From Balanced Platter to Balanced Life

For those of you who haven’t heard, the limitlessly energetic Amy Green of Simply Sugar and Gluten Free teamed up with Maggie Savage of She Let Them Eat Cake, and created a brand spanking new gluten free website, The Balanced Platter. As the name suggests, the site is dedicated to helping those of us living the gluten free life find balance in our diets (and by default balanced lives) not just after our diagnosis, but to help maintain that balance as we continue to live gluten free for the rest of our lives, which isn’t always easy to do. What I love most about their new site is that the philosophy of eating a healthy balanced diet leads to a healthy balanced life. I don’t know about you, but when my body is working at optimal levels, everything just seems more even keeled.

Achieving balance is perhaps the most challenging trophy to claim in life; sometimes we have and sometimes we don’t. At least this has been my experience. So before the Balanced Platter emerged from the ether, the one thing that has kept me and keeps me from being sliced right down the middle as I walk this razor sharp edge of life is yoga. The last ten years have been very full for me, loaded with some incredible highs and some devastating lows. If it hadn’t been for yoga, and some incredibly supportive friends, I can rightly say I don’t think I would be here, writing this little exposé. I really don’t want to flesh out the entirety of my experiences over the years, but I will definitely do a quick run through. The short story is: I got married, was diagnosed with celiac disease, had surgery for early stage cervical cancer; was given my greatest gift of a son, Leo; cooked in France for four months, launched Blackbird Bakery; filed for divorce (which took three years to end), sold my first cookbook, and then, immediately fell into a depression that nearly took my life.

I tell you this not for your sympathy; it’s in the past after all, but I do feel it necessary that I share these details about myself with you for one very simple reason: to illustrate that any life, including my own, is a roller coaster ride and staying on track, at times, can be an epic challenge.

So how does one stay balanced and strong, not matter what life throws our way? For me, the solution has always been yoga. Yoga kept me away from the abyss of depression so much so that anti-depressants didn’t even need to be considered for the first seven years, but when my business picked up a few years ago, I wasn’t able to make it to the yoga studio six days a week. Compound this with everything else I had going on and I suddenly found myself so depressed, there would be days I could hardly get out of bed.

“The first thing you need to focus on, Karen, is finding that balance,” my therapist instructed me. “Schedule every minute of your day so you have time to make it to the yoga studio otherwise the stress is going to gobble you up.”

I knew she was right, but it took time to get back on track. Distractions would lure me from my goals and my routine would evaporate, making everything stressful and rushed again. So with every little failure, I keep picking myself up and recommitting myself to my routine which, as we all know, is key to being able to raise not just a family, but ourselves. Then, slowly, as my routine became more and more set, I began carving out more and more time to get my butt back into the my yoga studio, B-Free.

Iva and Shelby, the owner of B-Free, who also happens to be gluten free. G-Free at B-Free!

It has been here, under the watchful and loving eyes of my guruji, Iva Drtina-Hall, that I have woefully expanded, contracted, and found my way back on the road to reclaiming my long lost center.

“The key to finding balance is to take responsibility for wherever it is you are in life. When we are in dark places, which I like to call the void, we have to learn how to sit in that discomfort. Be it fear, anger, uncertainty. No matter what, we have to acknowledge and name it so we can recognize the light when it appears,” Iva said, when I sat down with her last week to chat.

“Our society has taught us to ignore our intuition, which is actually our divining rod. It steers us through life. So in living, as in yoga, when our core is weak, our intuition falters and we find ourselves masking what we are doing and where we are with excuses and mindless distractions to keep us from sitting in the void. I always say sit in the void. Running from it only prolongs your suffering. Sit in the void,” she smiled and I smiled back, “so you can ask it for guidance.”

When I am on the mat, and my body feels like it has reached the limit, I always go back to my breath, my deep meditative Ujjayi breath, that is as deep and rhythmic as the ocean, so I can breath through the discomfort. Focusing on that 10-count inhale and that 15-count exhale makes the movement feel seamless. “Where the mind goes, the energy in the body goes,” Iva always says during her vinyasa class “and the breath is your salvation every time. Think of nothing but your breath!”

