Eating at True Food Kitchen, a New Full-service Restaurant is an Affirmation for Healthy Eating That Tastes Good

My wife Cecile, daughter Michelle and her fiancé Kyle, on my right; and our niece Annabel, a senior at U of M in Ann Arbor, MI hooked up with Michelle and Kyle's friends Kacy and fiance’ Noel on my left at this trendy, spacious eatery in Palo Alto last evening. This concept restaurant that is being rolled out around the country was inspired by celebrity doctor, Andrew Weil, the “guru” of alternative holistic health and integrative medicine.

His philosophy of an “Anti-Inflammatory Diet,” is built on a base of vegetables and fruits (though tropical fruits are minimized), fish and whole grains. Cooked Asian mushrooms, dairy and spices are encouraged. Many scientific studies agree that an inflammatory diet helps counteract inflammation, the root cause of many serious illnesses. Even the cocktails are healthy—in moderation of course:-). I had a Ginger Margarita, but there are many healthy non-alcoholic drinks to choose from.

The general consensus was that the appetizer we had: Edamame Dumplings and Kale Guacamole with pink grapefruit, cilantro, jalapeno, sunflower seeds and pita chips were “to die for,” was the general consensus.

Some of the main dishes our table ordered were: the Ancient Grains rice bowl; Scottish Steelhead Salmon with chopped kale, Lasagne Bolognese, to name a few. I had a curried Cauliflower soup with Ginger, Grilled Fish Tacos with avocado, greek yogurt, cilantro, pickled onion, Anasazi beans, and cotija cheese.

We had a team of one waiter and three servers. We highly recommend this place for healthy eating advocates and discriminating foodies alike.

Yoga on the Hudson in my home town of Hoboken, NJ

Marvin J. Ashton once said: “Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a happy place in which to dwell.” For me, yoga studios are a sanctuary of peace—a home away from home.

I come to the yoga mat not to compete, but to breathe, to let go of the annoyances of the day, the chaos on the national and International scene, and remind myself how to be fully present, for whatever comes up in my life. I do yoga to appreciate and nurture my body and become aware of the mental chatter the mind creates, make peace with who I am; and to feel alive, open, and free.

In January, I was in my home town of Hoboken, NJ, to attend my dad’s 100th birthday party. The studio I most frequent while there is Devotion Yoga, located on the second floor of the old Trust Company of New Jersey bank building that overlooks the Hudson River and the NYC sky line. I consider Devotion Yoga to be the East Coast counterpart of Breathe Together yoga studio on the West Coast that I attend, co-founded by friend and teacher, Jennifer Prugh.

In life many people will come across your path. Some will use you, some will test you, some will judge you, but the ones that are truly important are the ones that facilitate bringing out the best in you. A dedicated and compassionate yoga teacher fits the bill. There are many capable teachers at Devotion Yoga, now in its 17th year. One of a few I have become acquainted with over the years is Tam Terry, one of the studio's founding members. As someone who has practiced yoga for 30 years, and as a former yoga teacher in my own community of Los Gatos, CA, I have come to recognize the qualities, skill sets, and signature styles of many yoga teachers.

Tam has a welcoming presence that makes everyone feel like they belong; has a calming effect on students; creates a peaceful and fun environment, is energetic, focused and kind, and her joyful love for yoga and her students is clearly palpable. While the class was in play, a winter snow storm was quietly setting in covering everything in sight. On my way back to the W Hotel, where my wife Cecile and I were staying, I spotted a Temple-top like hut in Frank Sinatra Park draped in snow. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day. Namaste'

Postcript: Devotional Yoga, Breathe Together and other yoga studios around the country offer a selection of classes and exceptional teachers for beginners and advanced students alike. It will change your life.

Visiting A Serene Vietnamese Monk Under House Arrest at his Temple In Ho Chi Minh City

Anthony Bourdain of the CNN hit travelogue series, “Parts Unknown” said, “going to Vietnam the first time was life-changing for sure; maybe because it was all so new and different to my life before and the world I grew up in. The food, culture, landscape and smell; they’re all inseparable.” I share Bourdain’s view. Vietnam is an extraordinary place to visit and it’s people welcoming. But there is a dark underbelly that few travelers are aware of—the continuous persecution and oppression of certain monks.

When I went to Vietnam in 2004 with my son Jason, I visited the Venerable Thich Vien Dinh, the brother of a real estate broker named Truman, with whom I once had some real estate business dealings. Truman left Vietnam in 1984. His brother, whom he hasn’t seen in 32 years is the Superior Buddhist monk of two temples. One, in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), and, the other—a large 800 year old temple in Binh Dinh province in the countryside surrounded by farmland in the middle of Vietnam. During the Buddhist “Renaissance” movement in the 1920s, it was one of the most important training centers for monks and nuns.

