Homemade Caffeine-Free Chai Tea

This concoction of mine is good for 1 liter or about 4 cups which is just right for me. You can double the ingredients up when you want to make about 8 cups.

Ingredients: 1/2 cup of fresh Ginger sliced
5 Peppercorns
5 Star Anise
2 TBSP Cloves
5 Cardamom pods (I like to ground them)
4-5 Cinnamon sticks
1/2 a tsp. of Fennel seeds
1/2 a cup of any milk. I like to use lactose-free milk, non-dairy (for vegans), soy milk mixed with a little coconut milk, rice milk, or almond milk.
1 TBSP of dark brown sugar or raw honey

Procedure: In a pot, add a liter of water and add all the ingredients except the milk and sugar and bring to a boil for about 30 to 45 minutes with occasional stirring. You can keep adding a little water as the water boils out. Remove from heat and drain.

Let steep for about 10 minutes then add milk and sugar and bring back to low heat for 1 minute. Then serve. :)

A Healthy Holiday Treat

This week has not only been an advanced teacher training for me, (on a different aspect this time called prenatal yoga), this has also become a healthy retreat for both Angel and I. While here, we love the fact that we awake to the view of the beach everyday, we love that by walking it only takes 15 seconds to get to the retreat center and the beach. And best of all, we look forward to waking up to a delicious and sattvic buffet for brunch, dinner and even dessert!


Having to take this "add-on" course, just made me relive my Greenpath yoga teacher training experience all over again. With the same outline, it was so easy to get comfortable right away.


So, for a week, my day starts out at 7am everyday for meditation and pranayama. Then from 8 to 10am, a mysore class with other fellow ashtangis (who are here for other reasons), follow. Then I eat, swim in a salt water pool or the beach, and get to chill with hubby for 3 lovely hours. Then, starting from 2 until 4pm, my classmates and I start our prenatal lecture with Sonja. Then, from 4 to 6pm, our course practical. And 6pm onwards, swim, eat and chill all over again. This has been our schedule for the whole week. How good is that? :)


While my darling Angel lets me be in my quest to learn, he too has been maximizing his stay. To regenerate himself and wash away all the negative build-up, he has taken on relaxing his mind through long walks on the beach. And on his own, practices some deep breathing and meditation. Not only that, I am so proud he gave the effort to join yoga restorative classes, and even prouder for avoiding meat for the whole duration of his stay! I know that things will go back to normal once we leave this place, but at least he was able to detox in some way and breathe in new life once again before the 2nd half of his golfing season starts.
Go hubby! :)

Ahh, the bliss of it all here in Yoga Thailand. I am so grateful and thankful for this amazing opportunity. Not only do I feel blessed to be taught by Sonja Rzepski, our wonderful guru, she has also become our friend and mentor. Meeting new, and international friends is also another boon to be thankful for. And because there is only 7 of us in the class, there is much more of a personal connection involved.

How one week just flies. Our training has now come to an end. To finish with a bang, we designed our blueprint for a class, followed by a written exam (which we all aced) and a mini graduation on the beach! :)



Learning and at the same time restoring. This certainly was a holistic treat for the both of us. Healing from the inside out gave us a renewed sense of inspiration to keep on improving on our physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. This yoga retreat has somehow also restored our impaired view of many things, and has given us some sort of inner clarity with ourselves. In a way, we are reminded all over again on our journey towards self-awareness, love and acceptance. And most of all, this has recharged our batteries to take on once again the challenges of the chaotic world.

For Angel and I who have somehow turned into health conscious travelers, we will try our best to always make it a point in our lives to continue with our wellness adventure. This has taught us that it really is best to take some time out, and breathe, and make life anew.


I am grateful for all things around me and most of all I am forever thankful to my beloved husband and his eternal support of me in all the things I do. This blog is for you. I love you! Your patience and kindness never cease to overwhelm me.

