MÄNI'S BAKERY CAFÉ

11.10.06

Have you seen us in Yogi Times?

Have you seen a copy of Yogi Times lately?  The magazine is really awesome.  I have read the last few issues and really enjoyed them.  AND I don’t even practice Yoga.  It is probably because their mission so closely aligns with ours here at Mäni’s on Fairfax.  It reads, “Yogi Times is dedicated to inform, entertain, connect and inspire our readers with lively coverage of healthy, holistic lifestyle...and articles for anyone seeking an authentic life of balance and abundance.”

photo by Alicia Johnson www.buomyoga.com

So, pick it up and take a look on page 28.  They featured our Pumpkin Yam Pie for the holidays.  Also, I didn’t realize that there really are not that many places for a vegan person and a non-vegan person to dine out and both enjoy the meal.  With our approach to balanced living, we offer such a wide spectrum of vegan and non-vegan food that Yogi Times became very interested in making their readership aware of us. 

Enjoy!

09.13.06

What are the rest of the environments?

Yes, I did say that there are 9 different environments in my posts from last month.  You may recall we talked about the Memetic Environment, Relationship Environment, and Network Environment.  Everyone has been asking what are the rest?  When are you going to post about them again?  (Well, not everyone...) So, here we go…


Now you can see all 9 Environments on the graphic.  Below is a great description of each of the 9 Environments.  Now you may be asking, “What now?” Well, there are a couple of things to keep in mind around environments.  The first is to look for repeating patterns.  The environments will tend to reflect back to a person what is working and not working in their life.  The other thing to keep in mind is the concept we like to call Tolerations.  I will go into more details next week about those…


Until then, CLICK HERE and download an awesome questionnaire that will help you scan your 9 Environments for what is working and what is holding you back.  Have FUN!

Here is a breif summary of all 9 Environments:


The Memetic Environment: The memetic environment is at the very core of environmental design. It includes ideas, thoughts, beliefs, paradigms, styles and usages which are passed down from generation to generation. The memetic environment also includes access to information and knowledge (books, websites, magazines, television, and radio.)

The Body Environment: The body environment includes the body, hair, skin, nails, posture, health and energy. It also includes the somatics of the body (how we can become observers of our own bodies and the lessons therein, how we use the body as a compass and how our bodies affect the environment and the energy around us.) This environment touches the network environment, as it includes physicians, skin care consultants, massage therapists, physical therapists, dietitians, personal trainers and other professionals who support your physical body well being.


The Self Environment: The self environment includes our strengths, talents, personality, feelings, emotions, values, passions, skills and unique assets. The self environment includes the intangible aspects of our beings.


The Nature Environment: The nature environment includes nature, parks, bodies of water, the seasons of the year and the outdoors. As humans, we are a part of nature, so access to this environment is crucial for our survival and ultimate well being.


The Spiritual Environment: The spiritual environment includes our connections to God or the Divine, our inner spirit, a higher power or to the invisible connection we feel to others and the universe. It includes methods of connecting to spiritual aspects of life (such as meditation, prayer, and places of worship.)


The Relationship Environment: The relationship environment includes those people in our lives who are closest to us and who we have an intimate connection with...to our “inner circle.” This includes family, close friends, close colleagues, mentors and neighbors who are in our lives on a daily basis.


The Network Environment: The network environment is an extension of the relationship environment. They include people who you are on a first name basis with, yet you may not have a deep an intimate connection with. The network environment includes strategic partners, networking partners, community organizations, and members of any mastermind or support groups you belong to. The goal of the network environment is usually to provide an exchange of information and to build bridges to people who can support you in enhancing both your business and personal life. Business Network International and The Chamber of Commerce include examples of the network environment.


