Other studies show that milk does not have a big effect on the benefits of black tea. So who should we believe?

I asked herbalist Ricardo Da Costa, co-founder of Yogic Chai, for his take on the milk and tea debate:

The issue of adding milk to tea has been out there for quite a while now. One year the studies say “Adding milk reduces antioxidant components in tea,” next year the opposite, and it goes back and forth every year. I feel that an in depth placebo-controlled study has to take place using different forms of measuring levels of antioxidants in the blood (this seems to be the problem; different studies are using different measures and the results are not matching).

I always give more respect to ancient traditions than current scientific studies. The yogis in India have been taking Ayurvedic herbal concoctions for thousands of years. A lot of these concoctions are done with milk. I have a very hard time believing that milk prevents the absorption of herbal properties.

So until more studies have been done there is no definitive answer. I’m going to continue enjoying my milky tea until I see more evidence!

The people at The Tea Cup on Queen Anne in Seattle told me they are aware of the conflicting studies, but aren’t planning on banning milk from tea anytime soon. If you live in Seattle and feel like trying out some new teas I highly recommend a visit here!

The Tea Cup
2207 Queen Anne Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 283-5931

MEMO FROM THE WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

TO: Interested Parties

FROM: Jay Jetter, Tax Policy Specialist
  Interpretations & Technical Advice Division

SUBJECT: Stakeholder Meeting regarding the Taxability of Yoga

The Department of Revenue acknowledges recent concerns and confusion in regard to the taxability of yoga under the provisions of RCW 82.04.050 (3) (g), WAC 458-20-183 (Rule 183), and Excise Tax Advisory (ETA) 2023, and it is beginning a stakeholder process to consider possible changes to Rule 183 and/or ETA 2023.

Background

In 1993, the Legislature added “physical fitness services” to the definition of “retail sale” provided by RCW 82.04.050, thereby subjecting these services to Business & Occupation (B&O) tax under the Retailing classification (RCW 82.04.250) and retail sales tax (RCW 82.08.020). The term “physical fitness services” was not defined by the statue.

In the 1995 amendment to Rule 183, the rule discussing the tax treatment of physical fitness services, the Department adopted a “primary purpose” test to distinguish between “excercise classes,” which are considered physical fitness services and therefore subject to retailing B&O tax and retail sales tax, and “instructional lessons,” which are not considered to be physical fitness services or retail sales and therefore subject to Service & Other activities B&O tax. Under the primary purpose test, exercise is the primary focus of “exercise classes,” while instruction in the activity is the primary focus of “instructional lessons.”

In April 2005, the Department published ETA 2023, which provided in part additional guidance on what constitutes “instructional lessons” for purposes of Rule 183. The ETA described one situation in which yoga would be taxable as a retail sale and another situation in which it would not.

As you may be aware, the Department considers most yoga classes to be “physical fitness services.” This tax treatment forms the basis of the concerns and confusion referenced above.

Stakeholder Meeting Scheduled

The Department will hold a public meeting to discuss the current tax treatment of yoga and to solicit comments from yoga businesses and other interested parties on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. in the Cascade Building/Auditorium of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, 19010 1st Avenue S., Burien, Washington, 98148. The Department’s goals are to provide an opportunity for input and suggestions for possible changes to the Rule and/or ETA and to gather information to determine whether yoga classes constitute “physical fitness services” and/or whether there is an identifiable “bright line” between yoga classes that are “physical fitness services” and yoga classes that are not.

We invite you and any others you may know who would be interested in attending this meeting. We would appreciate it if you would confirm your attendance by responding to the email address below. Based on the issues raised and interest shown at this meeting, additional meetings may be planned as appropriate. Regardless of whether or not additional meetings will be scheduled, please note that comments will be accepted before, during, and after the November 19th meeting date.

Additional questions

If you have any additional questions or would like more information, please contact Jay Jetter in the Department’s Interpretations & Technical Advice Division by telephone at (360) 570-6057 or by email at JayJ@dor.wa.gov. Thank you.

Now, normally paying tax on a business operation is not something to get agitated about, but this new interpretation of the rule is problematic for two reasons:

1. As the Puget Sound Business Journal reports, regional Department of Revenue offices have applied this tax rule differently in the past. Some offices advised yoga studios to pay sales tax on yoga classes, while other offices did not. If a yoga studio hasn’t documented their efforts to comply in writing they may be liable to now pay back taxes for past years.
2. According to this new rule all yoga classes are classified as “fitness exercise” and put in the same bucket as spinning and step aerobics. Yes, yoga has a physical component and some classes focus more on this than others, but yoga is as much about the mental aspect. I suggest the state officials pick up a copy of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and look up Sutra 1.2: “The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga.”

