What’s in a name?

Soupasana is a bit of an inside joke among my fellow yoga teachers in training – it’s a yoga pose name that I coined, because the actual pose does not really have a Sanskrit name, and kind of looks like you are stirring soup. Here it is, if you are curious…

Stirring away…

Soup + asana (the physical aspect of the yoga practice), the word also incorporates two of my biggest passions – food and yoga!

The brain (and body) behind Soupasana

My name is Kate.

“Hi, Kate“, imaginary audience chimes.

I am a foodie. I am also a yogi, a fitness fanatic at times, and quite an intense individual in general (at least so I hear). Apparently, Kate is also a synonym for cool. At least Urban Dictionary says so… Off the mat, and outside the kitchen, I teach psychology.

Sometimes, I look like this:

Or like this:

Or like this:

That happens at least few times a year. Much of the rest of the time I spend with my hair in a ponytail, wearing no make-up and either marking papers or dripping with sweat, as I try to get into yet another ^&%^$#(!-asana on my mat.

I am currently training to become a yoga teacher (to be done in June 2010!). As part of our teacher training, we have been encouraged to practice yoga frequently and make certain dietary changes, even if on a temporary basis. Some yoga cleansing techniques, or kriyas, actually call to eliminate animal foods, processed foods and alcohol from your diet completely for at least a month. As I have been considering trying a vegan diet at some point in my future, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity. As some of my fellow teachers in training indicated their plans to do the same, they were worried about what on earth they would be eating. I had so many suggestions; I didn’t know where to start. I totally forgot that most people have no idea about almond milk, or quinoa, or kale, or chia seeds.

This is when an idea of blogging this project came to mind…

About 30-day trials

I first learned about the idea of a 30-day trial few years ago. Essentially, it’s a concept borrowed from the software industry, where you can download and try any piece of software risk-free for 30 days. At the end of the trial, you can purchase the product, or not – completely obligation free.

This approach has been successfully applied to habit formation and behavior modification. Google, the world’s biggest authority, says that it takes anywhere from 21 to 28 days to establish a habit. Although there is no evidence supporting this particular time frame, it serves as a really convenience jumping off point for starting a good or quitting a bad habit.

The rules are simple:

• You pick a specific behavior that you want to engage in, and then you do it for 30 days.
• If you skip a day, you start over.
• One habit at a time.

At the end of the trial, you are free to continue… Or not. In either case, you will have a 30-day trial period behind you, that will allow you to re-assess.

Over the past few years I have completed a number of 30-day trials:

• give up added sugar
• give up flour
• give up caffeine
• exercise every day for 30 minutes (I took this one to day 72, and now it’s definitely a habit)
• write in my journal every day

Every single one of these has been valuable in their own right. For example, while many people report feelings of extreme mental clarity and high physical energy, when they cut out sugar out of their diet, I really did not feel any different.

Exploring veganism in the same format only seemed right!

My carnivores

I share my household with two diehard carnivores – one of human, one of feline variety. Both of them react to my dietary experiments with some amusement, but also complete support (or as I suspect is the case with the feline meat eater, complete apathy). This provides a quite interesting set up, because I handle and cook meat on a daily basis.

Vlad is a mastermind behind the technical aspects of this blog – software architect, computer programmer, graphic designer and technical support – all in one.

Mooha is the reincarnation of devil on Earth. Yes, really. We love him anyway…