Comet Party Yoga and Writing Retreat
[Update, 5/5/16: Alas, we haven't gotten the numbers we need to be able to run this retreat. If you're interested in participating the next time we try to run this thing, drop me a line!]
This is the last week to get the early-bird price ($300 instead of $350) on the first-ever Comet Party yoga and writing retreat with my dear teacher Anne Wichmann! Since I've been posting information about the retreat rather piecemeal, I thought I'd do one more post to gather all the info in one place.
When: Friday, May 20th (afternoon) to Sunday, May 22nd (afternoon), 2016
Where: Bethel Farm, Hillsborough, New Hampshire. Get psyched for long walks in the woods and the wood-fired sauna (maybe alternating with dips in the pond!)
What: Jivamukti yoga classes, meditation, and kirtan paired with intuitive writing sessions
Why: to relax, learn more about yourself, and meet lovely new people!
Meals: 100% vegan, baby! All allergies and dietary restrictions catered for (just let us know.)
Accommodation: small dorm-style with shared bath. (I know this set-up won't be for everyone, but I love the cozy summer-camp feel of the Bethel Farm guesthouse.)
Retreat schedule: here.
Transportation from Boston: we'll be organizing ride shares.
More about Jivamukti: it's an athletic yet well-rounded style of yoga, including chanting, breathwork, dharma talks, and meditation along with the asanas. I've found Jivamukti teachers to be the warmest and most giving yoga instructors I know. Oftentimes you'll get a quick warm-up shoulder massage with china gel (a menthol-based cream, very tingly and refreshing), and/or another little massage during savasana. Jivamukti teachers walk the talk when it comes to ahimsa, the principle of non-harming. Anne is a very chill and loving teacher.
More about Stephen Bethel (owner of Bethel Farm and another awesome Jivamukti teacher!) here.
What is "intuitive writing"? Good question! We'll be taking journaling to the next level with exercises designed to lift you out of your ordinary way of thinking, priming you for a transformative experience. Everything you write during this retreat is for your eyes only. You can get a sense of the type of writing exercises we'll be doing here. There's also a sneak preview of Life Without Envy in your retreat workbook!
You can register for this retreat either through Bethel Farm or by emailing me. Anne and I are so looking forward to it!
Time to Regroup!
HelllllllOOOOOooooooooo!
I'm back from Ireland and getting ready for a busy couple of months. Here's a quick rundown; hopefully I'll be back to posting regularly next week (even if it's just trip photos, hah.)
Firstly, the Writers' Room of Boston spring party-slash-open-house is scheduled for this Thursday, March 10th, starting at 6pm. Details here. I don't know that any of you lovely blog readers are local enough to come out to this, but I figured I'd mention it just in case. I'll be test-baking cupcake flavor #4, which will definitely be something fruity.
What's that? You want to hear more about the cupcakes?!
Isn't it interesting how everybody says my books are delicious? BWAHAHAHAHA.
After the Immaculate Heart launch, I'll be preparing to give a presentation (Private Writing for Public Impact) and workshop (Mind Mapping for Self-Discovery) at #WhatIMake at the Aeronaut Brewery right here in Somerville on Saturday, April 16th. Details and Facebook RSVP here! (Tickets are $35 until April 1st, so if you're interested definitely buy them now. They're $45 at the door.)
Finally, registration is now open for our writing and yoga retreat at Bethel Farm! Email me to register or if you have any Qs. Anne will be leaving us Boston yogis soon after (*SOB!*) for the Big Apple, so we're going to make the weekend extra festive. $300 early bird price is good until April 15th.
Retreat rescheduled: May 2016!
Hooray! Stephen, Anne and I have decided upon new dates for our yoga and writing retreat: Friday-Sunday, May 20th-22nd, 2016. Details here. Early-bird price is still $300. Email me with questions or to register!
Retreat announcement
Just a quick note to let you know that Anne and I have decided to postpone our writing and yoga retreat until next spring, when the timing will hopefully work better for most people's schedules. Thank you so very much to everyone who expressed interest in coming (and especially to those of you who signed up!) We're looking forward to making this magical weekend with you on the far side of winter.
