Blog Archives - Believe In Yourself

Believe In Yourself

The Miracle of Bikram Yoga

27/2/2015

"Imagine waking up from a coma in a hospital bed and realizing that you're connected to three life support machines, unable to eat or speak and the entire left side of your body is paralyzed..."

This article is truly inspiring and just goes to show the therapeutic benefits of Bikram Yoga. Joseph Parenti suffering a horrific car accident that left him with a broken body: traumatic brain injury, three heart attacks, whiplash and an inflammatory disease. He went through 13 years of chiropractic therapy, but still suffered tremendously. He was finally introduced to Bikram yoga by a friend and saw results just after a few class. Through regular practice he was able to reduce his weekly chiropractic visits eventually to an only needed basis and has now significantly improved his physical and mental health. It just goes to show... anything if possible if you have the right tools to make it happen!

Vegetable Sweet Potato Bake

25/2/2015

I often find inspiration for recipes when I head out to eat, something catches my eye on a menu that sounds good, or I eat something that I want to recreate. I had a sweet potato yesterday and thought I would make my own, and it was actually surprisingly easy to prepare and the result was a hearty filling bake that's a vegetable medley of goodness. Not only are you getting a good dose of vegetables, but the added protein and fiber of the tempeh gives it a nutritional boost as well.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

23/2/2015

These are probably the best peanut butter cookies you can get, seriously. They're so addictive I made 3 batches in a week. They're soft, with a peanut crunch and the delicious melting gooeyness of chocolate chips with every mouthful. Best part? The main base ingredient is beans!

Raw Layered Creamy Banana Mango Pudding

11/2/2015

I made this recipe up for my friend Peter, who's favourite fruits are mangoes and bananas. He came over and helped me sort out my computer and as a thank you present, I thought I'd make lunch - taco salad and a fruit dessert, as he is on a health kick right now, being a cycling enthusiast, so a healthy desserts seemed in order.

As it's the height of summer I wanted to create something light and refreshing, and having the fruit by itself seemed a bit boring so I added coconut into the mix to give it a bit more texture as well as added flavour. One has coconut milk, the other coconut butter, and the extra chia seeds adds both nutrition as well as a more pudding like consistency.

This keeps easily in the fridge, you can use any fruits that you like, blueberries, kiwifruit etc. I have even made more exotic ones with dragon fruit and lychees before. Some fruits if they have a lighter taste, you can add coconut water instead and up the chai seeds. Get crazy and start mixing the fruits together as well, this is a great recipe to experiment with!

Soft Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

8/2/2015

I made vegan tacos a few days ago, and I had a can of black beans that I didn't end up using so I thought I might as well come up with a dessert recipe for something a little bit different, so I created these double chocolate chip cookies and they actually turned out to be quite a treat! They're quite soft and gooey, with soft melting chocolate chips throughout and the rich smooth texture of an almost brownie like consistency for the actual cookie. I made several giant ones and I shared one with a friend, and surprisingly it kept me full for a couple of hours!

Vegan Bean Chilli Tacos

4/2/2015

I caught up with my friend Ken over the weekend, and even though he's not a vegetarian he's very open to trying new things and incorporating a healthier way of eating and cooking. So we thought we'd make something up for the both of us and since I had bought some taco shells earlier in the week we went with that option. Usually if I go the raw route I will use walnuts as the 'meat' filling, combined at times with either lentils or sunflower seeds, but I wanted to create something that he could easily make on his own as well so I went with the bean option. The verdict? Food babies and satisfied bellies all around!

Bikram Brickell 50 Day Challenge

2/2/2015

50-Day Challenge 2014 Bikram Brickell from Bikram Brickell on Vimeo.

In 2011 whilst visiting a friend from my teacher training, I came to Bikram Brickell own by Nachos Cano, a singer and record producer from Spain. He was full of energy and always had a smile on his face, my friend told me he swam in the ocean every day, rode everywhere, practiced yoga once a day as well as teach. That energy is part of the studio, everyone loved practicing and it had such a family feel to it. This video shows the dedication of the students in their 50 day challange, sweating it out and loving every minute of it! Such an inspiration!

Vegan Spinach Dip

1/2/2015

In Dallas there was this amazing restaurant that served the best spinach dip, but it was loaded with cheese and cream and oil, so that it was more like a heart attack waiting to happen. I've always wanted to replicate it but it's so hard to get that cream cheese gooeyness texture as well as that cheesy taste without it being really heavy, but recently I saw that someone had used water chestnuts to lighten up the taste as well as add some texture so I thought I would use that idea and give it another shot. I've actually been using water chestnuts a lot in the past few week so it was perfect timing! It took a couple of tries but this one I'd like to think nailed it :) It's got an aged cheese taste, of course there's spinach, there's a creaminess to the dip as well as the added crunch of the onions and water chestnuts, all this without the fat content exploding and the bloated feeling!

"I am not what happened to me,
I am what I choose to become"
Carl Gustave Jung

I'm Binny, a full time Bikram Yoga teacher that lives in Perth, Australia.

I started this blog to share the things I love the best in the world: being healthy and happy, food (especially raw), yoga, traveling and most importantly, learning how to love and be true to myself.

I suffered from severe digestive problems when I was younger, being gluten and lactose intolerant, and developed compartment syndrome and fibromyalgia in my teens. I have lived with constant pain for over 13 years now.

Over the past 10 years, I've shifted to a mainly plant based diet and realised that being well and healthy is a way of life. I have been teaching Bikram yoga since 2011, in the US and Australia. Due to my health issues I've also had a lot of bodywork done as well as explored alternative therapies.

I've become much more aware of myself as a result of all this - physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. Right now I love my life. In my career I love what I do and I do what I love. I have traveled to some amazing places around the world and made lifelong friends. In between working and traveling, I cook up a storm in the kitchen, especially raw desserts, spend time with the people I love the best and also my dog Caileag, and I try to listen to my body the best I can.

I truly believe that we all have the power and the capabilities to heal our own bodies, to nourish the spirit and seek our own happiness and life's purpose. This my journey...

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