Making Lemonade with a Straw and Sprinkles on Top
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Well, it’s been an interesting 24 hours that I thought I might share with you. I thought you might be able to relate. Ya know when life is coming at you a thousand miles a minute, and at some point you just have to laugh? After all, I am not internally combusting, T-rex did not eat my house, and an earthquake is not swallowing my hard drive. My life is rich, and I so love it. I just temporarily forget sometimes! Do you ever do that?
Surviving your day means getting through it unscathed. Living your day means milking it (the possibility for love, joy, and self-expression) for all it’s worth.
It really doesn’t matter how fast the lemons are flying at you, you can either become a really great lemon catcher and squeezer, or you’re gonna get a lot of citrus-related bruises. (I don’t know where I come up with this stuff either, so don’t ask).
I used to say “I need to get this done.” My friend Michel gave me a great few words to add so I don’t take myself so seriously: “I need to get this done because I’m just that important.” Or how about “I have so much to do because I’m just that important.” Or the ever-popular “I can’t eat lunch; I’m too busy because I’m just that important.”
Milk it or juice it—your preference. You really are important to yourself, and you came to this Earth to live your life—not live the life you percieve your kids, parents, spouse, teachers, or society thinks you should. Enjoy what comes at you. You might as well! And watch how what comes at you will change to a waiter carrying lemonade with an umbrella, cherry, and some sprinkles on top.
Jennifer Hough
Natural Sunscreen Options
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Every time I have ever used a chemically based sunscreen, my skin always feel greasy and slimy. I often breakout even if the product claims to be oil-free. Most conventional sunscreens contain not only chemical sunscreen ingredients but also paraffin wax, petrolatum, and mineral oil—all skin-clogging petroleum by-products that are not skin- or earth-friendly. These ingredients act as plastic-like coating on your skin, which can clog pores and cause skin irritation.
There are some natural options for sunscreen!
Option #1—Mineral Make-up
Although mineral make-up is only used on your face, it is one way to protect delicate facial skin from the sun’s rays. However, if you don’t wear make-up (like me), then this option may not work for you. Also, beware of fake mineral make-up that is still mostly talc or other cheap filler powders; they don’t block the sun and are not earth- and skin-friendly.
Option #2—Unrefined Shea Butter
Unrefined shea butter has a natural SPF ranging from 6–10, depending on how the shea is made and what part of the world it is from. Unrefined shea butter is used in many natural locally made sunscreens available in Central and South America. I found one in a surf shop in Costa Rica!
Option #3—Mineral-based Sunscreens
If you can, find a natural sunscreen made using minerals such as mica and titanium dioxide, both which act as a reflective barrier to the sun’s rays on your skin. Make sure, however, that the sunscreen doesn’t include a bevy of other chemicals, otherwise your quest for natural sunscreen hasn’t been fulfilled. Also, read the instructions properly and follow them as a natural sunscreen may act differently than its chemically based counterparts.
For more information in natural sunscreen options, contact Natural Goddess at info@natural-goddess.com!
Jane Large
Surprising Ayurvedic Recipe from Vegan Chef Jill Boadway
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In my last blog I talked about a wonnnnderful class I recently enjoyed at radha yoga & eatery. Founding chef Jill Boadway gave us a few recipes to take home and experiment with by adapting them for our particular doshas.
This recipe is a fresh take on what we usually think of when we see the word “salad.” Jill’s “soup/salad” turns raw vegetables into suitable fare for Vata, a dosha that is already airy, dry, and cool, and usually prefers more grounding foods because raw salads can be unbalancing. Pitta and Kapha could adjust the spices and/or vegetables in this soup if desired. (I am not an expert on Ayurveda and I don’t want to lead you astray. For more information on doshas and suitable food choices, please refer to a good book about Ayurveda or search online.)
Thai Style Coconut “Soup/Salad”
Serves 4 to 61 Tbsp extra-virgin coconut oil
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, sliced in crescents
1 cup yams, diced
1 stalk lemongrass, minced
1 Tbsp minced or grated ginger
2 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp turmeric
minced fresh jalapeño pepper or Thai chilies, to taste
5 cups vegetable stock or water
1 can coconut milk (400 ml)
6 kaffir lime leaves (or add extra lime zest and juice to taste, at end)
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced on a bias
1 cup green beans, thinly sliced
1 cup shelled green peas or snap peas
1 red pepper, diced or thinly sliced
1–2 cups thinly sliced bok choy
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp lime juice
sprouts of your choice for ganishHeat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, 6–7 minutes. Add lemongrass and ginger, and cook 2 minutes more.
Add spices and chilies. Cook another minute, stirring. Add yams, stock or water, lime leaves, coconut milk, salt, and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes, or until yams are soft.