And if you are still interested in coming and want to give me some rescheduling input, that would be great. I'm thinking Memorial Day weekend might be a good time. What do you think?
Writing + Yoga Retreat Schedule!
[Edit: This retreat has been rescheduled for May 20th-22nd, 2016. Details here.]
As promised, here's our plan for the retreat weekend. I don't want to tell you too much about the writing modules, since in some instances the unexpectedness makes the exercise more effective. I will say that the writing and yoga classes will be thematically linked, which is going to be really fun!
Friday
Snacks and introductions.
Setting our intentions for the weekend.
First writing exercise!
Dinner
Restorative Yoga practice & meditation.
Saturday
Morning Yoga practice
(Snack!)
Writing session, including a mind-mapping demonstration
Brunch
Writing session using symbols & archetypes
Free time (sauna, hike, etc.)
Dinner
Evening Kirtan & meditation.
Sunday
Morning Yoga practice
Brunch
Writing session on relationships & community
Final writing exercise and reflection
Thankfulness meditation in closing.
Drop me a line with any questions. Early-bird discount ($300 instead of $350) is good through April 15th!
Retreat Update
Lovely people! Just wanted to let you know that Anne and I have rejigged our retreat plans to make it as affordable and convenient as possible. The retreat now runs from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon and the price is only $300 if you register by August 1st ($350 thereafter).
I'm sad we can't do a longer retreat, but a weekend session makes more sense logistically, and we can always do a longer one next year (maybe over Labor Day?) There will be a sweet little consolation though—we're putting together a workbook that will contain way more exercises and inspirational material than we could hope to cover in two days together, which means you can keep doing the deep and juicy work on your own afterward!
Interested? Get in touch!
Comet Party Writing + Yoga Retreat, take 2!
[Edit: This retreat has been rescheduled for May 20th-22nd, 2016. Updated details here.]
Remember how I'm offering my first retreat this September at lovely Bethel Farm? Alas (for me, anyway, haha), Stephen's son is getting married that week, so I needed to find a new partner. I have two very dear Jivamukti yoga teachers at Karma here in Boston—Fiona McQuade and Anne Wichmann—and Anne is going to co-teach the retreat. We are so excited we can't even tell you! Friday Thursday, September 10th 11th through Sunday, September 13th!
Here is the new flyer, which we'll be posting alllllll over Boston very soon:
Cost is $350 $415, inclusive of all but travel ($300 early bird!) Visit the Bethel Farm website to get a feel for the atmosphere! Please note that accommodation is dorm style. If you're without wheels, we'll most likely be able to hook you up with a ride share, so no worries on that account.
I should also clarify that while the yoga classes will be suitable for beginners, I'd say adventurous beginners will be most comfortable. I define "adventurous beginner" as someone who is determined to feel good about what their body can do for them in the present moment. (So you see, absolutely anyone qualifies with a bit of positive mental prep!)
I'll post the retreat schedule in a couple weeks to give you a sense of the rhythm of our days, how the intuitive writing modules will work, and how Anne's yoga classes will complement and deepen the work we're doing in our notebooks and mind maps.
Please feel free to leave a comment below or email me with any questions or to register. Space is limited to 12, so definitely get in touch soon!
Transformational Writing + Yoga Retreat!
[Update: This retreat has been rescheduled for May 20th-22nd, 2016. Details here.]I am over-the-moon excited to announce my first-ever writing and yoga retreat! Squam has been a catalyst for me in so many ways, and I've been dreaming about leading a writing retreat to help other people enjoy the same sort of life-changing experience. When I attended a yoga weekend at Bethel Farm in February and met Stephen Bethel, I knew this was the perfect place and the ideal teacher with whom to partner. Stephen is so open and loving and kind, and gives the juiciest dharma talks!
