There’s nothing quite like sitting back and watching a glorious sunset with your partner when you’re on holiday – it’s certainly one of the most romantic ways to spend an evening, especially if you can combine the experience with good food and drink.

If you’re looking for somewhere to watch a marvelous sunset, check out our suggestions of the top places in the world to see the sun sink beneath the horizon.

Negril, Jamaica

First on our list is Negril in Jamaica, where you can watch some truly spectacular sunsets, not to mention enjoy amazing views before the evening draws in. One of the main reasons why the sunsets here are so good is that Negril is located at Jamaica’s most westerly point, giving you an excellent view of the sun as it seems to disappear into the sea.

The best place to watch this spectacle from while you’re on a holiday in Negril is the top of the cliffs in the town’s West End area, where a large limestone plateau that leads all the way to the coast is located. Sit back with a stunning view of the sea and just enjoy the changing colors of the sky as day turns to night.

Flic and Flac, Mauritius

Flic en Flac beach in Mauritius is a wonderful place to watch the sunset, with this west-facing bay providing uninterrupted views of the horizon. Flic en Flac is a beautiful place to spend a day, with its white sands stretching all the way down into the blue waters of its sheltered lagoon.

As the sun begins to set, it tints the sky all manner of glorious colors, from bright yellow and vibrant orange through to deep red and dusky pink. Curl up on the sand and watch the show in comfort.

Bahri Bar, Dubai

This is a sunset with a difference, in that instead of looking out over the sea, you’re watching it sink behind some of the world’s most impressive buildings! Dubai is a wonderful city to discover and if you’re after a classy setting to watch the sun go down in, you won’t do better than the Bahri Bar in Mina A’Salam at the Madinat Jumeirah.

Here, you’ll have amazing views of the Arabian Gulf and the impressive Burj Al Arab and can watch as the changing colors of the sky are reflected in the water and even off the buildings as the sun sets. It will be all the more magical if you’re sipping on your favorite cocktail at the same time.

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Our final choice for an amazing sunset experience is Kruger National Park in South Africa. This is a wonderful option if you’re keen to capture an iconic photo of some of Africa’s wildlife silhouetted against a yellow-orange backdrop, or an atmospheric shot of the bright yellow sun just above the horizon in a crimson-pink sky.

The best way to take advantage of this stunning natural sight is to go on a sunset game drive, which will see you leave while it’s light and return to your camp after dark. What this means is that you’ll be out on the plains when the sun actually goes down, allowing you to take some outstanding pictures. Another advantage is that you’ll see the transition between the animals that inhabit the plains during the day and those that only come out once darkness falls.

Via Eye and Pen

“The way you accept Asthanga yoga is the way you will accept other outside challenges in life.” ~Rory Trollen

Growing Organic Kale for Beginngers

Growing organic kale and spinach is easy once you know the basics.

Danners posing with our luscious kale and spinach plants

This post is about how to grow and care for your kale once it is in the growing stage (having already been planted). If you’re interested in the initial planting of kale, see our post on “Should I Start with Kale Seeds or Baby Kale Plants?”

We were successful growing organic kale and we’ve been reaping the plentiful rewards ever since! This post will explain why you’d consider growing kale (or any vegetable), how to care for & nourish growing kale, and how to harvest kale once it’s ready. Lastly, we will discuss how to prepare and eat harvested kale.

Reasons to Grow your own Vegetables

To plant, nurture, water, feed, harvest and then finally eat a vegetable, creates a feeling that everyone should experience once in their life. There is such a powerful connection you feel when eating vegetables you’ve grown yourself.

Why Grow Kale?

Growing organic kale is one of the best ways to start your home garden. Not only is kale one of the most healthy vegetables, it’s also one of the easiest to grow and has one of the longest growing seasons. Kale grows in the Spring through the Summer and deep into Autumn (in the Northeastern region of USA.) Thanks to Gerri (Danielle’s friend) from Schenectady, NY for the info on the long growing season!

Harvesting Organic Kale

When growing organic kale, keep in mind that the harvesting method is very important. Rule number one is that when picking kale from your plant, it’s best to take the whole stem from the stalk as opposed to just breaking off the leaf. This ensures that nutrients won’t be transported from the stalk to what has turned into a stem with no prospects of growing a new leaf. This practice helps distribute the nutrients from the soil to the stems and leaves that are still growing.

It’s wise to first harvest the outer leaves since they are the most mature and ready to eat. Whenever a leaf or a stem is connected to a stalk, it is drawing prana (energy, lifeforce) and nutrients from the stalk. The stalk receives prana from the soil, the stem receives prana from the stalk, and the leaf receives prana from the stem. There comes a point when the kale leaf is waiting to be harvested and by keeping the stem and leaf on the stalk, you are doing a disservice to the younger leaves by depriving them of much needed nutrients.

The stems and leaves feed off each other’s growth so don’t harvest too many kale stems/leaves at once or you might end up killing the plant.

What to Eat Kale with

Growing organic kale has been quite the adventure. So far, we’ve harvested 12 servings of kale from our garden. In the span of 3 months, we’ve gone from a group of clueless “city guys” (complete beginners) to being able to supply ourselves with more kale than we could have imagined. We’ve made kale chips, kale salad, kale smoothies, and we’ve added kale to just about any dish you can imagine.

