Otherwise known as the vegetarian staple, "The Buddha Bowl," at 'Niwas we aim to make the commitment to keep all of our Buddha Bowls as "local" as possible, depending on the season.

Always start with your base!
The best Farm bowl starts with a hearty base.  During summer and fall season, we like to roast a mix of potatoes and root vegetables from the Farm or from local Farm friends at the Farmers' Market.  Some options for your hearty base include (but are not limited to!):

• potatoes (baby potatoes are divine!)
• patty pan squash
• sweet potatoes/yams
• pumpkin
• turnips
• fennel
• zucchini
• cauliflower (riced cauliflower can also be a great Farm bowl base)
• various other squash options!
• Sometimes, instead of the root vegetables we incorporate our own locally grown Barley Risotto as a base (we can provide this recipe soon!)

Of course, in the winter season or early Spring, we may have to supplement with an organic quinoa or rice base.  This can also be an option.

Then select your greens!
There are so many options here!  We like to select our various lettuce greens if we cook the base in advance and can let the base cool for more of a hearty salad.  For a warm bowl, you can use beet greens, kale, and/or mizuna.  They can be fresh or sautéed for some variation.

​Then add some locally-sourced veggie pizzazz!
Keep your base and greens company with some locally sourced veggies.  At least 2 other ingredients keep the Farm bowls looking beautiful and offering dense nutritional value.  Some options we incorporate include:

• shredded carrot
• shredded and/or pickled beet
• shredded zucchini
• chopped tomato
• steamed beans
• chopped/fried cabbage
• steamed broccoli/cauliflower
• capsicum/pepper
• sliced radishes
• fruits and berries can be a nice addition too - we often incorporate Huckleberries, apples, and/or pears

Protein is a nice addition.
Some local proteins we add include chopped Alpine meadows cheese, homemade Halloumi cheese or boiled eggs.

Fresh herbs are necessary in our books.
We love our fresh garden herbs around here.  Our favorite is chopped dill however chopped parsley or cilantro can also add some depth of flavour.

Don't forget the dressing!
Farm Bowl dressing is a staple at 'Niwas.  The general recipe we use is:

• 4 parts oil (olive, safflower, or coconut)
• 1 part Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 part sweetness (maple syrup or honey)
• 1 part Tahini sauce
• 1 part tamari
• 1 part nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp ginger
• 2 scallions
• salt and pepper

Blend and voila!  Feel free to play around with the amounts and parts.  During our "local" Sadhana, we only use oil, apple cider vinegar, local honey, tamari, nutritional yeast, scallions and any herbs we see fit.

Buddha and Farm Bowls become such a fun and playful way to simplify your diet, connect with seasonal items, and share ideas with friends.  Do you have any tips for your local bowls?  We'd love to hear them!

- by Swami Yogatirthananda Saraswati (Switzerland), From YogaMag November 2001

After the hard month of sincerity I was looking forward to an easy time with simplicity. In regard to the previous ITIES simplicity meant not to complicate or overdo the study and practice of the ITIES. Simplicity implies spontaneity.

Simplicity in regard to life itself meant a simple yogic lifestyle - I use italics as it is such a wide concept. I think I do lead a simple life, trying to do with the minimum of consumer goods required in Western Europe and by a teenage son.

I do consider myself a simple-minded person. My interaction with people is spontaneous and honest. If it gets complicated, I withdraw. So with this view of myself and the lifestyle I lead, I was very confident about the month of simplicity.

Yet, as I soon found out, the test was not to be simple, as comes easily to my nature, but the challenge was to live up to the reactions of others. Simplicity in our society is equal to stupidity. It takes great humility to accept the mockery and sneers with which simplicity is met in the world today. Scheming and doing things in a twisted way is the more accepted way of interacting. At work, I realized that simple, unpretentious interaction is considered as silly or even stupid behaviour. Gossip, behind-the-back plotting and manoeuvring are the tricks and methods that are accepted, highly regarded and rewarded.

The test for me therefore was to keep on being simple, and above all to accept in all humility the judgement of others. Not wanting fortune or fame, or career or a smart car is an attitude that is considered by many as downright stupid. I got hurt, laughed at in many ways, taken advantage of without even noticing because I did not know the game that was being played, or if I did, I refused to play it.

So, the month of simplicity was anything but easy. It was the first time I had to defend quietly an ITY in the face of the social environment I live in. It was a painful experience and an incredible challenge to humility. I could see that for others a month of simplicity might be completely different, might imply giving up ambitions, cutting down on luxuries, relating more frankly with friends and colleagues.