The First-Ever Comet Party Transformational Writing + Yoga Retreat
Thursday, September 10th through Sunday, September 13th, 2015 Bethel Farm, Hillsborough, New HampshireA transformative experience requires three simple factors: time in nature, a diversion from routine, and the intention to surprise yourself. If you've been feeling anxious about growing in a new direction, this is the ideal set up in which to work through your fears and become the person you know you're meant to be. Through a magical combination of writing, yoga, and meditation in a safe and supportive environment, you'll be able to delve deep into unprocessed emotions and ultimately create your own epiphany (or maybe more than one!)We'll begin each day with a Jivamukti yoga class taught by Stephen Bethel. Workshop sessions will include intuitive mind mapping, ego management, and using symbols and archetypes to reframe our challenges, all of which are flexibly designed to make skill and experience levels (happily) irrelevant. You can be someone who doesn't write at all, or you can be an aspiring or published author. You can be an experienced yogi, or you can be making your way to the mat for the very first time. We'll spend time outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine, sweat out what no longer serves us in the pond-side sauna, and savor gorgeous vegan meals from the Bethel Farm kitchen. 
Camille is a Boston-based novelist, travel writer, and certified vegan lifestyle coach and educator. She has experienced greatly enhanced creativity and emotional and spiritual well being through her asana and intuitive writing practices, and wants to share that joy with as many people as she can.
About Stephen Bethel
Stephen Bethel is an advanced certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher, who honors his teachers Sharon Gannon and David Life through every class he leads. Ten years ago, he began teaching yoga classes at Bethel Farm, and soon after offered the first day long retreat. Since then, he has overseen the development of a complete yoga farm and retreat center on 50 secluded acres in acres in rural New Hampshire. In addition to hosting the top talent in yoga and the living arts, Bethel leads yoga classes, workshops, and teacher trainings at the Farm, and internationally.
Price, Registration, and More Info
Cost is $415, inclusive of all but travel. I'm really psyched to be able to offer a four-day (three-night) retreat at such an affordable price. Visit the Bethel Farm website to get a feel for the atmosphere!An intimate group is best given the work we'll be doing here, so registration is limited to about 12. Registration link coming soon. In the meantime, you can email me at cometpartyATgmailDOTcom or leave a comment below to let me know you're interested or to ask any questions you might have!
MindFUEL, part 2: Saturday, May 16th!
[EDIT, May 2015: due to Brynne's impending nuptials and cross-country move (sob!), we decided to cancel this workshop. I'll definitely be doing more of these with another of my favorite Karma teachers, so stay tuned!]
Brynne and I offered the first MindFUEL Writing + Yoga workshop on March 7th, and we both felt really good about how it went. We created a safe space and offered tools for self reflection, and every single yogini in our group of eight dove right in. (And of course, the cupcakes were a hit!) A lot of Karma regulars were out of town that weekend for spring break and whatnot, so we got a lot of "Please do it again, I'll come next time!" Brynne included a quick survey at the end of our handout, so we also received helpful feedback for making this next session even better than the first. One suggestion was to offer a series of writing exercises rather than one extended exercise, and I am definitely taking that on board. We focused on mind mapping the first time, and I'll still have the supplies on hand for session #2, but we'll focus on brand-new exercises in case anyone from the first session wants to take it again.
Jasmine and Fiona.
So the next MindFUEL Yoga + Writing workshop happens Saturday, May 16th at Karma Yoga Studio at 338 Newbury Street, Back Bay. $30 advance sign up, $35 at the door. We hope to see you there! As for cool workshops you can take in the meantime, check out my dear friend and teacher Anne Wichmann's hip- and shoulder-opening workshop at Karma Harvard on Saturday, April 11th. I'll be there!(I have another yoga post planned for next week. BIG announcement!!!)
I Drank the Kool-Aid and I’m Never Spitting It Out
I'm very excited to announce MindFUEL Yoga + Writing, a three-hour workshop I'm hosting with my dear friend and yoga teacher Brynne Haflett on Saturday, March 7th at Karma on Newbury Street. Today Brynne and I are interviewing each other to give you a better sense of who we are and what we're offering in this really unique and fun workshop. (You can read my As to her Qs over at Yogini B.)
How did you first come to study yoga? How have you grown through your practice over the past decade?