Sautéed Organic Kale from our Garden with Wild Salmon & Grape Tomatoes

Differences Between Home Grown Organic Kale and kale from Whole Foods:

• Fresh kale is more rich and dense (probably because it hasn’t traveled across the country in the back of a truck for days)
• Fresh kale is…. well, fresher (an obvious observation but one can’t help but taste and observe the difference in moisture levels)
• Fresh kale tastes better (this might be because we have great soil and compost & practice crop rotation whereas the big agriculture companies might not)
• Being self+sustainable “feels right.” Imagine the days when this practice was the norm! (it’s amasing being able to pick fresh kale every few days instead of having to go to the store. The feeling of “we grew this” is special)

Have you had similar experiences growing organic kale? How do you like to eat kale?

Yes, you read that correctly.

My yoga practice was something that used to cause me stress. I worried about my form from the first sun salutation right through to savasana. I wanted to please my teachers. I wanted to show my fellow yogis that I deserved to practice alongside them. If I had a “bad” practice, I had to stop myself from apologizing. If I missed one of my usual classes, I felt like a kid who got caught skipping school.

I sometimes left the studio more frustrated than when I went in.

But for the last year, I’ve been stripping my practice of obligations and expectations. Peeling away the performance anxieties and distancing myself from the ego (both mine and those of teachers who demand tribute).

The beautiful result? I have come to see my yoga practice as nothing special.

I practice yoga 3-4 times a week. It helps to keep my body strong and healthy. It cuts through the chatter in my brain to help me focus on writing. It also nurtures my sense of love and compassion.

But I also ride bikes and share meals with friends. I visit my parents and play with dogs. I read good books and take naps in the afternoon. All of these things also keep my body strong and healthy. They help cut through the chatter in my brain, as well as nurture my sense of love and compassion.

My yoga practice is part of a constellation of moments that fill my life. I love it immensely, but it does not define me. It is not the be-all-and-end-all of my existence, but I am grateful every time I step on the mat. Because it is nothing special, it is a source of joy for me, before, during and after.

Isn’t that what the practice should be?

Via Adriana Palanca 

Margie Smith, a pleasant looking women who gave birth in the 1950’s, approaches a travel agent.

“I must get to the Himalayas for my vacation.” Mrs. Smith says. “I’ve got to talk to a guru.”

“The Himalayas, Mrs. Smith! Are you sure? The travel agent asks. “It’s a long trip, different language, funny food, smelly oxcarts. How about London, or Florida? Florida is lovely this time of year.”

Mrs. Smith is adamant. She must go to the Himalayas to talk to a guru. So Mrs. Smith, wearing her best blue suit and her black pumps with the sensible heels, heads East, taking a plane, a train, a bus, and, yes, and oxcart, until she finally arrives at a far-off Buddhist monastery in Nepal. There an old lama in maroon and saffron robes tells her that the guru she seeks is meditating in a cave at the top of the mountain and cannot be disturbed. But Mrs. Smith came a long way and she is determined woman who won’t be put off.

Finally the lama relents. “All right,” he says, “if you must, you must. But there are some ground rules. You can’t stay long, and when you speak to the guru, you can say no more than ten words. He lives there alone, in silence and meditation.”

Mrs. Smith agrees; and with the help of a few lamas, monks, and Sherpa porters, she starts trudging up the mountain. It’s a long hard climb, but she doesn’t give up. With an enormous effort of will and energy, she reaches the top — and the cave in which the guru is meditating. Her mission accomplished, Mrs. Smith stands at the entrance, and in a loud clear voice, she says what she came to say:

“Sheldon…..Enough is enough! It’s your mother. Come home already.”

Via Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das

What Are the Yamas and Niyamas?

When Brian and I first studied yoga extensively, we were fascinated by the origins and composition of the yamas and niyamas. There are books on the topic and one could study this for a lifetime. Here is a brief overview of what I learned from Rory Trollen combined with what I have learned in other lectures, seminars, and books.

The yamas and niyamas are the first two limbs of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. The yamas and niyamas can be seen as 10 Guidelines to purifying life and becoming a better person. The distinction between the word guideline and commandment is important. The word commandment is generally used to strike fear whereas a guideline is your spiritual ally helping you along the path.

If you are a yogi, then you are a yogi 24 hours a day, on and off the mat.

There are yogis who say that they have been to a certain part of consciousness so they know for a fact that if you steal, kill, use drugs, or cause harm to others, you lose karma.

On the other hand good deeds give you positive energies that can be translated into will power, the ability to  heal injuries, and concentration for mediation. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Rory Trollen Practicing

Eventually, advanced yogis will develop paranormal powers such as the ability to read minds and refine senses to such a perfection that you can be in two places at once.

In summary, there is enormous potential to do things to yourself and to others. The yamas and niyama serve as guidelines on how to act and to insure that the yogi does not use these powers in a negative way but instead uses their light to help others.

The Yamas:

Ahimsa ~ Nonviolence

Satya ~ Truthfulness

Asteya ~ Nonstealing

Brahmacharya ~ Nonexcess

Aparigraha ~ Non attachment

The Niyamas (internal observances):

Saucha ~ Purity

Santosha ~ Contentment

Tapas ~ Goal Achieving

Svadhyaya ~ Self study

Ishvara Pranidhana ~ Why are you practicing yoga?

Brian and I will post a series of posts dedicated to each of the yamas and niyamas. Here’s a link to our first post in the series, dedicated to ahimsa.

Do you intend on living by the guidelines of the yamas and niyamas?

“We sit in the shade under trees others have planted.”

~Walter Lippmann

Note: I heard this quote yesterday listening to Warren Buffet speak in a Learning by Giving Foundation online course. To hear a man with $50+ billion in the bank speak with the humility and awareness that he exudes gives me an awesome feeling. I loved the example he and his sister referred to: “If I was born in Bangladesh I would never have even had the opportunity to make this kind of money.” The man gets it. He understands how random the process is and how much Bigger the process is.