Escape to Shape | Travel

One of the most romantic Escapes we take is to Cartagena, Colombia and we look forward to returning there in October of this year.

Gabriel García Márquez captured the mystic of Cartagena in his novel, “Love in the Time of Cholera.” The walled city has been the setting for many great novels and movies. The aptomosphere is electric and the people are more gracious than any other place on earth. What better place to set a book. Below are some recommendations that will surely take your mind to this fascinating destination.  And if so inspired, travel there with the rest of your body in October!

Novels

Love in the Time of Cholera, Strange Pilgrims, The General and His Labyrinth - Gabriel García Márquez

The Angel’s Command - Brian Jacques

The Walls of Cartagena - Julia Durango

Románc - Sándor Kányadi

Movies

Romancing the Stone

Love in the Time of Cholera

Burn!

The Mission

We recently had the pleasure of having Beth Furman, MALS, E-RYT, guest teach with us in Cartagena. Beth has studied yoga, dance, and many other forms of movement, including hip-hop and African dance, for over 30 years. Beth integrates all her movement training and experiences into her yoga teaching and practice. She couples a unique, vinyasa-based style with eclectic music to create classes that are vibrant, fun, spontaneous and intelligent, and that enable people of all ages and abilities to experience a full, “pranafied” practice in a supportive environment. A certified 500-hour yoga teacher, Beth has studied with many wonderful teachers including Shiva Rea and Mitchel Bleier, from whom she received her certifications. She earned her Masters degree from Wesleyan University, concentrating in dance/movement studies. Beth currently teaches yoga to adults and children, integrating hip hop and other forms of dance and cultural expression into the practice. She regularly has hip-hop/yoga parties at home with her kids. Here, Beth shares traveling yogini tips from her most recent Escape to Cartagena…

I am a yogini, dancer, brownie baker and musically obsessed mother of three rocker children. Life is great, and with work and kids, there is a lot going on. A recent trip to Cartagena put some of the groove back into my life and showed me the yoga of travel.

Yoga means union, so the “yoga of travel” is the union of vacation and the real world. In Cartagena, having the luxury of teaching and vacationing at the same time helped me see how doable it is to fully enjoy your vacation and bring it home with you, much the same way your yoga practice can be taken off the mat and into your life.

As part of a good friend’s 40^th birthday celebration, I was honored to teach, play and dance with a fantastic group of women.  AND I was in the company of traveling hostess extraordinaire, Erica Gragg. Erica and her partner Francesco, are amazing river guides, providing healthy and relaxing experiences in exotic places. All in all, incredibly juicy adventures.

But re-entry into real life can be tough and the initial transition can be too, with an unfamiliar place, new foods, and different time zones in some cases. Adjustment to a new experience can actually mess you up a little and yet, it is very exciting at the same time. On the other end, getting back into real life, with real time and obligations has its own challenges.

Here are some quick tips for enjoying yourself while away and keeping that vibe going once you get home.

1)    Breathe. Notice the temperature, the feel, the smell of the adventure. When you get home, let the familiarity of home ground you and bring you back.

2)Stand in Mountain pose, tadasana. Where you are, is where you can stand tall. Whether you are “standing” in a Volcanic mud bath in Cartagena, or standing in line in the ‘burbs at the market.

Note: To practice tadasana, stand tall on two feet. Evenly distribute the weight of your feet on the ground and as you press down into your feet, lift your arches slightly to feel a rise of energy all the way up the inner leg. Let your sitting bones descend, then tone your low belly slightly to lift the front of the hips. Soften your front ribs into your body, slide the shoulder blades down your back as you lift your heart and sternum. Tip your chin slightly forward to lengthen the back of your neck, and take the tip of your tongue to the top of the palate. Open your eyes and look at the tip of your nose, or if your eyes are closed, the inner Gaze can be up toward your third eye, right above and center of the brows. Arms extend toward the earth with palms facing forward.

3)Call in the drums. This was a particularly powerful tool for me, while away. Listen and feel the rhythm of the place.  Also, notice the music being played while you are out and about. Being aware of the sounds, the feel and the rhythm of your surroundings helps you stay in the flow of the place you are in, which ultimately helps you stay attuned to what is going on. It also helps you embrace the life you live on a daily basis. Is the place fast paced, or more low key? Do you become energized by a faster pace, or do you build your reserves through moving more methodically? Maybe a little of both. Explore this and then notice, when you get home, how you can ride the wave of faster and slower paced days to keep you balanced energetically.

4)Invoke your inner goddess (even if you are a dude). In other words, this is another way to get grounded. But it is also a way to feel a very strong presence within you. Acknowledge those ways in your life that you feel really empowered. Enjoy them while away, and then bring it all home with you.

To practice Goddess pose: Take a wide stance. Knees turn out, cactus arms. Sit down in your hips. Visualize a strong cord running from your hips into the center of the earth. Activating a connection to your grounding cord helps you stay in the flow, wherever you are: whether you are in New York City or Marrakesh high on a mountain. Do this any time you need to cultivate grounding energy.