This issue is not about trying to avoid taxation. Yoga teachers and studios already pay regular taxes like other small businesses. The problem here is using a fuzzy interpretation of a tax rule and a new definition of yoga to collect back taxes. (Personally I’m against taxation on all health services and classes, but that’s another post. Increase taxes on fast food, soda, candy, cigarettes and alcohol instead…)

King5 reports that the Department of Revenue is meeting with yoga industry representatives on November 19 to try to find a resolution. Yogis, please bring a few copies of Patanjali to hand out.

Oh, and I wasn’t going to mention it since it has nothing to do with the topic of this post, but I can’t help myself:

Go Obama!!

This past week was really busy, and I survived mostly on microwaved frozen vegetables and brown rice tortillas. But you can only eat so much frozen broccoli in your life, and over the weekend I started looking at some cookbooks and food blogs for inspiration. I came across a great blog called Aayi’s Recipes, which had a recipe for green peas upma that looked really good.

I tried making upma a long time ago without a recipe (which was a disaster), but I thought the time had come to give it another go. I left out the sugar and coconut from the recipe, doubled the amount of peas, pre-roasted the rava, and increased the amount of water. The upma actually turned out pretty good! It felt kind of weird having upma for dinner since it’s usually breakfast food, but hey, the resident Indian is traveling for work and is not here to make fun of me…

Upma with Green Peas 
Inspired by Aayi’s Recipes.

Ingredients:

2 tsp ghee or oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp urad dal
Pinch of asafoetida
2 small green chilies
4 curry leaves
1/2 medium onion
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1 cup sooji (wheat rava)
3 cups boiling water
Salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

What to do:

1. Dry-roast the rava in a pan on medium-high heat for about five minutes. Stir often, it burns really quickly. Pour the rava into a bowl and set aside.
2. Heat oil or ghee on medium-high heat, and add the mustard seeds and urad dal when it’s hot enough for the mustard seeds to pop (test with a few first). Stir until the dal is starting to brown. Add green chilies, asafoetida, and curry leaves and give it a quick stir. Add the chopped onion, turn down the heat to medium and sauté until the onions become translucent. Add the frozen peas and defrost in the pan for a minute or two.
3. Boil water in an electric kettle or on the stove. Add the rava and boiling water to the pan, stir well so the rava soaks evenly. Add more water as needed. Salt to taste. Turn off the heat and let sit for 3-4 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and eat!

One of my yoga teachers once read the poem “The Invitation” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer at the end of class, and it has since been one of my favorite texts. We spend so much time being concerned with the small stuff, but what really matters at the end of the day?

The Invitation 
From http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com.

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon…
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

This weekend Huffington Post writer Tara Stiles posted a special five minute yoga sequence she has created for Sarah Palin. Absolutely hilarious! I recommend reading the descriptions of the poses in the full article too, If Sarah Palin Did Yoga…. Get ready for Maverick Pose:

I have a terrible track record with yoga mats. My Jade Harmony mat is shedding green rubber all over my clothes and the floor, leaving a trail every time I practice. I have only had this mat since June, and I was really hoping that the natural rubber would last a little longer than thinner mats. Unfortunately it took me only a couple of weeks to start digging a hole under my toes, and now I’m down to the white threads (on the mat, not the toes…). I really like eco-friendly mats, but how friendly is it exactly if you have to get a new one every three months?

So what do toe diggers do? As far as I could see, there was only one option left - The Manduka Black Mat. It’s heavy (7.0 pounds!), industrial-looking, and not exactly what you feel like lugging to class, but it is amazing to practice on. And it comes with a lifetime guarantee:

Manduka guarantees the BlackMatPRO and PROlite yoga mats, to be free of manufacturer defects and to last a lifetime, if used and cared for properly. […] If the product wears out from regular use, under normal conditions, we will replace the product, regardless of where if was purchased.

I’ve only used it twice so far, so lets see how it holds up…

It’s not recyclable, but for every year I use it I will prevent four yoga mats to end up in a landfill!