Add fresh herbs and lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning. To thicken soup (if desired), remove 2–3 cups, purée in a blender, and add back to the soup. Add remaining vegetables and let soften briefly (or cook longer if needed for digestion). Serve garnished with sprouts.
Ayurveda: Natural Everyday Cooking
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Do you wish you had more energy? Better digestion? Have you tried to “eat better” but weren’t sure what was right for your body? Are you looking for a diet program that is right for you?
Maybe Ayurveda will resonate with you. During my nutrition studies, I learned a bit about this Indian healing system. Life and practice have taken me along other paths over the last eight years as a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and natural cooking instructor, so I was tickled to learn more when I came across an Ayurvedic cooking class at Radha Yoga & Eatery.
What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is an ancient healing system from India, a sister science to yoga that dates back 4,000 or 5,000 years. Ayurvedic doctors observe the effects of our food and lifestyle choices; some choices have immediate effects while others take time to balance the body. Sure, Ayurveda has rules about who should eat what when, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Anyone can incorporate Ayurvedic cooking and eating into their life.
The class venue
Radha Yoga & Eatery is a combination yoga studio and vegan restaurant with consciously created food as well as local art and live music events. I had enjoyed the venue before, with its hardwood floors and natural light streaming in. The space is very calm, restful, and conducive to learning, appreciating, and being attentive. The very nature of this space and the whole food quality of their ingredients drew me to this inspirational class that rekindled the spark to explore Ayurveda. The organic food, gorgeous space, and enthusiastic teaching made it a Sunday afternoon to remember.
An inspirational teacher
I had participated in one other class at Radha before with the same teacher, Jill Boadway. Jill is one of Radha’s founding chefs; she is currently concentrating on growing their catering branch while writing a holistic cookbook (stay tuned for details).
Jill’s whole foods expertise extends into Ayurvedic cuisine, which she presented in such a way as to make it accessible and not intimidating. She learned Ayurveda while cooking at various yoga ashrams and an Ayurvedic spa. Jill spent some time in India and is also a yoga teacher as well as a fabulous chef. Her unique experience allowed her to work with Ayurvedic doctors who advised her about food choices for the people she was cooking for.
Everyday Ayurveda
Jill entitled the class “Everyday Ayurveda,” which is the perfect way to describe her approach. The key is all about choosing your ingredients wisely for you or the lucky people you’re cooking for.
The biggest eye-opener for me was that you don’t have to eat Indian food to be eating Ayurvedically! This made immediate sense to me in the same way that macrobiotic food doesn’t have to be Japanese (a common misconception—macrobiotic means “big life,” which sums up the true approach to that way of eating). Ayurveda is a system that guides our food choices; once we choose the best health-supportive foods for us, we can turn them into any dish we like. (This is the same foundational idea of the Main Course® from the School of Natural Cookery where I studied.)
All about energy
In Ayurveda, we are all made of three dynamic energies or doshas—Vata, Pitta, and Kapha—with one usually being dominant. The doshas arise from the five elements in Nature (air, ether, fire, water, and earth).
In order to balance our energies, Ayurveda would have us choose foods that calm the dominant dosha and strengthen the other doshas. This allows us to maximize digestion, energy, temperament, physical constitution, and overall health.
Jill had us complete a couple of checklists that would give us an idea of our particular dominant doshas before the class began. This thoughtful step made the class personal and allowed us to think practically and ask pertinent questions thoughout the three hours of demonstrations and discussion. She then showed us ways of adapting recipes so that we can all enjoy our food choices in the healthiest ways possible for us.
Note: I am not an expert on Ayurveda and I don’t want to lead you astray by discussing particular foods for particular doshas. For more information on doshas and suitable food choices, please refer to a good book about Ayurveda. Jill recommended a few of her favorites that provide clear guidance about food choices for each dosha as well as background information about Ayurveda. See below for a recommended reading list. There’s also lots of information to get you started out there on the Web.
A little bit of everything
Jill’s choice of recipes reflected the concept of freedom within Ayurveda; she created some Indian dishes, some dishes with Asian influence, and some that were just yummy with no obvious ethnic influence.
She even suggested we all indulge in the dessert she did for us (even though some of us, especially those with excess Kapha, didn’t really need dessert). She explained that it could be seen as a prasad, a sweet ritual in which we recognize and give thanks to the divine within us and the sweetness in our lives. Who could argue with that!
Jill incorporated both raw and cooked foods and discussed additional raw options. Her recipes were very adaptable and she was clear about the possibility of substituting different grains, beans, vegetables, oils, or spices to change them up (again, much like we discuss in the Main Course®, which uses the Language of Cooking™) while at the same time specifying which of these food choices would work best for which dosha.
