Chai is an Indian beverage, a heated combination of water, milk, tea leaves, sweetener and warming “Indian” spices - mainly cardamom and ginger. It’s great for digestion and overall health, and very open to personal interpretation.

So, I am a big believer in drinking chai every morning. It usually starts my day. But, not the pre-mixed chai you get at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts - too much sweetener in both those "chai" recipes. Good chai, made with love, fresh spices and quality tea, can't be beat. 

Here's my recipe, adapted from Georgiann's recipe - and from my own research and experimentation. Enjoy!

Chai

-To two cups of almost boiling water, add 1/4+ teaspoon (two pinches) of cardamom seeds (I prefer the smaller loose seeds to the whole seed pods).  Add, if available, a couple of “coins” of fresh peeled ginger (nice but not necessary). Bring to a boil then simmer gently for about 1 minute.

- Add one big heaping TBS loose tea or two Red Rose tea bags.  Also add at least a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of ground chai spice mix (see below) - more spice, more “kick!”. Simmer for 2 minutes.

-To this, add one cup of milk, more or less - it should be rich looking, caramel-colored.

-Next, add a sweetener to taste (see below) I usually do a little less than a tablespoon of sweetener for these proportions. 

-Simmer it for about one minute or longer, depending on how strong you like your tea and if you like the milk to get frothy. Stir it gently a few times, then take it off the heat.

-Let it rest for a smidge, (add honey here if using that as a sweetener) then stir, strain into a container and serve.  A french press works great, too.

This recipe is good for two servings of chai. You can easily double this and put some in the fridge for later on.

Tea Base:  I suggest Irish Breakfast, Ceylon, or Assam. Decaf Irish is great if you are cutting down on caffeine. Loose tea is the best, but I find that Red Rose bags make the best “bag” tea version. (Lipton and Twinings aren’t strong enough.)

Sweetener: Turbinado sugar, cane sugar, honey, agave, maple syrup, rice, palm or coconut sugar. I prefer turbinado and maple syrup. Note: Honey is great, but should not be “cooked” - it is bad for digestion when cooked, so add it after the tea cooled slightly.

Milk - 1/3 to 1/2 of final tea should be milk - whole, 2%, almond, coconut or soy milk. I prefer whole cows milk.

Spice mix - I prefer my chai with a little kick, which it gets from ginger and pepper. Experiment with spices that you enjoy. You can get spices anywhere they sell bulk spices. The main part should be ground Cardamom and a little less ground ginger. (about 2 to 1)  Open the jars and see what smells great to you! Besides the cardamom and ginger, my spice mix contains: Ground Cinnamon (go for the Ceylon - well worth the price), Ground Cloves, Ground Nutmeg, Dried Ground Orange Peel, ground Black and/or White Pepper (less is more here! Don’t overdo the pepper!) I buy bulk and mix up a big batch of this, and I vary it according to season (ie. in winter, more pepper!) I add whole cinnamon sticks and whole star anise to just hang out in the jar with everything.  It lasts a long time. Fennel is a nice addition, too if you like that licorice taste. (You can also add vanilla to your drink, along with the sweetener.)

Drink your chai with enjoyment and love!

(This is part 1 in a three-part series of blog entries on this subject.)

"Is this really for me?"  or "I just don't feel like practicing today" or “I’m too old to be doing this.” Whatever thoughts you've had about whether or not you should roll out your mat and start your Ashtanga practice, I guarantee that I have probably had them as well. Patanjali outlined the obstacles to practice (and, apparently, there are nine of them, including illness/injury, laziness, discouragement, and uncertainty) in his Yoga Sutras at least 2,200 years ago, so you are not alone in your experience - even the ancient yogis had a hard time making the effort to practice yoga.

I'd like to offer folks who are experiencing obstacles to practice some gentle advice that may help you roll out your mat when you least want to.

1. Breath. Like other forms of asana practice,  Ashtanga is a breathing exercise, more than anything. All you have to do is breath mindfully, really. When you move upwards, you inhale, when you move downwards, you exhale. That's Ashtanga at it's most basic. You breath ujayi breath, freely and deeply through your nose. Each breath is accompanied by a specific movement. Your breath guides you in and out of postures. Don't think about time limits or set a time goal. Just roll out your mat, start breathing mindfully and moving with the breath, and see how far that takes you. You'll soon discover, you are practicing.

In practice, if you forget to breathe, you lose life force, lightness and joy in the practice. Practice becomes stilted, hard, and doesn’t flow without the breath. It becomes a chore or task to be gotten through, and you’ll get tired quickly, and you be less inclined to practice the next time. So, listen to your breath and let it guide you. If you are having trouble breathing, then stop or slow down, take rest. Do what you need to get your breath back, and don’t feel bad when you do. No one will judge you. If they do, that’s their problem. Let go of competition and treat yourself with ahimsa, compassion, the first and foremost of the Yamas.

