Acai Parfaits with Toasted Coconut and Mint + Yoga on the Chief

We partnered with Vancouver-based Warrior Mats to bring you these pretty purple acai parfaits. Topped with a unique combination of toasted coconut and fresh mint, this is the perfect post-yoga treat!

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My first thought when anybody comes up to me and asks “What are you up to?” would be to respond “oh, just trying to get my life together”. Leung can vouch for that; every time I’m not good at responding to her messages, I’d respond probably a few years (more or less ;), I’m sorry Rachel) later, “just spent my day trying to get my life together”. It’s like I’m on a constant mission to perpetually “get my life together”, but is there such a thing as getting it all together? For me, this means deep cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, having my groceries done for the week, setting time out for my runs and yoga classes, getting my assignments done, scheduling, paying my bills, checking my mail, taking out recycling, sending a quick message those I love, filling in the gaps in my calendar, and all these little things that just has to be done in day-to-day life. Ideally, everything gets checked off and life seems to be smooth sailing, but I’ve come to learn that there won’t ever be a point where I’ll have it all together.

One example being that I’m a major klutz and even if I manage to check off every to-do on the list of “getting my life together”, I’d probably have stumped my toe against a table leg and got myself a black toenail for the next month… not on the list I was intending to achieve, but totally complementary to the act of swiffer-ing the apartment. Like if I were to clean my apartment, there has got to be a moment when I knock my knee, toe, or hip on something; it’s like “clean the apartment, get a bruise free!” hahahah it’s a great coupon deal.

With or without bruises, let’s say everything does get checked off. That peace of mind would last for about 5 minutes until my mind wanders for something else to get checked off. It’s a perpetual cycle, I tell ya. There’s never really a moment where I can truly say “okay, my life is together. I am done here.” because as repeated and cliche as it is, life is not a destination. It’s smooth-sailing for a bit, gets us settled-in and just a bit comfortable, and the waves start to come alive once again. As the waves rise, they also fall. Sometimes it’s calm and sometimes it’s a heck of a storm, but if we can learn to go with the flow, we, ourselves, become stronger, more skillful sailors, and the ever changing tides become just another opportunity for us to embody fluidity and practice balance in the body, mind, and soul. Balance is not easy; it takes daily effort and if we get it one day, it doesn’t mean we’ll get it in another. The goal is to recognize ourselves drifting off, refocus, and to guide ourselves back to the path we want to be on.

If life isn’t about the end-game, then what are we striving for? It seems as though everyone is trying to prepare to live, rather than living. What’s the point in stressing about whether we will have a successful position in your job? Whether we will never be as intelligent, as skillful, as outspoken to the person next to us? Whether we will one day own a great big house or a fancy car? Like dang, that stuff ultimately doesn’t matter. We need to ask ourselves how happy we are with the life we are leading. With the choices we make day in and day out. To a great extent, we create our own experience. Do you like the ride? Are you at peace? Do you trust in yourself, the people around you, and the greater plan? Stuff like this is what matters. If life isn’t about the end-game, then it is the process, the journey, the day-to-day, the little things… those are the moments where happiness truly resides. Life is a lot more fun when we decide to find joy in the present and accept where we’re at, ya know what I mean?

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This is where yoga comes in. Awareness is a state of being, but to be realistic, I don’t know anybody living through life at a retreat centre, so we can’t just be all day, every day. One of my yoga instructors once said to the class:

Be aware of the journey. This is where all of life happens.

I think the trick to be aware is in trying to do everything to the best of our ability. Give every little step all we’ve got and perform as if it’s the very first time we’ve ever done it. This can be applied to washing dishes, to driving, to spending time with our loved ones. Notice the little things, laugh at the silly things, take them all in. For me, yoga and running really helps with this because no day ever feels the same, and every day I’m just striving to do the best I can. I’m definitely a big mind-wanderer and day-dreamer, so the times when I am sweating and working out is pretty much one of the only times of the day when I feel truly in the present, in the here and now, and not inside my head. This is something that I’m working toward every day!

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A book I’ve read lately talked about how most of our thoughts come with a timestamp. Our thoughts are often based in the past or in the future, which points to negative feelings:

To make a judgment, we need to compare a current observation to one we’ve made in the past. To be anxious, we need to think about the future and anticipate that it’ll be worse than the present. To be ashamed, we need to re-create a moment that no longer exists. To be unhappy we need to focus on what we want that we don’t yet have.

With the exception of pain, no one has suffered from what was going on in the present moment. When I read that, it totally blew my mind! I’ve never thought about that; it’s so true!

Ohhh and random tidbit since I’m on the topic of learning from books… something I’ve learned from a wacky chapter book I’ve read back in elementary school that remains engrained in my head to this day is “you don’t need a reason to be happy; you only need a reason to be sad”. I remember when 10-year-old me read that, it forever changed the game for me! Who knew this wacky book called “Sideways Stories from Wayside School” (yes, I have the sequel as well Image may be NSFW.
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Okay, I should stop writing so Leung can write about actually relevant things about the acai bowls now!

What yoga is to us

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Clik here to view. All my life, I’ve never really been especially bendy or great at balancing on one foot. I knock things over, trip over the tiniest thing, crash, slip, and fall… probably way more than the average person. When I fall out of a balancing sequence or can’t seem to reach my toes without some serious knee bending (happens more often than not), yoga teaches me to quiet the ego, stop the judgement, and continue working at it. When something happens unexpectedly, instead of letting out frustration, to remind myself to see the good, make the most of it, and keep smiling. And it’s moments like these that I see my practice working strongly in areas of my life that occur off the mat.

