Blasts of Light

Check out my recipe for how to make a quick yogi bowl for busy nights! This is one of my favorite go -to dinners, it’s easy to throw together, fills you up and is packed with good for you foods. Making a yogi bowl makes eating healthier even easier and gives a fun name to mixing and matching your favorite veggies, grains and homemade dressing!

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 avocado

2 cups of steamed mixed veggies ( you can use frozen, steam fresh bag for an easy, practical option or some fresh, chopped and steamed broccoli or cauliflower or sliced zucchini)

1 cup of black beans, rinsed and heated over the stove

Enough for two servings. In a large bowl place a scoop of quinoa, 1 cup of steamed veggies, a scoop of black beans, and ½ of an avocado sliced.  Next add your favorite healthy dressing!

 

My favorite is a simple Dijon vinaigrette

4 tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

4 tbsp of Dijon mustard

2 tbsp of fresh horseradish

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

(optional to add some grade B maple syrup to make it a maple-dijon)

Well, technically, it may be the second day of September but I know most of you were out enjoying your “last day of summer” yesterday and have only clicked in to full September mode today! I wanted to share with you a practice that is very near and dear to my heart and has proven very effective for my wellness + meditation coaching clients, intention setting! Since we were little, September signified a fresh start, it was the start of the school year, a new grade, new classes, new teachers and a chance to re-create ourselves after the blissful relaxation and adventure we had all summer.

WELL WHY NOT NOW?

Hey, maybe we’re a little older, JUST a little, but September always feels like the start of something new to me and I still love to imagine I’m starting the next school year of life!

So last night, I whipped out my bad ass “Manifest Journal” given to me by the ever-lovely and inspirational Kelly Bennett ( she creates them all individually and infuses them with lots of love and good energy for your manifesting). I keep mine specially for times like these and use my regular pink moleskin for the day to day breakthroughs and brilliant ideas. Regardless, you can use whatever you’d like, you can even get all crafty with it and bring paints, construction paper and the whole nine yards and make it really fun!

Now comes the good part, the actually setting intentions part. Here’s where you start brainstorming what you want to create / manifest in your life for the month ahead.

What this looks like for me is spending about 15-20 minutes in a meditation, connecting with my higher self and really asking for guidance surrounding what the next step is for me. I allow whatever comes in to come in with out judgement and then I start scribbling! I just let the information flow and allow myself to be surprised by what pops up and excited about any and everything I put down on the page. You can have one or two intentions or many, listen to what resonates with you and feels good while your setting intentions.

What are my September intentions?

Well, my overwhelming theme for this month is **FALL OF FOCUS** so everything fell under that massive intention. I’m determined to eat ONLY high vibe foods that help me stay CLEAR and focused, which means for me, no sugars and no alcohol. I don’t eat very much sugar or consume a lot of alcohol but I recently came across the saying “99% is a bitch, 100% is a breeze” and it truly resonated with me. It’s fine for my day to day life and for my clients to indulge in moderation, however, this is my FALL OF FOCUS, and that for me, means going big and really fueling my mind + body to be performing at it’s peak. And I know, even the occasional vegan cookie or glass of red wine, certainly gets me to a “less than crystal clear” place and I’m just not willing to make that sacrifice right now. It also means, earlier wake up calls because I’m at my best in the AM and creating more programs so that more people have access to my coaching than the people who are able to work with me one on one. I have a lot going on this month, creating a new online program, my first ever group coaching program is launching (details below!) and I’m finishing up my book. I’m excited to make a fresh start this Fall towards being the clearest, brightest version of myself so that I can show up as my highest self for all of you!

For more information about my FRESH START FOR FALL group coaching program, click here and email me to reserve your spot today. Class size will be VERY limited to keep it intimate and allow everyone personal access to me.

Tonight is the new moon in Virgo and as many of you who follow me on instagram or work with me one on one know, I’ve gotten really into the moons this summer! After intensifying my kundalini yoga practice and hearing so much about the moon cycles and how they effect us, especially women, I really connected with it on a soul level. I absolutely love reading about it in Mystic Mama and think it’s a beautiful thing to be aware of so that we can fully use the cosmic energy around us.