The Financial Environment: The financial environment includes money, investments, insurance, stocks and bonds and the people who support your financial well being (accountants, financial planners, stock brokers.) This environment also includes any tools or support services you use to achieve your financial goals (Quickbooks, Quicken, Microsoft Money, budgets, banking institutions.) When exploring the financial environment, it is also important to look closely at the relationship a person has with money and their beliefs around money and prosperity/abundance.


The Physical Environment: The physical environment includes the very tangible aspects of our lives...our home, office, car, furnishings, artwork, toys, boats, and accessories. The physical environment is our visual clues to what is going on in our lives (clutter, noise, broken equipment can be visual clues to looking deeper to discover our thoughts, energy and behaviors.)

07.30.06

Balanced Living 1.6: What Do You Do For A Living

What do you do for a living?  Actually, I don’t really need to know.  But I will say this, a lot of people do want to know.  And alot of the time, it’s almost the first thing that people ask of us.  But what do you really do for a living?

I guess what I am really saying is, what do you do to stay alive, to stay excited, and to bring passion into your life?

I am actually looking for some feedback here.  What I am interested in, is that those who read this can actually share something they do in their own lives that keeps the juice flowing.  The intention is this: there are so many amazing people in the world who do really interesting things, and especially in the world of Mani’s, so let’s share that incredible information and pass it on. 

Just as a little background, I was thinking about this idea with our Graphic Designer over dinner.  We thought, how awesome would it be for people to share these things, especially if it brings new opportunities into our lives? 

And moreover, we are committed that people get the most out of life.  And what better way than to be involved, and at the same time share those experiences, and bring satisfaction and joy to someone else.  I guess most good things come back full circle, so that’s nice too!  And of course, this is one of the most important parts of living a balanced life: PLAYING.

What do I do to stay alive?  I’ll tell you two things: I go to as many classical music concerts at Gehry’s Disney Hall as I can (by buying the $20 seats behind the orchestra), and I also go to Free after Five, at LACMA, where Target picks up the tab everyday the museum is open, after 5PM till closing. 

So, if you want to pass on some experiences, share something you do to stay alive by commenting to this post. 

07.28.06

Why Willpower Won't Work!

The biggest mistake we can make is to set a goal and try to use willpower alone to achieve or accomplish this goal.  For many years, seminar leaders, experts and coaches have been teaching us to set goals and take action toward those goals everyday. Great concept, the problem is it doesn’t work.

Our subconscious mind, which controls our habits, is actually stronger than our willpower. However, most people are using willpower to create new habits, which takes a lot of energy, a lot of discipline and a lot of focus, and goes against many years of programming. The problem with this is you’re not in the habit of that new habit. Willpower is like a light switch. Imagine walking into a dark room, you flip the light switch on, but it has a spring that automatically turns the light off. In order to keep the light on, you would have to hold that light switch on. Your willpower is the same way, it’s only on when you turn it on and, for most people, that’s a minute or two a day. Most of the day, we do the same thing over and over and, therefore, have the same habits everyday.

The new way to set and achieve goals effortlessly is to delegate your success to your environments. Here’s the catch. When I say environments, most people think of nature, plants, etc. or their physical location. These are types of environments but most people are unaware there are actually 9 different environments controlling our success. These 9 environments are conditioning us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to be Happy Healthy and Wealthy or to be Unhappy, Sick and Broke. Therefore, if you become aware of the 9 environments and learn how to change the environments to pull you into your goals instead of using willpower and force to push you toward your goals, life would become simpler and goals would become easier to accomplish.

Here at Mäni’s, our mission is to provide building blocks in the lives of our employees, customers, and not yet customers, in living a life balanced in eating, drinking, exercising, working, and playing.  So, how is your eating, drinking, exercising, working, and playing going?  Is it balanced?  If there are changes that you would like to make?  If so, what can you change in your environments to delegate your success to your environments?  For example, if you want to exercise more, hire an awesome fitness trainer like Garrett Cooke.  (He is the amazing fitness trainer and nutritionist who helped us design the 400 calorie menu).  Do you want to play more?  Think about who are the people you spend most of your time with.  Do they like to play?  Probably not!  Who do you know that does like to play?  Stop reading this and call them right now… How about the information you surround yourself with?  Is it supportive and uplifting?  A woman I was coaching couldn’t believe the change in her energy level when she limited the amount of news intake in her life. 

