Posted by terrepruitt on December 3, 2011
Whew! Of course the first two days into December were busy or to state it more accurately – already scheduled. So my 31 Things in December Project almost didn’t get started until the 3rd of December, but as I was going along I realized that I could count what I was already doing as part of the project. I was originally thinking of things to do specifically for the project so I hadn’t made the connection that what I was doing could be included in the project, which is just plain silly. As you may know from my posts one of my best friends is moving away. Yes, I can still talk to her and keep in touch, but visiting will be a much larger ordeal and will not happen as often as we would like. So this past week I spent two days visiting her just to see her two more times before she left. The last visit was on December 1st, the first day of my project. I hadn’t thought of something to do for the project. But I did get a new rug which is to replace TWO rugs in my entry way. So without even thinking about my project I was able to get rid of two things, but since I replaced it with one, some sticklers might consider the “getting rid of count” at one. But that is ok, it is still ONE thing. And it is much easier to vacuum, clean, wash, etc. ONE rug instead of two. And that is the point of this project. If making more space, if getting rid of things, if de-cluttering, if fixing something helps make life easier and less time is consumed then that is what we want.
Then on December 2nd, I had a Nia class to teach late morning and then my mother-in-laws memorial service to go to, so again I was not thinking of my project. But I was thinking of making sure the house was not a disaster when some people came to visit afterwards, so I employed my refrigerator cleaning technique. With my technique I don’t empty out the fridge so I don’t always throw stuff out. But this time I decided to throw a few things out. Afterwards I realized that my getting rid of stuff in the fridge could be considered “things” for my project. So, yay, since I had other things on my mind it worked out great.
Then today – I made sure I did it BEFORE I posted so I could be honest – I did one of the things I was originally thinking about doing for this project. Now this is going to probably sound really silly to a lot of people, especially men, but I’m going to share anyway. First I am going to try to set it up so it might not sound as silly. If someone is going to do a project, let’s say, build something, they might need a variety of tools in order to do it correctly. A cook or a chef usually has many tools at his/her disposal in order to cook a nice meal. A hairdresser has many tools in order to style, cut, color, and work on people’s hair. Well, for some the same thing goes with make-up. I don’t think I wear a lot of make-up but I do realize that there are some tools that help with the make-up applying process. One tool some of you that wear make-up might use is an eyelash or eyebrow brush. Well, I don’t think that there is any sense in buying them. What I do is I use the brushes in that come with the mascara I buy. I like certain shaped brushes when I apply mascara so sometimes I will buy my mascara based on the brush. Well, since I use the brushes in my make-up applying process sometimes I don’t throw the tube of mascara away even when I have stopped using it.
Mascara does not last a long time. I think they have even perfect formulas so that is gets clumpy and sticking after about 45 days so you are forced to go out and buy more. Anyway . . . with the fact that there is a point that I stop using it and I use the brushes after I am done with the mascara, I have ended up with a lot of unused tubes of mascara in my drawer. Now, my intent as I save every tube is to “deal with it”, but it is a messy process. It is not that it takes a long time, but when I am doing my make-up I am usually trying to get out of the house so I don’t want to take time to stop and look at all the tubes I have, decide which brushes I might want, then wash them out. I am too busy trying to get ready. Then when I am home I don’t think, “Oh my mascara brushes!” So you might be able to imagine how they can pile up. So that is one of the things I have taken care of as part of my 31 Things in December Project.
I went through all of the tubes of mascara I had. I decided which brushes seemed as if they would make good tools, then I pulled them out of the tubes, THREW THE TUBES AWAY (YAY!), and washed the brushes. I ended up with a few brushes, but they are all different shapes and different bristle hardness, so I think they will be able to be used differently. I am going to evaluate them when they are dry to make a final decision. If the bristles are to soft after they dry then they really aren’t what I want. So I might end up throwing away even more.