This new moon in Virgo is all about self-improvement, ( because Virgo correlates to the archetype of self-improvement) so it’s the perfect time to go inside and really set some intentions for doing the work to be your best self. The Virgo energy helps us to develop a deep, loving, acceptance of ourselves. And who doesn’t need more of that these days?! It’s SOO important to be in a loving, accepting relationship with ourselves so that we can welcome outside relationships from a more centered place. This energy is also going to help us channel our intuition and really listen to what our body + soul needs! That’s everything from more alone time, meditation, releasing fears to dietary changes or an increase in movement. Take advantage of this time to really ASK your higher self what it needs to release, what it wants to take on, listen and let yourself be guided.  This is a perfect time to really tap into your true potential through journaling, meditating,  healthy diet and movement as well as consistent daily inner work.

This insight really resonated with me from Mystic Mama:

“When our mental realms come under attack we become exhausted and have no energy, but when our energy is cleared and flowing there is an aliveness and feeling of sheer bliss. Not an easy task to get there, especially when we are constantly getting hacked! But it begins with an owning and acceptance of what is and a dedication to healing and a knowing that there is support.”

A lot of my clients have really been feeling this shift recently and it’s important to know that sometimes we do feel exhausted when we’re “detoxing” and moving towards our greatest potential, to take care of ourselves during this time and also to know that bliss is on the other side. It begins with a willingness and commitment to finding a better way, to seeing things differently and to allowing yourself to be supported on your journey.

That’s why in honor of the new moon, I’m doing my first-only-ever SALE on my 90 minute EMERGEN-ZEN sessions, when you book TODAY only they’re $111 (regularly $197). I’m here to support you guys, I want to be a resource for you, I hope this blog post gave you some insights on the work you can do to start cracking open tonight but I also know that I wouldn’t have gotten where I am without the support of a mentor or guide.  I created EMERGEN-ZEN sessions just a couple months ago because I had numerous people reach out about a la carte “spot treatment” session, they didn’t want a full on six month program, they were in the middle of a crisis or particular situation/cross roads in their life and wanted relief fast and some tools to take with them afterwards. So the E-Z session was born and has been a great addition to my offerings and tremendously helpful to clients.

A traditional EMERGEN-ZEN session goes something like this:

– it’s 90 minutes via Skype or in the east village if you’re in NYC

– we talk about what’s making you “not-so-zen” right now

– I guide you through a series of personalized meditations to get your zen back

– we discuss what comes up for you during the work

– I send you on your way with a personal “prescription” for daily work to keep your peace

For more info, you can read more about it here. For anyone who contacts me with the subject live “HAPPY NEW MOON”, you’ll get the discounted rate of $111 and we’ll also do a new moon meditation to set intentions and release habits or thought patterns that are no longer serving you.  Email me at gosweetandskinny@gmail.com to schedule yours before they book up!

Check out my latest recipe for Shape Magazine, this Asian Broccoli Slaw Quinoa is the perfect healthy dish to bring to a BBQ this summer or just make to spice up your usual week day dinners. It’s vegan, gluten free and delicious. The perfect light summer meal that will fill you up with out over stuffing you. Watch me making it on SHAPE.com above and try it for yourself with the recipe below! Enjoy!

ASIANBROCCOLISLAW

ASIAN BROCCOLI SLAW WITH QUINOA (2 servings)

1/2 cup of cooked quinoa 1 bag of broccoli slaw

¼ cup of shelled edamame

¼ cup of shredded raddichio

¼ cup of slivered almonds

¼ cup of shredded carrots

Empty the broccoli slaw into a bowl, add edamame, raddichio, almonds and carrots.

for dressing: ¼ cup of macadamia nut oil 3 tbsp of rice vinegar 3 tbsp of sesame oil 3 tbsp of shoyu 1 tbsp garlic (fresh, chopped) 1 tbsp scallions (fresh, chopped) 1 tbsp ginger (fresh,chopped) Blend all ingredients for the dressing and then drizzle in broccoli slaw bowl till the mixture is wet but not overly saturated. Scoop about ½ cup of quinoa on to a plate and top with broccoli slaw mix. Optional garnish with almond slivers, carrots

Not everyone has the privilege of always having a juice bar or health food store near by every time there stomach grumbles and one of the most common questions I get from a lot of my coaching clients is,” what are some healthy options at places that are easy accessible to me?”. Well, get ready because I’ve decided to start doing healthy food hauls on some common spots so that you know what can be a “go-to” when you need to grab something “to-go”.  A lot of the times when we’re out or traveling we can’t get something ideal but we CAN make the best choice of what’s available to us. It’s about doing the best you can in your situation and being gentle on yourself.  Starbucks seems like one of those places that no matter where you are, you can usually find them, airports, highway rest stops, and every block in NYC, so that’s where I decided to begin! Enjoy this video where I show you how to find healthy food at Starbucks and let me know where you’d like me “haul” next!