Thinking back, I actually came to yoga through writing. I had a wonderful substitute English teacher who is still a steady influence in my life. She trained to be a yoga teacher and when she opened her studio, my sister and I would go to her class in the mornings before school. I had no idea what yoga actually was when I went to my first class. None. But when I left the studio, I was hooked. I drank the Kool-Aid and I’m never spitting it out.My practice over the last ten years has grown in surprising and sometimes indescribable ways. I was 14 years old when I started yoga, so I was mostly interested in aesthetics. As I grew into my practice, I started to care less about the physicality of the asanas and more about the internal work embedded in them. I fully believe that the person I am and the person I’m becoming is 80% yoga and 20% genetics. Yoga has been a part of my life through middle school, high school, college, and now in my baptism into the “real world”. There is an abundance of non-judgmental self-reflection in yoga--or at least that’s the plan. It's impossible to not have transformational growth in that space.
One of the best pieces of career advice I’ve ever received was from my fiction teacher during my M.A. year. He said, “Create a space for yourself on the shelf. Write something no one else is writing.” I wonder if you feel that way about teaching yoga—that there may be many instructors to choose from, and on the surface it’s a vinyasa flow regardless of who is cueing it, and yet you’re still offering students your own unique perspective?
Absolutely. I think from a self-branding perspective it is essential to make your own spot on the shelf. There are so many yoga students, teachers, and studios in existence that a teacher really needs to create her own voice to stand out. On the other hand, every yoga class has similar components to another style the same way any fictional book will have similar pieces. No one is reinventing the wheel. An original sequence is sisyphean (wheel pun completely intended) in a tradition as old as yoga. When I teach, I’m not thinking about how to be unique. I’m teaching based on my own practice, training, and perspective which will either connect with the student or not.
How does your yoga practice enhance your creativity? Do you think it’s possible to cultivate a “flow state” on the mat that we can carry with us into our daily life?
In my experience, yoga enhances my creativity because it distracts me from what I’m trying to be creative about. A lot of my best ideas for classes, blog posts, or even professional goals come to me when I’m on my yoga mat. Yoga allows our bodies and minds to open (or our nadis) and that openness allows ideas that may have been passed over to be fully accepted and looked over. The magic of that openness is that once we learn how to find that state, we find other ways to get there. Runners High is incredibly similar to that flowing state. There is a “flow state” in video games that people are studying. I believe any activity that makes you feel safe and open can bring that same sense of flow to a person. Yoga can be that flow or it can be a tool to refine and enhance that state.
What are some of your coping strategies or rituals, on and off the mat, when you’re having a tough day?
Oh man, I have so many! I learned a cleansing meditation from a friend this summer that has been extremely helpful. There are a series of colors that you inhale three times and each exhale the colors become more “pure”. After the series of colors, you create a giant light bubble around yourself where you are completely safe and open your heart to whatever you’d like. I get goosebumps every time at this point in the meditation. Whenever the meditation feels complete, you thank whom/whatever and shrink the bubble back inside your body. This meditation is something I love to do before or after classes especially, so students don’t get my own crap mixed into their practice and I don’t leave with theirs.
What are you hoping students will take away from our MindFUEL workshop?
I really want students to leave with a feeling that yoga has connections far beyond headstand. I feel like there is a lot of emphasis in yoga on the postures and I want to show students that yoga extends well beyond them. The postures are tools meant to take a yogi into a deeper and more meaningful state. If a student left our workshop with a deeper connection to his mind and something stirring a little more inside of him, I would feel completely satisfied.
Registration details on my Learn With Me page!
Forearmstands probably not happening in our workshop, but you'll get into a sweet writing flow & eat yummy cupcakes! http://t.co/uI3njjFtCo— Camille DeAngelis (@cometparty) February 18, 2015
Bhakti Brunch
This month's focus in Jivamukti yoga is bhakti—devotion to the divine. There are many elements to a yoga practice, not just the physical asanas, and this passage in particular (by Sharon Gannon) is a useful reminder for me:
Even though bhakti and ahimsa are both tenets of Jivamukti Yoga, there could arise a tendency to forget bhakti, devotion to God, and become overly consumed with promoting animal rights, veganism and environmentalism—or you could say saving the world—as a way to practice ahimsa and develop compassion in one’s daily life. We must be careful not to allow our activism to take priority over our devotion to God. If we do we will undoubtedly be bound by avidya and asmita—ignorance and ego identification and all the debilitating vices that come with those hindrances, like pride, anger, revenge and impatience, for example.