But now I have a little more space in my make-up drawer. I know the whole make-up thing might seem silly to some, but as I stated the whole idea of this project is to help eliminate things to help free up space and/or time. With less things in my drawer there is more space which creates more time because I am not having to paw through useless tubes of mascara. Plus with this particular thing I have created tools that will help me apply my make-up more efficiently. Not that I actually do that often anymore because I dance it off when teaching Nia, but when I do it is nice to have help.
So? What about you? Have you been able to get rid of at least three things? Or move somethings from the broken pile to the usable pile? Have you decided to participate in this exercise of making space? Well, share. Tell us what you have done to make your life more free.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 31 Things in December Project, cleaning refigerator, dance exercise, make-up tools, making more space, mascara brushes, memorial service, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, Nia Teacher, Nia Technique, teach Nia classes, unclutter | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 1, 2011
Wet, slimy, noisy, some say even tasty. No, I am not talking about frogs the amphibians. There is an exercise I learned in Pilates I know as Frogs. I can’t think of a move we do in Nia that is comparable. You lie on your back with your legs in the air. Your heels touch, toes out, feet flexed like in first position, your thighs are squeezing. Then you bend your knees, then straighten them as if you are jumping like a frog. This can be a somewhat big bend or a little pulse-type movement. Concentrate on keeping the heels together, your feet flexed, and your thigh muscles tight. Make sure you squeeze really tight when your legs are straight. This is one of those exercises where bigger is not necessarily better. The little pulses really compel you to squeeze your legs.
You can add another element to the exercise if you would like, by lowering your legs to any degree. Another way to adjust this exercise besides lowering your legs is by making it more challenging by adding resistance tubing or a resistance band. You would hold the resistance band in both hands and secure the band around your heels/feet then do the same frog leg jumping motion.
This exercise is a great workout for the legs. With your feet flexed and heels touching you might sense your gastrocnemius and soleus, the muscles of the calves. You will probably sense the stretch. The lower leg muscles that are on the front of your legs are the ones you will probably sense most. These are the ones really working to keep your foot flexed. The anterior tibial is the main muscle used in dorsiflexion, which is flexing your foot towards your shin. Another muscles used in dorsiflexion is the extensor hallucis longus. So these muscles will get a great workout.
Really pushing through your heels and straightening your legs stretches the calves as well as the hamstrings. People with tight hamstrings might have to practice a bit in order to get their legs straight. Even though it is not the hamstrings that straighten the leg, when they are tight, the legs cannot always straighten. The hamstrings are the muscles that will work to bend the knee.
Now the main muscles that you will sense in this exercise are the quadriceps. These large muscles in your upper leg will be the ones that are helping you to keep your legs together. While you are doing this exercise you really want to concentrate on keeping your thighs together. squeeze them together. This squeezing is ONE of the ways this exercise works the thighs. It also works the thighs when you straighten the legs. The quadriceps are the ones that will also straighten the leg.
Since you are going to be flexing the knees and hips and rotating the thigh outward you are going to be working the sartorius. This muscle starts at the outside of the hip and crosses over the thigh bone and inserts in at the inner part of the tibia, the bone below the knee. This muscles crosses over two joints.
If you are really squeezing your legs this will also work your glutes. This exercise can even allow the abs to get in on the fun.
This is a great lower body exercise. It allows for so many muscles to be worked. As with many exercises it can be done a variety of ways to increase the challenge. So did you get down on the floor and try it in the middle of reading this? I am sure that your co-workers would understand. 🙂
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: amphibians, calves, exercies, first position, glutes, great exercise, Hamstrings, Nia, Nia Moves, Nia workout, Pilates, Quadriceps, slimy frogs, workout | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 29, 2011
I am going to embark on a 31 day project . . . idea . . . thing. With the recent events that have been happening in and around my life, I am reminded again that I have too much junk. Some of it is “stuff” and some of it is JUNK. I keep things that I have no immediate use for but “might use someday”. It might be partial broken, but some of it can be salvaged. I am sure I have duplicates of a couple of things, like vases, I can probably do with one less vase.