 

 

Lately, I’ve really started loving taking pictures of gorgeous produce at my local farmer’s market in union square and I also noticed that you guys ( on instagram ) are really digging it! My fruit pictures get even more “likes” than some of the more challenging meal creations I’ll post and I love it! It’s so nice to be in awe of nature’s beauty. We live in a culture where you can walk around the block and see a giant picture of a bacon cheeseburger that’s been photoshopped and painted with shellac to perfection specifically to make YOU crave it.

Well why not do that with the GOOD stuff?!

Actually it’s infinitely easier to do it with nature’s bounty because there’s no photoshopping or shellacking  needed. These are pure uncut, unedited, rough shots I snapped while walking through the farmer’s market this morning. Sit back, relax and enjoy some of my favorite #produceporn from this week! Let it inspire you to add some fresh, organic finds to your meals this upcoming weekend. Summer is almost over and you should take advantage of whatever is in season in your part of the world. These are all from NYC, of course.

If you would like to see this become a weekly post on GoSweetandSkinny please comment below and let me know you enjoy it! Also, tag me on instagram with @gosweetandskinny and #produceporn so that I can see all your glorious farmer’s market pics too.

Have a great weekend!

xo, Cass

blueberriescurrants

Organic blueberries and currants! oh my!

 

cranberrybeans

these cranberry beans are just so incredibly beautiful, I couldn’t resist.

 

heirloomtomatoes

All sorts of sizes, shapes and colors, heirloom tomatoes are gorgeous.

 

husk cherries

I found these “husk cherries” so wild and whimsical.

 

minibellpeppers

 

A fiesta of little mini bell peppers! I can’t even..

 

okra

Okra, you purrrrty!

 

peppers

Pepper party!!

 

strawberries

 

 

Figured we would end on a sweet note. You can see how SWEET these little strawberries are!

 

Hope that you’ve got your appetite raring and ready to head to your local farmer’s market for some local, organic produce for dinner tonight. I know mine sure is.

I felt the need to write a little about PEACE this week, it’s certainly been an ongoing theme in my life recently and I’m sure it has seeped into quite of few of your lives as well with all that’s been going on in the news. As many of you probably know, on August 8th (Friday), there was a global meditation for peace lead by Deepak Chopra as well as many others around the world. I spent that afternoon, when it was going on, in yoga class doing a meditation for peace. We all envisioned what our version of a peaceful world would be and then planted that seed and sent that love and light out to the world.

My vision of peace was very simple, I saw a street in SoHo (where my yoga studio is in NYC) and just lots of people walking past each other, smiling, saying hi and just showing love and light for one another. For me, peace is really us all being able to see each other as love and realizing that the other people we meet are just reflections of ourselves. We’re all human and we’re all going through this human experience, why not send each other love and light and be pleasant (even friendly!) with one another!?

On Sunday, I got invited to a “Unite for Peace in the Middle East” event with two very special influences in my spiritual life, Marianne Williamson and Jennifer Kass. Both ladies brought up a very important point in their talks, PEACE begins with US. That is, peace needs to start with our personal experience. We need to find peace within us, within our relationships and within our lives. How can we preach about peace in the middle east when we can’t keep peace in our romantic relationships or even sometimes within our own head? Peace starts with you.