When I visited him in his temple in Saigon as seen in the photo, he was under house arrest, but you wouldn’t know it by his calm and serene demeanor. His only crime was that he belonged to the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and not the Vietnam Buddhist Church (VBC) under control of the Communist Party. I later learned that I was being watched; followed back to my Hotel; and copies of the photos I sent back to Dinh were confiscated. They also asked him how much money I donated to the Temple. While there I was introduced to Truman’s sister who he also hasn’t seen for 32 years. She cooked for the 40 monks who resided there including a secret mole spying on behalf of government officials.

Now, 13 years later on the Festival of Tet (Vietnamese New Year), Truman informed me that his brother is still under house arrest by the government but is permitted to live in his countryside temple, where he is very happy and peaceful. Through peaceful resistance and sheer political will, he is still leader of the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV).

Visiting Three Baby Cheetahs during an Unplanned Camera Safari at the Living Desert in Palm Desert

While China celebrated the Year of the Rooster, The Living Desert (TLD) is celebrating the year of the Cheetah. These elegant, agile cats can sprint up to 75 mph within seconds. They are currently extinct in 20 countries. There are only 7500 living cheetahs in the wild and they could become extinct within 20 years. TLD is undergoing conservation efforts to protect them.
One project that The Living Desert team is focused on three adorable two year old cheetah sisters, Sudi, Bela, and Kali. The first two graced an audience of men, women and children with their presence. A third sister, Kali, played hard to get and remained out of view. Of course, they needed a little coaxing. To accomplish this, the animal trainers hidden on one side of the long running path blew a high pitched whistle to announce their feeding time. The Bill of Fare was a favored dish of my Italian ancestors-Meatballs:-). Having gone on camera safaris in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa over the years, The The Living Desert outing was an unexpected pleasure. We also visited: Giraffes, Greater Kudu from the Gazelle species, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill bird, Zebras, Smiling Goats, Warthogs, and Ankole Longhorn steers.

Postscript: On this day millions of people were tuned into a live cam feed of a Giraffe named April about to give birth at the Animal Adventure Park in NY.

Playing Hide and Seek with A Praying Mantis (Mantis Religiosa)

While sitting out on our lanai on the 8th floor at the Wailea Marriott Resort overlooking the ocean in Maui, I noticed a Praying Mantis, measuring approximately five inches long. It had positioned itself upside down on the handrail of the glass enclosure like a shadow of itself. It was sitting as still as a Buddhist monk in meditation. I got closer to photograph it. Its’ patience and one pointed focus was amazing. Though sitting motionless, it slowly turned its alien like head keeping me directly in its’ gaze. The praying hands of a Praying Mantis have little to do with religiosity, and more to do with the rows of sharp spines at the end of its front legs that shoot out to grasp its’ prey (tiny insects). 

I expected this interesting looking creature to be gone by morning. But, there it sat, this time right side up on a ledge below focusing on obtaining its next meal just like our primitive ancestors who roamed the Earth.

These amazing creatures are known to detect movement from 60 feet away and its head can turn 360 degrees like Linda Blair in the exorcist:-). There are 22,000 species in the world. In all the years we have been coming to Maui I never saw one up so close and personal. I remember as a young kid seeing one on the sidewalk in my home town of Hoboken, NJ. I have to admit being a bit frightened by it as I had never seen anything like it before. The rumor is the Praying Mantis was a protected insect and if killed carried a $50 fine. Though considered a beneficial insect, the rumor proved false. They are usually born in the spring and have a short life span—living only one season. The female praying mantis has earned a reputation of being a cannibalistic femme fatale. Men think fatal attraction here! She lures males with her pheromones, and when one approaches, the prospective mate engages in a courtship dance. If the male mantis is deemed worthy he is allowed to mount the back of the larger female mantis and commence fertilization. At this point the female mantis begins chewing off her partner’s head (no joke), which increases the success and duration of copulation. Perhaps her next date will be wise to take her out to dinner and not be her dinner:-) 

A Peaceful Sanctuary in and Unlikely Place

We arrived in Las Vegas on Tuesday at 5:30 PM and checked into the MGM Grand to celebrate my birthday which officially is August 26. 