My idea is to get rid of one thing a day. My hope is that if I commit to doing something with one thing everyday in December it will end up being more than just 31 things. But I am not going to let “one” thing become a big project. I might let one thing end up an easy project, but nothing too time consuming, involved, or that takes up a lot of “building” space. The idea right now is to make more space, so I don’t want to pull out something and start a long sewing or craft project. But it COULD be that I move something from broken to fixed and useable. I am going to give myself some rules but I am also going to allow some leeway.
There are many ways it can be done. It could be that you have a set of dishes that has 31 pieces and you get rid of one piece a day. It could be that you have a stack of 31 newspapers and you get rid of one a day. I would hope that would not be the way you choose to participate, but, hey, whatever works for you. It could be that you have a few stacks (of newspapers or clothes or magazines) and you get rid of one entire stack. Could be that you decide to donate a pair of pants and once you pull it off the hanger or out of the drawer you realize there is another pair or a blouse. You could decide to count two articles as one. It is up to you, I am inviting you to join me in using the entire month of December to make more space or clean up a bit.
What I plan on doing is letting you know THAT I got rid of something, cleaned, fixed, transformed. I might not tell you WHAT I did exactly because I can think of some things I have saved or plan on doing you just might think is odd and I don’t want this turning into a blog with posts about hoarding, like an episode of Hoarders. I just want to try to help us maybe get somethings done. Maybe fix something that is broken. Maybe clear a space. At this point I don’t plan on posting everyday. But I will post at least once a week about that I did something for the number of days between that post and the last. I might not use my regular post days for these posts. I am thinking I will post about this on Mondays, but I am not sure yet. But I will do something everyday!
I already have two things in mind, both I am thinking I will not share details with you because they might have you thinking I am crazy. But maybe not. But this to me is part of wellness. Reducing and making space. Getting rid of some of the clutter. Starting December 1st, I am going to get rid of something, fix something that is broken, or use something that I have save to be used “someday”. Taking this slow approach might make it less of a hassle during the holidays, yet still make a small dent in the clutter.
So what do you think?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 30 day project, clean up, de-clutter project, get rid of clutter, get rid of junk, Hoarders, un-clutter project | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 26, 2011
A while ago I heard something that explained the myth around turkey and tryptophan. But I couldn’t remember what it was so I was thinking about it and I realized that it probably isn’t really the amount of tryptophan in the turkey that causes people to get sleepy it is more likely the combination of foods that are being consumed during a holiday meal AND the amount. I was thinking that all the carbohydrates would be a reason that people feel sleepy after eating a turkey dinner. So, of course I looked it up and the wonderful Wiki had a lot of great info.
First of all, the amount of tryptophan is less in turkey than in cod, soybeans, Parmesan cheese, and cheddar cheese. It is slightly higher in turkey than chicken, beef, and pork chops. A direct quote from Wiki: “It is particularly plentiful in chocolate, oats, dried dates, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, red meat, eggs, fish, poultry, sesame, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, corn, spirulina, and peanuts.” Basically protein based foods. Tryptohphan in turkey has been blamed for many people falling asleep after a Holiday meal.
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid so that means we must eat it because our bodies cannot produce it. If you are experiencing depression, anxiety, irritability, impatience, impulsiveness, inability to concentrate, weight gain or unexplained weight loss, overeating and/or carbohydrate cravings, poor dream recall, or insomnia, according to WHFoods, you could need to add more tryptophan to your diet. Adding more foods that contain high amounts of tryptophan could possibly help you with these things. It helps form serotonin which can help you feel better and help you sleep.
The ByteSize Science did a little video explaining that tryptophan does not make you sleepy. This video says there is LESS in turkey than in chicken. It explains that tryptophan on its own could cause you to be sleepy, but the amount in turkey has to compete with all the other food and so it is not enough to actually cause you to be tired. This video also says that most people eat more calories in one Thanksgiving meal than they normally it in a regular day. This huge amount of food makes the body have to work extra hard to digest the food. The blood goes from the brain to the stomach which causes the tiredness and grogginess.