The film is now showing in select cities in the US, and you can find out more at http://enlightenupthefilm.com. As of now it doesn’t look like they have any plans of coming to Seattle, but I would expect the film to be available on DVD sometime in the future. For now, here is the trailer:

Update (November 1, 2008):
The Enlighten Up! web site admin posted this announcement: We will be releasing “Enlighten Up!” in theaters across the US in March 2009, the DVD release will follow later that year, most likely October 2009.

A few days later the headache was mostly gone, and I was left trying to reassemble the pieces of my brain. Having been curled up in bed for two days I was in desperate need of loosening up my spine, especially the neck. Before getting this migraine I had worked on creating a yoga sequence to use during a migraine attack, and for recovery in the days after. I soon discovered that the scope of what you can imagine doing looks quite different when you’re in the middle of the migraine and desperately need said sequence.

First of all, it was completely out of the question to do any yoga until I could hold my head upside down without wincing. The first two days of the migraine I tried some slow breathing lying down, but that’s all I could manage. So if you’re still in a lot of pain, listen to your body and don’t attempt anything physical. Once the pain is mostly gone you can try the sequence below.

Before you start, do the upside-down test: Do Uttanasana (forward bend) with bent knees. Can you keep your head upside down without wincing? Then you’re ready to follow this sequence. Still hurts? Go back to bed. If having your head upside down feels okay, go and get your mat. If at any time you feel woozy, just lie down in Savasana (relaxation pose) for a few minutes and finish your practice.

Migraine Recovery Sequence *

Easy pose (Sukhasana)
Child’s pose w/hands stretched out, knees wide, toes touch
Cat/cow
Downward-facing dog
Standing forward bend with bent knees (rag-doll)
Mountain pose
Standing forward bend -> Half standing forward bend x 3
Downward-facing dog
High lunge (both sides)
Downward-facing dog
Child’s pose
Sit up on your heels
Clasp hands behind your back, reach hands towards the floor
Swing legs forward
Roll down on your back
Hug knees to chest
Simple twist (knees fall to one side, arms straight out to the side)
Relaxation pose/Savasana

* Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, and as always I advice you to consult with your physician before starting a yoga practice.

Here in Seattle the leaves have started turning, the rain is back, and people have started ordering their coffees hot again. Fall has always been my favorite season–it’s a time of new beginnings, school supplies, learning, hot chocolate, pumpkin soup, and cozy scarves. There’s a line from a song by the Norwegian writer and musician Alf Prøysen that I always think of when fall starts: “Med blanke ark og fargestifter tel.” It literally means “with blank sheets of paper and coloring pens.” Remember that back-to-school feeling?

Tomorrow is the Fall Equinox, which according to Wikipedia falls on September 22 at 15:44 UTC (7:44 am PST) this year. Even if you’re not a student you can use the spirit of the season to start something new–sign up for an art class, try a new yoga studio, find a volunteer project in your community, take cooking lessons, or start a journal. Any excuse you need to buy a new notebook and colorful pens!

If you live in the Seattle area you can check out some interesting yoga workshops coming up:

An introduction to unique meditations
Samadhi Yoga, (6 Mondays) Sept. 22nd thru Oct. 27th, 5:15pm to 6:45pm
“What is Meditation? Meditation has three essentials elements: Relaxation, Watching and a Non-Judgmental Attitude. Through these, slowly, slowly a great silence descends over you. You will learn a variety of ancient and modern methods that help you enter into this state of meditation. ”

Rock Yoga with Nicole Farmer
Yogalife Queen Anne, Saturday, September 27th, 12:30pm to 2:30pm
“Explore your edge through asana, pranayama and meditation accompanied by music that pushes the boundaries of your expectations for a typical yoga class. If all is yoga, then all music is compatible with our practice.”

Yoga for Change
8 Limbs Yoga Capitol Hill, Sunday, September 28th, 9am – 8pm
“All day, by-donation Yoga event to demonstrate the power of our community to effect positive change in the world. Inspired by this year’s presidential election. […] Donations to the event will go to The Washington Bus, an innovative vehicle for hands on democracy.”

Ashtanga Beginner Intensive with Kelly Page
8 Limbs Yoga Capitol Hill, October 17 - 19, 2008 November 7-9, 2008
“In this weekend course students will ground in the present moment through the movements of breath, bandhas and dristi, while systematically moving through the Primary Series of classical Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.”