July, 2009
Spring is well behind us, as evidenced by the beautiful garden flowers everywhere. The second brood of backyard bluebirds have already fledged and flown to their new homes; above are photos of the first brood. They’ve provided me with lots of entertainment (my kids say it takes way too little to keep me entertained). The center photo has the mature male and female, along with a baby (about 3 weeks old) who was just bold enough to come out of the trees and feed, as long as his parents are there. I was surprised the parents began nesting again weeks before they weaned the first brood. So far no one has told me the photos take too long to download, so I’ll continue to include them.
This month’s self-care basic “tip” is a simple breathing pattern, which can easily be done in waterfall position (from last month’s newsletter. If you want to review, go to www.facenewbeginnings.com and click on the Free Events tab at the top right of the page for the dropdown menu which lists each newsletter separately). Since bodyworkers are great multi-taskers, this is a good introduction to breathing. In a nutshell, this breathing pattern works to open and cleanse the energy centers (“chakras”, if this terminology works for you). It’s quite simple (If you have high blood pressure or are pregnant do NOT hold your breath, just make a slight, intentional pause between breaths):
* Position yourself in “waterfall”
* Do a few breaths, just to allow your tummy to soften and body to relax in general
* Inhale and exhale as fully as possible to clear and expand your lungs
* After an exhale, hold your breath for a few counts
* Inhale, and again hold your breath for a few counts
* Repeat the above two steps for several times-inhale, hold, exhale, hold, etc.
Ten times is pretty easy to do because you can count it off with your fingers
After some practice, you may get to the point where you can breathe in a “square”, with the same amount of time being spent with each of the four phases (inhale, hold, exhale, hold). Even this “simple” breathing exercise can be difficult, and you can learn a lot about your breathing patterns while doing it—what phase is easier for you? More difficult? Usually the “hold” part is harder to do at first, but becomes easier. The idea is that your energy centers are most active during the “hold”, so it’s desirable to help your body learn how to do this more comfortably (unless it’s contraindicated by health issues). That’s it! Next month we’ll add using heated flaxseed (possibly grain) sacks to warm, open and soften some often-problem areas (this, too can be combined with waterfall AND the energy-center-opening breathing; three exercises in one, and you’re lying down!). Will send my fall schedule of classes in a separate email so this won’t take so long to download. Recipe on 2nd page:
CREAMY RISOTTO WITH SPRING VEGETABLES
14 oz. vegetable broth
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup Arborio rice
1 cup frozen baby sweet peas
¼ cup shredded carrot
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/8 tsp. gound black pepper
1. In a medium saucepan, bring broth and 1 ¾ cups water to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cover.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook until tender. Add uncooked rice and stir until rice starts to turn golden in parts, about 5 min.
3. Add 1 cup hot broth mixture to the rice, stirring constantly. Continue to cook and stir until liquid is absorbed. Add another 2 cups broth, ½ cup at a time, to rice. Cook and stir until liquid is absorbed, 18-20 min.
4. Stir in remaining broth, peas and carrot. Stir until the rice is slightly creamy and just tender.
5. Remove from heat and quickly stir in spinach, parmesan, thyme and pepper; serve immediately.
Serves 4. This is a pretty mild dish (healthy heart, after all!). You may wish to taste it before serving to see if you’d like to add more herbs/spices—or even some salt. For those of you who eat meat, it’s easy enough to add that (or chopped portobello mushrooms) also.
Taken from www.hearthealthyonline.com, where you’ll find other easy, healthy recipes.