Not sure how the turkey-tryptophan myth started, but science has proved it to be exactly that – a myth. So instead of blaming turkey, and the amino acid that our body needs to make necessary compounds, for our post Holiday food coma we should actually acknowledge it is probably the amount of food and the combination of food that is responsible. Armed with this information we could eat our turkey without fearing it will cause us to get sleepy and maybe eat less food and less carbs and avoid the food coma that usually ensues a Holiday meal. What do you think?
This is a portion of a chart on Wiki:
| Food |
Protein [g/100 g of food] |
Tryptophan
[g/100 g of food] |
Tryptophan/Protein [%] |
| cod, atlantic, dried |
62.82
|
0.70
|
1.11
|
| soybeans, raw |
36.49
|
0.59
|
1.62
|
| cheese, Parmesan |
37.90
|
0.56
|
1.47
|
| cheese, cheddar |
24.90
|
0.32
|
1.29
|
| pork, chop |
19.27
|
0.25
|
1.27
|
| turkey |
21.89
|
0.24
|
1.11
|
| chicken |
20.85
|
0.24
|
1.14
|
Posted in Food | Tagged: ByteSize Science, cheddar cheese, chicken, cod, essential amino acid, foods high in tryptohphan, Holiday meal, Parmesan cheese, protein based foods, ryptophan, sarotonin, serotonin, soybeans, Thanksgiving, turkey and tryptophan myth, turkey makes you sleepy, WHFoods, Wiki | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 24, 2011
Since my posting schedule is Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, I am always going to end up posting on Thanksgiving. My hubby and I don’t have kids and we are both the youngest of the children. I have always figured that I don’t get to do the Holiday dinners because I don’t have kids and I am the baby. That is fine with me. As I have shared with you before, I am not a fan of all the traditional Thanksgiving Day food. I usually just eat the turkey sans gravy, the bread, the potatoes, and the salad. If there is another vegetable I will eat that. But I don’t like the sweet potato casserole, the stuffing/dressing, the cranberries, or the gravy. So to me the meal is not one of those meals that I look forward to all year long. But I do like to give thanks. I am very blessed so I give thanks all year round, but on Thanksgiving people are more apt to accept the compliment and the gratitude.
This year there are some sad things surrounding our holidays. This is the first year we will be without the matriarch of husband’s family. This is a source of great sadness, of course. I am sure there will be many tears shed as we gather without the light that brightened every family gathering. I am sure it will be a bit surreal. Also my hubby’s best friend will be experiencing his first holiday without his mom. And another loss that I am feeling – although less drastic – one of my best friend’s is moving away. She is moving far enough away that there will be no day trip visits. This will be the first Christmas in 25 years that we will not have “Christmas with the Girls.” Yes, I know this is a post about Thanksgiving, but she will be gone right after, so I mention it. So much loss, so much sadness.
But even though moments of sorrow might have me bowing my head for tears to fall, life is still a blessing. There is so much to be thankful for. I cannot deny the blessings that I have. I can’t walk around in a constant state of gloom. I have to go on being joyful. I have to go on with the dance. As we say in Nia, Dance Through Life. Yeah, right in the middle I might stop stricken by the realization, stopped by a thought or a memory, but it’s not right to dwell on the sadness and the injustice of it all. Not only will dwelling on the negative effect me, it is an affront to all that is good.
So while this Holiday season will have a large shadow hanging about, I will shine bright enough in my thankfulness that I will not allow the darkness to prevail. Of the things I will be expressing gratitude for is the blessing of these people having been in my life. So I like thanksgiving, because it is a time to gather and give thanks. It is a time for gratitude.