This blog is a part of your environment.  Use it to support the change you want to make.  Write a comment about the change you are going to make in your environment.  Then come back later and update the blog with your progress. 

07.24.06

Balanced Living 1.5: Elevate Your Life

This Sunday evening I attended the 2nd Elevate Film Festival.  It’s starts out like this, definition: “To raise to a higher moral or intellectual level, to lift up”.  Fourteen directors, and hundreds of artists, activists, musicians and more, spent just 48 hours, starting Friday morning, to make 14 music videos, narratives and documentaries, by Sunday Morning.

I was extremely inspired by this amazing group of people, which included Lilakoi Moon (Lisa Bonet - Denise Huxtable on the Cosby Show, Enemy of the State), Daryl Hannah, comedian Michael Colyer, and so many other passionate people. 

Lilakoi Moon directed her first documentary, a film called “Waking Compton”.  It’s about a woman who is committed to bringing love to Compton.  Her honesty, and passion for life shine through when she hugs a young man, in a powerful embrace that lasts for what seems like an eternity.  When they pull apart, the young man that she described as being troubled, reached back to hug her more. 

What I got from this experience is huge, and is a recurring theme in my life, and the life of Mäni’s: Community.  All of the films and videos were based on the principal of bringing a community of people to a higher level of consciousness.  For example, elevating the consciousness of the communities of people who see the film “Waking Compton”, as well as elevating the consciousness of those who were somehow involved in the film.  In other words, films that inspire us to arrive at a higher level of relatedness and love. 

For about five hours, I was part of a new community of people who were so passionate about being alive, and participating in something that is really making a difference in the world.  And better, being connected to people who are actively making a difference.

At the end of the evening, they asked us to participate in sharing something that we are committed to making a difference in.  It allowed me to make a connection to something I am passionate about, and make a pledge to do something in that area and make a difference. 

I wrote this: I pledge to make a difference in the way that my expanding community balances their lives in eating, drinking, exercising, working and playing.  Moreover, I am committed that our employees, customers and families get the most out of their lives by having the best experience possible, and the most information to make choices that work for them. 

06.27.06

Balanced Living 1.4: You, Me & and An Inconvenient Truth

For a lot of my life, I have been passionate about three things.  Food (especially baking), the environment, and having fun!  The first two were things I wanted to make a difference in the world with.  The last one was the result I wanted out of being in this world. 

I was a lot more passionate about the environment when I was young.  I was a vocal (kind of loud, too) proponent of recycling and cars with good mileage.  I was an opponent of logging, oil drilling in certain parts of the world, coal burning for energy. 

And I still am adament about those feelings.  Although something shifted for me.  It somehow became less important that I make a difference in my own life with these things, and subsequently I stopped talking about them and making a difference in other people’s lives. 

Honestly, I think I started having too much fun.  Life in Los Angeles demanded a whole new set of skills and posessions that Pennsylvania didn’t.  I started to think that “I couldn’t make a difference” in a world this big.  More than anything, I was asleep, and in denial of the allegiance I owe to making a difference in the environment. 

Here at Mäni’s, we are continually changing our habits to be more envrionmentally friendly.  We have ramped up our recycling efforts tremendously, we have gone organic on our fresh produce and vegetables, and we are constantly looking to do more. 

Being aware of our civil duties, and enrolling others in living a life in balance with the environment, and protecting the earth is immensely important.  Small changes are the path towards really altering the status quo.  For more information, please visit www.climatecrisis.org.

We recently earned a spot in the “Green Guide” to Los Angeles, for our efforts in organic baking.  We are thrilled to have this honor, and to continue to make a difference.  Thank you to our customers for supporting us over the years, and making a difference in the health of those around you. 

