Aspen Shakti/The Body Practice founder Jayne Gottlieb craves "Christmas Salad" and doesn't skip Champagne
The yogi, wellness queen, and entrepreneur shares her ultimate recipe for finding balance this holiday season.
“The answer is within you.”
This ancient yogic wisdom informs how wellness entrepreneur and studio owner Jayne Gottlieb moves energy off the mat, too. As the founder of Aspen Shakti and The Body Practice explains, “I’m always asking myself: What will it take for me to have the most fun today while still feeling my best today and tomorrow?”
Here’s how Gottlieb navigates our town’s Aspen Extreme-level of holiday revelry without sacrificing joy—plus a family recipe for her favorite holiday “treat.”
Happy holidays, Jayne! What’s the vibe at Aspen Shakti right now?
There starts to be that frenzy feeling of town getting busy. That pressure cooker of everyone having to have the best Christmas. We try to (offer) a stable, consistent, reliable schedule, so (that) people can use the studio as a sanctuary—a heart cave of Aspen yumminess! We opened the first iteration of Shakti in August 2014 (as) a high-vibe place where everybody was living…alive. I think that is what Aspen Shakti has become.
How does food fuel your mission at Aspen Shakti?
In every way! My work requires me to feel good, stay healthy and strong, and have a sharp, clear mind. What I eat and drink—or don't eat and drink—has everything to with how I show up and maintain a positive vibe to model vitality, aliveness, and shakti.
Does food play an important role at family gatherings, too?
I come from a very large Italian-Ukrainian East Coast family where health is not on the forefront. It’s cold there. You spend time with family, and you eat! Many of my Thanksgivings consisted of over 70 aunts, uncles, cousins in Pennsylvania. Although we remained in California, where I was born and raised, for the Christmas season and turned our friends into our large family for the holidays. This meant we pretty much had an open house all day (during) Christmas week for anyone and everyone to come eat, drink, and be merry together.
Meanwhile, you had a “reputation as the family health pain-in-the-you-know-what since sixth grade”?
I grew up on the West Coast, Marin County in Kentfield (California), the firstborn and a swimmer. From sixth, seventh, eighth grade, when I began to have an opinion, I had to bring in (food) that made me feel good as a balance. I got right in the kitchen and demanded it: salad, fruit, crudité. It was that California mentality.
Do you have a favorite holiday food tradition?
Given all the delicious treats and meats and cheeses and sweets that get passed around this time of year, my longtime favorite go-to is a nutrient-rich spinach and kale salad with pomegranates, persimmons, and ricotta salata. A citrusy lemon vinaigrette helps the system digest everything else we are eating. My body craves this leafy treat to balance out the other, richer foods that are hard to resist. It’s a staple tradition that will forever be on my holiday menu. (Find Jayne’s family recipe, below.)
Any tricks that help you navigate holiday revelry in Aspen?
I do not do well with rules and restrictions, the rebel in me just wants to resist and do the opposite. I (allow) myself to have fun and indulge while also attempting to feed myself as many healthy treats—water, fruit, green veggies—as holiday abandonments.
What do you drink to stay hydrated here at 8,000 feet above sea level?
Hydration is soooooo important in terms of how I feel and how I balance the holidays. I love Skratch Labs Sport Hydration Drink Mix, (which) works wonders for super hydration and electrolyte replacement after teaching a sweaty ‘BODYalive’ class and/or skinning up one of the mountains (my favorite winter activity).
I love the Orange flavor, and I make it really, really weak and drink it all day. It helps me drink a lot more water.
What do you sip to celebrate?
I absolutely love Champagne! In my industry, traditionally, people don’t drink, they don’t eat meat or cheese. I’ve been able to give people permission to drink Champagne and eat with balance. For every glass of holiday cheer, I guzzle a glass of water. I always say, Champagne is what fairies drink to keep themselves effervescent.
Favorite Aspen restaurant meal?
I’m a big fan of Ellina, and (owner) Jill (Carnevale). I love supporting her, and I am a sucker for that chicken Milanese!
Final thought on finding balance during the holiday season?
I don’t like to cut things out. Like I said, (after) Champagne I have a glass of sparkling water. The whole season becomes, literally, way more merry because you feel better!
RECIPE: Original Christmas Salad Dressing (with Jayne’s healthful substitutions)
Makes about 1¼ cups
Aspen Shakti/The Body Practice founder Jayne Gottlieb uses less oil, swaps the sweetener, and adds extra lemon juice when making her modified version of this family classic. “I avoid the whole confectioners’ sugar thing,” she admits, of the recipe handed down from her mother. “This salad dressing is tangy-mustardy, but the persimmons and pomegranate seeds make (the salad) sweet. Go light on dressing!”
¼ cup vegetable oil (Jayne uses a scant ¼ cup sunflower seed oil or olive oil)
½ cup confectioners’ sugar (Jayne uses ¼ cup honey or agave nectar)
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice (Jayne uses 2+ tablespoons)
1½ teaspoons dry mustard
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
1½ teaspoons sweet paprika (optional)
Combine all ingredients in a 2-cup jar with a lid and shake until combined. Refrigerate up to four weeks.
Christmas Salad
Spinach
Dinosaur kale
Sliced persimmon (or green apple)
Pomegranate seeds
Mandarin orange segments (optional)
Sliced green onion
Toasted walnuts
Sesame seeds
Crumbled ricotta salata or sheep’s milk feta
Combine equal parts spinach and kale with desired proportion of other ingredients. Divide salad among serving bowls. Drizzle with dressing to taste. Refrigerate leftover, undressed salad mix until wilted. Jayne takes it to-go for lunch at the studio, with dressing on the side.