I hope this finds you and yours well. I hope there are things in your life you can be thankful for. Even if this is not the time of yerr for your Thanksgiving (Canada does it in October) or if you don’t celebrate it at all, maybe you can give thanks just because your are grateful.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: blessings, cranberries, Dancing Through Life, death of a family member, dressing, gratitude, gravy, Holiday dinners, joy, joyful, Life is a Dance, Nia, stuffing, Thanksgiving, traditional Thanksgiving, turkey | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 22, 2011
Yesterday, after my Nia class in Central San Jose, I went to Campbell to pick up some locally “grown” honey. It has been pretty cold here so I have been drinking tea and I was thinking soup. It was at the last minute and through a chance of “well this light is green so I will turn this way” that I ended up at Trader Joe’s. I don’t get to Trader Joe’s often because it is just not in my regularly traveled areas. I didn’t know what I was going to get there until I saw the package of cut butternut squash. Then I was on my phone trying to find the recipe so I could make certain I got all the ingredients for butternut squash soup.
I have made this soup at least twice before, but the last time I made it I put too much pepper in it. Probably not even as much as the recipe calls for, but it was WAY too hot for me to eat. I was soooooooo disappointed. But at least it didn’t go to waste because my hubby loves spicy hot food so he ate it.
I remembered from the times before that one package of cut butternut squash is about 6 cups of squash and that is what the recipe calls for. With Thanksgiving coming I thought that we could just eat it all week if I doubled it. I am fortunate in that my hubby doesn’t mind eating the same thing over and over. So my plan was to make a double batch. But my plan was also to not follow the recipe exactly.
Before I had made it the very first time, I had read the reviews and I believed what the majority of them said so I was already adapting, but I was even thinking of more modifications. The problem is I don’t always know what I am going to do until I do it. As I am cooking an idea will pop into my head and then I don’t always remember what I did when it comes out great. I thought to write as I cooked but I didn’t.
After I sat down to eat it though I decided I had to make note of what I did because to me and for me, this is the best batch I have made and I want to make it EXACTLY like this from now on. Please excuse me for being brand specific. Normally I like to be more Rachel Ray than Martha Stewart, and I will say use whatever, but for me, I am going to use these exactly ingredients to make this soup. I really think that these particular flavors are what made it so yummy. But you of course are free to use the brands and flavors you like, but if you don’t want to lick the pot when you are done than it really might be the brands. 😉 I would have taken pictures of the cooking process had I thought I was going to post about this. 
I had thought NOT to post, but then after I ate it, I realized I HAD to post just so I would have record of it. The pictures of the products are after I fished the packages out of the garbage.
Butternut Squash Soup Adaptation
Two packages Trader Joe’s cut butternut squash (2 lbs each)
Olive oil spray
salt
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 box (32 oz) Trader Joe’s Low Sodium Vegetable Broth
4 packages Trader Joe’s Savory broth – chicken flavor
3 1/2 cups water
1 tsp marjoram
6 turns of the smoked pepper pepper mill
two light sprinkles of cayenne pepper
1 8 oz package cream cheese
2-3 tablespoons of whipped cream cheese
Heat the oven to 450. Spread the squash on a pan or two, spray with olive oil, sprinkle with salt. Roast the squash. The goal is to cook it until it is soft, but it is nice to have some of it browned. Roast for at least 30 minutes. Flip, stir, or shake so as to move the squash around a bit. Here is where you decide how roasted you want your squash.
Melt the butter in the stockpot, add the onions, and a little salt. Cook the onions until tender. Put the roasted squash in the pot, add the box of broth, add the water, add the contents of the broth packages, add the marjoram, add the pepper, sprinkle the cayenne. Bring to a boil.
Take the pot off the burner and blend the soup until smooth. (I use the immersion blender). Add the cream cheese. Stir. Blend until the cream cheese is full incorporated in the soup. Depending on how long it takes you to blend the soup and how hot you want to serve it. You might have to put it back on the stove.