I like to think I'm pretty good at connecting to the spiritual side of things, but when I get frustrated, say, overhearing a yoga teacher talking about the most delicious mac ’n cheese with bacon on top, I am engaging in ego identification—even though it seems on the surface that the problem is solely with the other person. (Ha! It never ever is!) So this month's focus has been really important for me.Last Sunday one of my lovely Jivamukti teachers, Reina Lovelace, offered a special class at Karma with kirtan (Sanskrit singing plus harmonium, SO gorgeous) by Irene Soléa, and afterward we enjoyed a vegan potluck "bhakti brunch." It was lovely to get to know some people I've been practicing alongside for awhile now; I can get caught up in my own practice and forget to engage, say hello, introduce myself. We come to practice in the same space for a reason! 
Reina made the most AMAZING pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I have to get the recipe from her!! The dish in the middle (below) is the fruit cobbler I made out of Robin Robertson's Vegan on the Cheap. It's the first recipe I've tried out of that book, and it was fantastic—and so easy, too. I prepped enough fruit for two cobblers so that Faith and I could have some on Saturday night (bless her for letting me use her kitchen!), and we gobbled it up right out of the oven. I can't even express to you how comfortingly delicious it was. (I will be doing more systematic cookbook explorations starting sometime this summer, and I might as well start with this one!) 
I love it when no one coordinates what they're bringing to a potluck and yet it all comes out perfectly balanced. 
On the savory side, a broccoli/asparagus tofu quiche (also by Reina), quinoa salad, avocado and black bean salad, and an Indian-inspired lentil dish. Everything thoroughly yummy! 
Good to the last bite (and then I had a muffin.) Several friends have commented to me recently about my healthy appetite. It's totally the yoga.
Brought to you by sunlight. #mudra #nofilter http://t.co/9z6g6g0S32— Brynne (@bhaflett) March 10, 2014
I'll be writing more about yoga over the summer—there's a big post gathering itself in my head, I just won't have the time for another long one until after I turn in my manuscript in June. But I'm really looking forward to the day when I can share with you some specific ways in which my daily yoga practice has changed my life for the better. (Talk about an understatement!)
Yoga and Vegetarianism
I've been going to Back Bay Yoga almost every day since I moved to Boston at the beginning of April, and I've found the studio to be a very safe and friendly place in which to develop my yoga practice in earnest. I adore nearly all of their teachers, and have learned and evolved through pretty much every single class I've taken there.Recently my three-month unlimited membership ran out, and when they posted a new weekday morning line-up that didn't suit my schedule as well as the old one, I decided it was time to explore other yoga studios in Boston. I suppose I've gotten a bit too comfortable at Back Bay—I'll always drop in for classes on a weekly or near-weekly basis, and I may very well renew my unlimited membership at some point, but for right now I feel a strong nudge toward exploring new styles and learning with new teachers.
This is how I found myself this past weekend on the South Boston Yoga website. I'd heard they offer aerial yoga classes, which I was really excited to try. Imagine my dismay, however, when I spotted a paleo diet workshop announcement with a certified nutritionist!
There didn't appear to be any upcoming workshop on veganism to balance things out. More to the point, though, practicing yoga while eating animals is a contradiction, and once again I'll draw upon Rynn Berry's wonderful Food for the Gods to explain why:
Cobra, lion pose, pranayama and mudras. Anyone familiar with these terms for some of the physical and psychological techniques of yoga has probably taken yoga classes, and most likely remembers the feeling of peace and well-being that followed them. In India, the Jains, Buddhists and Hindus practice yoga, which is a set of practical exercises for attaining samadhi, or spiritual transcendence. The eighth hallmark of the ahimsa-based "vegetarian" religions is that they have attached to them a set of physical and psychological techniques for achieving ecstasy.