2. Be playful. Ashtanga is best when enjoyed playfully, like when you were trying something new as a kid. Remember your first leap from a high dive? Exhilaration arose in you - and perhaps fear, too. Thoughts will arise - for new and seasoned students alike - such as, “I want to try this. It looks like fun, but I think I’m not be able to do this. This is scary. I might get hurt.”  That’s understandable - fear, or abinivesha,  is one of the kleshas or afflictions that cloud our knowledge of the True Self. Patanjali said even the wise suffer from this klesha - which is really  fear of death or annihilation.

How do you get past fear? By facing the challenge using focus on ujayi breath, a good dose of equanimity, and a healthy curiosity about the potential of your mind and body. Transform the practice or the challenging asana into a form of play. Take joy in dropping into you body and just practicing, and find joy in whatever you accomplish, even if you tried and it didn’t quite work. Follow Krishna’s advice in the Gita - don’t get attached to results and just act! Breath, stay calm, and do your best. If you can’t do a posture, don’t get discouraged. Try it again the next time you practice, and don’t give up. Working with a teacher you can trust is vitally important when fear arises, too - so find a good Ashtanga teacher you can trust who can help you move safely through and past fear to a place of discovery and fun.

3. Practice regularly and consistently, daily if possible. This doesn’t mean that every day you treat yourself to a kick-ass, 90+ minute, hard core sweat bath of a practice, where you go all out and end up exhausted.  Ashtanga was developed by householders (people with families, jobs and lives in the real world) for householders. If all you have is 15-30 minutes to practice because of the business of given day, then do as much of the practice that you can do in that time - and always take a few minutes rest.  You will not regret it - it’s better than a coffee break. Shorter practice is especially good when you are a beginner and building strength and stamina, and great when you are coming back from injury, too.

At first, do as much of the practice that you have time for, at a regular and consistent time, at least a few days of your week. Work up to a daily practice. Always take at least one day off a week, especially if you practice daily. (And it’s not truly an “every day” practice: in the Ashtanga system, women get a monthly “holiday” when they menstruate, and all practitioners get new and full moon days off, too. This works out sometimes to just 4 days a week.) If you are lucky enough to have a good Ashtanga teacher in your community, work regularly with them and develop trust and confidence in each other. Consistency and regularity are your friends with Ashtanga.

4. Don’t give in to the dark side. Don’t judge yourself, compare yourself with others or compete. No matter how proficient, how flexible or how strong you become, even if you devote your entire existence to this practice, there will eventually be a posture that will be impossible for you.  There will always be someone who is stronger, more flexible, who has practiced longer and more often, and who is more proficient in the practice. This does not mean you are a failure, or that they are necessarily a “better” practitioner. When you compare, you judge yourself.  So let go of comparison. When you judge yourself, you’ll get discouraged - and you’ll eventually quit.

To defeat the dark side in practice, use breath and your drishti - your focus or gaze. Keep your eyes on your own practice and off fellow students. (This is much easier to do in the Mysore style classes). Listen to your breath and let your mind become quiet. Pattabhi Jois said, “When the mind is quiet, the asana is correct.” He didn’t say, “When the body is perfectly aligned and you are demonstrating the posture accurately, the asana is correct.” The intention is to quiet the mind and develop the ability to concentrate on a point of focus for longer and longer periods of time. Don’t give in to or nurture negative, unhelpful, random thought processes.  That’s your mind trying to distract you - because your ego, or the small self, doesn’t want to be quieted and controlled. Notice negative thoughts as they arise, let them go with compassion and a gentle laugh of recognition (“There goes my mind, trying to distract me again!”) and bring your attention to your gaze and your breath and how good it feels just to breath and be present. Repeat as needed, and your mind will go to the “dark side” less and less.

(Part 2 coming soon....)

Ashtanga is the original “vinyasa yoga”, from which the modern Western forms of Power, Vinyasa, Hot, and/or Flow yoga styles arose. It’s a challenging practice, that inspires exhilaration, despair, bliss, self-judgement, fear, and euphoria - sometimes simultaneously.

Not only do you need to work on the asanas in Ashtanga, you’re also encouraged to focus on three key elements of practice - bandhas (internal energy locks, inherent in every asana) drishti (gaze) and most importantly, ujayi (victorious) breath. Plus, every movement in Ashtanga is accompanied by a specific inhale or exhale of ujayi breath. Besides balancing these elements, the Ashtanga practice, when practiced Mysore (or self-led) style, encourages the student to memorize the sequence of postures over time, with the generous help and guidance of their teacher. While memorization of the postures may seem daunting, it’s quite empowering and truly enhances your practice. This is how Ashtanga is taught in Mysore, India, the birthplace of Ashtanga. Although the physical and mental challenges can be difficult at first, they do create a very deep and authentic form of practice, and help the student develop the ability to create a home practice, too.

