MEDIA REVIEWS // BOOKS
Kitchen Ritual/book
By Meredith Klein
Pranaful
Chef Meredith Klein is known through-
out the SoCal yoga community and beyond
for her mindful and delicious approach to
the ritual of creating nourishing recipes and
serving celebratory feasts. Her long-awaited
cookbook, Kitchen Ritual, shares her culinary
secrets with recipes as well as tips and tricks
for home cooks. Whether you are just becom-
ing comfortable with your own kitchen or
you are an Iron Chef, Meredith serves up
wisdom for you in these pages.
She opens the book explaining her ap-
proach to being a “love-atarian” who enjoys
meals made with love. This includes tips on
creating sacred space, tools for setting up a
mindful kitchen (try wooden spoons, Mason
jars, and inspiring dishware), and the 411 on
buying and using knives skillfully.
When it comes to the recipes, Meredith
shares treats for any time of the day from
breakfast to before bed comforting snacks.
She loves the trending small plate approach
to a meal that allows for both variety and a
sense of satisfaction. While her approach is
grounded in the tradition of Ayurveda, her
world-fusion cuisine offers creative combina-
tions such as Moroccan Acorn Squash & Pear
Soup, Rustic Watermelon Gazpacho, Black
Bean & Edamame Salad, Green Chile Stew,
Curried Red Lentil Dip, Turmeric Sweet Po-
tato Hash, and Roasted Broccoli with Meyer
Lemon. Meredith shares her hacks for pantry
and spice staples such as Garam Masala,
homemade Hemp Milk, Preserved Lemons,
and Vegetable Broth. Smoothies, teas, and
desserts round out this must-have addition to
the modern yogi’s well-stocked kitchen. For
more information, visit: pranaful.com
Reviewed by Felicia Tomasko, President of Bliss
Network LLC and Editor-in-Chief of LA YOGA and
Boston Yoga Magazines.
Close to Om/bookby Andrea Marcum
St Martin’s PressI landed in Andrea Marcum’s tough yoga
class 1000% by peer pressure. When I could
barely hold a Warrior 2, I used to fix my gaze
on Julio’s tattoos as a distraction. He was a
regular, with beautiful full sleeves of artwork
and a no-F’s given attitude who would
sometimes stay in savasana the entire class. It
was some of the most important mat work
I’ve ever witnessed. That level of acceptance,
awakening, and ahimsa (nonviolence or
compassion) is woven throughout my favorite
new book, Close To Om.
The book is part comedic autobiography,
love story, history lesson, and meditation and
workout guide. Marcum has created a mas-
terpiece that flows through her life, laughs,
and sun salutations. She formerly owned U
Studio Yoga in Miracle Mile before traveling
the world as a yogi ambassador and retreat
leader. Now she’s back in LA teaching at
YogaWorks.
She describes Close to OM as, “Instruction
designed more for the every person than it is
for the select few who can effortlessly tie their
bodies into a bow and always appear to have
their shit together.” It comes with adorably
accurate stick figure sequences and extra con-
tent and community connections online.
I laughed out loud when reading Andrea’s
stories of making room for her soulmate,
Dom. The Yoga Sutras 101 gave me a new
level of understanding of terms like pratya-
hara (drawing our attention inward) and the
encouragement in every chapter helped me
forgive myself for all my craziness and not
being able to balance in crow.... yet!
Learn more at: andreamarcum.comReviewed by Julie Pilat who lives in LA and focuses
most of her time working in music, tech, and phi-
lanthropy. She is the founder and host of The Idea
Fountain: Life Changing Conversations interview
series. @juliepilatThe Art of Stopping Time/bookby Pedram Shojai
R o da l eHow do we develop our habits? Do they
serve us and help move us forward in our
lives or do they keep us spinning in place?
Are our habits crowding the hours of our
days or creating more time in our lives?
Questioning our habits and choosing prac-
tices that actually help us to not only “stop
time,” but to create more productive space
and time in our lives is the point of The Art
of Stopping Time. New York Times bestsell-
ing author Pedram Shojai has organized this
book in such a way that the reader can try
out one practice a day for a period of 100
days. This configuration of habit creation
is known as a 100-day Gong. The Gong is
a ritual method for training oneself. After
completing the full Gong, Shojai suggests that
the reader can pick up the book and open to
any page containing a practice for a healthy
Gong Roulette.
The practices Shojai gives are not merely
thought-provoking. They are enough to allow
us a way to hit our internal reset button.
They are deceptively simple yet their effects
can be life-changing. Some of the activities
Shojai offers include: Get out of your chair,
relax the back of your neck, focus on your
meals, enlist help, digest your emotions,
write your bucket list, spend time in the sun,
and daydream. Shojai frames our quest as
developing time prosperity. When we live
this quest, we may find that we are able to do
more than simply stop time—we can create
more of it in our lives.Reviewed by Felicia Tomasko, President of Bliss
Network, LLC and Editor in Chief of LA YOGA and
Boston Yoga.