Vegetarian Cuisine
BANANA NUT TART – When this recipe was featured in our Yoga Life magazine, it received rave reviews from readers. Bananas are especially beneficial for yoga practitioners as they are said to increase humility and calmness.
Ingredients:
Piecrust:
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon honey or date syrup
2/3 cup oil
2 1/3 cups sunflower seeds
Water for mixing
Filling:
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon honey or date syrup
2/3 cup oil
2 1/3 cups sunflower seeds
Water for mixing
1 1/4 cups cashew nuts
5 ounces pitted dates
4 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons arrowroot
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 bananas plus slices for decoration
1 3/4 cups chopped walnuts
Preparation
:
Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch loose-bottomed round tart pan. To make the piecrust, mix all the ingredients together, add a little water to bind them.
Spread the mixture in the greased pan, using your hand to spread the mix evenly around the bottom and side of the pan. Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Leave the pie shell to cool completely before removing from the pan.
To make the filling, put all the ingredients, except the bananas and chopped walnuts, in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a pan and cook over low heat until thick. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Slice the 2 bananas into the pie shell. Pour the cooled filling on top and decorate with banana slices and the chopped nuts. Chill until set.
Sit silent. Calm thy mind. Make it pure. Have one-pointed devotion. You will enjoy eternal peace and bliss. – Sri Swami Sivananda
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Glossary
PRANAYAMA – Mantra During Pranayama
The Mantra for repetition during the practice of Pranayama is laid down in the Isvara Gita: “When the aspirant holding his breath repeats the Gayatri thrice, together with even Vyahritis in the beginning, the Siras at the end and the Pranava, one at both ends of it, this is, what is called the regulation of breath.”
Yogi Yajnavalkya, on the other hand, declares thus: “The upward breath and the downward breath, having been restrained, regulation of breath is to be practised by means of the Pranava (!) with due regard to the unit of measure of the Mantra.
This repetition of the Pranava alone, is meant for the Paramahamsa Sannyasins. It has been declared in the Smritis, that ordinary contemplation is to be practised, through the inhalation and other stages of breath-regulation at one’s navel, heart and forehead, with reference to the forms of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva respectively. For the Paramahamsa however, the only object of contemplation has been declared to be Brahman. “The self-controlled ascetic is to contemplate upon the supreme Brahman, by means of the Pranava,” declares the Sruti.
Exercise No. 1
Sit on Padmasana. Close your eyes. Concentrate on Trikuti (the space between the two eye-brows). Close the right nostril with your right thumb. Inhale slowly through the left nostril as long as you can do it with comfort. Then exhale very very slowly through the same nostril. Do twelve times. This is one round.
Then inhale through the right nostril by closing the left nostril with your right ring and little fingers and exhale very slowly through the same nostril. Do twelve times. This is one round.
Do not make any sound during inhalation and exhalation. Repeat your Ishta Mantra during the practice. In the second week of practice, do two rounds, in the third week, three rounds. Take rest for two minutes when one round is over. If you take a few normal breaths, when one round is over, that will give you sufficient rest and you will be fresh for the next round. There is no Kumbhaka in this exercise. You can increase the number of rounds according to your strength and capacity.
Exercise No. 2
Inhale through both the nostrils slowly and gently. Do not retain the breath. Then exhale slowly. Do 12 times. This will constitute one round. You can do 2 or 3 rounds according to your capacity and strength and time at your disposal.
Exercise No. 3
Sit on your Asana. Close the right nostril with your right thumb. Then inhale slowly through your left nostril. Close the left nostril with your right ring and little fingers and open the right nostril by removing the right thumb. Exhale very slowly through the right nostril. Then draw the air through the right nostril as long as you can do it with comfort and exhale through the left nostril by removing the right ring and little fingers. There is no Kumbhaka in this Pranayama. Repeat the process 12 times. This will constitute one round.
Exercise No. 4
Meditate that the single letter, the Supreme light—Pranava or OM—is the origin or source of the three letters A, U and M. Inhale the air through Ida or left nostril for the space of 16 Matras (seconds), meditate on the letter ‘A’ during that time; retain the air for the space of 64 Matras, meditate on the letter ‘U’ during the time; exhale through the right nostril for the space of 32 Matras and meditate on the letter ‘M’ during that time. Practise this again and again in the above order. Begin with 2 or 3 times and gradually increase the number to 20 or 30 times according to your capacity and strength. To begin with, keep the ratio 1:4:2. Gradually increase the ratio to 16:64:32.
Strive with faith and single-minded devotion. You will come out victorious in the end. – Sri Swami Sivananda