For me it meant upholding an idea, an ITY, I believe in. Of course, this is based on the values and priorities I have set in my life. Simplicity is one of these values, and at the same time living simply gives me space and time to work on other values. Simplicity is an incredible energy-saving and stress-preventing ITY.
​
Simplicity
Is nothing else but
Mindfulness in constant
Practice - for the
Love of all.
Inside, outside, this and that
Come together once again,
Inspired by the only
Truth, that
You and all are simply one.
​

As we begin to anticipate and see signs of life returning to normal, I've been reflecting a lot about the changes my family and I made over the past year and a half, and which of those changes constitute growth that would be worth carrying forward and integrating into our post-pandemic life.

Although we have been largely limited recently in our ability to explore the outside world, we have undoubtedly (if not relentlessly) been exploring our inner world: our anger, frustration, sadness, feelings of helplessness, fear and anxiety, grief, sense of injustice; and yet, in the face of these, we have also explored our empathy, humility, sense of community, service to others, and appreciation of new, simpler joys in life. 
This prolonged period of adversity and constant inner adjustment throughout the pandemic has caused many of us to rise to new levels of global and self awareness, inner independence, inner freedom, and inner joy, though we may not quite realize it yet.

What happens when you have been working outside in the heat of the peak of summer, sweating, thirsty, aching and then finally at the end of the day you are invited to move indoors into a cool, air conditioned room? Suddenly life seems so comfortable and easy! Yet, if you had worked the whole day in that air conditioned room, you would not have appreciated the break from the heat so much, nor would you have gained that same strength which suddenly made life out of the sun seem so easy.

In Yoga, we are constantly learning how to deal with our own inner heat: our anger, our greed, our endless desires, our jealousies, our arrogance, all the raw, unrefined inner qualities that burn us from the inside out and can make ordinary life seem so uncomfortable.

The pandemic has burned many of us. No doubt it has been a humbling experience for humanity. Definitely I wish that it had never happened and, at the same time, part of being an aspiring Yogi is to always try to find the silver lining, to find something that we can learn, and to use the adversity as a launching pad for self-transformation. I'm not saying that we always succeed, but I think we do succeed more than we give ourselves credit for just by going through the natural process of life. 

Previously, my little family of 4 was always on the go. My kids were enrolled in everything and we were always out of the house. At the time, I thought that I was helping their development and socialization, running from gymnastics to music, to soccer, to art class, to swimming, to play cafes, to playgrounds, to playdates - and definitely there's no doubt that these activities are good for them. But, the more I reflect back after being mostly at home with my kids over the past year and a half without much help and my husband at work most of the time, I realize now that we went out so much because I didn't know how to just be home with the kids in harmony and joy. If we were home for too long, they would become antsy, and things would start to get chaotic. So we would go out! Let someone else lead that class while we just have fun!

But no, this was a luxury mostly lost to us for the past year and a half. I had to face many difficult moments and days at home with my kids. I was burnt out from constantly remaining in one role day-in-and-day-out, momming 24/7 and being constantly interrupted no matter what essential task I was trying to accomplish. I became exhausted. My ability to concentrate whittled away. My anger surfaced. My frustration surfaced. But I didn't want to be angry. I wanted to enjoy these precious years with my kids at home while they are young. So, that became the platform for finding patience, giving up caffeine, letting go of a certain amount of organization, having less, doing less (and mostly just what is essential), learning to flow with what is instead of what I want, and finding joy in the simple, mundane, every day moments of life. I still have moments I'm not proud of, but they are much fewer and farther in between, and the intensity of the emotion is much less. That inner fire doesn't burn me like it used to.

Now, I feel like my inner environment is able to more closely match the simplicity of the outer routine. I have gone through the withdrawal of having less and doing less, and have found the way to increased peace, gratitude, presence, and joy. I don't need to have as much or do as much to feel content and satisfied with life. I am able to appreciate and find joy at home and in the simple things: in the garden, doing art with my kids, sitting and reading books, bath time, going for a drive, making food, watching a show, family trips to the grocery store, even comforting my son during a mild tantrum (awwww). We cuddle, we snack, we nap, we sing, we dance, we explore, we sit, we play.
​
The mind is a funny thing. Sometimes, the less we have, the happier we are. The more we have, the more we want, we crave, we need. The fire burns and the mind will not let us rest from our pursuit of fulfillment. Now that I have discovered the link between simplicity and santosha, or contentment, I don't want to slide back into my old ways once all is accessible again. Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to life opening up again, connecting with community and doing more. But I will be doing it in a more measured and mindful way. A simple life is more than enough.
​
Sannyasi Gyanhira is a Board Member of the Living Yoga Society.  She has spent over 3 years studying in Ashram with her Guru Swami Niranjanananda and now resides in Vancouver BC. Sn Gyanhira is mother to two blessed, happy, and energetic little boys, ages 2 and 4 years old and in 2017, founded a small business called CommUnity Maternity Shop.  On the website of this shop, Gyanhira creates a blog  called the Yoga of Motherhood Blog where she writes about the naturally yogic nature and sadhanas of motherhood.