Phy Says: Ommm.. (I WILL ACHIEVE INNER PEACE, DARN IT!)

Hello there,

Fitness and health has been an 'in' thing for years. (Read: Fit and healthy. Skinny is so 80's don't you know?). Every few years a trend would crop up in the fitness world. Do you notice it?

Few years ago Poco2 dance took the world by storm. Everyone and their great-grandma were doing it. Some for fun and some as a form of exercise. Then came Zumba, which appealed to the young and restless to the middle-aged group.

Itu yang nyata tau, yang kita boleh nampak. Sini Zumba, sana Zumba, sinun Poco2. But there is another fitness trend (two, actually) cropping up silently. Betul2 silent. Kalau tidak buka mata besar2 sah tidak nampak. Can you guess?

If you said yoga, you get 10 marks! If you said running, you get 10 marks as well! Kalau dulu di Sabah paling2 dengar event lari2 ni, Sutera Harbour's 7K Charity Run jak kan? Sekarang ni macam2 ada. Borneo International Marathon la, apa la. As for yoga, if you love reading blogs, boleh nampak banyak bloggers yang ada at least one photo of them doing a yoga pose.

The purpose of this long intro above bukan untuk ejek atau kutuk tau. Far from it. Thing is, all of these peeps that have been practicing yoga are swearing by it. "I feel so relaxed". "I love yoga. I feel stronger now" "It's like my mind just.. at peace". This got me curious. Betul kah dapat inner peace bila buat yoga? If it does, then get me a piece of that!

Al-maklum la, what with being surrounded 8 hours a day by (crazy) people, a bit of relaxation is exactly what I need. So tersemat la dalam qalbu, mau cuba practice yoga! Pinjam buku library apa semua. Semangat ni. Tup2 mula kerja baru. Sibuk tahap langit ketujuh. So I posponed. Meh.

Last night my sisters and I were chatting in our Whatsapp group when my eldest sister told us that she had tried yoga and she has fallen in love. Dalam hati sy, "Aw man, not you too". You see, her enthusiasm made it glaringly obvious to me what I'm missing. I could imagine her floating into a magical carridge with a sign that says "Positive people only. Inner peace and flexibility required" joining the group of irritatingly serene self-made yogis in it.

"NOOOOO!!! Don't leave me here all alone, shrivelled and bitter! I want it too! I wanna! I wanna!" I screamed silently.

So then and there, I rolled up my sleeves and opened my (dusty) yoga book from the library and (skipped) speed read the instructions. (Woman wanting serenity here, helloooo.. Who wants to waste time reading instructions?). The first step was correct breathing. (Ya, ya, ya.. Breathe in then breathe out. Pfft.. So tell me what's new? Next!) Then the most basic of poses, the Mountain Pose. Sanang saja bah. Berdiri saja. So I did, breathing in and out deeply ikut suka hati.

After 10 breath in-and-outs, terus tanya diri sendiri, "Am I at peace yet?" Belum, masih stress. Next pose please! Upward Y stretch [I am sure there is a name for this pose but since I (skipped) speed read the instructions, I have christened it with another name]. After doing a few other poses, I looked down at my feet to check if I have levitated. Nope, feet still on the ground.

Begitu la kisah orang yang belagaran mau practice yoga. Jadi macam si Ongkol2 sudah. Just so you know, this tale is (barely) exaggerated. I know that I can't rush things and it takes time and effort as well as commitment (not to mention patience) to integrate yoga into my daily routine for it to have a positive impact in my life.

BY GOLLY I WILL ACHIEVE INNER PEACE AND FLEXIBILITY EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!

Love,
Phy

Recipe: Toasted Mushrooms.

Hello there!

Today's post is going to be a recipe that I made by 'accident' and have fallen in love with. I said I made it by accident because I had prepared the mushrooms and intended to sautee them for dinner. Unfortunately, (or rather, fortunately) we were having issues with our gas stove so I had to find another method of cooking for the mushrooms and so this dish came about. Let's get started shall we?

Ingredients:
5 medium sized Shiitake mushrooms, sliced.
1 clove of garlic, minced.
A little bit of unsalted butter (I typically use just a sliver)
Salt and black pepper.

Other items:
Foil
Toaster oven.

Method:
1. Line the toaster tray with foil.
2. Arrange the mushrooms evenly on the tray and sprinkle the minced garlic over them.
3. Strategically place dabs of butter all over the mushrooms so that when the butter melts, it would seep and reach every mushroom slice.
4. Turn the timer dial to 5.
5. When the mushrooms are cooked, sprinkle with a bit of salt and black pepper.
6. Mushrooms are done and ready to be served.

Serves 1.

Note:
1. My toaster oven is an old one, over 20 years old! Hence, it may differ from modern day toaster ovens. With mine, I can only control the timer but not the temperature. If your toaster oven enables you to determine the temperature, just choose a lower heat setting and keep an eye on the mushrooms. They don't take long to cook. When they start to brown, they should be ready.

2. Pakai oven pun boleh, tapi jadi la 'Baked Mushrooms instead of 'Toasted Mushrooms'. No hal mah, yang penting the finished product menjadi kan? ^^

3. You can use salted butter, just be careful of how much salt you season it with at the end.

I made some today but since I only had 2 small mushrooms, I just added them to the egg noodles I cooked instead of making them as a dish by themselves.

I hope you give this dish a try. It's so easy and tasty. Till the next post, toodles!

Love,

Phy