All She Needed

Over the weekend I spent 16 hours learning about pediatric acupuncture and herbalism with an amazing teacher. What I walked away with was the knowledge of how to treat so many ailments and the reminder of what this medicine is really for.

With the teachings of Raven Lang I learned more in two days than I learned in some 15 week classes. Raven has over 40 years of experience practicing medicine and is constantly curious and keeping up with current research. In her 70's, her long silver hair hugs her shoulders and her energy is palpable in the room. She has a firm, commanding presence and she also has a soft maternal energy that radiates kindness and compassion.

Our inner child truly shouts for help when we are sick or injured. It is common for adults of all ages to really want their mom as they fight a fever off or are lethargic from being sick for a week. 

Raven's years of experience span treating people of all ages and she is full to the brim of resources and homework for patients to learn how to take care of themselves at home.

This weekend taught me recipes, remedies, herbal dosages, and point prescriptions. But even more so it taught me that our role as a practitioner is an incredible important and intimate one. 

I see patients come in with various aches, pains, ailments, discomforts, being under-slept, overtired, overstressed - as adults we often forget how to take care of ourselves. Self-care of eating, sleeping and breathing gets put aside as we conquer to-do lists and strive to become more productive and powerful. 

We rush things. When moving quickly is no longer working our bodies start to sound the alarms. A small headache, a little nausea, some tiredness. And if we don't listen, the alarms turn to sirens and they make sure they are heard. Headaches morph into migraines, nausea turns into digestive ailments and tiredness turns into fatigue and total lethargy.

When the alarms sound, it is time to slow down and listen. If you need help listening - go get acupuncture. If you can know what your body is needing, do it. Rest more. Eat some healthy foods. Go have fun. Get to nature. Exercise. Breathe. Meditate. Just be. Do what you need to do, for you, before the sirens.

In our busy lives, minds and bodies we often forget that a little bit of space and stillness can take us a long way. This is a reminder, that sometimes the best way to help yourself is as simple as that.

Green soup Recipe...(ish)

Veggie soups are forgiving and flexible and it's important to pay attention to what flavors you enjoy to get the right balance for you. This recipe is based off of a recipe from Real Food All Year. 

The miso in this soup gives a great umami flavor and you'll feel great after eating this. Very clean, simple and easy to do.

I love the farmer's market, so this soup is for spring bounty, but again it can be totally flexible.

INGREDIENTS:

PHASE 1:

• 1 bunch carrots
• 2 lbs thin skinned potatoes
• spices

PHASE 2:

• Heavy fat of choice: butter or  coconut oil or ghee
• Allium of choice: Leeks (or green onions or onion or garlic)

PHASE 3:

• 1 pint broth (veggie or meat)
• 3/4 lb of nourish green or mix (spinach, kale, chard, dandelion green - only use partial)
• white miso paste

KITCHEN TOOLS:

This is easiest to do with a hand blender & it's nice to have a fine mesh strainer if you want a super smooth soup.

Nutrition note - 

we are leaving potato skins and carrot skins on because they are the most fibrous. Fiber is super important not only for regular digestion, but to truly help our organs cleanse out toxins. If you want to read more click on this article.

INSTRUCTIONS - 

PHASE 1 - ROAST

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. 

Wash potatoes, take out eyes, and cut into quarters.

Cut tops off carrots, scrub with veggie brush to remove any dirt.

Toss carrots and potatoes with spices of choice (I used brown & yellow mustard seeds and some coconut oil)

Place on baking sheet and roast for approximately 40 minutes or until they can be pierced easily with a fork. When cooked, remove from oven.

PHASE 2 - SAUTE

Chop allium of choice. You want about 1/2 cup - 1 cup

In a large stock pot, heat 3 Tbsp of the fat of choice over medium heat (if the allium starts to brown, turn the heat down)

Add allium and let soften with heat and fat.