Professor Berry goes on to note that in the Western tradition "there is no yoga—probably because in classical yoga, spiritual progress is predicated on eating a diet of plant-based foods."That said, the "power yoga" we practice in studios all over the Western world bears little resemblance to "classical" yoga. As Dean Radin explains in Supernormal: "...[Y]oga as it is known and practiced in the West today, as a quasi-spiritual athletic practice, can be traced not to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, but to an amalgam of traditional yoga poses combined with Swedish gymnastics and British Army calisthenics."In my experience, most Western yoga teachers merely skim the surface of yoga's spiritual roots, mentioning "the heart center" or the "third eye" without getting into what any of this stuff actually means—an understandable omission given that most students are there for the workout. I can't ever recall hearing the word ahimsa spoken in a yoga class, and yet it is the most fundamental tenet of classical yoga: refraining from causing harm to any sentient being. Following this principle, of course, necessitates a pure vegetarian diet.I politely asked about ahimsa on the South Boston Yoga Facebook page. The next morning, I found my comment had been removed. I tried again, and after what seemed like an odd reply—"Basically, we are not an exclusive community, diet being one of the life choices that we do not persecute. This discussion can happen over a private message if you like"—my second comment was removed as well. Whoever is doing the social media for SBY clearly felt defensive, and chose to frame my logical questions as the intolerant harping of a hardcore vegan (e.g., using the word "persecute") rather than responding to my concerns in an open and forthright manner. I guess they're afraid that discussing the issue in public might turn people off the paleo class, but if they were to offer a vegan workshop too, they wouldn't lose anybody at all! I'm very sad that the SBY social media person chose to handle the situation this way.
But I'm not writing this post to complain. Actually, as I was editing this entry I discovered that the paleo workshop has disappeared from the South Boston Yoga event calendar!Still, the issue has been raised, and I'd like to see it through: I've noticed that people on the paleo diet often justify their dietary choices by saying "I'm doing what's right for my body," and as a very happy and healthy vegan, it goes without saying that I consider this attitude a cop-out. (For a sensible take on cravings, read this great post from VeggieGirl. "It’s interesting that this type of logic is used to explain cravings for things such as meat, eggs and cows’ milk," Dianne writes, "but not when what’s being craved is vodka, coffee or donuts.") Furthermore, we shouldn't follow someone's advice just because they have a string of letters after their name; many medical doctors, after all, refuse to acknowledge the connection between the consumption of animal protein and the skyrocketing rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer in America.My real "beef" with saying "I'm doing what's right for my body" isn't about the meat eater in question, however, and I invite you to meditate on the following statement:
If a choice is truly right for you, it won't be wrong for anyone else.
Even if you don't believe that a cow or pig or chicken counts as "someone" (and you know I do!), what of the human animals who must go to work every day to slaughter, process, and package their flesh? Consider this passage from Gristle: From Factory Farms to Food Safety (Thinking Twice About the Meat We Eat), edited by Moby and Miyun Park:
Insane, right? And this passage doesn't even touch on the psycho-spiritual effects of working in a slaughterhouse (whether it's a factory farm or someplace "local" and "family owned"). If conditions are this heinous for the humans, imagine how much more horrific it is for the cows on the conveyor belt. This is why we practice ahimsa.
* * *
Sunday evening I went to a Jivamukti class with Nina Hayes (a fellow MSVA grad!) at Sadhana Yoga. Vegetarianism is one of Jivamukti's five core principles (video explanation by co-founder Sharon Gannon here; I'm also looking forward to reading her book on the subject), and at the beginning and end of class the teacher generally leads the class in a Sanskrit chant: Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu. In English: May all beings everywhere be happy and free.Every time these words come out of my mouth, a lovely feeling of peace and centeredness settles over me, and the feeling was even more powerful given my frustrating experience over Facebook that morning. Nina also read this poem by Hafiz:
Admit something:Everyone you see, you say to them, “Love me.”Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwiseSomeone would call the cops.Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.Why not become the one who lives with aFull moon in each eye that is always saying,With that sweet moon language, what every other eye inThis world is dying to hear?
