Happy Pride 2021! June marks national Pride month!

What does this mean?

Pride month is a time where we celebrate the beautiful and diverse LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Trans, Queer +) community! We take this time to go celebrate the progress the LGBTQ+ community has made in acceptance and equality in the world. We look back on the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's, the Stonewall Riots, and marriage equality, remembering where the community was and how much we have grown into being equal with all.

During this time we celebrate by attending Pride Parades, Festivals, attending drag shows, wearing way too much rainbow patterns and glitter, and celebrating with our community, family, and friends.

This year I have decided to celebrate by giving back to my local Pride Center, The Utah Pride Center. Every book sale I make throughout the month of June, I will be donating all the royalties to the Utah Pride Center. The Utah Pride Center has been a pillar in the community and has saved lives, helped people in crisis, and provided a safe place for me when I was a young teen coming out of the closet. 

The pandemic was hard on all of us, especially on all of the non-profits that help so many communities. This will be one of a few fundraisers I plan on doing this year for non-profits. So let's kick it off by celebrating pride month, getting yourself a new book; knowing the profits will help support an organization that has helped so many of us.

As most of you may know I primarily teach two styles of yoga. The first is Restorative Yoga, the reason my I gravitated towards this practice is due to the obvious reasons the title of this class states. Restore. I think it is vitally important to incorporate softness and subtle awareness into our practices. Regardless if its yoga, learning a language, or anything in the arts, I feel it is vitally important to take a moment now and again to slow down our practice, sit in certain postures or returning to the foundations to bring the subtle awareness back into the forefront. 

The second style of yoga that I teach is Ashtanga Yoga. Ashtanga is an older lineage that derived from Mysore, India. There have been many scholars and Yoga practitioners to write extensive books on this beautiful practice and without venturing into the deeper depths of this practice we can simplify it by describing it as a yoga practice for householders. Ashtanga was designed for those who wanted to practice yoga but were unable to give up their daily lives to live in an ashram or unable to renunciate and devote all their time for the exploration of yoga and spirituality.

What sets this practice aside from westernized yoga is that Ashtanga is a practice with set postures; unlike Vinyasa, Restore, or Power Yoga, Ashtanga will be the exact same sequence of postures every practice. The idea is you show up to an Ashtanga class and over time memorize the practice, working slowly and intelligently. With assistance by the instructor the practitioner will add on postures as they memorize the set sequence. Over time the practitioner will remember the sequence and will have the freedom to practice at there own accord when they want and where they want. If a person can not do a certain posture the student will stop their practice at that pose and jump ahead and do the final three postures. Regardless of how many of the postures the student can achieve they will always work in the order of the sequence, no skipping postures. Once the student can achieve the posture that they were unable to do they will add on the next pose and so on until they can successfully complete the series. Ashtanga is designed with the utmost intelligence, allowing the body to stretch, heal, and strengthen. It is a very structured practice with lots of specific rules, which some people (like myself) love having this type of structure, however for the person who likes to switch up their yoga practices, this may not be the lineage for them.

If you are interested in learning more about Ashtanga you can read the following books or drop into my Ashtanga Foundations class online or in person at The Front in Millcreek. Or you can look over the Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series PDF below.

Book Recommendations:
One Simple Thing by Eddie Stern
Ageless by Sharath Jois (Great for beginners!)
Ashtanga Yoga: Practice and Philosophy by Gregor Maehle

​This delicious green bean dish is a great side dish to pair with any meal. The mixture of salty and spicy is great for anyone who loves an added heat element to your vegetables! 
​
Ingredients:
16 ounces green beans
1 tbs low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tbs hoisin sauce
1/2 tbs ground fresh chili paste
1/2 vegetable oil

We have entered 2021 with the residue of 2020, not only is COVID-19 running rampant here in America, we are feeling the tension and divide in our political parties more than ever. 
As a young man of 31 years old I feel I have witnessed a vast amount of traumatic history in my short time. The first traumatic historical event I remember would be September 11, 2001. At the time I was still very young and could not wrap my mind around my people would be driven to do such horrible actions, I thought this would be one of few moments in history that I would never forget. As we entered into a war I thought that this would be one of the most fearful times in my life.

