Ishtadev Niwas Ashram
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Living Local, Living Yoga Recipe - The Best Pumpkin Ginger Curry Soup!

14/12/2021

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This simple, vegan, nourishing recipe got rave reviews recently!  We'd love to share it with you all.  Such a wonderful way to honour all those pumpkins offering themselves up in the Fall.  At 'Niwas we had a "volunteer" pumpkin plant pop up in Devi's garden that produced FOURTEEN decent pumpkins this year.  Wow, talk about abundance!

This recipe can be adapted as a "Living Local" recipe if you substitute coconut oil/milk for local butter and milk.  You can also skip the ginger or simply use dried ginger or other spice alternative. 
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Try this recipe out and let us know what you think.  This soup freezes really well also so don't hesitate in making a large batch.

Ingredients for Vegan Alternative version:
  • approx. 1 kilogram pumpkin – Any variety will do, we used the volunteer pumpkins from Devi's garden which seemed to be pie pumpkins.  You can also use other squash to substitute or support this soup.
  • 1 onion
  • 2-3 stalks celery
  • 500 mL vegetable stock
  • 1 can coconut milk or cream
  • About 3-4 thumb sized pieces of ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp curry
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg or allspice
  • Coconut oil for roasting the pumpkin and sautéing the onions/celery
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 180 C and line a large tray with parchment paper (or use a non-stick tray). 
  2. Place chunks of pumpkin on tray, place coconut oil on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast pumpkin in the oven for approximately 45 minutes or until super soft and starting to caramelize at the edges.  You can also roast the seeds with some oil, salt and pepper to top the soup with later!
  3. While the pumpkin is roasting, peel the ginger, finely chop the onion, chop the celery and gather the rest of the ingredients.
  4. Sauté the onion and celery in coconut oil, as soon as onions begin to look translucent, add the ginger. Place cooked pumpkin, stock, coconut milk, cumin, curry, nutmeg and cinnamon into pot and cook another 5-10 minutes together. 
  5. Use a hand blender to blend the soup (or a blender).  Blend until super smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
  6. To serve, heat a portion of the soup in a saucepan over the stove.  Garnish with parsley and roasted pumpkin seeds.  You are always welcome to throw in a dollop of sour cream or coconut cream afterwards also!​ ​
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Living Simply, Living Local - The Beauty of Restraint in Practicing Yoga

1/9/2021

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- By OmShanti Pelkonen

A primary Sankalpa for 'Niwas this year is "Be the Solace."  Every action, every breath has been dedicated to this Divine aspiration of SOLACE.  These past months have provided such an opportunity for us all to cultivate restraint and simplicity.  The Living Local retreat has always gifted those at the Ashram experience of freedom that can arise from restraint and this year, this feeling of freedom, for me, felt particularly elevated... I felt the solace.  The solace that was birthed from being with others all dedicated and focused on the Sankalpa of a Paramhansa, and committed to building community and soaking up the teachings of Truth. 

Living Local is a retreat where we dive into the beauty of Karma Yoga and practice the Sadhana of only eating foods from within a 150km radius.  The majority of foods come from Annapoorna Garden herself, here at the Ashram.  This practice and experience of restraint through Sadhana all us to experience that restraint is not a constrictive word; restraint is merely a set of conditions to keep things within limits.  Without self-discipline, there is no opportunity for spiritual development.  Ashram provides opportunity to cultivate self-discipline.  As Swami Sivananda has said: "Discipline harmonizes the opposing elements of the soul."  To harmonize the opposing elements, we learn to balance the impulses - this is Yoga.

My duty throughout the retreat was kitchen lead.  It is always so beautiful to experience the meals "making themselves."  Karma Yogis would come and go in the kitchen, the children would step into action without complaint, and plants would communicate how they wanted to be of service!  The smiles in the photos speak for themselves.  We worked hard, we laughed hard, and ultimately I saw everyone leave the Ashram with full hearts, elevated Prana, and a higher sense of purpose. 

With gratitude for the abundance of Ashram life, community, and the teachings!  
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Harvesting potatoes in Annapoora Garden
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Living Local is one of the few retreats of the year wherein full families may participate. The children were involved in Karma Yoga with full hearts!
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Local bowls make themselves! This year we tried local scones with ground wheat from Annapoorna Garden and hand-churned butter. Incredible!
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In Ashram life, everyone has purpose and duty. Here Pavitra and Bianca and preparing corn for storage (and for the evening meal!)
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Smiling faces! So looking forward to next year!
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Some of the first recipients of meals out of the NEW Annapoorna Kitchen!
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Living Local - Living Yoga Recipe: 'Niwas Farm Bowls

15/6/2021

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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.
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​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!
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Spring at 'Niwas - Sowing seeds in more ways than one

13/3/2021

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- By Caitlyn Borowsky, Student & Karma Yogi

What have we been up to so far this Spring at Niwas?
 
Planting, dreaming and preparing Annapourna Garden.

We began this season with planting onion seeds in mid-February followed a few weeks later with a variety of flowers. So far, we are grateful to be nurturing four types of onions, three varieties of lavender, viola, lupins, ornamental oregano, two varieties of snap dragons, portulaca, asters, chilli peppers, and petunias. On the Piscean New Moon we sowed the seeds of basil and tomatoes, which will become delicious Niwas tomato sauce in the last weeks of Summer.