5) Try something new while away. For example, I started drinking fresh juices for breakfast while I was away.  I am currently in the market for a juicer so I can invite that experience into my life now that I am home. Or maybe a new practice for you centers around something broader, like your perception of time and how much of it you feel you have.  When on vacation, time can take on a very different meaning than when you are at home, living a more scheduled life. As a practice, when you get home, create bigger and more open spaces for yourself, timewise, even if they are new 10 minute spots that you provide for yourself to sit and day dream. This way, you can still stay in that spacious feeling that you have on vacation, even with a busy schedule.

Bringing a new practice into your life each time you go away helps you  keep the energy of the trip alive in you for a long time.

Most important: really live the moments you are away FULLY, and use that practice to enjoy life when you are home. If the travel bug bites, follow it and know that both travel and home life in balance give us a healthy perspective on what is real and important in life.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2(15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (we traditionally use chicken broth but since we had a few people that don’t eat chicken we used vegetable broth)

1 medium tomato diced

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, and garlic and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until onion is translucent and not burned.

2. Add beans, and the broth, decrease heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

4. Working in batches, transfer soup to food processor or blender and process until smooth.

5. Return the puree to the saucepan and heat for 5 minutes over medium heat. If necessary, thin with water. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Garnish each serving with avocado, tomato, and cilantro, if you like.

Hot sauce can be added according to your personal taste

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 garlic glove, minced

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced- add more to taste if you want more zing

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 medium pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (we used vegetable broth)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Toasted Pumpkin seeds, for garnish, if available

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger, and sauté, stirring frequently, for 6 to 8 minutes, until onion is soft but not browned. Stir in the brown sugar. Set aside.

2. Cook pumpkin in a large pot with the broth until tender. 25 to 30 minutes.

3. Remove the pumpkin from the heat, but do not drain. Let cool for 10 minutes. Add the garlic-ginger mixture.

4. Working in batches, transfer soup to a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

5. Return soup to the pot and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Top each serving with a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds.

Serve immediately.

Catherine Gleason is a young, successful women living in New York City, who offered to submit an entry on her personal experience traveling with Escape To Shape. Many thanks, Catherine!

I don’t know how else to describe Escape to Shape other than to say it’s like going to stay with your incredibly cool sister and her boyfriend in an exotic city for a week where they know everyone and every thing that’s worth knowing.  I’ve now done two of their trips (Cartagena and Marrakech) and while each one is different and unique to the location, there are some staples: a beautiful house, amazing food, great yoga, a packed itinerary, and fantastic company.  And despite the fact Erica and Francesco put a ton of effort into making sure each of their trips are flawless and that they’ve secured only the best of the best of everything, you’d never know it as a guest – they make everything seem just that easy.  Looking for a good spa in town?  They’ve been to a great one – should they make you a reservation? Want a hotel recommendation for your extra night?  There is a perfect one right in town and they know the owners.  Decided you want to take the afternoon away from the group and do some shopping?  They’ll get a driver to take you.  Want to do dinner in town one night? They know just the perfect spot – and when you get home, you’ll see it’s given five starts in every magazine.

The locations for Escape to Shape are always a big draw for me, but at the end of the day it is always really important to me who I travel with – after all what good is the location, if your company is aweful?  The only thing I can say is that so far I’ve met a number of incredibly smart, accomplished and adventurous women (yes, both of the trips I did were all women) from all sorts of backgrounds.  I’ve met women in finance, non-profit, law, consulting, design and decorating and each has her own fascinating story to share.  Most of the women come on their own, although the mother/daughter combo seems to be fairly common as well.  Whether you come alone or with a group though, I think the type of person who comes to a trip like this is very inclusive and if you’re on your own, you won’t feel ever feel like it.

Now about the “Shape” part…  this originally scared me – a lot.  I was a afraid I’d spend the entire week starving, so as embarrassed as I am to say this, I’ll admit I snuck a few snacks in my suitcase, just in case…  Luckily for me, Erica’s theme when it comes to the food part seems to be more about moderation and portion control, rather than starvation.  I’m not going to lie, there were definitely a couple of times when I would have killed for a piece of chocolate, but there were always healthy snacks lying around if we were hungry.  Some of the women seem to take the heath part of the trip very seriously, while others much less so.  As with everything else on the trip, it’s up to you which side you fall on…

Speaking of optionality, while every activity on these trips is completely 100% optional, there are some things not to be missed.  In each location Erica and Francesco arrange for the group to enjoy some of the local attractions.  In Cartagena, my favorite day was when we took a lava bath in a volcano followed by a scrub down by some locals in the near-by river.  I’ve never heard so many grown women giggle!  And in Marrakech it was a daylong hike through the Atlas mountains – complete with home-cooked French fries – that did it for me.  But really the stories I remember most were the unplanned things that happened.  There was the boat ride when we got stuck in a storm that left all of us huddled under a small canopy laughing as we tried to keep dry.  There was the rogue masseuse which spurred hours of discussion around the dinner table.  There was the guide who surprised us with a “Happy Congratulations” cake his mom had made for us.   There was an impromptu visit to a school in a small Moroccan village.  Each of these experiences is why I do these trips.