Fast forward two decade and it seems like traumatic events occur on a near daily basis. Whether it was the outrageous number of mass shootings we experienced from Sandyhook, Pulse Night Club, Charleston Church, (just to name a fraction of them). The Occupy Wall Street movement in New York that lasted months. A recession and the housing crisis of 2009. The shooting of Trayvon Martin that brought to light the injustices that POC (people of color) experience and white privilege, and all the other POC that were killed by police officers like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd (just to name two out of the hundreds). The coronavirus pandemic and how the United States has poorly handled the situation. And let me end on Donald Trump (need I say more there?) and his supporters storming the Nations Capitol earlier this month.

Now, the last twenty years have not all been bad, we elected our first black President (and a bi-racial Vice President!), we have marriage equality, conversion therapy is becoming a thing of the past, the housing market has increased, technology has advanced at an alarming rate, we have begun making headway for universal health care for Americans, and making steps to reduce our carbon foot prints.

With the state of the world at this moment in time I feel it is important, now more than ever, that we take care of ourselves and do what we need to do to ensure our own well-being. The practice of self-care has prepared us for these unsteady times and this is where the practice comes into play. We need to ensure that our daily habits are supporting us and giving space to ease into the uncomfortability without resisting what is occurring in our lives and in our world. 

With all that being said I will be taking sometime to restructure, reconnect, and recommit to all the practices in my life. At the beginning of 2020 I found it easy to achieve and accomplish all the goals I set and to continue to grow this platform and my practices. Now the emotional fatigue of the world has weighed heavy on me and it has become difficult to manage everything I have created. With this ever changing world I am committed to continue to be of service to others, but I must practice what I preach and take care of myself before taking care of others.

As I step away for a brief time from Pattern Breakers I hope that you will still find the tools on this site useful. I plan on continuing to grow this community but I need to reconnect with myself to know what is best moving forward. As I will not be posting blogs or social media posts for sometime you can still reach me via email or on my personal Instagram account @danieljacobhill

May we all continue to grow and practice self-care. 

Your friend,

Daniel Jacob Hill
Founder of Pattern Breakers.  

This lovely pasta is a great dinner recipe that is delicious to serve during the hot summer months when tomatoes are in season. (Serves 2).

Ingredients:
1 large portobello mushroom
1/2 bag of spaghetti pasta
1 cup of cherry tomatoes
1 cup fresh basil
3 garlic cloves
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tbs dried rosemary
salt
pepper
Grated cheese of choice (optional, not shown in picture)

1. In a large pot of boiling water cook noodles for 8 mins, or until cooked thoroughly. Strain, run under warm water to present pasta sticking to itself and set aside.
2. Cut portobello mushroom in long medium think strips. Cook on a hot pan with olive oil, season with a pinch of salt, pepper, and rosemary. Cook each side for roughly 5 mins or until it has a slight char on the edges.
3. Cut cherry tomatoes in half. In a small hot sauce pan cook tomatoes in a splash of olive oil for 3-5 mins.
4. Cut basil into thin strips. Chop or mince garlic.
5. In a large bowl mix pasta, tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, and basil.
6. Serve on pasta on plates and top with grilled mushrooms and grated cheese.
7. Bon appetite!

1. Grill peach slices on a hot cast iron skillet, gill each side for 2-3 mins.
2. Toss arugula, tomatoes, and cheese in a large bowl.
3. Drizzle salad dressing into bowl and continue to toss.
4. Plate salad mixture and garnish with the grilled peaches. 
5. Eat up and enjoy!

​1. Heat large skillet or cast iron pan. Coat the pan with vegetable oil or non-stick cooking spray. 
2. Crack both eggs in a cup, whisk with a fork.
3. Pour eggs into heated pan. Spread spinach and cheese onto of eggs.
4. Once the edges of the eggs are cooked, hold the eggs in half. Blanketing the spinach and cheese into the omelette. 
5. Cut avaocado into small slices. 
6. Top the omelette with the avocado, a spoon full of salsa, and salt & pepper.
​7. Enjoy!

Everyone eats, some people only have one big meal a day, while others may have 4-5 small meals throughout the day. Food is something we all need for our survival, but because we live fast paced consumer world with a wide range of food options I ask, are you bringing daily awareness to what you are eating?

In 2006 when I was in college, I was working two jobs while attending 9-10 credit hours a semester. Being on the run all the time I would eat out almost daily. Perhaps preparing a breakfast at home around 7:00am and then getting lunch around 12:00pm at the cafe below my office, having a snack before heading to classes, then getting Burger King or Taco Bell after class around 9:00pm at night. 