In addition to planting and tending to the seedlings, we are thoughtfully setting the garden and ourselves up for success for the growing season. We are not only tending to the Land in anticipation, we are also tidying up our own actions and energies to make space for the manifestation of abundance and beauty, so we may spend this next cycle offering from a place of simplicity and full-hearted love.

We are preparing the garden beds to hold and nurture new life by clearing the remnants of last year’s crops and using those remnants to feed the compost which will cycle back to the Earth. Currently, 'Niwas feels much like a space of transformation, regeneration and preparation. Personally, I am am feeling Spring’s frequency of optimism and opportunity, especially as I walk through Annapourna Garden, hearing and dreaming of the possibilities that are on the horizon. 
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The Awakening of Possibility and Opportunity
 
Although nothing truly dies in Nature, Spring does bring about a tangible experience of vitality and life compared to the quietude of Winter, where activity is slower and beneath the surface. We see new life emerging everywhere, from the fresh tips on the fir trees, geese making their way back home, and all of the onion and lavender seedlings thriving towards the Sun. We hear the various melodies of birdsong among the treetops where silence once hung, and we smell the aroma of pine sap beginning to ooze to the surface of their bark. The potentiality of this new growth would not be possible without the offering of what has come before.

At 'Niwas this regeneration is witnessed most tangibly via…compost! Last years' pea shoots, buckwheat stems and oat straw have been broken down and mixed with a generous amount of cow dung all winter to become a vibrant heap of nutrients for this years crops. This regenerative re-cycling shows us the opportunity of letting go of what has served its purpose and to utilize the breakdown of this ‘
death’ to fuel what is to come, what is to be birthed and brought to life.  

Today, in Annapourna Garden there is a sacred sense of vacancy and as I walk along the dormant strawberries and hibernating garlic, the crunch of fallen pinecones and the last remnants of snow beneath dirt covered boots treading where bare feet will soon dance again awakens a sense of joy and optimism within me. At first glance, the garden plots may appear bare and empty but if we take a moment to truly listen, we can sense the vast possibilities that await. Those rows of bare dirt and rotten leaves will soon be transformed into an environment bustling and blooming with calendula, cabbage, tomatoes, honeybees, pumpkin, foxgloves, lupins, chili peppers, and bushes heavy with raspberries and groundcherries. This is what I think of when I imagine explaining what 'Niwas feels like. A home for opportunity and growth and abundance for all living beings, not only reserved for Yogis but also for the insects, the dark eyed juncos and crows, chipmunks, goats and the plants themselves.
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Living Local - Living Yoga Recipe: Local cheese crepes + freshy bruschetta

12/3/2021

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This one is a simple, clean and fresh crowd-pleaser at all of our retreats!  We've based our local crepe recipe on OmShanti's husband's favorite "Finnish pancake" recipe that his Mom taught him to make.  And the bruschetta - well, we've developed this based on inspiration from the beautiful heirloom tomatoes from the Annapoorna Garden.  Once again, we hope you enjoy, are inspired to grow as much of your own and eat local whenever possible.  Eating local is a foundational practice in Yoga Ecology!​
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Crepe ingredients:
  • 2 cups local milk
  • 2 local eggs
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter (we make our own from local whipping cream!)
  • 1 cup local flour (we mill our own from 'Niwas-grown wheat!)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • For laying in between folded crepes: 2-3 cups grated local cheese (we use Alpine Meadows cheese for retreats) and we always throw in spinach/arugula and some fresh dill from the garden.  You can roast up asparagus as well or fry up some shredded zucchini for an added bonus!
Crepe instructions:
  1. Combine and whish crepe ingredients until smooth (everything but the cheese and added greens/veggies).
  2. Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes (or you can let this sit in the fridge overnight).
  3. Heat non-stick or lightly greased pan to medium.  At this point also pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
  4. Pour thin layer of the batter just so it covers the bottom.
  5. Once golden brown on one side, flip and cook the other side.
  6. Once all your crepes are done, you can assemble them for baking by placing shredded cheese and veggies of choice on half the crepe and folding the other half over.  Bake in oven on a baking sheet or pizza pan until cheese appears to have melted (approximately 8-12 mins).
  7. Voila!  Enjoy with "freshy bruschetta" below.
"Freshy 'Niwas Bruschetta Instructions and Ingredients:
  • It's all about the tomatoes!  Dice as many tomatoes as your bowl would like (remove the seeds whenever possible).
  • Chop up a large handful of fresh basil from your or a friend's garden.
  • Chop up a handful of scallions.
  • Mince some fresh garlic (we avoid this in some retreats as garlic is considered Rajasic for the mind)
  • Toss the ingredients in a big bowl and drizzle oil of your choice with some salt and pepper.  Sometimes we will add in a splash of balsamic vinegar but it is not necessary in order to keep this recipe truly local!
  • Spoon as much freshie bruschetta on your crepes as your heart desires!
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  • Home
  • About
    • Living Yoga Society
    • Founders & Teachers
    • FAQs
    • Getting Here
    • Cancellation and Refund Policy >
      • Liability Waiver
  • Online Programs
    • LYFE - Online Community
    • Karma to Dharma Program
    • Online Masterclass Retreat in Yoga Psychology
    • LIVE Online Asana
    • Navaratri Sadhana
    • LIVE - Saundarya Lahari Chanting
  • Yoga Retreats
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    • Advanced Chakra Immersion
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