This recipe makes a nice creamy squash-flavored soup. It is not sweet, but it is not spicy hot. If you like spicy hot you can add more pepper. The actually recipe on Allrecipes.com calls for a 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper and a 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper. That is too hot for me. I just put a few twists and a sprinkle. The thing about making the pot mild is that people can add their own heat. My hubby sometimes adds hot sauce. But then sometimes he doesn’t. He can decide.
As with any recipe, of course, you can modify it as you want. But for me THIS IS IT! Also as with anything, I would love to hear what you think.
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: butternut squash soup, Campbell California, cayenne pepper, cream cheese, hot soup, Martha Stewart, Nia, Nia class, Nia San Jose, Rachel Ray, roasted butternut squash, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, Thanksgiving, Trader Joe's | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 19, 2011
I went to a Nia class this morning. Grateful Hearts Nia Celebration is an annual event, it is in its third year although this is the first time I have attended. It is a free Nia class put on by a friend Anita Christensen, a Brown Belt Nia teacher. She collects food for the Second Harvest Food Bank. Today she collected a pretty good haul. She had a great turn out for class. Then I came home and got ready for a party for a friend that is moving away. Yesterday, even though I only have one Nia class, I had to go visit a friend who is saying goodbye to his mother, and did not have a chance to write a blog post. Although there is plenty of time to do things, I don’t SEEM to have enough time to do some of the other things I have on my schedule to do. It has been a bit of a trying month. There are a lot of things more important than a blog post for me right now.
A lot of things are changing and although I am committed to posting and doing it on my self assigned schedule, I just have been working through some stuff. I don’t always have a post just popping off my fingers into the keyboard. Often times it takes a lot of research. I come up with a topic or an idea I think will be easy to post about and then I sit down and start writing and looking into the subject and so much information is out there. Often a lot of it is conflicting and I don’t like to write about something without at least being aware of the other side. I know I don’t always succeed and I even might just think there are two sides when there are many more, but at least I know there is at least one more side.
At times lately, I am thinking I am just not grown up enough to be able to handle all that is going on. So much makes me want to just go into a corner for a self-imposed time out, but that is not how I believe I can live. I believe that in spite of all the death and loss that is going on I still have a lot to be grateful for. That is why the dance today, the Grateful Heart Nia Class was so important to me to attend. What all this boils down to is that I don’t have a lot of time to write a blog post. I am just writing some things about what I am feeling and what is going on and as usual, I am hoping other people can identify.
I have not taken the time to think of a topic. I tried. I let my mind wander to see if it found something, but I have been a little distracted. So I didn’t think of one and I didn’t do research because I felt that there were other things I needed to do. I needed to visit with my friend as he is going through this transition. I needed to go to a Nia class. I needed to grab some food and go visit with one of my best friends who is moving. I didn’t think we were be as long as we were, but then again, we needed to spend that time together.
Then, as I am sitting at my computer trying to figure out what to write, I have this cat that wants to sit on my lap. She doesn’t always do that, she will usually let me work then later when I get out of the office she will sit with me but for some reason there she was sitting on my lap putting her head in my hand as I tired to typed . . . another more important-than-a-blog-post thing taking me away from my post. Sometimes I just have to go with the flow and ride the tide. I hope you understand. I also hope that sometimes you are able to stop trying to work on your to-do list and just do what you have to do.
Posted in Cats, Misc, Spot | Tagged: Anita Christensen, Brown Belt Nia Teacher, Grateful Hearts Nia Celebration, Nia, Nia class, Nia Teacher, not enough time, Second Harvest Food Bank | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 17, 2011
A Nia student of mine reminded me of something after a Nia Class the other day. She said her daily meditation said to speak with love AND to listen with love. I have heard that before I believe, either someone posted it on Facebook or a friend posted about it on her blog. I can’t remember. The speaking with love is not always easy, but I think of it as a more common thought, a more common instruction. It can be compared to the old adage “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” A well-remembered saying. Somewhat similar. Speaking with love would be saying nice things. But the listening with love or the hearing with love, that is a little less common of an instruction. I have not heard that one for as long as I can remember as I have heard the other one. I also think it is more difficult to do than to speak with love. I mean, like the old saying says, don’t say anything if you can’t be nice. But it is difficult not to hear someone. If someone is talking you general listen and hear them, but it could be a challenge to do it with love.