Yoga to me isn’t about flashy poses, handstands or crazy backbends; it shows me how to live, respond, connect, interact and choose to show up in my day-to-day life. Learning to forgive and allow peace to enter in because missteps and mistakes are a part of life, and we are all works in progress, so if things didn’t go the way we’d hoped, we find the lesson and aim to do better next time. Self-inflicted challenges and missteps aren’t fun, and while they are certainly not ideal, they can act as incredible catalysts for personal growth. At the end of the day, we are human and yep, dare I say it, absolutely totally completely imperfect… flawed, falling, growing, experimenting, failing, and constantly learning. Yoga doesn’t mean the perfect warrior pose, complete 90 degree angles in chair, or to uphold a crisp V-shape in downward dog. The goal is not perfection, but to recognize when we drift off to gently guide ourselves back to the path we want to be on. It is to choosing to enjoy and appreciate where we’re at, rather than holding it for when we get here or there. It is to meet our shortcomings with grace, a humble heart, and forgiveness, for yourself and others.  — Chew

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Clik here to view. Don’t worry about being ‘good’ at yoga. You don’t have to be able to twist your body into crazy shapes or know all the Sanskrit terms in order to practice yoga. Yoga is not a competition between yourself and the yogi next to you. It’s about finding unity between mind and body, human and nature. Yoga provides me with physical goals to progress towards, while simultaneously training my mind to block out distractions and dwell in the present. If I can hold my headstand for a split second more, I can say I accomplished something today. But if I didn’t, I don’t feel disappointed either; I’ll try again tomorrow. My happy hour begins when I put aside the happenings of my day, flow to the rhythm of my breath, and move like a graceful yet powerful warrior. Whether it’s inside a 40 degree studio, in the comforts of my living room, or the top of a mountain, I find peace in my mind through yoga. While I do appreciate a high intensity cardio session and next-day muscle soreness, yoga brings a different type of satisfaction and reminds me it’s not all about calorie burn.

Yoga is a challenge of strength, flexibility, and balance. Rarely are we blessed with all three; for instance I lack strength for arm balances but can get into deep stretches rather easily. Often times we focus only on the asanas, the poses, prioritizing the shape of our bodies rather than proper form. Papa Leung always told me “doing it right is more important than doing it fast”. I used to think getting into a wheel was effortless until a teacher came over to rotate my knees inward; the pose instantly engaged my lower body. Alignment is far more important than the shape; not only does it prevent injury but you’ll receive greater benefits from the pose (stretching, muscle toning, etc.) I think yoga is the perfect accompaniment to all other exercise; it allows me to maintain healthy and happy muscles and bones so I can continue being agile as I age. Every day that my body can move is a blessed day! — Leung

Sunrise yoga on the Chief

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We saluted the sun as it rose at 5am on International Day of Yoga and even got a cool time lapse of it! The Stawamus Chief is such a beautiful spot for watching sunsets and sunrises so we had the most incredible downward dog views. Hiking up 600 metres tightened up our legs and hips. A few rounds of sun salutations helped stretch out our weary muscles and got us warmed up for our downhill trek. Too often do I start hiking without a proper warm up, making the first bit of the hike harder than it has to be. Pre- and post-hike yoga should definitely be a thing.

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All I could think about during this sweaty hike was how great it would be to have an acai bowl. I was drenched in sweat by the time we reached the top (partially from the downright fear of death as we climbed the sketchy metal rung ‘ladder’ on the backside of the first peak) so cooking hot quinoa did not sound as appealing as it did when I was packing my backpack. We had roasted vegetables and fishy crackers instead but I kicked that acai craving to the curb when I got home. I had stocked up on some frozen acai packets from Trader Joe’s on my last shopping trip in the US; it was time to bust them out.

Minty Fresh Acai Parfaits

With the exception of when I am in Hawaii, I do feel guilty for spending money on smoothie bowls. Smoothies are always more economical to make at home, and you stuff way more fruits and vegges into your blender than any smoothie shop will (no ice as a filler!) I’m not exaggerating when I say my morning green smoothie is a legitimate salad; there is easily 1 packed cup of spinach in there. Meanwhile, them smoothie shops only throw in 3 leaves for colour. As tempting as it may be to pay ten bucks for a half-assed acai bowl, try making these coconutty, minty, acai bowls at home! They are unlike any other acai bowl I’ve ever tasted!

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In the summer, my backyard gets overtaken by monstrous herb plants. They were planted more so for warding off ants but today, I got inspired by a local cafe and threw some mint on top of the acai parfaits. OH MY GOODNESS! I’m not sure I’ll ever eat an acai parfait without mint again. After taking photos I went back to my cutting board to dump the remaining mint into my cup. My taste buds were doing their happy dances.

Besides the mint, we all know that the granola makes or breaks an acai bowl. The best kind of granola is the super clumpy kind, which we have many recipes on the blog that you can choose from. Our Clumpy Banana Nut Granola would work best with these acai parfaits. Berry + banana = best buddies.

Vegan yoga mats!

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This summer, take your yoga practice outside and get some sunshine and fresh air with your work out. Although Chew and I typically prefer doing our work outs alone (so we can give it 100% of our focus), we do enjoy rolling out our mats outside and making yoga a social activity. Recently we even picked up acro yoga which is super fun to practice together! Of course our socializing always involves food, and so these acai parfaits are something we would definitely make and eat together. They’re made for sharing!

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