We took a walk toward Caesar's Palace. I wasn’t quite ready yet for the frenetic pace Vegas is known for. We ate a light dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and afterwards my wife Cecile suggested we go to Serendipity 3 for their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate dessert we first encountered many years ago at Serendipity’s in NYC. It is such a coveted guilty pleasure that even the late Jackie Kennedy asked the creator for the recipe for a White House function.
But it is here where the story takes an unexpected twist. While Cecile was placing our order I turned around and spotted a Brahma Shrine tucked away in an unlikely place, between the Roman Plaza and Serendipity 3. It is a replica of the Brahman Shrine at the Erawan Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, similar to those I had seen during my many travels & meditation retreats in Southeast Asia. In fact this extraordinary four sided shrine was actually created in Thailand and installed under the supervision of Buddhist monks. The shrine is “renowned throughout the Far East to people of all faiths as a place of prayer.”

As I lit the incense stick to make an offering at the altar of the shrine, the pleasant scent brought me to a peaceful meditative state and suddenly all the noise of the Las Vegas strip vanished. 

A Lesson in Beauty & Stillness at the Lake behind our Home

Here in the light, filtering through perfect forms, arranging itself in lovely patterns for those who perceive beauty—Roy J. Cook.

I was so captivated by this pose of the Cormorant, I moved about to capture this moment while trying not to disturb its private reverie.

It's been said that birds spread their wings to dry their feathers and regulate their body temperature, but it could very well be that they sun themselves in this fashion simply because it feels good. Then again how to do you measure the intention and mood of a bird?

Imagine being free as a turtle where everything you own is on your back-the shell that houses your body.

I imagine it saying: "SPEED DOESN’T MATTER, travel at your own pace, you’ll arrive to your destination soon enough. Be like me—at ease in your own shell."

Being led along the way where the land kisses the shore, that place between movement and stillness, carrying all It needs at all times—wherever It goes. Poking its head out when it wants to eat or moving and drawing it back-in when he wants to chill and relax.

Like Life, a Waterfall is Always on the Move and There is Always an Uneven Flow to it

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Powerful rain storms continued to wallop Northern California this week, increasing water storage levels in our reservoirs not seen in many years, and forcing dam operators to release water to reduce flood risk. There were flash flood warnings in low lying areas and power outages two nights in a row in the gated community where we live.

Awhile back, some of you who live locally took my advice to visit the Vasona Dam Spillway when the cascading waterfalls surged 10 feet high. Yesterday, the surge was over 20 feet height and 30 feet wide. Before I realized it, a vaporous veil of mist overtook me. I was drenched from head to toe—and loving it. The roar of the turbulent waters was so great I could feel its powerful vibration. Like life, a waterfall is always on the move and there is always an uneven flow to it. I met a Vietnamese immigrant who barely spoke English but we had no problem communicating, agreeing to take each others photo while celebrating this graceful moment in time and space with a fellow human being.

Today, at long last, the sun came out. I took our niece Annabel, a University of Michigan senior student, visiting us from Ann Arbor, MI to 8 AM yoga class. Afterward, sharing the experience of the waterfall with her. The fury and intensity of the surge had eased, but was more accessible, less perilous and still amazing to witness.

Teaching Yoga to 12 year old Middle School Children

Long time friend and a much beloved and dedicated school teacher, Elizabeth Sharkey, invited me to teach a yoga class for her 25 students who at the time were studying Indian History at Fisher Middle School in Los Gatos, CA. Though I don't formerly teach yoga anymore I accepted the challenge. After all, it's been a passion of mine for over 30 years. I spoke about the benefits of yoga; led a breathing, meditation, and visualization exercise; and Elizabeth and I demonstrated a few partner poses that her students creatively and joyfully improvised upon. They were wonderful, and I was honored for the opportunity to be of service and rediscover the inner child within me.😃

Though I hadn't expected it, a week later I received 25 heartfelt thank you letters from the students.

See below photo album link of the kids in action!

https://goo.gl/photos/cwDxUMwMSj4nkrAXA

The Oldest Living Marathon Man and his Secret for a Healthy Life

The 105 year old, Fauja Singh, an Indian born Sikh and British citizen, ran his first marathon at the age of 89 to overcome depression after the loss of his wife and son.

On October 16 2011, at the age of 100, Singh also known as the 'Turbaned Tornado' became the oldest man to run a full marathon on the Toronto Waterfront.

Singh received a letter from Queen Elisabeth ll congratulating him on his 100th birthday.
Between ages 89 and 100 Fauja Singh had run seven marathons. He retired from competition in 2013, just shy of his 102nd birthday.

After he announced his retirement he indicated he would continue to run for pleasure, health and charitable events.

But, in 2016 he ran the Mubai Marathon as seen here.

When asked by various media outlets, what his secret for a long and healthy life, he said:

• Live a stress-free life
• Be grateful for everything you have 
• Stay away from negative people
• Eat healthy and light (he’s a vegetarian)
• Be charitable
• Stay smiling and keep running