“The reason the breath is so important in yoga is because it keeps your mind focused. This laser like focus makes all the difference between a good practice and a less than satisfactory one. This is why you can’t blame the teacher or anyone else in the room for how you are feeling while you are there. The responsibility for all your joy, on and off the mat begins with you. Focus fosters balance.”

“The key to balance really just comes down to the quality of our breathing,” I asked?

“When we practice, if we can remain focused on our breath, it teaches you how to achieve that place on non-reaction. Even though your muscles may be on fire, if you breath through it rather than focusing on the discomfort, you are not reacting, you are being in the moment and when the posture is over, you will have experienced that place of a higher power. Yoga is literally the balance between the mind and the body and when they in unison, we are unbelievably powerful.”

“I love that! Life and yoga are 50% psychological and 50% physical,” I more or less repeated.
“Exactly.”
“So maintaining this 50/50 balance, translates into eating healthfully so our bodies are working optimally, and learning how not to react to drama, so our minds stay centered,” I asked?
“Pretty much, which takes us back to what we talked about at the beginning–that we must be responsible for everything. We can’t control what happens in life, but we can control how we react to it. Say someone throws you a curve ball, if you are calm in your reaction, it diffuses the drama instantaneously.”
“Being diagnosed with celiac disease is a pretty big curve ball,” I smiled, “but like you said, I didn’t let it knock me down. I took my diagnosis as a gift so I could feel empowered rather than helpless. But you’re saying to be this way in all things?”

“Oh for sure. Educate yourself rather than demanding it of others. Learn how to take care of your body; cleanse regularly so toxins don’t build up in your body. Tell your yoga teacher what your physical issues are, (like celiac disease), so they can be sure to include plenty of twisting postures to help you nourish and detox your midsection; twisting postures are like wringing out a dirty towel and we all could use a good wringing out. Also, be proactive into learning about the people who are the most educated about living the lifestyle you are (gluten free) so they can be your guides. The universe is amazing in providing us with the guides and allies we need when we need them the most.”

Enter the Balanced Platter. If you scroll down to the bottom of the first page on the BP website, you will find a roster of gluten free resources that are sure to make your transition easier and I’m honored to be on it.

“You have been a yogi since 1995 and have lived in Tokyo, Japan, Melbourne, Australia and San Francisco. What are your some of your favorite foods that help you feel your best,” I asked?
“Oh man, I love Japanese food! But I also just love fresh organic foods.”

Which is where I come in. I will readily admit that I know little about Japanese cuisine, but I do know a thing or two about organic foods, so in honor of my incredible yoga teacher, Iva, here is a balanced salad that will nourish your body after one of your juicy vinyasa classes:

Honey Roasted Ginger and Lime Salad with Mango Dressing

2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon pure olive oil
kosher salt and pepper
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon very thinly sliced ginger
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon lime juice
zest of 1 lime

2 cups farm fresh salad greens
1 cup shredded nappa cabbage
1/2 cup whole cilantro leaves
1/2 cup very thinly sliced cucumber, de-seeded
1/2 cup julienned carrots
1/2 cup julianned jicama
1/3 cup sliced mango
1 or 1/4 cup shallot, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons very thinly sliced radishes
8 basil leaves, chiffonnade
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts

Mango Dressing
1/3 cup pure olive oil
1/4 cup mango tango juice
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon micro grated ginger
salt and pepper to taste

heat the butter and oil in a skillet until it browns and add the chicken breasts, thick side down and cook for 4 minutes on medium high heat. Flip the breats and cook fro 10 minutes longer. It the chicken breasts are very thick, cook for 12-13 minutes. Remove the breasts, salt and pepper them and then wrap in aluminum foil to rest.

To the hot pan, add the water, honey, lime juice and ginger. Reduce over medium heat until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Slice the chicken into medallions and toss in it sauce. Remove from the hot pan so you don’t continue to cook the chicken. Transfer to a cold plate.

Now prepare the ingredients for your salad as instructed. In a blender, blend all the ingredients for the dressing.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Pour 4 tablespoons of the dressing into a large mixing bowl followed by all the ingredients for the salad, including the chicken. Toss to evenly coat.

Serves 2