We all take our experiences into situations. Our thoughts and actions are based upon our past and what we know. So I believe that we hear and listen the same way. If someone has been in relationships where their partner has lied to them, then they might hear a lie in everything. They might be listening with distrust and anger, not love. If someone is having a bad day and someone says, “Have a nice day.” they might hear it as sarcasm. Whatever it is that we are feeling, thinking, and experiencing at the moment it can definitely “cloud” how we hear things. If we are not conscious of how we are listening we can make something out of nothing. If we hear and listen in anger, we could respond accordingly and cause a fight or hurt feelings. It is not easy to always listen with love. We all have “stuff” going on in our lives. Some of this “stuff” can make us sensitive and this sensitivity can possible make us read into things. Listen with love is a practice.
I can’t remember if what I am talking about was the focus of my friend’s blog post, but I do remember my comment including the association between what she was saying and the four agreements. Listening/hearing with love reminds me of “not taking things personal”. “Things” as I mentioned. If there is something going on in my life that is making me upset, I might listen and hear things in a negative way. Or if someone else is having a bad day and I am not listening with love, I might not stop to think, “Hey, maybe this person is having a bad day and instead of snapping meanly back at them, I should remember that we all have bad days.”
Clearly there are different ways we can take “listen with love”. When I hear that, these are two ways that occur to me. What do you think of when you hear, “listen with love”?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: common sayings, Facebook post, Four Agreements, have a nice day, listen with love, meditation, Nia class, Nia student, old sayings, speak with love, well remembered sayings | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 15, 2011
Yesterday after my Nia class I was looking for something to post about today. I often look at my blog to see how many articles I have posted in each category. I am sort of surprised that my “Misc” is surpassing my “Nia”, but I bet a lot of the post categorized under Misc mention Nia in some way. I noticed Chakra only has two post and I know I said I was going to post more on that so I googled Chakra and lungs. I have been sensing my lungs lately. If you’ve read my blog for a bit you might know that I think that most of the time we don’t sense our body parts. We don’t think about them and we don’t sense them. When we sense them is it usually because something is up. I don’t think about my back until it hurts. I never sense my elbow until it is sore. My toes are pretty much on their own until I hurt one. So that is what I mean. You don’t think about your heart or your lungs unless they are bothering you. I don’t always like to assign the word PAIN to a sensation because it is not always pain. I could just be an itch or a discomfort, either way, I am sensing them. So I did a Chakra lung search. I don’t know why I was surprised. The chakra that affects the lungs is the heart chakra.
The heart chakra is the fourth chakra. It located in the middle of your chest. The color associated with it is green. In the body the associations to the heart chakra are the heart, the circulatory system, the entire chest area, lungs, breasts, the diaphragm, the thymus gland, the immune system, and some say the endocrine system. One website states: “Possible Physical Symptoms: Heart Issues, Lung & Breathing Problems, Upper Back Pain, Breast Cancer, Compromised Immune System, Blood Diseases.”
The fourth chakra is where feelings and emotions of love originate. Joy, honesty, happiness, generosity, compassion, respect, and understanding are associated with the heart chakra.
The heart chakra is affected by grief. I was just thinking that my itchy lungs could be a result of a less than happy heart chakra. I was reminded by this one site that the middle of the chest would be right behind the sternum. The sternum and rib cage protect the actual heart and organs. This information made me lean even more towards those thoughts.
Several sites stated an exercise that could be performed to help balance the heart chakra is to vigorously rub your hands together. This opens the energy in the hands which are connected to the heart’s energy.