Simply Ayurvedic

While searching for a place to eat dinner, we stumbled on this lovely Italian restaurant close to our home called Buona Vita. How awesome is this, I found a pasta dish in the menu that was not only sattvic but more or less fitted with my kapha consitution!-- Pasta Genovese. Pasta noodles cooked in basil leaves, pine nuts and olive oil. It was simply delicious!

Buona Vita- is a small but charming restaurant, where the atmosphere is homey and the service is good. They have an ample selection of food and is surprisingly inexpensive. My husband and I have found another restaurant where we are sure of going back! :)

Buona Vita Ristorante Italiano
Greenboro Bldg. Verdana Village Center
Daanghari Road, Bacoor, Cavite
+63 46 5174105

Also, another place we often eat at to satisfy our sattvic urges is a vegetarian restaurant called:
The Corner Tree Cafe
Located in Jupiter st., Bel-Air Village, Makati


I do love their vegan meatloaf with Idaho mashed potatoes, string beans and carrots! But don't just take my word for it. Give it a go! There a lot more yummy dishes to try from their vegan menu..:)

They really are worth going to! :)

Ayurvedic Food Choices

I try my best to make it a conscious effort in my life to eat sattvic or fresh, pure foods (such as: fresh vegetables, most fruits, freshly prepared grains, a good number of beans, milk, sweet cream, freshly made yogurt, mother's milk, ghee and butter in moderation). But I know that in this day and age, this doesn't come easy especially when rajasic foods (fermented foods, garlic, peppers of all kinds, eggs, cheeses, white sugar, most sweeteners, salt, radishes, peanut, citrus) and tamasic foods (most fast foods, fried foods, frozen foods, microwaved foods, processed foods, left over night foods, alcohol, drugs, chemicals, onions, lard, meat, fish and poultry) are much easier to obtain and suit our gastronomical palate more often.

Finding ingredients and cooking them or even just eating out gets trickier when you are trying your best to choose the kinds of food that fit whatever constitution you are, or what is called your "dosha." There are three: Vata, Pita and Kapha. With that said, I am a pure Kapha. :)

Since I can only do so much, and I have my dear husband to think about, we don't have the pleasure of eating with ayurveda all the time. And honestly, life is too short to be a little fussy. But because of my understanding and belief that this kind of holistic science which is 5,000 years old and is a time-tested system, assists the body, mind, and spirit by bringing harmony and balance starting with the food we eat... I have become aware at least of the kinds of food to choose and avoid (from time to time) for my particular dosha. If I allow myself some minor indulgences against them (which is very often), I still try to eat ayurvedically by choosing more pure, fresh and light foods.

With my changed eating habits aside, I also have to give my husband praises. I somehow have rubbed off a little of this consciousness on to him. He now knows his type of dosha (he is dual: kapha-pitta) but instead of being "dosha-conscious" about it, he chooses to eat instead in moderation of everything. And that too is ok! By being more aware of his food intake, he has now been adding a lot more pure foods in his diet. And once in a blue moon, he catches himself avoiding some foods that contradict his dosha. I am so proud that he is making the effort of being on the right track to healthier living.


Just to be clear that practicing ayurveda is not a cure, but is instead a preventive medicine. And just a little background on the 3 gunas, One of the benefits of eating more sattvic is that they keep you light, flexible, calm and helps clear the mind. It also is truth inspiring. When eating rajasic, it stimulates more fire, outward motion, creativity, aggression, passion. And lastly with tamasic foods, they increase inner darkness and confusion. They are good for numbing us out. It slows us down even depressing us at times. And it also enhances inertia.


So, ideally, when at home, (thanks to my Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners book) I try my best to create sattvic. On good days, I am able to find some ingredients suitable for my type. Luckily, there is an Indian grocery store 3 minutes away from our home that more or less makes this possible.
When dining out, I try to make it a point that the bulk of my choices are mostly sattvic. If none are really available, then it's not the end of the world for me. I just pick the meal which is closest to being light and healthy. :)




Photo credit: healthjockey.com