Veggie Blog

At the center of Debra Galant’s new novel is Nina Gettleman-Summer, a stressed-out New Jersey yoga teacher. Nina should be calmly guiding her high powered students through their savasanas and their chakras . Instead she is worried about… everything: her new meditation fountain overflowed resulting in a dangerous mess that caused one of her more litigious students to slip and fall; her husband Michael’s job as Newark Airport’s meteorologist was outsourced to the Phillipines, and a hurricane is bearing down on her parents’ home in Florida. The last thing Nina needs is her suspicious mother Belle around, wailing about the weather and asking questions about Michael’s job. To complicate matters, her teenage son Adam is showing a sudden interest in having a Bar Mitzvah – even though Nina, never a fan of her Jewish heritage, signed the family up at the local Unitarian Church. Which brings us to the heart of this very funny book. Nina’s put her faith in feng shui and crystals while her husband passes the time chatting with the local Jehovah’s Witnesses and Adam plots his religious coming of age, which he believes will net him a real life pot of gold. The Gettleman-Summers are poised for an awakening which, when it arrives, is deftly portrayed in Galant’s classic screwball style.

Book: Fear and Yoga in New Jersey by Debra Galant
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A longtime yoga teacher and Buddhist meditation practitioner, Charlotte Bell describes in passionate detail how she applied the eightfold path of the Yoga Sutras and the Buddha’s heed for mindfulness to her hectic Western life. The path is often rough; she writes of self-doubt and struggles, of trying too hard and discouragement, of learning to accept the life she has, imperfections and all. But with grace and guts, she navigates the eight limbs of yoga, using the Yoga Sutras and insight meditation as her compass. She shows each limb at work in her relationships, music, asana, meditation, and even in writing this book. Her discussion of each limb includes practical ways that readers can bring mindfulness into asana itself, and in a section called “Reflections,” Bell encourages readers to experience even the most ordinary activity as extraordinary, whether it’s washing dishes, making tea, or rolling out their yoga mat.

Donna Farhi has practiced Yoga for twenty-eight years and has taught internationally for over two decades. One of Americas most respected and loved Yoga teachers, she travels throughout the world leading retreats and training others to teach. Farhi has been an asana columnist for both Yoga Journal and Yoga International and is the author of the contemporary classics The Breathing Book and Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit. Born in America, she now resides in New Zealand.

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Getting the right amount of vitamins

If you eat healthy and balanced meals every day, you will get most of the vitamins and minerals your body needs to function. Even though we all have different dietary needs, we all need vitamins in order to live healthy lives and prevent disease. Vitamins were discovered in the early twentieth century, and since then we have learned a lot about how they keep us healthy.

There are many vitamins, and you need a certain amount of each one to keep your body healthy. They are classed by letter, including A, B, C, D, E and K. Each one serves a unique purpose for your body and your health; vitamin C, for example, is needed to make collagen and helps the body absorb iron.

The B vitamin family

When it comes to variety, the B vitamins are the most diverse. They were first thought to be a single vitamin, but scientists later found that ‘vitamin B’ is really a group of different compounds. Today the B vitamin family has eight members: B1, B2, B3 (niacin), B5, B6, B7, B9 (folate) and B12.

As with other vitamins, a lack of B vitamins can lead to different conditions, such as weight loss, weakness, tiredness, diarrhoea, anaemia and, with a long-term lack of B12, nerve damage and memory problems. If you think you may be low in a B vitamin, see your doctor, who can check with a blood test.

Together, the B vitamins help your body turn food into energy and keep your skin, nerves and blood cells healthy. Getting enough of them supports good health, but taking extra beyond what you need will not speed up your metabolism or lift your mood. All of these vitamins should be part of a balanced daily diet.

Even on a good diet, some people do not get enough of certain B vitamins. Vegans and many older people need a source of B12, such as fortified foods or a supplement, and women who may become pregnant are advised to take folic acid. If this applies to you, ask your doctor or pharmacist about vitamin supplements. For most people who eat a varied diet, supplements are not necessary, and very high doses of some B vitamins (such as B6) can cause harm.

YOGA FOR MEN is written for men who find themselves overwhelmed by work-related stress and other health risks posed by the demands of modern life. Beginning with disturbing statistics about stress and stress-related immune disorders, Bruce Eric Van Horn offers YOGA FOR MEN as a tool to defuse their effects, decrease the risk of diseases (including prostate cancer), and improve sexual performance. Van Horn, who suffered an ulcer while running himself ragged working in corporate America, has designed a tool men can use both at home and in the office to improve the quality of their lives. His text is essentially a basic explanation of the rudiments of mind, body, and spirit aspects of yoga, and contains a suggested yoga routine. It is written in a style that will appeal to men who may have the preconceived notion that yoga is for the fairer sex or that it involves painful positions.

Book: Yoga for Men by Bruce Eric Van Horn
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Grace is tired of her life. Her boyfriend, Harry, hasn’t had a job in years, and she’s sick of supporting him when he refuses to help himself. Her job as a pharmaceutical sales rep is unrewarding and does not provide her any inspiration. The only thing in her life she enjoys is yoga: Swami D’s yoga center provides Grace the chance to unwind and reflect on her miserable life.

Alexandra Gray’s The Yoga Teacher is about leaving your comfort zone – leaving everything comfortable and warm and forging forward into the unknown. Grace finds many rewards but also many hardships along the way. In the end, it is about pursuing those things in life that keep you fulfilled and ending those that disappoint you.

The one thing about The Yoga Teacher that may give readers some pause is its pace. Though the book is short, the first quarter of the book moves very slowly. It makes sense because it parallels the movement in Grace’s life: at the beginning, Grace’s life is slow and boring – there is nothing in it to excite her. Then, as she begins to make decisions to change her life, the pace of the narrative picks up, as does her story. Though it is an effective method (the reader really feels the despondency in Grace’s life), it may turn some readers off.

The novel also provides some interesting information about yoga, which readers unfamiliar with the practice may find valuable. It will undoubtedly inspire some to think about joining local yoga classes.

While The Yoga Teacher could be read as a mid-life crisis book due to Grace’s age (she is 40), it is more broadly book about an unhappy woman who decides that, against all odds, she will somehow find a way to be happy. It is thoroughly enjoyable, with a quirky cast of characters that any reader will love. I recommend it to any women who find the premise interesting, as well as anyone who wants to learn more about yoga.

Book: The Yoga Teacher by Alexandra Gray
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