Prana Fitness - fitness.wellness.lifestyle

Sponsor My Canada Life CN Tower Climb and support WWF-Canada

2010-04-03T16:52:00.000-04:00

Sponsor My Canada Life CN Tower Climb and support WWF-Canada

In the Kitchen with Donna

2010-02-09T19:47:00.001-05:00

For those of you who know me, and I mean REALLY know me....I'm not that culinarily-inclined ;) However! I do happen upon some really tasty recipes, that with some tweaking, ala Donna, turn out to be quite the vegan masterpieces :) Ok, there's only a handfull so far, but onwards we go...

So, this year, one of my goals is to compile these recipes, probably on-line, because it's so much faster to type than scribble down with a pen and paper, both of which seem to be such commodities these days around the house (Antonis!). If not for Google, finding and creating vegan & gluten/sugar-free recipes would be almost impossible. Making these dishes has become a past-time of mine, for I haven't come across a complete recipe book for this exact eating lifestyle. If you have, please let me know :)

Yes, I'm Vegan ... have been almost 100% for the past 2 years, and LOVING IT! Vegetarianism came easy to me...my son's severe dairy allergy kicked me into high gear to become vegan. His allergy has had it's scary moments and testing times - but I do see it as a blessing, as it has brought us to a more conscious way of eating. To all of life's struggles and hardships there is a silver lining.

Having struggled with weight issues most of my teenage years and early part of my twenties, I realized a big shift was needed. I had to change my lifestyle to allow for my true self to shine through. This lifestyle shift began with weight-training, cardio training, hiring a personal trainer (who eventually helped change the course of my life's purpose! Thank you Grace!). Then, bodybuilding took over, then yoga and meditation.

In terms of nutrition, I went from calorie counting (glad those days are done!), to high-protein and detoxing on a seasonal basis. I saw nutritionists, naturopaths, homeopaths, and more. Slowly but surely, I listened to my body - and vegetarianism is what it wanted :) Going vegan was the next step, and Antoni's dairy allergy caused that to happen practically overnight.

Alicia Silverstone likes to call it the Kind Diet, and that it is. Since beginning it, much like Alicia's story, I have not had to think twice about my weight, my skin is brighter and clearer (having suffered from severe acne for many devastating years), and my step is lighter, I feel happier (especially when not having to defend my food choices) - and overall, more peaceful. It's also REALLY fun finding interesting recipes to suit this lifestyle.

Oh, did I mention, I'm also gluten-free and sugar-free. Now there's the doozy! Try baking vegan and gluten/sugar free ... ask my friends who've ventured into trying my recipes... they'll let you know that the winners are far and few between :) Note to self: don't bake large quantities with xylitol - unless you extremely dislike your guests :)

Why be sugar-free? That's for another day and time - the disastrous effects sugar has on the body should make you wonder why you would want to eat it at all. The grass IS greener on the sugar-free side: think stevia and Agave nectar (nectar of the Gods!).

So, starting today, I'll be sending you my new and tried-and-true recipes that are vegan, gluten-free, and sugar-free. Try them and tell me what you think! Anyone can incorporate these recipes and this style of eating into their current diet.Trust me, if I can do it, you can! Even meat-eaters will tremendously benefit from having one or two meat-less days a week. Your body will thank you :) Plus, my recipes require very little time in the kitchen. They're also full of vitamins, minerals, healthy proteins, and flavour.

I look forward to sharing this culinary journey with you! It's a first for me - to spend time creating and sharing recipes. But it's something I've wanted to do for some time now, and I hope it will help out anyone wanting to step-up their healthy lifestyle habits.

With much love and blessings,

Donna

Today's Recipe:

Yummy-yummy organic tofu bites:

Ingredients:
- organic firm tofu cut in thin slices
- sesame oil
- gluten-free tamari (natural soy sauce)

In a sautee or frying pan, place the sliced tofu and a splash of the tamari sauce (enough to coat the surface of the tofu for a golden colour). Heat on medium until golden and slightly crisp. Just before taking it off the heat, add a splash of sesame oil for taste.

