{"id":266,"date":"2020-07-01T17:36:19","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T17:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattdavisyoga.com\/?p=266"},"modified":"2020-07-01T17:40:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T17:40:13","slug":"hate-your-job-yoga-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattdavisyoga.com\/?p=266","title":{"rendered":"Hate Your Job? Yoga Can Help…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.6″ min_height=”1628px” custom_padding=”||0px|||”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.6″ custom_padding=”5px||0px|7px||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.6″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.6″ text_font_size=”20px” custom_margin=”||-19px|||” custom_padding=”||0px|||”]

My yoga class this week is about how to be happier at work.\u00a0<\/span>Click here to take it.\u00a0<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>
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Julie, one of my favorite yoga teachers, taught a memorable class last October. She said \u201cwork gives off drama like smoke from a fire.\u201d And suggested four questions to ask yourself to be happier at work:<\/span>
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1. What am I best at?<\/span>
2. What do I enjoy?<\/span>
3. What can I make money at?<\/span>
4. What does the world need?<\/span>
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Three out of four Americans are unhappy at work, so Julie\u2019s are important questions. I love the honesty of the movie\u00a0<\/span>Office Space<\/em>, and the scene in the header.\u00a0<\/span>You can watch it here<\/a>.<\/span>
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Depending on our privilege level, it\u2019s an open secret that many of us only do a very small amount of actual work in our jobs. That doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re happier. But the paycheck gives us a superficial feeling of security. I often have days where I wish I was the mailman. Deliver the letters. Job done. Less guilt.\u00a0I was speaking this week with a guy my age who earns $12.50 an hour to process tenderloins in a chicken factory and honestly, I felt like he was teaching me a lot just by entertaining the idea of a conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

There’s an awful lot of injustice in the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yoga gives us the opportunity to focus our effort for an hour, and a deeper feeling of security than getting paid. I love the idea that it\u2019s revolutionary to be able to focus for\u00a0<\/span>25 minutes at a time<\/a>\u00a0these days. It says a lot about how toxic many workplaces are. The successful investor Warren Buffett encourages people to focus on just five goals after\u00a0<\/span>crossing 20 more off a list of 25<\/a>. It\u2019s an interesting idea, but what if you threw away the whole list altogether? Then what?<\/span>
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Since finding a daily yoga practice, I\u2019ve found myself able to focus more on what\u2019s important. I don\u2019t even have specific goals, these days. I\u2019m just more attuned to trying to live each day by certain values such as nonviolence and honesty. If there are results that come from that? Cool. 😎<\/span>
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Let\u2019s work it out on the mat.<\/a><\/strong>
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Love from,<\/span>
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Matt<\/span>
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P.S. It\u2019s This Week\u2019s Vegetarian Recipes!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Yoga is based on nonviolence, or \u201cahimsa\u201d, in Sanskrit, which means no killing animals. I didn\u2019t like the idea at first (and I still have the odd relapse) but have been trying vegetarianism on, and enjoying the subtle effects on my mood and body.\u00a0<\/span>
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It\u2019s peak greens season and I\u2019m getting the old salad anxiety\u2014the fear of not being able to eat everything in the fridge before it goes off! So my recipes this week are for pickled napa cabbage from\u00a0<\/span>The Momofuku Cookbook<\/em>\u00a0by David Chang and Peter Meehan, and for garlic scape pesto, which I got by scouring the internet. Both are straightforward recipes to use up delicious greens in a storable way, just in case simple deep breathing isn\u2019t enough to get you comfortable with the contents of your fridge.<\/span>
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Pickled Napa Cabbage<\/strong>
1 cup hot water<\/span>
\u00bd cup rice wine vinegar<\/span>
6 tbsps sugar<\/span>
2 \u00bc tsp kosher salt<\/span>
A napa cabbage<\/span>
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Remove the greener outer layer leaves from the head of cabbage and discard them. Use the next couple of layers\u201416 to 20 of the bigger leaves\u2014for this pickle. Make a triangular incision into each of the cabbage leaves to cut out the large, tough white rib and discard it. Combine the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a pickling container, stir until the sugar dissolves, and gently pack the leaves into the container. Cover and refrigerate, then serve after four or five days.<\/span>
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Garlic Scape pesto<\/strong>
\u00bc cup nuts<\/span>
\u00be cup coarsely chopped garlic scapes<\/span>
Juice and zest of \u00bd a lemon<\/span>
\u00bd tsp salt<\/span>
Ground black pepper<\/span>
\u00bd cup olive oil<\/span>
\u00bc cup grated parmesan cheese<\/span>
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Toast the nuts for a few minutes in a frying pan over low heat until they\u2019re just starting to brown. Combine the scapes, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender and pulse it until everything is mixed together. Then add the olive oil in a stream with the motor running. Add the cheese and serve with pasta. This has quite a punchy taste, and lasts well in the freezer, where it may even benefit slightly from calming down a bit. Just like those of us who are workaholics.\u00a0<\/span>
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Dessert suggestion:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Strawberries with balsamic vinegar.<\/strong>\u00a0This is a classic in Modena, Italy, where they\u2019ll add a tbsp of their local black vinegar to half a pound of strawberries, along with a light sprinkling of sugar and some black pepper. It sounds counterintuitive, but the combination of flavors works a treat.<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope you have a great week. Let me know if you\u2019d like to connect to discuss your practice, or anything else, frankly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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