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Health & Fitness

NEW BLOG: Sweet Potato Fries with Raw Ranch Dressing (Or, How I Survived My Last Breakup)

Yoga teacher and Ayurvedic practitioner/chef leads you on her journey of sorrow, questioning, acceptance and hope... and then dials in a yummy recipe to boot.

My name is Talya and I am a yogaholic. I am proud of this fact. My last boyfriend told me I stretched too much, that I was addicted to the postures, that I didn’t need it as much as I thought I did.

But when we broke up and I couldn’t get out of bed on Christmas (he dumped me right before the holidays - brutal!), yoga was the only thing that got me out of bed and into the world. It might not have been a pretty sight (or a good-smelling one), but I showed up and stretched and breathed and cried. Thank you, God, for yoga.

My name is Talya and this is my blog. Sometimes I wonder if the contribution I make to the world is really enough. Is it really enough to show up at the local gym and teach people how to correctly position their shoulders over their wrists? Is it enough to teach cooking classes and turn people onto Ume Plum Vinegar and Vital Green Superfoods? Am I enough…? Rejection does this. It makes me (us) ask if I'm loveable, if I'm worthy, if I'm even really here. So... am I?

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I took a walk on West Cliff Drive today with a woman I love and admire. She reminded me of the power of being your own best friend. Of looking difficult feelings in the eyes (grief, anger, devastation, hurt, sadness, vengeance, jealousy... the dark side, essentially) and saying: "That's right, girl. That's how you are feeling right now! You have every right to feel that way!" And you don't have to make up a story about why you feel it. You can just let it be.

So, I devised a plan. And I have to tell you… it’s working. Here goes:

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Tell yourself: I Love Myself.

Feel everything you need to feel.

Really love yourself through it (develop compassion – WOW).

And then… Maybe take a nap.  Or go to yoga again.  Or allow your super-awesome friend to bring you soup and watch you eat it.  Or journal about how great your future is about to become because you are so awesome.

Martha Graham, an American choreographer and modern dancer “whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts” says, that the body never lies. Its core essence only wants to communicate truth to you – through you - the truth of how beautiful you are in your humanness.

This thought helps me to be real… The truth is, I lost something I really loved and wanted. There's part of me that wants to be a victim, but there's a bigger part of me that wants to heal.

So I will. I trust that the Universe loves me, that God knows me better than I know myself and that - gosh darnit - people like me (and God LOVES me). I will now do the self-loving thing and make something healthy and nutritious for myself to eat - Sweet Potato Fries with Raw Ranch Dressing. It's the healing - and super delicious - thing to do.

Take that, ex-boyfriend!

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:

2 medium/large sweet potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 4 inch long, 1/2 inch thick fries

2 to 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil or ghee (or olive oil if that's all you have around)

1 teaspoon coarse ground Himalayan salt or Celtic sea salt or Real Salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon coconut sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon whole coriander seed (optional)

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Toss the sweet potatoes with the oil, salt, cumin, sugar and coriander so the fries are well coated.

Spread a single layer of fries out onto a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Turn the fries over, maybe move them to the top rack in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the fries are golden brown and slightly crisp. Serve with Raw Ranch Dressing.

Raw Ranch Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soaked raw cashews

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional)

1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 cup chopped fresh basil leaves or 2 teaspoons dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed (optional)

Directions:

Place everything in a blender and process until smooth and creamy. Add an extra tablespoon of water if the sauce is too thick. Serve with Sweet Potato Fries. Enjoy!

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