These are a great snack! Eat them as is, or add to your salad, stir-fry,rice, or as a side-dish to pasta or soup.

Enjoy!

Yoga For Depression & Anxiety

2009-02-18T20:40:00.003-05:00

Prana Fitness is NOW offering LifeForce Yoga in Toronto!

I returned from Tucson, Arizona at the end of January having completed a practitioner training program with Amy Weintraub, yogi and author of Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering Through Yoga.

I am so excited to be able to offer my clients a specific system of yoga designed to help treat symptoms of depression and anxiety. Private sessions are excellent for structuring a program around your own personal needs. Group workshops will provide a venue where you can meet others, learn healing tools and connect in an environment of compassion.

Look for upcoming Prana Fitness - LifeForce Yoga Workshops in Toronto, Spring 2009. Or contact me for your personal consultation.

I look forward to sharing with you the life tools that have been passed on to me by a warm and genuine teacher. May you realize that you are the light that shines within you this very moment.

Namaste,

Donna

Light on Yoga - an excerpt

2008-09-12T13:10:00.004-04:00

" Happy is the man who knows how to distinguish the real from the unreal,

the eternal from the transient and the good from the pleasant by his discrimination and wisdom.

Twice blessed is he who knows true love and can love all God's creatures.

He who works selflessly for the welfare of others with love in his heart is thrice blessed.

But the man who combines within his mortal frame knowledge, love and selfless service is holy and becomes a place of pilgrimage, like the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Saraswati and Jamuna.

Those who meet him become calm and purified."

B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga.

How to Create a Daily Practice

2008-09-11T08:00:00.005-04:00

September came on with a bit of a chill, signifying that change is definitely in the air. There is something cathartic about aligning oneself with the seasons; bringing about change in our lives as the seasons shift.

So, just as summer is slowly merging into autumn, we too should take some time to create positive change in our lives. Many of you wonder how to create a daily lifestyle that focuses on the meaningful parts of your lives, such as nutrition, prayer, family, fun!, hobbies, goals, fitness, health, etc. How can we incorporate these essential activities and people into our daily or weekly schedule?

1. Prioritize. Sit down with yourself and make a list of the 5 - 10 most important activities to you. Make sure to include both the fun and the mundane (necessary.. ie: bills, meetings, etc.).

2. Outline. Using a daily planner, or even plain paper, outline your daily schedule, starting with your wake-up time, and list every hour until bed-time. I like to create a master-copy that I keep handy in my kitchen, bathroom or inside my planner. This will be your new typical day plan (keeping in mind that plans are always bound to change and new people and meetings are going to pop up and "disrupt" your paper schedule). This is meant to be a template, something to keep you balanced and organized in terms of fitting in your most-loved activities into your day.

3. Create. Now, the fun part! Fill in your hourly time-slots with the activities you would like to see there. ie: wake-up 6:30 am. - practice 15 minutes of Yoga asana. You can take the time to make a weekly schedule if you have some activities that you would like to accomplish only once a week, and others 2 or 3 times a week. This is where you want to fit in your 5 priority activities, either into your daily or your weekly schedule.

4. Rest. Resting time is just as important if not more important than active time. Make a point to schedule in your sleep time (minimum 6 hours per night), and any naps, quiet time, or alone time that you need throughout the day.

5. Put it to the test. Try using this new template for the next week. See how well it works with your life. There may be activities that you would like to do but can't find the time or the means to do them. If you feel a loss, this is an excellent time to re-evaluate your current lifestyle and try out different ways to fit in these essential activities. This can be life-changing, as sometimes our most deeply rooted desires may conflict with our current lifestyle. Time to revisit step 1 . Prioritize.

