best) Salt and pepper to taste Remember: nothing has to be cut perfectly because it will be blended. Bring this pot of goodness to a boil then immediately turn down the heat. Allow this to simmer for at least 45-minutes or longer. The potatoes and leeks should both be soft. If you have one, use an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender in batches, and blend this simple soup to a creamy consistency. Personally, if I have time, I like to make soup a day ahead and reheat it before serving. I find that letting the soup rest really allows the flavors to combine....
by Brianna | Sep 12, 2016 | practice, Transformation, Yoga
I think that we can all agree that on September 11th, that heart breaking beautiful day, we awoke to one reality and went to sleep in another. In the fifteen years since, on each anniversary, I always take time to say a prayer and honor those that passed in my own simple ways. The emotion of that trauma hovers below the surfaces and each year there are tears. I did have a number of friends in NYC that day and many of them worked in the towers – luckily, all of them survived. Like many, I spent the majority of that day in absolute shock. Calling anyone I could think of to give me information about my loves. I had just moved to Pittsburgh for graduate school in Library Science of all things – I mean seriously what was my younger self thinking with that? As the Towers fell I thought that I couldn’t have chosen a worse thing to study. Although it is an of service degree it became immediately apparent to me that it wouldn’t be of service enough. I almost dropped out. The week after 9/11 as I moved through the reality of living near no one I actually knew, I remembered thinking that this is why people go to church. Church provides instantaneous community and I decided to seek out a yoga studio to help me deal with the trauma of my changed reality. Although I had been practicing for years already, my practice wasn’t deep, and I decided to make it so. I decided to practice daily and to use Yoga as way to...