Once allium is softened (about 10 minutes), add roasted veggies & stir

PHASE 3 - BLEND

Add pint of broth and spinach, let simmer for about 10-15 minutes

Once spinach is soft, add 3Tbsp miso and use hand blender to mix until texture is smooth and even

Taste soup and add more miso or spices if needed

OPTIONAL PHASE 4 - STRAIN or THIN

STRAIN - Because we are emphasizing the nutritional value of fiber, little bits of potato skins and leftover spices are no bother to eat as they soften when cooked. BUT you can use a fine mesh strainer to strain out the excess if you don't like the chunky bits.

THIN - this is a thick soup with the nature of the potatoes, so it can be nice to add chicken broth or other broth to thin it out and add a little bit of extra.

Creating Space - The Depth of Winter & Contraction

What is space? How do we create it? 

Space is simple. It is padding of time, a breath or physical distance. It can be being alone, away, but there can be space in the midst of a bustling city corner with rushing pedestrians and honking horns.

If you are an introvert you probably 'get' what space is, and how to take it or make it for yourself. Space is downtime, time you don't need to be 'on'. This is something that introverts need. It's a way to balance the time they are out in the world and need to be on and engaged with groups of people.

While downtime and making space can be something that is familiar to many, it's also foreign to many others. We live in a world where there is a lot of value on action, results and being seen socially. Life appears as images on social media, when we hang out with friends, being out in the world. Often these works can be bettered by having invisible time, being alone, not doing anything, sleeping a lot, taking time to write (just for yourself) and look inward.

This space is a natural part of our Winter season. Many of us dread winter, it's cold, dark, miserable. There is a major key to living in it well, rather than surviving it: accept and embrace it.  Winter is necessary, take time to contract, take time alone. It is a great time to look deep inward. It is the perfect time to evaluate your calendar year and look to the next one. It is the perfect time to make resolutions (not to take action on them). It is the perfect time of year to access some of our deepest dreams and desires.

Sleep, hibernate, eat well, spend candlelit nights writing about your deepest, and darkest thoughts.

The Darkest Day

December 22, 2015 marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. It is the day where we will have the least amount of light in our lives. While many think of this as the beginning of winter, it is really the mark of the peak of winter. Right in the middle of the cold, comes this day where there is little light and a long night.

Has your year been heavy? Dark? Sad? Have you felt a list of physically draining symptoms (low-libido, fatigue, pain)? Are you ready to shift away from the many things that are hard for you and move towards a life that is more of what you love?

The winter solstice is a pivotal moment where our hours in the night have a beautiful way of telling us,  "This is as dark as it gets. It just gets lighter from here."

If you have been carrying pain, suffering and you are ready to let go of it, today is a great day to get it out of your system. Write a journal entry, paint something, and toss it into your fireplace or burn it safely over a candle. Think to yourself, "I am releasing..." 

With this same intention of movement and shifting we are moving into longer days, which means more light! While we look at what we want to release, we can also look at what we are ready to have more of in our lives. Light a candle, think of what you want and bring anything that represents more of what you want.

Wishing you a warm and cozy dark day. May you light as many candles as your heart desires. 

Why we want Superfoods to Save us

And how Health is never about just one thing.

While headlines like, "10 foods that will save your life" are catchy, easy to click and we want them to be all we need. If all we needed was more almonds or avocados, wouldn't life be swell? Unfortunately it's not that simple. While I will not argue with the indefinite benefits of super foods such as kale, seaweed, chia seeds, ginger, turmeric, etc. Our attempts to isolate these key foods and praise them as our saviors leaves a huge gap in how we can improve our nutrition and overall health.

In Chinese Medicine much of what is nutritious and beneficial to your health is based on your constitution. Each of us has a given constitution, some people are born hearty, and some more fragile. Within that there are certain foods that play to our constitution's strengths and some that will likely lead to various types of illness. While there are plenty of super foods that we can all add that help us, learning to know your body, your tastes and cravings is a much more effective way to look for longevity.

With many schools of thought and different ways of eating, it is also not too complicated. Here ar the best things you can do when choosing your food.

