This is a simple recipe inspired by a laissez faire Sunday afternoon. After a much needed massage and long nap, I woke up craving pho. Being on my moon cycle also has me looking for different nourishment, easy to digest and warming foods.

I got back to my room with 30 minutes left to check out. I used the bathroom, drank some water and gathered my things. Before I walked away I stopped and took in the views one last time. I was desperately trying to hold on to what I had experienced there. All that I had received and somewhere in my mind figuring out how I could keep it all as i made my way back to the city.

To also love yourself in the moments when you feel fear, sadness, lonely, angry, guilty, and other inharmonious expressions of ourselves. To be able to grant yourself a moment to tend and care for those parts too, with as much love and enthusiasm that you show yourself when you’re feeling vibrant. That is what unconditional love looks like.

I picked up the next potato and zoned out into a meditative nostalgia. I was making tortilla de patata for the first time, a traditional Spanish dish that every Spaniard knows and reveres for it’s simplistic but delicately created taste. There was a method, a process if you will, of trial and error that even the most seasoned cook would have to put in the same amount of effort as a beginner such as I was in this moment.

Taking care of self is truly a “practice.” You don’t just wake up one day with this amazing life of routines and prioritized self-care. You have to decide that it’s important enough to make time for it. That YOU are important enough to make time for.

Getting into the habit of reading as a result of being in a book club has me motivated to spread the good vibes. I’m proposing a reading list for Afro Yoga this coming year and I want you to join us.

Maybe it’s just the season of change in the air, but there’s some things I’ve been changing in my daily routines that are helping me feel lighter and brighter.

California has seen it’s most catastrophic wildfire ever with Camp Fire, in Paradise, CA. Today Sacramento officially reached a hazardous air quality rating, where from the window of my home there is a haze of despair that hangs heavy with emotion and anxiety.