Monday Night Yoga: The First Crow & Vegan Brownies

 

 

Monday night at 6:30pm is a Pay What You Feel Flow class at The Sustainable Salon. We move for an hour and then share herbal tea and treats while we chat after class. It's always a lovely moment, to connect to each other before we make our way into the week ahead.

This week, I drew a blank for baking inspiration. We have several dietary requirements in our Monday Night Class community and this week I just could not think of anything inspired. Banana bread, again? Biscuits? Energy Balls? I stared into my baking cupboard and hoped for a flash of inspiration. It appeared! BROWNIES! Gluten free, Vegan, Nut Free Brownies!

I found this recipe from The Minimalist Baker  - one of my reliable go - tos for Vegan Baking. I tweaked it slightly to cater to what I had available in my cupboard & I was good to go!

The recipe below uses Flax Eggs. I've been playing around with Orgran Vegan Egg Replacer in my baking, so that is the first change I made to the recipe. I used coconut oil, cane sugar & I did not have any maple syrup or agave in the house, so I subbed in rice malt syrup. The only gluten free flour I had at hand was a pre-made self raising flour, so that was used in place of the blend mentioned below. I left out almond meal & the optional nuts to accomodate any nut allergies & added chunks of vegan dark chocolate. I chopped this roughly with a knife and added it in!

 

  • 2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp (14 g) flaxseed meal + 5 Tbsp (75 ml) water) 
  • 1/2 cup (112 g) melted vegan butter (or coconut oil)
  • 1/2 cup (96 g) coconut sugar (or organic cane sugar)
  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup (or agave nectar)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup 48 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup (120 g) gluten-free flour blend (or Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour)
  • 1/4 cup (27.5 g) almond meal
  • optional: 1/3 cup each (33 g) pecans or walnuts + (60 g) vegan chocolate chips

 

  1. Preheat oven to 176 C. Lightly grease an 8x8-inch (or similar size) baking dish with coconut oil, then line with parchment paper.
  2. Prepare flax eggs in a small mixing bowl. Set aside. (I used Egg Replacer here)
  3. To a large mixing bowl add melted vegan butter or coconut oil, coconut sugar, (cane sugar), maple syrup (rice malt syrup) and vanilla extract. Whisk thoroughly to combine and start dissolving the sugar.
  4. Add flax eggs (egg replacer) and whisk once more until combined. Then add baking powder, sea salt, and cocoa powder and whisk.
  5. Add gluten-free flour blend and almond meal (left out) and fold with a spatula until just mixed. Then add desired add-ins (optional), such as vegan chocolate chips or nuts.
  6. Add the batter to the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer with a rubber spatula. Add a few additional toppings if desired, such as chocolate chips and nuts (optional).
  7. Bake for 17-22 minutes, or until the edges appear dry and slightly fluffy and the center is no longer wet or sticky.
  8. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes, preferably 45 minutes - 1 hour (the longer they cool, the less tender they will be). Then gently lift out of pan and use a sharp knife to cut into desired number of squares.

 

 

This practice was our first attempt at arm balances at The Salon! Everyone did really well, lots of laughter and facing fears. We worked on warming up our wrists and working on our 'core' poses before taking flight! (As per the screenshot above from our instagram story video last night!)

The sequence is designed to be a one hour practice. As many or as little props and supports can be used; though blocks and blankets are suggested.

Forward Virasana with any support required. Hands and arms active. 3 minutes. Finding breath, coming into the space. Preparing to move.
Slowly rise to knees and come to all fours.
Flow through Cat / Cow on the inhalation and exhalation.
Staying on all fours, keeping fingers facing forward and moving through wrists with gentle circles clockwise and anti-clockwise. Working  with fingers turned in to face each other, turned in as far as possible to face backwards and then turned out and around, sitting back on heels to stretch the front of the wrists.
Releasing hands, setting up to move into Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). Hold for several breaths. Option here for Dolphin Pose (Pincha Mayurasana prep).
Walk hands back to feet to find Ragdoll – keeping knees bent, belly to thighs, grabbing a hold of opposite elbows.You can stay still here, or sway from side to side.
Unravel to Tadasana; keeping the knees bent.
Inhale to sweep the arms above your head; exhale fold to bring hands to the mat in Uttanasana. Inhale to Ardha Uttanasana, exhale Uttanasana. Inhale to Ardha Uttanasana and exhale to Uttanasana twice more. Inhale to rise to Tadasana. Repeat; 3 cycles in total.
Repeat to Uttanasana, step back to High Plank. Play here with shifting weight gently forward, as far forward as possible. Option to drop knees here.
Stay here, or curl Right knee to nose on next exhale, inhale to lengthen. Repeat 3 times in total with right leg, and repeat with left knee.
Forward Virasana to rest.
Down Dog 3 -5 breaths. Inhale Right leg to 3 leg Dog (Eka pada adho mukha svanasana). Exhale to step through to Low Lunge and hold here for 3 breaths. Exhale to find Down Dog. Repeat Left Leg. From Down Dog step through with Right Leg to your lunge, inhale to sweep open to Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II), hold for 1 -2 breaths, exhale to step back to Down Dog. Repeat Left Side. From Down Dog step through with Right Leg to your lunge, inhale to sweep open to Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II), hold for 1 -2 breaths,  next inhale flip your front hand to face palm to sky, exhale to Reverse Warrior. Inhale to Warrior II, exhale to step back to Down Dog. Repeat Left Side.
Repeat this flow 1 - 2 more times, working on one movement with one breath, add rests if required, finishing in Down Dog.
Walk hands back to feet to Ragdoll – keeping knees bent, belly to thighs, grabbing a hold of opposite elbows.You can stay still here, or sway from side to side. 1 - 3 breath rest.
Next inhale, sit low to sweep up to Utkatasana (chair pose). Hold for 1 - 2 breaths. Exhale to Uttanasana. Inhale to Utkatasana. Exhale to Uttanasana. Repeat this twice more. On the final chair pose, hold for 2 - 5 breaths before exhaling down to Uttanasana for a rest.
Find your way to the floor to set up for Navasana (Boat Pose) - any variation (knees bent etc). Navasana for 3 -5 breaths x 3.
Rock forward, to set up for squat (Malasana), 3 -5 breaths. Add a twist, left hand lands just outside left foot, inhale to reach right hand up and behind, exhale as right hand lands outside right foot and inhale to lift left hand. Repeat 2 -3 times.
From squat you can move to Crow Pose. Option to place block under feet to add height, or a blanket or bolster underneath the face to help with the fear of falling!
Practice shifting weight forward, lifting one foot, lifting second foot etc for as long as you feel comfortable, once you finish, give yourself a rest! Balasana, Savasana etc for up to 3 breaths.
Find Reverse Tabletop (Arda Purvottanasana) for a counter pose to your crow.
Set up for Legs up wall; can use a bolster or folded blankets for support. Opportunity to incorporate the following variations: Legs wide (Upavista Konasana), Baddha Konasana. Hold for 5 - 10 minutes total. You can stay in Legs up the wall for your final pose, or
Supine Twist; holding for 3 - 5 breaths right & left side.
Happy Baby; hold for 3 – 5 breaths.

Savasana – minimum 5 minutes. Option to rest head on a folded blanket, and have a bolster underneath the knees.

See you on the mat!

Madison Lee