Newsletter – Oct 2013

• Food is an integral and ongoing way to nurture the Mother Nature relationship. We eat 2-3 times a day.
• Eating whole foods for a healthy body, and a calm mind, will also nurture the Earth. We are intricately connected with the Mother.
• Eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds are better for you, and the Earth. Allow the mothering of Mother and the nurturing of Nature to be your daily offering of thanks.
• Use your cotton mothering Mother bags as ongoing reminders of this evolving relationship. Less plastic is better for you and the Earth.

Namaste
Sydney

Holistic Nutritionist, Yoga & Meditation Instructor  

Cordon Bleu Cook

I was first introduced to using Sesame Oil on the body when I began to see an Ayurvedic Practitioner. She recommended that I oil my body, yes, the skin of my body, each day with this oil that I knew to be used in the kitchen! New and unusual ideas like this get my curiosity going, and I started into the practice.

This went well for the first couple of weeks, until my husband said that he felt like he was sleeping beside a sesame seed each night! Hmmm, maybe I needed to revisit my oiling practice.

That was many years ago. Since then I have altered my oiling practice so that I do not wear the oil into my day and night! I have also expanded the uses of the oil. Sesame oil is a very healing and detoxifying oil.

On the skin it helps to nourish the body. The skin is the largest organ in the body, and it absorbs the nutrients in the oil as well as moisturizes the skin. Applying oil to the skin bypasses internal digestion by getting the nutrients onto the skin and into the bloodstream. During the fall season there is a tendency for the skin to dry out. Treat yourself to the benefits of a deep spa-like moisture treatment right in your home. See instructions below.

Oiling the scalp and the hair itself can be very beneficial to the health of your scalp, and the luster of your hair. Hair treatments such as coloring, blow drying and hot iron straightening or curling, can dry out the hair. Oil can help to balance this out.

During allergy season, and the dry winters with indoor heating, moisturize the lining of the nose with sesame oil. See instructions below.

More recently I was introduced to oil pulling. This is a practice of swishing sesame oil in the mouth each day to benefit the gums, the teeth and overall oral hygiene. One month into this practice I can say that I can see and feel a difference in my gums. Welcome to life after 40 when many people find that their gums naturally begin to shrink. See instructions below.

Let your Sesame Oil move from the kitchen to the bathroom, and experience all of the benefits!

For the Skin:

Rub the oil on the skin before showering. If possible let the oil sink into the skin for 10 or so minutes. Take a warm shower, and use some soap to remove the oil from the skin. After showering pat your skin dry with a towel.

For the Hair:

Massage Sesame Oil into the scalp. Then apply to the hair itself, ensuring that the oil is on the entire length of your hair. Cover your hair with a piece of an old t-shirt. Allow the oil to work its magic for several hours. Wash the hair to completely remove the residual oil, and throw away the piece of t-shirt.

For the Nose:

Apply Sesame Oil to the tip of the baby finger, and gently swirl this around the inside of one nostril. Rinse the finger and then reapply oil to the finger and oil the other nostril.

For the Mouth:

On an empty stomach, swish 1 tablespoon of sesame oil around the mouth for 15 minutes. Discard the oil into the toilet, rinse the mouth several times with water, being sure to spit this water into the toilet as well. Flush, and enjoy the day!

The mainstays of the salad would be the thinly sliced kohlrabi, paired with thinly sliced carrots. Then have some fun with the extras! I added purslane, which is the long branch that is the highest part of the salad. Purslane is found in Nature. After buying some at the farmers market, I noticed it around the fire hydrant in front of our home, and at the local dog park. The flavor of purslane is mild and the texture is easy to eat raw.

I also added beet greens, which are the green tops of the beet bulbs. They are mild and also easy to eat raw. Chopped parsley, and then it was finished off with the dressing. Below are instructions for the preparation of the kohlrabi, and a simple dressing. I let it sit to slightly marinade for a few hours before having for lunch!

For Kale, try the mothering Mother Kale Salad, pictured below. Exchange ingredients based on what you have on hand at your home. Once you start to become comfortable with the ingredients you will see that almost anything will work for a salad! Please note the message about kale, alongside the Kale Video link.

Kohlrabi with carrots and purslane!

Kohlrabi Salad

3 bulbs of kohlrabi

3-4 carrots

Beet greens

Purslane greens

Dressing

2 T olive oil

2 T apple cider vinegar

1 T dijon mustard

1/4 t salt

Pepper

Peel the kohlrabi to remove all of the thick outer skin. Then slice it thinly, using a grater, or a food processor, or a mandeline, to give thin even slices. Peel and slice the carrots in a similar way.

The beet greens and purslane I had on hand, and added them to the salad. Get practical and creative here, using up what you have on hand.

Mix the dressing ingredients together, taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Pour over that salad and if possible, let sit for 30 minutes.

Serve for lunch with a nice grain and bean salad. This salad is light, fresh, and full of micronutrients for your good health.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Kale with arame, peppers… almost anything works!

Are We Conscious?

Holistic Nutritionist, Yoga & Meditation Instructor  

Cordon Bleu Cook

Recently I watched a video discussion with a scientist who suggested that 95% of the average life is lived in the subconscious. Mathematically speaking that means that only 5% of our life is lived consciously.

Then a friend sent me an article with the top 5 regrets of the dying. This is not meant to be about doom and gloom, but rather beauty and joy! In watching the video and reading the article, most of this information we have heard before. We know that we are to value relationships more than work, we know that we are to live with an open and free heart, but how do we just shift gears and start to do that?

In my early thirties I can remember hearing people close up phone conversations with “Take care.” Two simple words, and I wanted to say those words as well, but they just were not how I ended phone conversations. In a nutshell they just weren’t me. But I ached to be able to say it, and almost had a lump in my throat. I wondered what people would think of me if I sounded so, so …. sensitive and touchy.

Change happens, I finally worked up the nerve to say those two words, and the world did not change. No one laughed me out off the phone, and then it gradually became who I was. More sensitive, more touchy.

There is a risk in being more than who we are today. If we are able to see the possibility, then that is a great first step. Coming back to food, eating naturally, eating simply, does let us transform from the inside to the outside. It is almost effortless. The more that we care for our health, the quality and quantity of food that we eat, that garbage that we create, the more that the essence of this caring becomes innate. My final turn away from flesh foods was not for the animals, or for my waistline. It was an interest in greater consciousness! Thank you David Frawley for giving me the belief that this was worth trying. The rest just unfolded without effort. Nature takes over at some stage and we just follow the lead of the Mother.

Yes eating affects all levels of your being – every cell in your body, every thought that you form and every action that you do. Eat naturally for the evolution of you!

Namaste