Bartley Rd.

Let the raw food revolution begin.

Rashida — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:12:50 +0000

In 2012, I am making an attempt to go completely raw by the close of the year. In the process I am going to teach myself to prepare raw food dishes and mix great juices and shakes. Here I go. January 2, 2012

Breakfast starts with a morning citrus drink.

Ingredients:
Five oranges, one pink grapefruit, 25-30 red & green grapes, two medium size pieces of ginger. One scoop of Sun Warrior vegan protein, vanilla flavor.

I find that the grapes add a sweet balance to the tartness of the citrus. The ginger adds a spiciness, plus I like ginger.

Juiced the fruit and blended the scoop of vegan protein.

Starting To Take Shape

Rashida — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:40:16 +0000

So last month I set this strict schedule about how I was going to approach my yoga practice. The Virgo in me loves order and control. Relaxation and letting go haven’t always been my strong points. I mapped out days, times and teachers. That schedule has since been thrown out the window. I stuck to it probably a week, week and a half. The schedule was thrown out partially because of work life, partially because of social life. However regardless of having stuff to do, last month I saw the studio at least twice a week and at home practice at least once a week.

Through just going to class either at the beginning or end of my day I realize at this point in time; my journey is not about days, times or teachers. My journey currently is about openness and removal of fear. When I go to the mat ready to learn, play and grow, I have a joyful experience. When I go to mat with the mindset of, “I made to class, checkmark on schedule,” I get less out of my practice. Sometimes I feel just as wound up as I did before practice.

With this new understanding I am enjoying Ashtanga yoga very much, no longer doing Bikram and I am intrigued by Anusara. That’s all for now. Happy practicing.

From The Mat To The Kitchen

Rashida — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:33:24 +0000

So as I’ve started to diversify and deepen my yoga practice, by doing Bikram and Ashtanga, I’ve started to reevaluate my eating habits. Instead of candy bars for quick snacks I mixed up some trial mix from the bulk food station at the grocery store. The last two weeks I cut out meat and chicken and stuck to seafood as it relates to animal product consumption. Never been a fan of salads but this week I broke out some spinach, peppers, carrots, and tomatoes. Vegetables were a little tart for my taste so I chopped up a nectarine to add some sweetness. For dressing a little balsamic vinaigrette.

But my favorite thing to make now, as I navigate new eating habits, is a smoothie. I am a blender bad ass, get out my face. Yesterday after Bikram class I whipped up a post-yoga dinner time smoothie: some strawberries, some raspberries, 1 banana, table spoon nonalcoholic banana-colada juice, cup of chocolate soy milk. Dreamy. For breakfast I use a combination of three different fruits and vanilla soy milk. Fruits can range from blueberries to raspberries, mangoes to peaches. I usually pick the fruit based on whatever is left in the refrigerator.

The other week tried a green smoothie recipe from the web: baby spinach, slices of cantaloupe, slices of plantains and cup of water. Didn’t go over so well with me. I don’t think I like plantains and two the smoothie has to be super cold to get it down. I plan to keep experimenting with green smoothies. Don’t want my smoothie game to be one-sided with only fruit.

slacked off last week

Rashida — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 01:56:11 +0000

Slacked off last week. While traveling I didn’t do any yoga. I had the time, had the space, could have found an online class to attend. But no, I chillaxed for five days. In an effort to get back on track I’ve carved out a new yoga regimen for July.

Monday- Bikram Yoga
Tuesday- Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga
Wednesday- Rest Day
Thursday- Rest Day
Friday- Bikram Yoga
Saturday- Rest Day
Sunday- Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga (workshop)

(As of Friday July 1st, I went to Bikram class. Hoping to keep this schedule going consistently. Maybe I will take away one of the rest days.)

Umm, yeah, ah no.

Rashida — Wed, 25 May 2011 03:47:00 +0000

So yeah, I thought I was doing yoga with my Bikram yoga classes, no. I think the heat gave me a false sense of my level of flexibility. I went to an introduction to Ashtanga class and got a rude awakening.

It’s totally different than Bikram. There’s a lot of focus on adjusting, shifting, aligning and using your own strength to hold yourself up. Madness. A sister needs to work on doing a proper push-up. Intro to Ashtanga revealed that my push-ups are a hot mess.

In class, internally, I screamed at the little voice in the back of my mind that tried to make excuses. Nobody wanted to hear, “it’s the first session don’t worry about it you’re new to the practice.” No I need to learn how to do a push-up. Upper body strength #fail.

I should say #challenge instead of #fail since I plan to go back again.

Another quick lesson, I don’t need one of those fancy yoga towels for Ashtanga class. All it did was get bunched under my feet during class as we moved from position to position. Thought I was being fabulous taking a brand new yoga towel to class when it just turned out to be a big distraction. Next time I’ll know. Towel did match my water bottle but I digress.

Finally, finally, finally….