I was a young mother of three when I found Ashtanga 13 years ago, and I loved it immediately as it opened me up physically, spiritually and mentally.  I noticed at first only that my body was responding - I was stronger, healthier, slept better and had more energy for my family. Gradually, I began to realize that I was happier, and more conscious. While having children rids you of the self-absorption of youth, doing Ashtanga rids you of the self-absorption of adulthood - the practice cultivates compassion and a lighter approach to daily life.

Perseverance and a positive outlook helped me get through those times when postures just seemed impossible. I found that if I focused first on the ujayi breath and let go of the need to compete with myself (or with anyone for that matter), then everything else would fall into place. The breath is truly key to the Ashtanga practice - it keeps you safe from injury, guides you throughout practice, and makes the body happy. And if the body feels good, the mind and spirit follow. The body should feel good throughout all of practice: don’t fight with it, force it or punish it. Try to make your practice that part of the day when the body is doing something it wants to do, not something it’s required to do.

Ashtanga yoga is meant to be done six days a week for the greatest benefit. This doesn’t always mean a 90 minute class, where you might challenge yourself to the point of exhaustion. Even 15 minutes a day of sun salutations, done mindfully and integrated with breath, bandhas and drishti, can be enough to see positive changes begin to occur. So, do a little bit every day, as much as you can. You’ll never regret rolling out your mat. And, over time, you will see your mind, body and spirit awaken, lighten up and become happier, healthier, stronger.

The first time I went to a yoga studio, almost 14 years ago, I arrived filled with a mixture of anxiety and hope. I had done a bit of yoga, but had taken a break for a few years to have babies (this was before the days of pre-natal yoga classes.) So, I was anxious that I would feel ridiculous, and afraid I wouldn't be able to do any of the postures. I was afraid they'd expect me to chant, too! Still, I was hoping I could release some of the stress of my daily life, of being a Mother to very young children (my son was only two weeks old at the time - I had two daughters as well, ages 6 and 17 months.) I really needed to find some peace and quiet.

I had no idea what the class would be like. But, I had done a bit of "corporate" yoga when I was working at MassMutual, so I felt I could handle things generally. And, nothing ventured, nothing gained. All I knew was that I was tired, stressed out, and living unconsciously, just trying to get through life. As Deepak Chopra says, I was a "human doing, not a human being."

So, I found a studio in the Yellow Pages (yes, folks, this was before such things as the Internet!) and told my husband when he came home from work that evening, "I'm exhausted and stressed out. I'm going to a yoga class tonight after dinner."

Well, it was scary. I was asked to leave my shoes at the door and take my socks off, too. With some anxiety, I quietly crept into the softly lit room and looked around. Some folks were already in the room, seated on bolsters, with blankets and blocks by their sides facing the front of the space. I found some props, and then "hid" myself in a spot towards the back of the room. The teacher came in and spoke gently with me for a few moments, whispering words of encouragement. And then she went to the front of the room and led us through a gentle Kripalu style posture class.

It was wonderful. I had taken "yoga" before, but had never experienced the integration of the breath with the postures. The teacher spoke of breathing into my whole body as I moved from side to side and from posture to posture. I felt amazingly peaceful afterward. I  used muscles I didn't know existed. I felt more alive than I had in years. I was grounded, yet wholly energized, too.

It was an epiphany. I knew more than anything after that class that I needed to do this practice, as much as possible, as often as possible. The feeling of fully inhabiting my body, of feeling the breath filling my body with energy and life force was something I would gladly do every day.

It's been many years since that first "true" yoga class. Have I done practice every day since then? Honestly, no - life gets in the way. But, I have never stopped practicing since then, and as my children grew older, and I gained more time for myself, I find that now I can practice 5 times a week, generally - even while teaching yoga, running a business and being a wife, and mother to those three children. (I did give up TV.) Over the years, I've had the opportunity to train as a yoga teacher, studying with amazing people who generously shared their expertise and wisdom with me. I've had times when I couldn't even do a sun salute, or even sit in dandasana (staff) posture because of the pain in my low back (that's a long story, for another blog entry). And I've had practices where I felt as if I was effortlessly floating from posture to posture. Through it all, the practice has been there for me, uncritical, compassionate, life changing, and forever evolving and deepening.

Why do I practice? Because it just feels good. I feel fully awake, aware and whole when I practice. In fact, I think I'm going to roll out my mat right now.