Thank you Al Gore, for the wake up message. 

05.29.06

Coming Soon...Nutritionally Balanced Menu

As we get into summer, we will be releasing a new section on our menu.  This section of the menu will focus on people who want to monitor their caloric and/or macronutrient intake. 

What are macronutrients?  The short story on macronutrients is simple: they are proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. 

These special menu items will be around 400 calories with a macronutrient breakdown of 40-50% carbohydrate, 30-40% protein, and 20% fat.  The menu is designed around the concept of eating smaller, and more frequent meals: it will encourage eating four or five times throughout the day, divided between main meals and snacks. 

In addition to eating 4 to 5 smaller meals, it is also encouraged to eat every 3-4 hours.  Why?  The goal in this type of menu is to keep the blood sugar stable throughout the course of the day. 

Benefits to stabilizing your blood sugar
* better concentration throughout the day
* body stores less fat
* increased energy
* less food cravings
* less likely to over-eat
* increased metabolism

What would be your goal in this type of plan? 

There are, for many people, exterior physical goals.  Our intention, however, is really to provide a pathway through which our customers live a more balanced life. 

The new menu will offer a convenient way for you to take control of your health in a fast paced and high-pressure society by taking the guesswork out of restaurant eating.  You will not only feel in control of your nutrition, but these items will provide guilt free choices that will taste like indulgences.

03.13.06

Balanced Living 1.3

Balanced Living 1.3

Exercising your right to exercise.  If you say it a couple of times, the word exercise begins to seem slightly alien.  It wasn’t until this very moment I decided to see what the word really means.  Hold on…”An act of employing or putting into play” is the first to pop up, and this somewhere during history, came to define an ”active bodily exertion performed to develop or maintain fitness”. 

So, we are putting into play an act of exertion.  And this act of exertion will provide more benefits than you can imagine. 

Lets get started.  The first thing I want to talk about are the most subconscious benefits.  For me, exercising charges the batteries in my brain.  Exercise releases endorphins, and endorphins are said to make you feel good (although this is still debated), similar to the “runner’s high”.  Plain and simple, a little exercise makes me feel pretty good emotionally. 

The second issue are the health benefits.  Recent research from the Annals of Internal Medicine reports less risk of Alzheimer’s or dementia related diseases when we exercise (1).  Research will continue to speak on the benefits of exercise for our bodies. 

To me, the chain of benefits also includes the following: exercise builds muscles, muscles help keep your body strong, keeping your body strong prevents accidents and strains.  Exercise, I believe, prevents illness in many ways.  Leading a holistic approach to life means involving exercise, and of course eating well and building success and happiness. 

And it also gives you the right to eat things like French toast.  I mention this because French toast isn’t traditionally the healthiest breakfast.  But when you want to splurge, I highly suggest you try our’s at Mäni’s.  Until the 17th, we are offering a more balanced option.  Our French toast is made with a fresh strawberry banana cream cheese filling, and we will be adding on a side of protein (tofu, turkey bacon, or egg) at no charge. 

Good luck with the exercise.  I have said it before, but the beginning is the first challenge, and then comes the commitment.  Find ways to make exercise more enticing, and find a way to commit.  Use an IPod or other listening device and you might find yourself working out faster to the music! 

(1) Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, March 2006

02.27.06

Balanced Living 1.2

It’s Oscar time in Los Angeles. It’s the time when all of the most successful movies of the last year, are up for the industries most sought after awards. 

Every year there are films that challenge the way we think about life and society.  And there are films that move us, inspire us, and provide support for our lifestyles.  It is a time to look over what film has given us. 

And film, I must say, is a very powerful medium.  Like reading a book, the newspaper, an essay or a short story, film is important.  It’s important, because like Brokeback Mountain, film can bring forth some of the most monumental and global changes in social acceptance. 