-shop at your farmers market (seasonal produce has immense health benefits to help keep you healthy through the season. Additionally, the less time between harvest and eating, the better! Grocery stores often have produce that has been picked and shipped, letting nutrients fall off slowly)

-cook at home (this doesn't have to be complicated or expensive! My easiest at home meal is greens with sausage and a grain. It takes 20 minutes and is healthy, affordable and has far less sodium than eating out)

-cook & eat warm foods (raw is ok once in awhile, but in general your digestion loves you to pre-digest aka cook your food! This helps longevity because your body isn't working so hard each and every meal)

If this seems more complicated than drinking that Kale smoothie today, get started on one small part today. Start to shop seasonally. Then add on the cooking in a few months. We are biodiverse creatures and need more than one food or food group to keep us going! Believe me, health and wellness will be all yours.

Go Outside

One of the most important healing, therapeutic things to do for yourself is to GO OUTSIDE. I often urge people to go to the beach, take off their shoes and feel the sand between their toes. Also beneficial, go barefoot on the earth.

It is quite easy to become ungrounded, feeling a disconnect between our minds and bodies. Symptoms like anxiety, worry, insomnia and digestive issues often come up to plague us.

When these symptoms arrive it can be hard to remember the importance of our connection with nature. Rather than staying inside to avoid all the stressors that we normally face, sometimes the most valuable way to help ourselves is to get out, reconnect with nature and soak up all the fresh air.

In Chinese Medicine there are many reasons this is so healing. There are five archetypes of people based on elements of nature -

• fire
• earth
• metal
• water
• wood

When we are lacking in one of the elements there can be physical symptoms that arise. Also, each of these elements relates to a season and during certain seasons we may find that we are craving that element, or we have had too much of it.

This hike was from Bolinas, CA to Alamere Falls in Point Reyes, CA. (For more info go here) This hike is a perfect combination of elements and just an amazing day out if you live in the SF Bay Area. While the fire element and metal element are probably more internal on this hike there is a great combo of wood, water and earth. The woods you walk through feel forest-y and deep and dark. The beach is invigorating and the waterfall is meditative.

This simple day out was not only great for cardiovascular health, fitness but also breathing in the air and experiencing all the elements of nature.

What is your next outdoor adventure, go west, be well.

Black Spanish Rice

Black Spanish Rice

NUTRITION HIGHLIGHT - Black rice contains essential amino acid like lysine, Tryptophan; vitamins such as vitamin B1, vitamin B2, folate acid; and is a good source of minerals including iron, zinc, calcium and phosphorus

BLACK RICE aka FORBIDDEN RICE - Black rice is super delicious and nutritious. Different than it's white counterpart the dark color contains some deeply nourishing stuff. In Chinese medicine this is easy to guess or follow because we look at colors when thinking about what nutrition a food might have. Black foods (blackberries, black sesame seeds, seaweed etc) all are known to help strengthen the Kidneys in the Chinese medical system of the body. This generally means these foods promote hormonal balance, greater energy, better mood and an overall very strong foundation for the rest of you.

Recipe -

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup chopped tomatoes
• olive oil
• salt
• cumin
• oregano
• black rice (in the bulk aisle at Rainbow Grocery)

Step by Step

1. Chop the onion into small pieces
2. Heat olive oil in a pot and add onion, turn to medium-low
3. While onions begin to saute, chop tomatoes into small pieces.
4. Once onions begin to turn transluscent (5-10 minutes) add tomatoes
5. Saute and let the tomatoes cook further
6. Add a 1/4 tsp salt
7. Add 1tsp cumin
8. Stir 
9. Measure 1.5 cups of black rice and stir in with onions & tomatoes
10. Once coated add 3 cups water and turn up to medium high 
11. Cover pot & bring to boil
12. Once water boils turn down to low and let simmer 25 minutes cover slightly ajar to release water
13. Rice will be tender and water boiled off when ready

Black Beans & Black Spanish Rice heating up for leftovers breakfast

GUIDELINES - for a chef who loves to improvise

This recipe is super easy to make and if you usually make rice all you have to do is saute onions & tomatoes together with cumin, oregano (and whatever spices you like) beforehand, add the dry rice, then add water and cook as usual.

If you don't normally cook rice, here are more detailed instructions - enjoy!

Delicious, hearty & healthy Black Spanish Rice is EASY PEASY!