So interesting. I still do not understand all the energies in the body and in the world, but I see how it can all be connected and how sometimes certain energies can become block or unbalanced. It amazes me to see how it all connects. But if you believe that it DOES all connect, then it might be that you can understand how a sad heart could have itchy lungs.
Have a day full of light!
Posted in Chakras | Tagged: chakra associations, chakra exercise, compromised immune system, fourth chakra, heart chakra, Nia, Nia class | 12 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 12, 2011
I have been slowly learning a new Nia routine. I worked on it this morning then right before dinner I decided to do a few of the katas that I are challenging me. I knew that dinner would be easy because it is FINALLY soup weather in San Jose, California and I made Chinese Dumpling Soup last night and I was just going to add a little more broth. Well, I ended up adding a little more than that. After I first had this soup, which I first mentioned in my Ginger post, I wanted it again. I made it once and I wanted to post about it then because it is so good. But normally I only like to post recipes when I made adjustments so it can be more like my own and not like I am just copying someone else’s recipe, but I really haven’t made any adjustments to this soup. It is so good. This time I did add some mushrooms. Ya know, have you ever had that soup at a Chinese food restaurant with paper-thin mushrooms in it? That is what I was thinking of so I sliced some mushrooms and put them in the original cooking and them more tonight when I added more broth and more spinach. This soup has so many flavors going on it is really a wonderful thing. I am going to make it and eat it without the dumplings (pot stickers). My hubby doesn’t want me to omit the pot stickers, but it is such good soup he will forgive me. I know he will.
Chinese Dumpling Soup
Ingredients
8 cups water
8 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon low sodium chicken bouillon
2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar (although you can use sherry, which I am sure I will have to do one day)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
sprinkle of salt
about 1 cup Julienne baby carrots
24 frozen Chinese dumplings
3 scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced
4 cups bag baby spinach
Directions
Heat the eight cups water, stir in the 8 teaspoons of bouillon. Add the ginger, soy, wine, vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add the dumplings and cook for about 5 minutes. You might want to adjust the heat up a bit since the frozen dumplings will bring the temperature of the liquid way down.
Add the carrots (I like them crunchy). Turn the heat down a bit and cook for about two minutes.
Then add the spinach, sprinkle the salt in, and add the scallions. Let the spinach wilt, about a minute.
Get your taste buds ready for some super yumminess and serve.
Well, now that I have typed it up, the directions on the site are a bit different than mine, I am sharing with you the way I do it. But basically it is from the Food Network Cookbook and website. I don’t like my carrots really cooked so I add them after the dumplings where the site and the book say to add them before and cook them longer. The site also suggest cooking the soup without the pot stickers and just have them on the side. That is what I am going to do. If my hubby wants them in the soup he can put them in there. The way I cook them added them to the soup would add ANOTHER layer of flavor and probably make it better anyway.
The soup is really, really, really easy and without the dumplings is has to be really low in fat. With the spinach you are getting a good amount of greens. YUM. This soup is really good. One of those foods that has you thinking about it.
Well, the recipe this book came from is from a book I bought for my friend and she has made a few recipes in it for me and they have been really good. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to use cookbooks. What made me get it for her is that there were simple recipes in it (she has kids) and because it shows “additional uses” for some of the ingredients you might not know what to do with. If you buy a can of tomato paste and use two teaspoons, it shows you other recipes in the book that also use tomato paste. I thought that was so cool because I often end up with leftover ingredients. As it turns out I love this book because it has this soup recipe in it and I love this soup.
I hope you will try it and enjoy it too. If you do let me know what you think.
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: better than bouillon, Chinese Dumpling Soup, Chinese soup, easy soup, Food Network, Food Network cookbook, ginger, low fat soup, Nia, Nia California, Nia katas, Nia routine, Nia San Jose, pot sticker soup, San Jose Nia, soup weather, spinach | 4 Comments »
Terre Pruitt's Blog 