It provides two of the many outlets necessary in our lives to maintaining balance; entertainment and communication.  The others, in my opinion, are how we choose to eat, drink, exercise, work, and play.  And there may be more.

This Sunday is also my good friend’s birthday.  So, like many other Angelinos, I will be joining an Oscar Party, and celebrating a birthday too.  And, I can guarantee you there will be dessert.  Not the kind that makes you fall asleep while listening to movie star’s acceptance speeches, rather, the kind with alternative sweeteners.  Of course, I mean our sweets at Mäni’s, where else could I go?

So, as we converse about the best films of last year, their social impact, and bring clarity to the screen, we consciously or unconsciously, are exercising some of our most important balancing acts. 

02.13.06

Balanced Living, 1.1

I once learned from an organization, that advancing in life, is like learning to ride a bicycle.  Its a major struggle in our development.  We mount, then balance, and peddle, all at the same time, failing for a while because doing it all at once, we think, is nearly impossible.

How can we acheive “everything” in life that we want.  We deem it impossible, because, afterall, we are only human. 

Well, everything can be an overstatement, and all at once is definitely not true.  What we don’t realize, is that we didn’t learn to ride a bicycle all at once.  We first learned how to walk and balance.  Then we learned how to peddle on a tricycle.  Then we combined it all, and gave it a try a few times before we got it.  Then, we got it. 

The older we get, the more unlikely we are to change things quickly and easily.  We are engrained in our ways.  It’s more of a challenge to say, you know what?  Today I am only going to drink one cup of coffee, and the rest of the day I will drink water, juice and tea. 

However, I dare say that it is actually pretty simple. 

We live life telling ourselves again and again, that we cannot do something.  In reality, it is the voice in our heads telling us we cannot do it which prevents us from doing it.  As I sit here, I watch my father tell me that he doesn’t like to eat candy coated macadamia nuts, because they make him feel down.  After a lengthy conversation, that little voice in his head is saying, “I can’t stop eating candy, I’ve been doing it my whole life”.  Well, what do you expect he does?  He eats more, and feels worse. 

I can’t say I told you so, because that certainly doesn’t help the situation.  But I can say, help yourself be stronger.  Commit to something, and follow through.  If you experience more committment to the little things in life, the bigger ones will come more easily.  It’s ok to tell yourself you can’t, but its even more OK to tell yourself you can, and be empowered by that. 

02.10.06

Balanced Living, 1.0

Not too long ago, i found myself getting sick frequently, working too much, and not taking care of myself. 

The result of the neglect was a decline in my health.  I will admit, that Los Angeles can sometimes be inhospitable to those who are sensitive to their environment.  The result of the decline in my health, however, was an ever greater sense of urgency to transform my life. 

Just the other day, i was talking with a customer in the Restaurant at Mani’s.  It was mid-morning, and we were both having our breakfast.  Amidst talk about our personal lives, and recent achievements and struggles, we came to talk about the need for finding balance in life.  This particular customer had just read a book about eating natural foods, avoiding microwaves, drinking organic coffees and teas, and just being aware.

Like most of things in life, the struggle is in the beginning, going from what you are used to, to something you aren’t used to.  Really, its about being comfortable while being uncomfortable.  Get it?

What spawned this idea, was another converstaion with a different customer just hours before.  She was discussing the common struggle of “getting off” of coffee.  Like she said, its about committment.  And it’s about balance.  I personally commit to only having one cup of joe a day, and beyond that I drink a variety of healthy juices, waters and teas (by the way, if you haven’t had the japanese cherry tea, give it a try as it is very high in antioxidants, as is pomegranate juice, which also helps your arteries). 

Anyways, I could never let go of coffee completely, not just because of the taste, but also the fact that in moderation, it can actually be good for you. 

Our conversation was cut short by my need to get back to the front counter and make the magic of Mani’s happen, but we will certainly continue this converstaion…

Carl Avery, General Manager