Radha is a vegan restaurant, so the recipes she showed us were free of animal products, but she was also clear that Ayurveda doesn’t limit you to plant foods. Dairy, meat, fish, honey, and other animal products can have a place in your life depending on your dosha and your own personal choices.
Everything counts
In addition to the information about Ayurveda, Jill shared some inspiring tips for food presentation. Beauty really does make a difference in the energetic experience of eating; the love that goes into the food you prepare really does count.
As a home cook whose forte is not presentation, I appreciated her ideas. They were friendly, simple little ideas like cutting red bell peppers into triangle pieces just because they’re fun and pretty. She also demonstrated how to cut fennel and how to use lemongrass because some people might be intimidated by new ingredients. Much appreciated by many in the class, I’m sure!
Keep exploring!
Everyday Ayurveda was certainly an introductory level class that inspired me to want to know more. Jill suggested going to an Ayurvedic doctor for a consultation to find out for sure which dosha is dominant (the checklists were just an overview to give us a general sense) and to get personalized food and lifestyle suggestions. She said she might offer more Ayurvedic classes at Radha in the future, one for each dosha if there is enough interest. Yes, please!
I suspect the meals at Radha might be prepared with Ayurveda in mind, so I would like to dine there more often. At this point Radha is only open for dining from Thursday–Sunday. I hope they’re considering opening through the rest of the week! Since it’s just a 20-minute walk from home for me, I know I’d be visiting often through the week to take in the energy, the peace, and the vibrant whole and raw foods they have to offer.
I hope you enjoy your exploration of Ayurveda. Having prepared a couple of Ayurvedic meals since the class, I know I will! I’m keen to dive into some of the books and keep rolling with this new-to-me approach to eating well. Check out my next blog for one of Jill’s recipes.
Rebecca
Recommended reading:
Frawley, David. Yoga & Ayurveda. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 1999.
Morningstar, Amadea and Urmila Desai. The Ayurvedic Cookbook: A Personalized Guide to Good Nutrition and Health. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 1990.
Tiwari, Maya. Ayurveda: A Life of Balance. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 1994.
A Piece of Peace
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I have an odd relationship with a friend. I know she is my teacher, but the relationship really pushes the “Doesn’t she care about me?” button.
I put together emails I never sent (because it didn’t feel good), I wrote cards that never got mailed (because I was not at peace yet), and then I decided that all of that took a bunch of effort for sure. I had been searching for what to “do” to find peace.
Trying hard will never result in a miraculous outcome. A joyful answer will only come with taking actions that are consistent with the path of least resistance. So what I did was this: I went for a walk in the woods, petted my dog, watered my garden, ate some chocolate, and kissed my hubby. Then it came to me!
Since when is she the source of my joy? Since when does she dictate how love-able I am? Then (shock of shocks!), I realized all that was bothering me was that I miss her and love her—and that there is nothing to do.
Peace at last. I can’t wait till we talk.
We work so hard at coming up with answers. The Universe doesn’t need our help with making a Milky Way—so why do we think it needs our help with conjuring up a simple answer? It takes no effort to allow yourself to hear an answer and lots of effort to try to find one yourself.
If you have been asking, the Universe has been answering. The reason you are not seeing it perhaps is because you are too busy wondering and worrying to actually hear what you need to hear and see what you need to see. Allow the answer, experience the answer.
Jennifer Hough
Spirit of the Law
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Another article has come to my attention through the member mailing list of the International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers.
“Spirit of the Law” appeared in the March edition of Plaintiff magazine, and was written by Pat Sullivan, who works with Spirit at Work, an organization with the mission of supporting global transformation by integrating spirituality and the workplace.. Click here to read “Spirit of the Law.”
Rebecca
Why Positive Thinking Doesn’t Work
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I was recently reminded that it isn’t until you really change your perspective that life will change, no matter how much positive thinking you do (or as I like to call it, “icing a mudpie”). It came to me the day after our Peace in Your Body Workshop. A couple of people had been frustrated because they had been trying so hard leap to another place when simply by making a small shift in thinking, the doors of possibility can open wide. All you have to do is open ‘em a crack first—and anyone can do that.
You cannot positive think something away. If it bothers you, then it bothers you. The first step to transcending it is to start to give it less energy. The point of your first step is to move your thoughts in the direction of feeling better, not to disguise the problem.
I recall a lovely woman who wanted to get rid of the diabetes she’d had for years. Most of us think that positive thinking (PT) is the key, but PT will only put happy thoughts on a frustrating situation. Instead, first she had to stop calling it “my diabetes” and start calling it “a sub-optimal blood sugar condition.” Soften the stuck statement with a softer statement that is still true.