Below is a meditation that I love using on the go for those situations in life where I need to remind myself that peace begins with me. I find it very helpful when you’re out there interacting with the world and silly things come up that push you out of your peace. For me, meditation is that tool that helps me come back to my inner peace and therefore helps me spread peace in my daily interactions. Peace (and happiness) is a CHOICE we can make. Sometimes it can certainly be harder to make that choice then others but that is when it is so important to ask for help and guidance. Whether you’re asking for help from the universe or some higher power by simply saying a prayer for guidance ( for example, “please help me see this differently // please help me see this with love // please help me find peace in the situation. ” ) and that’s really as simple as it can be, or reaching out to someone like me, for an emergen-zen session so that you can get the tools to help you get back to that place of peace inside of you. The only requirement is your willingness, when you are ready to find that peace and serenity, you will be guided to it. Sending you guys love and light, I hope you try out this mini-meditation for peace and please let me know how it goes for you. I’ll answer and comments or questions below if you need some more insight or want to share your tips on coming back into your inner peace.

Check out this delicious summer zucchini pasta with vegan pesto that I made for SHAPE.com. This recipe is perfect for those hot summer nights when you want something light but fulling. Zucchini pasta is a great gluten-free alternative and my vegan pesto will have you wondering why you ever needed parmesan cheese! Splurge and buy that spiralizer or go to your local grocery and pick up a bag of shredded zucchini and fake it. 😉

It was an absolute pleasure to interview Daniel Sullivan from Tumeric ALIVE at Wanderlust Festival in Tahoe,CA. I’m always fascinated by companies creating products with conscious and the people behind them. Find out some incredible information about the balancing properties of tumeric and it’s ancient origination, how to incorporate tumeric into your daily routine and Daniel’s personal morning ritual and breath work that helps him rise to his highest self and step into his power every single day! Lots of incredible information in this interview, I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did doing it.

To learn more about Tumeric ALIVE, click here. And, if you’re interested in learning more about ego irradicator or starting a meditation journey, check out my mindful eating and meditation video here, or feel free to email me at cassandra@gosweetandskinny.com and schedule a personalized meditation session.

I saw this quote by Danielle Laporte a few days ago and it simply stopped me in my tracks. The past few days have been all about getting CLEAR about what I want, saying good bye to apartments and habits that are no longer serving me and welcoming in new beginnings (and better apartments) that are inline with how I want to feel.

It all started on Saturday, the night of the new moon. I have never really followed moon cycles but it’s something that has been coming up a lot for me this year through my kundalini yoga practice and I’ve found it very interesting and compelling. So over the weekend I took at two-hour new moon healing circle kundalini yoga workshop. I had no idea what exactly that would entail but it sounded exciting enough to get me to the studio. Among other things, I learned at the workshop how important it is to set intentions for the year ahead in the new moon period, it’s still going on till the full moon on August 9th – so you can still get in on this! My teacher also said we could set specific intentions to manifest by the full moon  – woo hoo – you bet I set some killer things into manifestation.  This moon cycle is all about planting seeds to blossom over the next year. It’s a great time to start a job,  embark on a new relationship and move into a new apartment!!

In case you haven’t heard via instagram, I JUST moved into a new apartment on Monday and spent all of yesterday unpacking my life from boxes. I couldn’t have been happier to move during the new moon, although to say I planned it that way would be a total lie. I recently had one of my clients make a big move as well and we did some basic “new beginning” rituals, intention setting for the fresh start and a leaving behind of things that no longer serve her in the old home.  So I decided to do the same for myself and it’s been a really rewarding experience. This past Saturday night after yoga I had a girlfriend over and we stayed up late, meditated on the roof and journaled about what we we’re manifesting in the new moon. I also took sometime to write down something I was leaving behind for my fresh start and ready to give up for this next chapter.

A lot of people have manifesting or intention setting a little confused. It’s easy to get caught up in “manifesting a new car” or  “manifesting a large sum of money” but the key to manifesting is the FEELING. Yes, it’s totally fine to get specific about what exactly you want, get as clear as you want but then let it go, and focus on the feeling. What is the feeling you’ll get from the car or that money? Now, think about things you can do right NOW to start generating that feeling. That’s YOUR power. You want to attract something right now? Start FEELING like you already have it.

My core desired feeling right now is FREEDOM. Glorious, expansive, abundant FREEDOM in every single area of my life. I’m demanding freedom in my business, in my home, in my relationships and in my mind and body. I’m open to that showing up in whatever way the universe sees fit but just from getting clear about how I want to feel, I’ve had a couple ideas already come to me about how to infuse more freedom in to my life. See, this manifesting thing, it’s not always about someone you don’t know sending you a check for a thousand dollars, sometimes it’s about welcoming the divine inspiration to get into action about ideas that will help you bring them into your life.

