Tag Archives: Nourishing Life

Nourishing Life: Nature

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I have always had a strong connection with nature. Call me crazy, but going for a walk in the woods, or hanging out by a creek or river tends to have a calming and soothing effect on me. The rhythm of the waves at a beach pull me out of my memories or fabrications of the future and into the present. Every season seems to switch me into a different mode of being that always feels necessary and appropriate.

In Chinese Medicine there’s a fundamental idea that we should live in harmony with our surroundings and a wise awareness the healthiest surroundings are made by a power much greater than that of humankind. In these modern times, we’ve successfully created environments that are meant to make our lives easier and more comfortable, and in many ways we have succeeded, but along the way we’ve emphasized some things over others and our better lives aren’t always fully balanced; New York City is an extremely good example of this.

So what are we city/suburb dwellers to do? Get out. It doesn’t have to be every day or even every week. Once a month, at least once per season, get away from electrical humm of modernity and closer to the dynamic stillness of nature. Soak up the songs of the birds, the creaks of the trees, and the gurgling of the streams and breath – be in the balance. See how it makes you feel and experience how it makes you be.

We can also find coves nature within our oceans of technology. Parks, community gardens, even just sitting next to a nice big ol’ tree for a moment can make a difference, and we can bring plants into our homes. Simple things that can make a big difference in our health.

Nourishing Life: Tea

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I love tea. In fact, most of the time you’ll find me with a cup of tea in my hand. When I went home for winter break, my brother jokingly asked if I wouldn’t get sick from drinking so much tea.

I’ve always known that tea is good for you. Research article after research article comes out with descriptions of the health benefits of green and black and white tea with all of their wonderful antioxidants. However that didn’t stop me from being surprised to hear in a lecture one of the professors gave on nourishing life, that he actually recommends to his patients to start drinking tea on a regular basis. Maybe not everyday, but at least a few cups of tea a weak.

Tisanes, herbal infusions like peppermint or chamomile “tea,” are great too. They don’t necessarily have the same health benefits as official tea (which comes from the Camilla sinensis plant), but they often have other health benefits.

Since the spring started, I’m noticing that I’m less inclined to drink hot beverages, so I started making sun-tea with my roomates. A couple of tablespoons of loose-leaf tea in a gallon jar. Let it sit in a window for the day, and yum!

So, if you’re not really into tea, give it a try, drink a few cups a week, it’ll be good for you. If you don’t like, don’t force it, no worries.

Nourishing Life: Food

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As a follow-up to my last post, I’m going to create a series in which I share some of my own personal ways of living healthfully in a world that doesn’t necessarily always support that. The concept in Chinese Medicine is called “Nourishing Life” and includes things like exercise, meditation, spending time in nature, and eating well.

So, below are some tricks I’ve found make eating healthfully a little easier and enhance the overall eating experience.

  1. Try to avoid processed foods – this one is become more popular and widely known. Processed foods are so much easier, because you don’t have to spend time or energy preparing them, but, often in the processing nutrients are lost, the qi (vital life energy) of the food disappears. I might argue that eating refined and processed foods is akin to wearing sunglasses with no UV protection…
  2. Buy a crockpot – and use it. Crockpots make preparing whole unprocessed unrefined foods easy. Throw a bunch of stuff in there at night, let cook overnight, and you’ve got breakfast, or lunch. Turn in on in the morning and you’ll have a nice hot dinner waiting for you when you get home…
  3. Eat with people you love – also, eat while you eat. Don’t watch TV, or read, or fiddle with the computer. Now, I’m the first to admit that I do these things occasionally while eating, it’s not an all or nothing game. But try, for one meal a week, or one meal per-day, to eat in company, in a calm environment at a leisurely place and enjoy your food.
  4. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables – everyone knows this one. We hear it over and over, yet I sometimes find myself not really eating too many vegetables or fruits. For me it’s usually, because the “easier” and “faster” foods aren’t fruits or vegetables, but that’s really another way of saying I’m more used to going for the bread.
  5. Make your lunch for work/school the night before – your sandwhitch might not be quite as fresh, but it’ll be a lot cheaper than buying one, and you’ll know exactly what’s in it (hopefully lots of veggies).
  6. Trade-off with friends – I’ll occasionally cook for my friends. I’ll bring them lunch one week, they’ll bring me lunch the next. It switches things up and lightens the burden of preparing food.

I’m sure I’ve got more and I’m sure I’ll be sharing them down the road. For now, that should do. Planning ahead is often helpful, and making things into  habits makes it all a lot easier.

As always, I’m curious about your thoughts and ideas…