It all comes down to love, doesn't it? "Yoga" means "union" in Sanskrit, and to feel and spread and be love is to honor the interconnectedness of all living things. Nina says, "The teachings of yoga are clear in that if we want something in our lives, then we must be willing to provide it to others first. If we want to cultivate deep internal peace, freedom and love through yoga, our diet must reflect this."What do you think about the connection between yoga and vegetarianism? Is it fair to suggest that Western yoga should retain the classical yogic principle of ahimsa, or is the new power yoga "a different animal" altogether? Whatever your current diet, I'd love for you to share your perspective in the comments.And finally, I'd like to give a shout-out to South Boston Yoga for ultimately taking my concerns seriously—I really appreciate that. I feel like I can go for that aerial yoga class after all!
Main Street Vegan Academy, part 3
(All Main Street Vegan Academy entries.)Friday morning Victoria offered several very useful lectures on public speaking and the nuts-and-bolts aspects of working with clients. She's so knowledgeable practical and wise. If you ever get the chance to hear her speak (or better yet, attend the vegan academy yourself), you should JUMP on it. And read Main Street Vegan, of course! She presents everything you need to know in such an easy and loving way; I admit that some of us vegans get REALLY impassioned to the point where we might alienate the "veg curious," but in her books and on her podcast, Victoria's approach is always gentle and friendly.
Got public speaking advice from @victoria_moran so awesome I had to bring my notebook into the bathroom so I could keep taking notes. #vegan-- Camille DeAngelis (@comet_party) June 22, 2013
After Victoria's talks, our classmate Ilana gave us an introduction to Ayurveda, which is an ancient Indian tradition of natural healing. (Ayurvedic practitioners generally use milk and ghee, but some vegans are modifying the tradition--see Talya Lutzker's new book The Vegan Ayurvedic Kitchen. Talya was a guest on Victoria's podcast last month.) I'll write more about Ayurveda in a future post. Then we took the subway downtown to Pure Food and Wine for a languid lunch, and by that I mean three courses over three hours, or close enough to it! (I'd been there earlier in the week with Kate and Sara, remember, and while the company was excellent my burger was a little disappointing. This meal more than made up for it!) 
The Mediterranean salad: arugula, kale, kalamata olives, tomatoes, pumpkin seed macadamia parmesan, balsamic vinaigrette. Awesome.
Brazil nut sea vegetable croquettes with a tartare sauce. If I had to pick my very favorite dish out of all the meals at NYC vegan restaurants I've had, this would be it. It's the sort of thing you really want to recreate at home, but you know you won't be able to! Exquisite. (I also ordered a "swan greens" juice--cucumber, spinach, dandelion, pear, grapefruit, tarragon, spearmint, and yuzu...which I now know to be an East Asian citrus fruit, thanks to Dr. Google.)
I was a bit skeptical when this lemon bar showed up—it looked kind of plasticy—but appearances can be deceiving and all that. Really flavorful—a PUNCH of lemon—and a perfect almond coconut crust.
After lunch we walked to an Indian grocery, where I picked up a bunch of interesting powders and oils Ilana recommended on the fly. (This photo with Ilse, Zachary, and Stephanie.) I haven't had a chance to try any of them yet, but when I do I'll let you know how I find them.
Just posted a photo @ MooShoes http://t.co/mcHfr2KGTU -- Zachary Koval (@Zachary_Koval) June 21, 2013
Then it was on to Moo Shoes, which I somehow hadn't visited since 2004. I'm happy to say that vegan footwear has come a LONG way in that time! (By the way, my other favorite place to buy fashionable, quality, breathable shoes is Vegetarian Shoes in the UK.)
Margo gave some love to the Moo Shoes resident kitty.I spent so much time trying on shoes that I missed out on Babycakes (everyone had left by the time I got there, and I didn't feel like eating cupcakes by myself), but I did manage to meet up with my pal Kathy (for whom I used to work back at HarperCollins) for cocktails and some delicious gourmet pizza with Daiya cheese (made of arrowroot and tapioca as opposed to soy, by the by--melts just like dairy cheese) at Pala, which offers a vegan menu. (Sometimes I do wish I still lived in New York...!)