Rashida — Sun, 01 May 2011 15:46:00 +0000

I finally got it in gear and did some yoga at home. Broke out the yoga video I bought in January 2011, Mandy Ingber’s Yogalosophy. Yes I bought because of the Jennifer Aniston factor. Ingber is J.A.’s yoga teacher. I am sure she is the yogi to other stars but to be honest not sure of who’s on the list. So far I like parts of the video and other parts I can do without. The biggest thing is, Ingber says “um” a lot when instructing. Maybe it’s not a lot but it is noticeable enough to distract me, at first use. The plus side is that the workout can be done on silent. She has an option which specifically says silent, opposed to just turning the volume all the way down. As I learn the routine, I will definitely be exercising that options. I’ve only practiced with the video once so my review on the strenuousness of the workout, is still to be determined. I pat myself on the back for finally getting moving, but I am still partial to studio classes.

I Miss You, But I Need To Get Over It.

Rashida — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:10:47 +0000

The last six weeks my schedule has been hectic, so my journey to becoming a yogi has been stunted. Again, I haven’t made it to a class in a while.

Talking to various yoga practitioners, they remind that I don’t need a studio to do yoga. In my mind, I think I need to go to an organized class; I’ve yet to practice in my home. I miss yoga, which is stupid because I could just get over this notion that I always have to be in a studio to practice, and get to stretching. I have a few yoga videos and the audio version of Bikram’s 90 minute class. I could use one of those to start my home practice routine instead of making excuses. I am being hard on myself because I am getting a little frustrated with this stopping and starting routine that I’m developing.

ARGH!

I think this is my all time favorite Sade Song

Rashida — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:04:46 +0000

Gotta Be In The Front Row

Rashida — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 02:40:07 +0000

Late 2010 I said to myself, I am going to become a serious yogi.

I’ve been a recreational runner for most of my life and I just became bored with running. Looking for another workout that would excite me I randomly tried pilates. I couldn’t get with the equipment; it seemed too medieval for me to actually get comfortable.

In 2006 when a friend introduced me to Bikram yoga and I was hooked. It was a tough workout and I didn’t feel that I was going to fall asleep, be hummed or meditated to death. Off and on I went to class. Different studios, different instructors- the class was always the same hot, tough, and sweaty. The one thing I love about Bikram, no matter where you go, the class is always the same sequence of postures. I know what to expect, a stretching hell that I’ve yet to master.

After a few years of going to Bikram on a semi-regular basis I wanted to be more dedicated. My first goal was to do Bikram every day. It changed to, do some form of yoga every day. If I didn’t make it to class I planned to work out with a yoga video. So far this year I’ve failed. Not only have I not gone everyday I’m going less than before making my goal. This week I headed back to class and is was the worst. I was out of shape and sync. Returning to yoga is a beast but, it’s more of a beast if you’re in the back row and someone in the front put his or her mat too close to your face. Yoga lesson for the week, set up in the front row the threat of toe jam close to my head is removed and I’ll be able to see myself while I’m dying.

Growing Up Unscented

Rashida — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:00:09 +0000

Growing Up Unscented

By Rashida Bartley

In my mom’s house perfumed items were outlawed. She said the fragrances bothered her. How the scented items agitated her I don’t know. She didn’t have allergies or at least she didn’t have allergies that were apparent to me. To this day, I still don’t I believe her explanation. In her closet she always had a secret stash of eau de toilettes from Estée Lauder and Lancôme.

It wasn’t so much that I wanted to smell fragrant- it was the denial of the right to smell good that upset me. Everything was unscented- hair products, laundry detergent, body soap, lotion, food. After age 13 I was allowed to wear nail polish. She openly wore nail polish so telling me the smell bothered her was not going to fly. I wanted to tell my mom the unscented stuff had the aroma of pureed plastic. I hated the unscented Lubriderm lotion my mom handed me whenever my legs were ashy. The plain white and blue bottle did nothing for my desire to be like the girls all the boys fawned over.

My high school friends experimented with building scents- teen musk layered on top of hormones, mixed with deodorant chunks, combine with stolen cologne and or perfume. I smelled like hard water and generic cooking grease. Guess I should have been grateful that I was clean and didn’t sport the huff of toe jam and Fritos.

When I shopped with my dad I’d buy perfumed items as long as it didn’t get him in trouble with my mom. He’d remind me that mom didn’t like scented items. And like me, he didn’t know why either.

I was missing out on my right of passage to smell like discovery. I knew mom’s odorless ways were wrong. In college I got my proof. At random a college crush told me, “A woman should smell like something, she can’t just smell like air.” He was the most profound 19 year-old I ever met. Of course his interest in me was null and void just like my scent.

My first big cologne purchase was CK One by Calvin Klein. At the time the unisex fragrance was ground breaking to my group of friends. A fragrance made for both men and women. The only people I knew who wore it were girls. It was citrusy. Citrusy made me feel like a grown up. Plus the bottle was pretty big and the box set of lotion and cologne always seemed to be on sale.

My bathroom later housed any number of smell goods. In my early years of fragrance freedom I wasted a lot of money on box sets. I never bought anything that claimed to smell like air. Most of my perfumes went bad from sitting on the shelf unused. These days my favorite smell good is the pearberry oil I found at the Jamaican shop.

When I visit my parents I still tone down the fragrances and my mom still has her secret stash of eau de toilettes.