Spending such quality time with yourself will be rewarding and liberating. You will be able to listen to your inner self and perhaps learn something about yourself you didn't know or were suppressing.

Most of all, have fun! This is a time of change, change of seasons and change of pattern. Do not fear letting your own leaves, your own expressions and extensions of yourself, change colour or pattern or watch them float away, as other truer expressions of yourself spring forth.

Wishing you wellness,
Donna

PS: please feel free to contact me via e-mail if you have any questions. donna@prana-fitness.com

Inspiration ... breath from the Gods?

2008-08-29T11:24:00.003-04:00

In-spiritus

I tend to use the word "inspired" quite often, and I mean it wholeheartedly. I am usually inspired after a satisfying exercise class, reading a good book, a yoga session, walk or jog in the park with my son, or whenever I look at trees or sources of water. But what exactly does it mean when we say we have been inspired by something, and do we really understand the effect that this has on our bodies, minds and spirits?

There are different types of inspiration, as noted on Wikipedia (one of my favourite online tools). There is Biblical Inspiration, Artistic Inspiration, and physiological inspiration (meaning inhalation of air into the lungs).

Now, having briefly reviewed the three sections, and thrown my own spin on the matter, is there really any difference between the three? I think not.

Biblical inspiration is described as:
c.1303, "immediate influence of God or a god," especially that under which the holy books were written. - Wikipedia

Artistic inspiration is described as:
"Literally, the word means "breathed upon," and it has its origins in both Hellenism and Hebraism in the west. In the earliest discussions of inspiration (in the works of Homer and Hesiod), the ritualistic and divine origins of the breath of a god are important. The oracle of Delphi, for example, as with other sibyls, received divine steam and fumes from a cave sacred to Apollo before she would prophecy. In Odyssey, 22. 347-8, a poet says that his songs were placed within his heart by the gods." - Wikipedia

And, Inspiration as in inhalation is:
"Inhalation (also known as inspiration) is the movement of air from the external environment, through the air ways, and into the alveoli." - Wikipedia

So, what I thread together from these three "forms" of inspiration, is that it is an internalization of air, energy, breath of a God, into our bodies. Artistic inspiration also links this concept of being breathed upon by God to a sudden burst of creativity or insight. So, as a personal trainer and yoga instructor, I add this to the concept of inspiration: that the air we breathe into our bodies through conscious participation in our breathing pattern, is the air/energy/spirit of the divine coming into ourselves. We must circulate this air within us, to enhance our pranic energy, and as we learn to regulate our breath and open up our energy bodies (chakras), divine inspiration will come to us automatically.

So, when you come out of a workshop, conference, meeting with a friend, morning jog, yoga class or motivating lecture...etc., take that notion of inspiration as a sign from God, the universe, whatever you want to call it, to follow this wave of energy. Your soul is calling for it. And in turn, it will make you a happier person - which in the end, benefits us all.

You inspire me :)

Namaste,
Donna

Nike+ Human Race 10K - Toronto

2008-08-27T11:08:00.003-04:00

The Prana Fitness Group has signed up for the Human Race 10K with Nike and the Running Room.

Location: 4984 Yonge St.
Start time: 8:30 AM
Distance: 10 KM

Visit: http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/
Create an account with Nike+, then on the Runners page, under your profile you will see an icon for the Running Room. Click on that and register with the Running Room. There is NO fee. We have selected to run with the North York location.

See you on Sunday!

Donna

Toronto Races - Nike, The Human Race and the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon

2008-08-20T08:47:00.005-04:00

For the savvy runners and the not-so-savvy-but-love-to-run-runners....

The Human Race - 08.31.2008

A valued friend, Helen S., told me about The Human Race. 08.31.2008. Go to http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/ click on The Human Race 10K and enter the login info. I would love to create a Prana Fitness team, but not sure how to do it on the site, let me know if you do, otherwise, e-mail me and we'll meet up on race day to race together: donna@prana-fitness.com

Nike is raising money for three charities: ninemillion.org (UN refugee agency), WWF & Lance Armstrong LiveStrong.

Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon - 09.28.2008

Also! Check out http://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/. The Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon. September 28, 2008. I have not trained for this, so you won't see me there this year :) I ran the half-marathon a few years back and must say that this is a must run for those that can, the scenery is fantastic, nothing like running by the water. Have fun!

More info to come ... Keep checking back my friends :)

Wishing you wellness,

Donna

Can Fit Pro, Mark Whitwell & The Yoga Festival Toronto

2008-08-19T14:48:00.005-04:00

Hello Friends,

This past weekend (August 16-18, 2008) was one of great inspiration and motivation!

At the Can Fit Pro Conference held at the Metro Convention Center, I met some absolutely amazing people!

Mark Whitwell, www.heartofyoga.com, is a truly remarkable person and teacher of yoga. His approach is welcoming to all. His teachings are applicable to everyday life. His music, available on iTunes is excellent to have on in the background during the day and when practicing "your yoga".

The Yoga Festival Toronto (www.yogafestivaltoronto.org) takes place August 22-24, 2008 at the National Ballet School, 400 Jarvis St. This will be my first year attending. It looks like an excellent line-up of guest lecturers and workshops. Join me!

Wishing you wellness,

Donna

"AHA Moment" - Have you had one lately?

2008-04-16T17:20:00.002-04:00

Anyone who watches Oprah has already heard the term "Aha Moment", but for those of you who haven't, it is when that dim lightbulb in your head radiates a bright yellowy-white light. It is when your heart skips a beat, or beats really really fast after hearing, seeing or reading something, or encountering something, or experiencing something that sparks that "Eureka!" type feeling within you. You raise your arms overhead with a "yes!" or run around the house screaming "Oh my god" to yourself, or you sit, still, in your chair and perhaps shed a tear - because just then you realized, WOW, life is not exactly what I thought it was. Hope exists where it didn't just a moment ago. Fear subsides, when it was clawing at you with its talons a second ago. Sorrow melts after having consumed hours and days of your life. And for a brief instant in the grand scheme of the cosmos, there is clarity. The angels sing ever-so-softly in the background "Allelujia!".

Guess what? You can have those "oh my God", "Eureka", "Yes!", "Aha" moments every day and every moment of your life - if you just let yourself. How? You must let yourself BE. You must allow yourself to surrender to life, in all its glory. You must stop and smell the roses. (Ehm, I know, that's not original of me.) Ok, you must stop immersing yourself in the chaos and be still. All of life is still around you, if you just let it be. Trust me, it can be so.

Have you given yourself permission lately to speak? No, I mean to speak to yourself. To sit down and have a conversation with yourself. First you ask a question, any question, and then you wait for an answer. We're not looking for lightening bolts shooting down from the sky here. We're just waiting to hear if your soul is ready to answer. You will know, my friend, when it is ready. And when that time comes, listen. Take great care to hear what it has to say, and just listen. Write it down in your journal if you need to, or make a mental note of it, or say it out loud three or four times, whatever it takes to remember it. But even if you don't remember the answer, your soul will remind you again when you ask that same question somewhere down the line.

So, take a moment, today, and just BE with yourself. BE in stillness, or BE in conversation with yourself. You will be surprised at what you hear...and feel, and see, and experience.

Donna

Welcome!

2008-03-06T09:22:00.005-05:00

Welcome to the Prana Fitness Blog!

A tranquil space for you to visit for
fitness tips & wellness advice.

Connect with others who share your interest in
living an optimal lifestyle!

Look at my book list for inspirational reads &
share your own faves!

Find out about upcoming conferences and
trade shows in the GTA.

Let's create some energy around wellBEING!

Namaste,
Donna

Check out my website: www.prana-fitness.com for information on how you can reach your optimal wellness.