Once I decided to go to cosmetology school in 2008 I would have breakfast at home, bring a frozen dinner for lunch to have at school, and then would usually have McDonalds, Subway, or Panda Express for dinner when I arrived at the mall for my night job at Bath & Body Works,

To make a long story short, I wasn't being aware of what I was eating, I was simply feeding myself with whatever I could grasp when I became hungry so I could make it through a 16 hour day.

I get it! It can be really challenging to eat healthy and bring awareness around our food when we are hustling to build a career, to graduate from school, or juggle multiple jobs while raising a family. It can be hard work! 

When I have the conversation with people around creating healthy patterns and boundaries around food and eating I begin by asking, "How do you feel your relationship with food is?" Some of the common answers are,

"I don't have the time to cook all my meals, I'm to busy for that so I eat out a lot." 
"I want to eat healthier, but don't know where to begin."
"I eat for comfort. After a long day I like to binge eat."
"I don't enjoy the act of eating."

Often times we want to change our eating patterns because we don't feel good about our physical body, we may have mental constraints around body image and food. This can stem from comparing our-self to others. Childhood trauma. We may see friends, family members, or people on social media or TV eat a certain way or look a certain way and we compare our experience with food and our body with theirs. Saying harmful things like,

"I need to eat better."
"I eat to much."
"I don't eat enough."
"I'm too fat/thin and need to change the way I eat."
"I don't like my body"

All this chatter and negative thinking does nothing but make us feel unworthy in our bodies and relationship with food. Before signing up for the next dieting fade or joining a subscription based meal plan (that we may or may not cancel after a month), let's explore where we currently are at with food.

Begin to journal about what you are eating.

Week 1:

Carry your journal around with you, if you feel uncomfortable by this, start a NOTE in your smart phone and track what you are eating and drinking, when you are eating, and how much you are eating. Write as much information as you can after each meal, the sky is the limit here. Write about what you eat, how long it took to eat, where you got it from, how much it cost, and how you felt afterwards. If you would like you can track calories, you can us a Food Calorie Calculator or download My Fitness Pal App

Here is an example to help get you started:

8:30am Breakfast- Two pieces of rye bread toasted with two fried eggs. Two cups of black coffee. 340-400 calories.
Cooked breakfast at home. It took me about 15 minutes to eat, I was not terribly hungry when I ate, I felt full after eating but not heavy or sick.

1:20pm Lunch- Stir Fried Rice with Tofu and Green Beans. Cup of Tulsi Tea. 550-650 calories.
Made at home and took it to work for lunch. I ate it in about 15 minutes. I felt full after eating, perhaps it was a bit salty. The meal left me thirsty.

3:00pm Snack- Banana Nut Bread. 100 calories.
Delicious homemade bread, felt like I needed a snack.

7:00pm Dinner- Take out Pizza. 750ish calories. $8.00
Ordered a tasty take and bake cheese pizza. Had three slices and the third slice made me feel sick and heavy afterwards. Took about an hour to feel normal and not heavy. Even though I was full I was still craving something sweet like ice cream, however I made the choice not to eat ice cream.

Daily water consumption- ​80 ounces.

For this week we are not changing our eating habits, we are only tracking what we are eating and understanding the physical, mental, and emotional experiences we have around food. After a week reflect back on what you ate. Read your notes and see what made your body feel nourished and balanced and notice what made your stomach feel upset or left your body feeling not at it's best.

With this information you can start to make very small shifts for the next week. Eliminating the foods that did not serve you, while eating more foods that left your body feeling nourished and healthy. The goal is to slowly change our eating habits by first understanding our current relationship with the foods we gravitate towards. Like a car, we need to understand what goes into car maintenance before we can add upgrades to the car. We need to understand our current relationship with food before we can improve our relationship with it.

Week 2:

For the next week begin to make subtle changes in your eating patterns with the information you collected. Continue to track your food and journal about what you're eating and your experiences. Notice how your body feels during week two. You may notice small changes like physically feeling better, having more energy, sleeping better, skin clearing up, or perhaps subtle weight lose. 

Continue to bring awareness with everything you consume and stay tuned for part 2 of "What are you eating?"

This beautiful rice bowl is a perfect balance of protein, carbohydrates, and vegetables. Great to serve for lunch and dinner. This is a personal go to recipe for me to pack and take to work.