One of the studio owners I work for made the best comment the other day and I’m still thinking about it. She said that in her next life, she’s going to open a yoga center and hire like 16 of herself because instructors can be so flaky, and it reflects poorly on the studio’s owners. I am always so baffled when I hear bad stories about teachers and unfortunately, I hear them more often than not. Whether it be the teacher was late, no-showed, decided to give up a class with no advance, smelled like BO, was stoned out of their gourd, was caught stealing, wore inappropriate and revealing clothing; it makes yoga instructors look baaad and people stereotype us as hippies and flakes. If we’ve met before, you know I don’t fall into any of those categories… I may love the Grateful Dead but it doesn’t mean I have or have ever had a problem with showing up to teach my class… and always on time… if not annoyingly early! 

So as a teacher, I really expect my students who follow by example and get to class on time, and prepared (not drunk, and yes, it has happened) and be ready to commit to being present for the length of the practice. When I was in grade and high school, I wasn’t allowed to show up late or worse, come in making a lot of noise, causing a huge disruption in the flow of the lesson. So when did this change? When did certain people decide that they’re special and above the rest of humans and therefore should be allowed to show up when our schedule allowed? Is it ego? Flightiness? I’ll tell you what it most certainly is– disrespectful and rude!

Lateness is my number one pet peeve. I loathe being late and even more so, I loathe waiting for people. There. I said it. Life is short and I don’t want to waste time waiting for someone to show (and usually they do not) when I could be taking a walk, reading a book, or getting some dishes done! And when I’m teaching yoga and someone is more than five minutes late, I am flabbergasted they even have the nerve to walk in, nevermind the noise most of them make. If I had a quarter for every time someone threw a yoga mat down in the loudest and most ridiculous matter, I would be a very rich lady. People! It’s not that hard to quietly set your mat on the floor and then slowly unravel it with your hands… instead of throwing it down as if it were a beach towel that you were shaking the sand out of.

Also, if you’re wearing shoes when you enter the yoga room, and I don’t care if that yoga room is in a gym or at the airport, you need to take them off. Like right away. Like do not take another step past the front door until your shoes are no longer attached to your feet. Capisce?! (You got it?) Please realize how many disgusting things your shoes touch on a daily basis and also realize how hard we work to keep the studio clean and sterile for all of you. Oh, if class starts in meditation and you walk in with clunkers on, all of the students are now focused on the sound you are making, rather than the sound that their breath is making, this being the whole reason they came to class in the first place!

I love being barefoot. It’s like one of my favorite things about teaching yoga if I’m being honest, and I am. Andy has been making fun of me for years about this and it dates back to a concert we went to a decade ago at the YMCA in the middle of Cabrini Green in Chicago. Cabrini was this notorious public housing project where you wouldn’t want to be unless you absolutely had to and has since been torn down. Of course the Y was perfectly safe but Andy’s memory is of us, on the baseball field listing to Ziggy Marley, and me saying “Take your shoes off babe, take them off!” Here I was hoping he didn’t have gross feet like my last boyfriend did all the while he’s thinking what disgustingness lies in the grass that could be potentially stepped on with his bare feet. Point taken. I guess. In the end, he did end up taking his shoes off and as it turned out, he had really nice feet!

Maybe I’m different from most people but it embarrasses me to be late. I can thank my Ma for that since I have never known her to be late… like ever. She too is a stickler for time and she had me wearing a watch as soon as I was able to tell time. She used to say something like “people’s time is valuable” and I couldn’t agree more. The people who come to class late are repeat offenders. I could call out 10 of them right here, right now but I won’t in hopes that they are reading this and understand that I’m not picking on them, I just hold them to the same standards that I hold myself to.

And I totally get it- everyone has trouble finding parking, kids make you late, your keys mysteriously disappear, you hadn’t noticed the time, blah blah blah… if it happens once or twice. But most of the time, it’s the same people who come in late and then what do ya know? They’re the first to leave too, skipping savasana and running out to wherever they need to be late to next! Some chick left my class early today and then I ran into her immediately after at Trader Joe’s… awkward… for her! If you’re constantly late to the same yoga class, maybe that yoga class isn’t right for your schedule. Sure we teachers all want big yoga classes, but I’d rather have a small group of respectful students than one who takes the practice of yoga for granted.

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Onto food now! I love when you Yummy Yogini readers request recipes or ask how I like to enjoy a certain product or ingredient. Today, I’m featuring spaghetti squash, my all-time favorite, thanks to my friend Nicole who asked for some suggestions. You can easily replace spaghetti squash with your starchy white pasta and cut calories while doing so. You won’t feel weighed down either since the squash is light and airy and easy to cook. Enjoy!  

Spaghetti Squash Carbonara- serves two 

Ingredients:

-1 spaghetti squash, de-seeded and cut in half

-2 cups mushrooms

-8 cloves of garlic

-6 shallots

-1/2 cup white white

-1 egg

-cherry tomatoes (from my garden!)

-olive oil

-salt and pepper

-basil, scallions for garnish (from my garden too!)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450.

2. Slice the spaghetti squash in half and de-seed. Drizzle some olive oil, salt and pepper on the squash and pace cut-side down on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes or until soft.

 

3. Chop up the garlic, shallots and mushrooms and place them in a sauté pan with some olive oil. Stir well. When the shallots begin to brown, add the white wine and continue stirring. Set aside.

 

4. In a small pot, bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add an egg. Wait 2 minutes until the egg is poached.

5. Scoop the spaghetti out of the squash shell, and add that and the veggie mixture into a large bowl.

6. Add the poached egg on top and the cherry tomatoes, scallions and basil as a garnish. Mangia!

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Gluten-free Spaghetti Squash Quiche- makes 6 slices 

Ingredients:

-1 medium spaghetti squash

-3 eggs

-1/2 cup coconut milk

-1 heirloom tomato

-1 cup mushrooms

-1 red onion

-1 zucchini

-fresh greens

-3 cloves garlic

-olive oil or coconut oil

-salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Cut the squash length wise, removing the seeds.

2. Place some olive oil and salt and pepper on the squash and place cut-side down on a sheet tray. Cook for 20 minutes or until tender. Scoop out the “spaghetti” from the squash and place aside.

 

3. In the meantime, chop up the veggies and sauté the onions, mushrooms, zucchini and garlic. Add the greens last.

4. When the squash has cooled, take out a pie pan and press the meat of the squash into the bowl to form the crust. Try to even it out as best you can.

 

5. Beat the eggs with the coconut milk and add the veggies in and stir.

6. Pour the veggie mixture into the pie pan and add your tomatoes on the top. I sprinkled just a bit of the Trader Joe’s spotlight cheese, Elderflower Tomme, on top. It’s not necessary though; this can easily be made dairy-free too.

 

7. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until set.

 

8. Pair with some nice white wine and enjoy! The perfect brunch meal!

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My book recommendation for you today is another one by Jeanette Walls called Half Broke Horses and it’s a true life novel about her bad-ass grandma Lily Casey who flies airplanes, rides 500 miles on her pony alone, becomes a school teacher, and breaks horses; all during the Great Depression. I enjoyed the story so much and if you haven’t read The Glass Castle by Walls yet, you should and then you’ll understand why her mother turned out to be the woman she was! 

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