Second, we talked about how there are people in the world who have reversed the condition. Then we chatted about how biochemistry is directly impacted and created by our underlying beliefs and discussed some of the beliefs that were not helping. In 5 minutes she felt better, and it’s been 5 months and her blood sugar is about 60% better.. This improvement came simply by moving the energy instead of positive thinking.
Instead of “icing a mudpie” today, simply see if you can find a true statement about your situation, one that just feels a little better. As soon as you do this, you are moving toward true resolution.
Jennifer Hough
Pets as Herbal Teachers—Part 4
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I’ve talked about dogs and natural health, but now I want to be sure to mention my two male cockatiels, Dino and Chip.
Although I didn’t hand feed my little boys, I have had them since they were young. Now 17, they are aging and slowing down a bit. Later on, I will discuss how I used flower essences to help them get rid of childhood traumas. Being removed from their parents while young to be handfed must be very traumatic for young birds. However, I do want to talk about herbs and my birds.
As Chip gets older, his gentle nature seems to indicate a weaker constitution. About 5 years back, he began to have what looked like seizures—the kind where he would sit erect and become stiff and unresponsive for several minutes. This usually happened after he was surprised. I thought about it and pau d’arco bark came to mind.
The pau d’arco tree, known as taheebo, grows mostly in Brazil and Argentina. Unlike other surrounding trees, pau d’arco doesn’t develop fungal growth. Traditionally it is used to strengthen and support the immune system and help maintain a healthy circulatory system.
After adding about 1/3 of a capsule daily to the birds’ food, the number of his attacks lessened and now they occur only rarely. It makes sense that many herbs would work with birds just as with animals or people. Thanks, Chip, for helping me learn this truth.
Wendy
Making Changes with Ease
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We are so funny about change, don’t you think? Normally when changes happen to relationships, jobs, career, or family, we run screaming in the opposite direction. Why? Because the brain tends toward peace. Change always results in an expanded capacity for joy for me. I bet if you look, it’s the same for you!
If you have been asking for new and improved life experiences, wouldn’t it make sense that your beliefs would have to change? So when the Universe presents change, you are getting closer. Respond to change like a moth to the light instead of like a fly to a fly swatter.
Consider that the purpose of life is to constantly be expanding in joy, fulfillment, and meaning. If this is true, that means life is actually designed to be in constant change. We think we want it to stay the same because then we can be in control.
But which of the following sounds like a more productive use of your life:
1. being in control
or
2. expanding joy
Now here’s the paradox: the thing we want to control when we are being controling is our level of peace and perceived safety. The funny thing is that if you want peace and safety, you have to make your life about finding joy—not about being in control. By definition, safety and peace are about grabbing your surfboard and letting the river take you in ways unimagined. That is being in the ultimate control.
Change = more joy
Today, seek the change that brings you more joy. The river is leading to expanding dreams, so you might as well jump in with an inner tube. (I’ll be the one on the neon pink inner tube!)
Assume that the Universe has your back. The alternative is stay in control—sounds tiring.
Jennifer Hough
Alternative Treatments for Alcohol Addiction
Filed Under Dr. Zoltan Rona (MD) | Leave a Comment
Alcohol addiction can be helped by many vitamins, minerals, herbs, and amino acids. Due to the depleting effects of alcohol on nutrient reserves, alcoholics usually suffer from a long list of deficiencies, especially B complex vitamins. The ideal thing to do is see a natural health care practitioner for a comprehensive nutritional and biochemical assessment before starting on drastic diet changes and food supplements.
To prevent liver, kidney, and brain damage, alcoholics should take a broad spectrum antioxidant combination product like Bioquest Green Alive. The usual adult dosage is 1 tablespoon (6 capsules or tablets) taken twice daily.
Herbal combinations of milk thistle (silymarin), artichoke, and tumeric are excellent for liver support.
Alpha lipoic acid and N-acetyl-cysteine are two other nutrient supplements that can reverse liver damage.
For amino acids and B vitamins, I recommend a combination of bee pollen powder, Biostrath elixir, aloe vera juice, and beet root powder. These all provide strong nutrient support protection against alcohol without any dangers of vitamin toxicity (especially vitamin A).
The hormone melatonin and amino acids like tryptophan and GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) would also be effective therapy since many people drink in order to elevate their levels of these chemicals in the brain.
With alcohol problems, I have found that introducing one healthy thing into the lifestyle leads to further changes for the better. Psychological counseling and 12 step groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (minus the free coffee and doughnuts) can be very helpful—but biochemical/nutritional imbalances must be attended to at the same time for lasting results.
Dr. Zoltan Rona
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