October 1, 2012

Memories, Chai, and A Kentucky Kitchen Goddess (aka mom)



As I sit on my squishy beige couch this cold and rainy fall afternoon, I warm my hands with a mug of  homemade chai. The smells and flavors remind me of the time I spent growing up with my mother and sister on Washington Avenue in New York. It's one of my very favorite flavor and scent memories; evoking feelings of sisterhood, comfort, warmth, and  love.

The winter months of my childhood were filled with fragrant spices, homemade soups, and quite often, pleasant music from the Scottish Moore's. My mother is a Scotts Irish Kentucky raised beauty and one hell of a hostess. She became a trained chef when we moved from New York to Kentucky in 1995, but, has always been able to make a genuinely fabulous meal for just about any seemingly-barren refrigerator or pantry. She is 6'2, blonde, and bold...you should see her in a chef's cap!

Cooking with my mom, Chef Sandhu, Spring 2012

As kind hearted as she is, she can be pretty intimidating to many. This is personality characteristic I really appreciate having grown up with as a child of the 1980's; a time when many women were just only beginning to re-establish their ground in working society. She taught me integrity, and that you can do anything if you set your mind to it. She was also incredibly creative. Not only did she come up with fantastical flavor combinations, she also could create a super amazing fairy tale on the spot before bedtime. My sister and I were lucky kids.

Though, she and my father only had two children, she has always managed to make enough food for a large family. It is pretty hilarious really. We would have left overs FOR-EV-ER unless a few of our lucky friends could make it for dinner. In that case, we would usually eat whatever it is that they most wanted such as chicken parmigiana, Sponikopita, spaghetti and meatballs, Chana Saag, corned beef and cabbage, etc.

Your Body Journal 3: 'Sensing the Seasons' Journal Exercise


Deepening Body-Awareness: 

Sense The Seasons


You know your body better than anyone else; 

It's time to ask,  listen,  and heal from within.



Part 3 of "Your Body Journal" marks the end of this series. I hope you enjoy this seasonal exercise as a way to more deeply connect to your inner self :) Part 1. Listening to The Voice of Your Own Body, offers reasons why it's important to listen-in and Part 2, Creating a Journal That is Uniquely You, offers many ideas on how to make a journal that fits you.




This is an experiential exercise that over time you may find yourself doing without any conscious effort. In fact, you may already be taking the time to observe how your body, mind and spirit respond to your environment around you! This, I believe is the most self-empowering tool we can use to better question, listen, and understand our own personal health needs. I really believe it is the first step to true health! You know your body better than anyone else, truly. Honor that wisdom, truth, and reality. You don't have to always "defer to everyone else" (as a friend so eloquently describes it) to know how you feel or what is true!

Taking the time to listen-in to the body can open up a whole new world of experience in getting to know your senses. We have so much more to work with than the eyes to see with, the ears to hear with--and much more room to use all of our senses at a deeper level. 

Once a day, take at least 5 minutes to hone in on your senses. Choose 1-2 observations such as a sound, color, smell, or a physical feeling in your environment. If you are making this journal to see how you may feel differently from one season to the next, you may like to sit by an open window or go outside


Let's focus on how the changes in the autumn may affect your body. Consider asking yourself

Your Body Journal 2: Creating A Journal That Is Uniquely You




Cultivating Body Awareness Through Your Journal Making It Your Own...

You know your body better than anyone else; 

it's time to ask,  listen,  and heal from within.



Part 2 of a 3 part series, on how you can use a journal to better recognize the needs of your body, mind and self. This post walks you through the many types of journals you can work with. Part 1, Listening to The Voice of Your Own Body, explain why it's so important to listen-in and Part 3, Sensing The Seasons, offers a seasonal journaling exercise you can use to deepen your body-awareness. 


Choosing Your Medium...


...Create A Journal That is Uniquely You!


Since I was a young child I have created piles, and piles of journals. My first journals were hard bound, colorful and complete; the gold-edged pages secured by a mini lock and key. By the time I was in my twenties my journals took on many incarnations; a scrappy spiral notebook disguised by a collage of magazine clippings, the classic black and white composition notebook, a hard covered drawing pad...a pile of scrap bank receipts tucked away in the back of my day timer...and my most recent; a giant floppy sketch pad with plenty of freedom to write and draw as big or little as I feel like doing in that very moment. The greatest thing I have learned over all these years is--anything goes--as long as it's you and true, you are on your way to journaling.

Recording your thoughts, feelings, dreams, memories, and observations can be highly therapeutic. It can be a way to record your life events, or maybe a way to find patterns of behavior in your life and the world around you. There are many ways of journaling--even more things to journal about--and, they don't all have to be written! 

Living With The Fall Season: Sinus Infections, Postural Awareness, and Spiritual Bathing. (part 2)


AUTUMN

{Living with the Fall Season Part 2}


Balance: Postural Awareness, Sinus Infections, and, Spiritual Bathing



This is part 2 of a 4 part series on how to better live in harmony with the seasons.  Below are some ideas on the essence of Autumn as well as some self-care practices you may like to integrate into your life this time of year.




BALANCE THE DARK, DAMP, COOLNESS THAT COLLECTS 


Leaves scatter into pockets of darkness, mildew, and moisture after a cool rain...Our bodies can experiences a similar state of excess moisture and fungus in our sinuses. We can balance this state by warming up our bodies, and balancing our tissues.

Sinus Pressure and Infections Settle

After the green leaves of summer pay their crispy toll, quite often they settle down into moisture, cultivating a perfect environment for mold. This mold often increases sinus infections, and pressure that leads to neck pain, tension, and headaches. 

Our bodies defense to mold allergies can increase mucous production that settles into our sinuses, and lungs, creating blockages. There are more ways to fix this than the use of antibiotics (and for that matter, they are little to no help for sinus infections caused by mold and fungus). Read more on that in my post on Finding Relief from Seasonal Neck Pain, Sinus Pressure & Headaches During the Fall Months.


Open Your Heart & Relax Your Wings

I love birds...so often I feel that our bodies really, are not all that different. One of my favorite areas to work on during bodywork sessions is what I like to call "the wings". This area extends from the front of the arms, shoulders, chest and neck--all the way back to our shoulder blades, and down the back of our arms. 

Many of us carry a lot of stress in this area. Let's face it...with all the driving, computer jamming, biking and other hand related work many of us do on a daily basis, who isn't tired, tight and sore in the head, neck and shoulders?