I don't go gaga over shoes, but I'm in love with these dove-gray oxfords I just bought from @mooshoes_nyc. http://t.co/Zqhbvg0I91 #vegan-- Camille DeAngelis (@comet_party) June 22, 2013
Saturday morning we reconvened at the grocery store around the corner from Victoria's apartment to meet her daughter Adair, who was playing our hypothetical client. I picked up several new pieces of knowledge in the course of the "tour," the most scary of which is that tin cans contain BPA unless otherwise noted on the label. You know how water bottles will say "BPA free"? That's because studies have indicated that BPA is a carcinogen. So you have to look for cans of soup or beans or sauce that specifically say "no BPA." Here's a list of seven brands you can trust on Treehugger.com. (If you do a quick Google search on BPA, you'll find that it's the organizations profiting from it who say it's perfectly safe, and it's not like you can actually trust the FDA, due to the influence of said corporate interests.) Afterward we went back to Victoria's for Fran Costigan's talks on food demos and comparing all the different kinds of vegan sweeteners for use in pastries and desserts (coconut sugar, date sugar, rice syrup, Sucanat...) Her new book, Vegan Chocolate, comes out in November, and the confection on the cover looks every bit as decadent as an ordinary chocolate cake. (But like I said, you enjoy your treats way more when you know they're fair trade and cruelty free...)
After lunch we had a panel discussion with Gary Gibson, Dianne Wenz, and Jaime Karpovich, all MSVA graduates, who offered more practical info on starting a vegan coaching business. Michael Parrish DuDell gave the next lecture--half was marketing and business-y and the other half presented the case for veganism from an environmental standpoint. Did you know that raising animals for food contributes more to global warming than every mode of transportation in the world combined? It sounds unbelievable, but this is a statistic generated by the U.N. in 2006. No one is making this up; no one would ever want to. You can see why Michael says he initially went vegan for the sake of the environment. That night we went to Blossom for dinner. I've had pretty good meals there in the past, but nothing truly inspired until Friday night: 
Seitan Frites Au Poivre with creamy mushroom peppercorn sauce, shoestring fries, and grilled asparagus with horseradish cream. The chocolate mousse pie was awesome too, and I almost collapsed with ecstasy as I sipped the organic mint chip shake Lindsay ordered.
Another awesome day at #vegan academy, culminating in chocolate mousse cake and impromptu tarot readings at @cafeblossom. (I love my life.) -- Camille DeAngelis (@comet_party) June 23, 2013
Sunday was our last day. We had lectures from Sharon Nazarian on social media and Rynn Berry on the history of veganism. Professor Berry's talk was absolutely fascinating, and I'll be blogging about his books (Food for the Gods, etc.) in the months ahead. (He even gave me an extremely useful tidbit for my Edinburgh novel! Like I said--collecting the jigsaw pieces...)
A refreshing glass of gingerade and a Mediterranean panini at Peacefood Café on the UWS, where we celebrated our graduation. The chickpea fries (in the background) were INCREDIBLE.
Photo: Grad lunch @peacefoodnyc w/ @Victoria_Moran, @jamsmom, @PettyMagic et al. #MSVA #vegan #NYC #travel... http://t.co/zp2ESxoSGc-- Stephanie Gorchynski (@StephGorchynski) June 26, 2013
After lunch and a round of goodbye hugs, I went to a wine bar with Ilse and Stephanie to continue our conversation, but I didn't order a glass myself since I was heading out to Park Slope for yoga with our classmate Jean. That was another full circle experience for me, since I used to go to that studio when I lived in Brooklyn nine and ten years ago. (More about this when I blog about my pretty-much-daily practice at Back Bay Yoga.)Thus concludes my MSVA recap, although I do feel I ought to take another post for reflection as opposed to "we did this and this and this." It would be impossible to overstate how much I loved and learned from this program—I'm truly only scratching the surface here!