I signed up for my first Escape to Shape on a whim, and I am so happy I did!  So far I have been able to explore two fantastically exotic cities that I wouldn’t have otherwise had the nerve to travel to by myself and I’ve found the perfect balance of luxury, health and adventure that I know will always include a great group of people!

This is another quick, easy & healthy favorite from Cartagena, although we do serve a carrot and rose petal version of this delicious soup in Marrakech. Noted for its unique flavor and antioxidant properties, the ginger in this recipe meshes well with the sweetness of the carrots and ads flavorful kick!

You can prepare a large batch of this soup – freeze & reheat on the stove top when ready to eat!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced

½ large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 small ginger root, peeled and minced

2 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth

2 tbsp. of brown sugar

Toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish

Directions:

1. Steam the carrots in a large pot until tender for 25 to 30 minutes.

2. Remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

3. While the carrots cook, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger, stirring frequently for 6 to 8 minutes, or until everything is soft but not browned.

4. Transfer the carrots to a food processor or blender and add the garlic-ginger mixture. Blend for two to three minutes until smooth.

5. Return to the large saucepan and add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar to sweeten to taste.

6. Top with toasted pumpkin seeds.

7. Serve immediately & Enjoy!

Ceviche is a staple in the Colombian coastal towns and villages, thanks to the abundant supply of fresh fish and shrimp. This ceviche is quick, low calorie, very healthy and easy to prepare-the secret is fresh fish and lime- plus plenty of time to let all the ingredients ‘cook’ in the lime juice. Coconut milk is often added to Colombian ceviches as well, which makes for a heavier dish.

Ingredients (Serves 4):

250 g fresh fish – white fish such as sea bass or red snapper

Enough fresh lime to completely cover the fish with lime juice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 ½ cups chopped onion

1 1/2 cups fresh corn

Jalapeno or habanero to taste

Salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cut fresh fish into small bite sized pieces and place into  large bowl

2. Squeeze fresh lime over the fish until the fish is completely covered in lime juice.

3. Add salt and jalapeno/habanero to the lime and fish and let soak in the lime juice for 24 hours (in the refrigerator)

4. After 24 hours the fish will have ‘cooked’ in the lime juice. Add cilantro, onion and corn to the bowl, mix.

5. Add additional salt and jalapeno/habanero to taste. Pepper can be added as well if you would like.

Enjoy!

This healthy twist on an American classic was the hit of our healthy Thanksgiving dinner in Cartagena, Colombia. Not only is it delicious, but it is also incredibly easy. Impress your family & friends with the fantastic flavor- they wont miss the fat!

Pumpkin isn’t just tasty, it also provides a number of health benefits. Pumpkin contains dietary fiber, antioxidants, lots of vitamins- including C and A, Omega-3 fatty acids, folate, potassium, and manganese, all at just 79 calories per cup. As such, pumpkin is a great choice for healthy cooking and baking.

Preperation time:5-10 minutes

Cooking time: 60-75 minutes

Makes: two 9-inch pumpkin pies

Ingredients:

• 2 9-inch unbaked pie shells (we made our own
• 2 standard (398 ml) cans pumpkin
• 6 large eggs (equivalent to 7 medium eggs or 8 small)
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 cup raw organic cane sugar
• 4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit
• If pie shells have just come out of the freezer, warm them in the oven for a couple of minutes, just until warm to the touch.*
• Beat eggs lightly with a whisk.
• Add all other ingredients and beat until smooth.
• Pour into pie shells.
• Bake 15 minutes and then reduce temperature to 350 Fahrenheit and bake for another 45-60 minutes.
• Test for doneness with toothpick starting at approximately 45 minutes after lowering the oven temperature, and every 5 minutes thereafter. The toothpick should come out clean or nearly clean when the pies are done.
• Enjoy!

* We prepared our own healthy pie shells with water, wheat flour & salt. They are not that flavorful, but are perfect for letting the pumpkin & seasonings shine! You can also purchase pre-made shells at your local store.

This quick and easy soup was a favorite of all the guests. Low in fat and calories, but full of iron and antioxidants- enjoy!

To prepare:

1. Steam the spinach in water for 15 minutes, or until cooked.
3. While the spinach is steaming, saute the chopped onion in a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil until soft
4. Drain the spinach
5. Place the spinach and onion in a blender. Blend until smooth.
6. Reheat mixture on stove top to serve.
7. Enjoy!

If you want to thicken it a bit you can add a 1/2 cup of skim milk to the blender, but this is optional. Another way to thicken it a bit (dairy free!) is by steaming ONE small potato and adding the potato to the blender. This gives the soup a slightly thicker consistency.