Take some time today to write  a little about what you want to bring into your life. Think about how you want to feel, get really clear on what that life looks and feels like and then think about some things you can start doing right now that will make you feel that way right now. Make whatever those things are part of your daily ritual. It can be something as small as wearing a certain piece of jewelry that makes you feel abundant, disconnecting from the internet while you write because it makes you feel free, drinking a green juice every morning because it makes you feel energized, etc. Most importantly, KNOW that whatever you got clear on, that feeling you desire and the seeds you’ve planted, are on their way into your life.

SIT BACK, RELAX, YOU’VE GOT THIS.

I had the amazing experience of going to Wanderlust in Squaw Valley (Tahoe, CA) this past weekend and I can’t wait to share with you my favorite classes and my biggest breakthrough in this recap video! Be sure to subscribe to watch all the individual videos of my favorite classes as well as exclusive interviews from the weekend!

I am still so blissed out from all the wonderful yoga classes I was able to take over the weekend, still feeling great and so inspired to up my yoga practice even more. I’m so grateful to Tumeric ALIVE for collaborating with me to go out there and cover some of the fantastic classes they sponsored over the weekend but I do want to let you know that my opinion of their amazing tumeric elixir is truly MY OWN and was not influenced. This video was NOT paid for by Tumeric ALIVE, I’m just genuinely dorking out on how much I love the stuff! 😉

If you’re interested in finding out more about Tumeric, feel free to visit their website here.

Whoever said that plane food was gross clearly never traveled with me. In all seriousness, despite some attempts (more in some airports than others) to make plane food more appetizing and slightly more health conscious, it’s still best to B.Y.O.P.F. – that’s right Bring Your Own Plane Food! I had a super early flight this morning to go out to Tahoe, CA for Wanderlust Squaw Mountain and I was not about to settle for some refined carb-loaded breakfast from Au Bon Pain for breakfast, so I packed my own. I’m writing this in the airport right now and I can already feel the envious stares as people watch me nosh on my fresh sweet cherries from the farmer’s market.

So here’s how I pack healthy plane food for a flight:

1. I think about what I’ll likely be in the mood for depending on the time of day I’m flying. This may seem obvious but the easiest way to thwart your good efforts is to bring healthy plane food you don’t actually want to eat. Trust me, I’ve done it, then you end up spending money on over-priced mediocre airport fare and you’re beautiful healthy plane food goes to waste. A sad story. So make something you’re excited about eating! In my case, I made my vanilla spice chia seed pudding topped with blueberries, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. I’m on a huge chia seed pudding for breakfast kick lately so not only was it easy to prepare last night but it was a great healthy plane food choice!

2. Bring sweet & savory SNACKS! This is one of those times where I highly recommend slightly overpacking. You want to cover your bases so that when you are a couple hours into the flight and they walk around giving out free potato chips, you have something even more appetizing and good for you on hand! Today I packed sweet cherries that I picked up yesterday from the farmer’s market to satisfy my sweet tooth and dry roasted edamame with wasabi as my savory. The cherries are perfect for pre-boarding when my appetite hasn’t quite kicked in yet but I feel tempted to nosh since everyone around me is eating breakfast as they wait for their flights. The edamame is packed with protein and little spicy so that in the final hours of my flight, after I’ve consumed my chia seed pudding, I have something to snack on to hold me over till I get lunch.

3. HYDRATE. Regardless of what you choose for your own personal healthy plane food, the number one traveling healthy tip I can give you is to always stay hydrated. Spend the five dollars or whatever crazy price they are charging for the water bottle at the gate or just be a pain in the bum to the flight attendants like me and ask them for water every time they pass by. I’m probably not someone you’d want to sit next to on a plane because between guzzling water and eating my delicious healthy plane, I get up to use the lavatories quite frequently. But hey, I arrive to my destination feeling great, looking good (cause my skin isn’t dehydrated and funky since I’ve properly hydrated and been eating good for me goodies!) and ready to take on my next adventure!

I’d love to hear from you: what’s your favorite HEALTHY PLANE FOOD options!? Comment below and let’s share ideas! xo!