Raw Birthday

So I just turned 30 two days ago. My DH asked me if he could make me anything special for dinner so I requested a nice raw food dish. I got home from teaching yoga and I found a Delicious mango salad with cucumbers, carrots, radishes, fresh mint leaves, red onion and topped with peanuts. It was drizzled with lime juice and chilies. So yummy! He ended up getting it from one of our favourite Thai restaurant as he was working late and had not time to make anything. It was perfect. I also got a beautiful card and a gift card for Thyme maternity store! It was so nice of him to do this especially that we went out for my b-day last week and I was expecting nothing more. I ate the mango salad and it was heaven. I love mango and papaya salad from Thai cuisine. I often make one at home. I got some fresh mangoes today so I am planning on making more in the next few days. My fridge is full from today's grocery trip and I have organic carrots, lots of tomatoes, cilantro, oranges, apples, bananas, nuts and raisins. Maybe I will make a date nut torte. Both me and DH love it.

Its been getting warmer outside for the past two days. Its actually +3C today so I took Ronin to a doggy park so he could play for a bit longer. When its really cold its hard to walk him even when you really bundle up you get so cold. His paws were getting sore from the ice and salt so he would not even want to go outside. My friend told me about this ointment called Invisible Boot and I got it for Ronin. Its all natural bees wax, sunflower oil and tee tree oil, you just smear some on his pads and he is good to go. I have been missing going out for long walks, just being in the nature, breathing in fresh air and soaking up the sun. I can't wait until it gets warmer so I can venture out there for 20 min walks each day. I am lucky to be pregnant now and then throughout spring and summer. I can't wait for Farmer's Market so I can eat fresh local fruits and veggies. It will all come I just have to be patient.

Foods I had today:

• Smoothie (guava juice, orange juice, banana, almonds, flax meal, mango, cinnamon)
• Fresh spring rolls (shredded carrots, avocado, lettuce, mint leaves, cucumbers)
• Green smoothie (super greens, almond milk, banana, raspberries, almonds)
• Orange
• Pistachios
• Veggies with chipotle spinach dip and hummus
• Mint tea, lots of water

I also thought an Iyengar Level 2 yoga class and we did backbends. I ended up having two ladies in my class only which was wonderful. Semi private or private classes are great because I can do exactly what the student needs and get a lot of feedback from them in terms of how they feel in the pose and what they need to work on. I love teaching Iyengar yoga because it is so intelligent and we move from that intelligence as we focus on alignment. Backbends are wonderful as they open the heart and the shoulders. We are all tight in the chest and in our lower backs as a society. So backbends give us the freedom to open up, reverse the effects of daily life such as sitting in front of the computer or driving. They allow us to get in touch with our emotions and connect with the vibration of the heart: joy, compassion, kindness and love. We did locust pose, bow pose, cobra on the mat and cobra on the ropes. I wanted to also incorporate inversions at the end of the class as both ladies asked me to do shoulder stand to help them out in feeling more comfortable in the pose. In the Iyengar yoga we use props such as blankets, bolsters and blocks so we used 4 blankets underneath the shoulders and a strap to bring the elbows closer together. They both did great and I helped one to lift the breastbone as she was sinking back into her lumbar. I returned home feeling uplifted yet calm. I love backbends and I am allowed to do them myself for another month.