I may have only been in Hachinohe for two months, but I feel warmly embraced.  I am so thankful to have yoga and cooking in my life, as they both make way for great connections, no matter the language or culture (at least from those cultures I have experienced thus far).  When people have a unified joy for something, it is easy to find common ground.  Offering a workshop which embodied both of my passions, brought together a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm… because people who signed up really had to enjoy doing both things, ya know?

So, this past Sunday, I gathered with a group of fourteen in a local community center.  This community center, which I learned are typical in every Japanese neighborhood, was great!  It was literally the perfect place to hold my event.  I must interject here, to say that Barry Grossman, of Senaji Yoga Studio, deserves great deal of credit for pulling this together.  He offered to sponsor this event, he found the location, he marketed the event, and he translated the event.  This could not have happened without Barry, and I offer much gratitude to him!

So, thanks to Barry, we gathered at a lovely place, just around the corner from the yoga studio.  The center held a traditional Japanese tatami room, which was spacious for yoga, and became our dining area.  Attached to the tatami room, was a kitchen.  This kitchen had four work stations including a prep area, 3-burner stove, oven (!) and large sink.  It was also spacious and we had plenty of room to spread out and be a working group!

That morning, we came together for a yoga practice.  It was a therapeutic class, to stimulate our bodies in preparation for digesting food, for allowing lymph fluid movement (one of the most health-providing practices we can do), and to introduce the SATYA practice to this group.  The SATYA practice also wakes up our brains for the attention need in the kitchen ;)

After yoga, I had a snack ready for the students (an American treat, of Justin's almond butter and some go raw cookies).  And, once refueled, they headed into the kitchen to prepare the day's meal!

On the menu was:

• Simple Squash Soup
• Broccoli Sauté with Caramelized Onions
• Apple Chutney
• Adzuki Cocoa Balls

All the food was sorted into quantity needed per recipe and into sections by recipe, making it easy to navigate.  We carefully executed the menu items so that all could be prepared and ready to go within two hours.  And, we did it!  While I offered group demonstrations and personal tips to the students, each station had their own meal to prepare.  Two stations made all four of the dishes, two stations made three of the dishes.  So, everyone got to be involved in almost every part of the meal.  While making my rounds, I also prepared sprouted brown rice and a chai spiced tea.  

In the end, we created beautiful plates, and sat together in the tatami room to share our feast.  It was a lovely experience for me and I felt so proud to have everyone accomplish their goals of the day.  Barry created a video of the event, which you can see above.  To see still images (taken by Stephanie Haselman and me), click here.

Thank you so much [domo arigato], again, to the amazing sangha of Senaji, for coming together and supporting my event!  I hope you had as nice a time as I did!

n a m a s t e