Clearly I care more about three of those things than the other, but every now and then I feel like twisting my body into a pretzel. Follow it up with something light and delicious and I’m happy as a clam and docile as a lamb.
The new place to do all this is Nux Wellness Centre, directly across from the Vendome metro. It’s going for the triple threat healthy attack: One sunny, ceiling-to-floor windowed room, plus one salad bar, plus one organic pantry/grocery store with seating area and juice bar, and a selection of courses, workshops, film nights, and classes. Everything from green smoothies and detox to healthy eating shortcuts for kids. I don’t have those (kids, not smoothies) but if I did and I wanted to find ways to make them eat green things, I’d probably consult Ildiko Brunner of Raw in Montreal who does the intro to green smoothies workshops. Banana masks everything, even kale.
Then there’s the Centre’s blog, “Health Evolver.” Rarely is alternative medicine, yoga, and general health so eloquently written about, without sounding dogmatic or condescending. It includes links, videos, and interesting images. Sounds vague, right? The first time I went there the top article was about the number of chemicals in common beauty products as shown by write-ups on different parts of a woman posing in a swimsuit from a typical fashion magazine. 16 chemicals in blush (the scariest of which are parabens), 24 in foundation (polymethyl methacrylate, which apparently disrupts immune function, causes allegies and is linked to cancer), 15 in deodorant, and 26 in eye shadow. I gave up makeup last year when absolutely everything started irritating my skin and eyes, but shampoo and deodorant are still essential. Smart choices make the difference…
Wasn’t I talking about food once?
Salads: The Chihuahua with pumpkin seeds, cherry tomatoes, avocado, red onions, blue corn chips, and a cilantro dressing; the Jade with baby spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, black sesame seeds, hemp seeds, green onions, and pears with a ginger-sesame dressing. They also do Rawmesan cheeses with lemon juice and soaked cashews. No nutritional yeast! Same goes for their patés. the walnuts were nice, and the dense protein feels good after a yoga class. Or make your own salad from a ton of options. All organic, of course, and though they’re about $12 for a meal-sized one, they’re very satisfying. Pecans and baby spinach with peppers, tomatoes, avocado, and hemp seeds with a ginger dressing…
Some might prefer to stick to the juices though, since the salads are very large but don’t fill up your stomach in quite the same way. When I went the menu wasn’t very long, but they could also probably make something to order. They have a well-stocked natural foods pantry, too, so if you’re more the Vega shake type, or have plans to make some almond flour cookies with coconut sugar (lower glycemic index than cane sugar), you can just pick that up instead. And instead of honey you can sweeten your tea or coffee with xylitol (or was it stevia? One of those two non-aspartame or sucralose sweeteners). The prices of the smoothies and juices are about on par with Crudessence (about $6 each), which is fair for all-organic ingredients:
Smoothies: Nux Pina Colada » Apple, Banana, Coconut, Bee Pollen, Pineapple
Supreme Strawberry Smoothie » Strawberry, Goji Berry, Walnut Milk, Honey
Carrot – Kick Juice » Apple, Carrot, Ginger
Ephemeral Emerald Smoothie » Apple, Banana, Pineapple, Ormus Supergreens
Rigorous Red Veggie » Apple, Beet, Celery, Ginger, Parsley
And if you like a smoothie with your movie nights, they have those too. Could they get non-GMO pop corn with non-GMO soy-free Earth Balance? Last week was “May I Be Frank?”, about “Frank, a 54 year old Sicilian from Brooklyn who finds himself living in San Francisco struggling with addiction and depression. He is severely overweight and must rely on pharmaceutical drugs to combat his Hepatitis C. One day Frank unknowingly stumbles into a local restaurant in San Francisco. Cafe Gratitude, a raw, organic and vegan cafe. Frank becomes friends with the staff and is invited back to come into the cafe everyday for the next month.
What took place over the 42 days wasn’t anything the boys or Frank could have expected.”
Right, desserts.
A new Montreal company, Rawesome, does the desserts here: Raw cheesecakes with soaked cashews, agave nectar, and raw cacao galore. Around $5.50 a slice, but packed with nuts. You’ll be buzzing for a few hours. Me, I won’t sleep that night.
I was also talking about yoga once: Hatha, Vinyasa, mom-and-baby, power flow, anti-stress yoga, and a six-week intro course for beginners ($70 for a six-week intro class. $14 drop-ins for students. $17 for others, but 6- and 12-class packs ($75/$135) come with some smoothies and full lunch specials
| 6 class pass | $90 (savings of $12.00) | $75(savings of $14.00) | 3 months | Includes 3 smoothies on us (value of $20.00) |
| 12 class pass | $165 (savings of $39.00) | $135 (savings of $33.00) | 3 months | Includes 3 lunch specials on us (value of $48.00- salad, smoothie, soup |
I have a big problem with drop-in classes for yoga. I do them, but there’s rarely any progression and the teacher doesn’t know your body and yoga history. It’s too easy to do things dangerously – push too far, let someone else push you (usually only verbally) too far, try a pose like a headstand that you don’t understands the basics of, or don’t feel comfortable doing. As someone with back problems, I very much believe a once a week class with a regular teacher and a group of people who’ve pre-paid is very helpful.
So the people behind Nux Wellness Centre are trying really hard to make people healthy. They’re the genuine type of health conscious people. They want to make customers happy and healthy, one salad, juice, yoga class, movie night, or workshop at a time.
Nux Wellness Centre
5221, de Maisonneuve W., #401
514 510-1020
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