Yoga and Quinoa Sweet Potato Salad

I absolutely adore yoga. It calms me down when I'm stressed. It helps me stay focused and centered. Not only that, but it tones my body and makes me feel strong. I've been doing yoga for roughly six years now. Strangely enough, I was introduced to yoga in the military when our Physical Training Instructors brought it into the mix. I've always been flexible, so I thought I'd be good at it and excitedly signed up for the first class. Deep down, I think I wanted to show off. One hour later, I was surprised by my lack of flexibility. I was sore in muscles I didn't know I had, but I was extremely relaxed.

I was also hooked.

Six years later, with intermittent regularity, I've been practicing. I take classes when I can, but mostly I practice at home on my own, or I use the fantastic website, Yoga Today. I wish I could afford to take classes in a studio, but it's just too darn expensive. If you haven't tried yoga, I highly suggest you give it a whirl, even if you don't fancy yourself flexible. It's definitely not about being flexible. It's about something entirely different and if you go, you'll find out what that is.


Anyway, I told you all of that so I could introduce a delicious salad Brandon and I enjoyed last night. I bought the most recent Yoga Journal (November 2009). In it are a couple of recipes for warm winter salads. I almost flipped by, since salads are one of those things that don't really spark my interest, but one of the recipes contained the three magic words that always catch my eye: quinoa, sweet potatoes, and kale. Those are my three favorite ingredients! I decided to try it out... and let me tell you, even my seriously skeptical husband was impressed. Now run out, buy or borrow the November Yoga Journal, flip to page 38 and make this salad. Replace the honey with agave nectar and you are golden... and maybe, just maybe, you'll read the rest of the magazine and be inspired to start your own yoga practice.

Enjoy and Namaste!