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Increase Your Meal Prana, Tips and a Recipe

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Increasing Your Meal Prana

Brown Rice Porridge
Need something warm and delicious in your belly in winter?

 

Have you ever thought about the energy or Prana of your food? 

A course I was on recently brought my attention to the fact I was inhaling my food in a state of stress. I was checking emails or catching up on something and my food was getting in the way of my busy-ness. How very dare it! So I decided to turn it around and make my meal times part of my business. 

In Ayurveda, the way we eat our food is more important than exactly what we eat. When we eat with a calm, sattvic state of mind, our food is more pranically charged. There are now scientifically proven studies showing a direct impact between stress and a depletion of the good guys in our gut microbiome. 

Nearly all my meals are now eaten with no screens in front of me. I’ve started learning a beautiful Vedic prayer for before meals which I hope to share soon. It reminds me to slow down, how insanely lucky I am to choose the foods I eat and to think about where these ingredients all came from. 

I also chew my food properly before having another mouthful and put my spoon down more often. This helps me listen to when I’m actually full instead of mindlessly finishing the entire plate.

And yes I still slip into old habits now and then but I try to be kind about it.

Kindness is King.

Recipe

Warming Brown Rice Porridge

This warming winter breakfast is my new fave, adapted from Nadia Lim’s recipe. I like to precook my rice then I split it into 2 portions so I have a head start on the rest of the recipe the next morning. If you’re portioning like I do you will need to divide Part 2 ingredients between whatever portions you have made.

SERVES 4-5

INGREDIENTS

Part 1

  • 3 cups cooked short-grained brown rice, organic if possible. See instructions for how to cook the rice.

Part 2

  • 2 1/2 cups milk of choice – I prefer coconut (not the tinned kind) or almond
  • 2 tablepoons maple syrup or sweetener of choice*
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • good pinch of nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of good quality salt
TO SERVE- OPTIONAL
 
  • stewed fruit- apples, pears, dates, figs etc or according to your constitution
  • maple syrup or honey
  • 5 tablespoons toasted flaked almonds
  • dollop of organic ghee
INSTRUCTIONS
 

Part 1

  • To cook brown rice, combine 1 cup short-grain brown rice and 1 ¾ cups water in a small pot on high heat. As soon as it boils, cover with a lid and reduce to lowest heat. I find low heat can sometimes be that sweet spot between high and off on a gas flame. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, then turn off heat and leave to steam, still covered, for a further 10 minutes. Do not lift lid at any time. You shouldn’t need to strain any water off. Congratulations you just cooked rice with the absorption method!

Part 2

  • This is where you would portion the rest of the ingredients with the amount of rice you are using- halves, thirds etc.
  • Combine cooked brown rice, milk of choice, sweetener*, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and salt in a pot and bring to the boil.
  • Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for around 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until rice is soft and creamy and most of the milk is absorbed.
  • If my stewed fruit is cold I like to add it in toward the end to heat it through.
  • Serve warm with stewed or tinned fruit, almonds, sweetener to taste and a splash of milk if desired.
  • I also like to indulge in a dollop of homemade ghee every now and then to add more lubricating, unctuous, nourishing qualities to it.

Notes

These are suggestions so please don’t add more stress to your day by panicking about food combinations. Do what you can until you are in a place to do better 🙂

Ayurveda doesn’t encourage mixing cows milk with fruits except dates. If you’re transitioning to Ayurvedic principles like me, try stewing your fruits, it’s easier on your digestion. Or leave a gap between eating fruit and then have your porridge later.

Heating honey can also create toxins according to Ayurvedic cooking so add it on top after cooking if that’s your jam (and you’re not vegan).

5 Ways to Find a Little Space

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We all need time in our day to regroup, press pause and think before we get a little punchy. How good does it feel to take a breather during a busy period or how often do we put our kids in time out when they’ve turned feral?


The more we can train ourselves to see the need for pause despite the whirlwind and deadlines we are caught in, the more we will notice the benefits of a mini mind reboot.

Finding space in your day:


  1. Number Ones

    Be it a tinkle or a cuppa, anything you do regularly during the day, turn it into a mindful task. Instead of rushing through it and then off to the next thing, slow down, check in with yourself.

    Am I breathing fully?

    How are my shoulders and jaw going?

    Connect in regularly during the day to stop that runaway mind from careering off course.

  2. Play

    Every day do something playful even if it’s for a couple of minutes. Sing at the top of your voice in the car, dance while you’re getting dressed for work, blow bubbles out the window at traffic lights. We all take life a little too seriously and how refreshing is it to see an adult playing and enjoying themselves. When we play we reconnect with joy and joy is a wonderful thing we all need more of.

  3. Breathe in Balasana

    Yes here I am banging on about breathing again. So many studies have correlated a slowing down of the breath to an increase in the parasympathetic nervous system which effects our ability to relax, feel safe and calm down. Calm breath, calm mind. Try a ‘square breath’ where you inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. Of course you can modify the breath length to suit you or even make it more of a rectangle with 2 for the holds if that feels better.

    Even better if you can lie in Balasana (Child’s Pose) as well. Come into a kneeling position on the floor with the toes untucked, sitting on the heels. Bring the forehead to the floor so the tummy is resting on the thighs and rest the arms on the ground beside you. A super comfy restorative position to take some time out from the world. You can modify it to make it more comfortable by placing extra padding under the knees and ankles, placing a cushion between the bum and the heels and having something for the forehead to rest on.

  4. Say No

    Need some space, say no more often. This is easier said than done especially if you don’t have a good understanding of where your priorities lie and where your boundaries are. That’s a whole other post. Until then take some time before replying to someone about that dinner, play date, extra shift. We all want to be helpful and catch up with friends but sometimes taking that time for yourself is more important. And I don’t mean saying no to someone so you can fill that space with something else, I mean saying yes to you. Take yourself for a walk instead, read that book for twenty minutes, jump in the bath. Fill your own dang cup.

  5. Easy Peasy

    How can I make this easier?

    This is my favourite mantra at the moment. Every time I utter these words I feel a warm light shine down upon me that scoops up one of the sandbags that are perched on my shoulders. Does it have to be this complicated? Can I ask someone to help? Is this even necessary? What is the real or perceived benefit of this? Sometimes the task still needs to be done but perhaps introducing more play into it is the answer, especially now you have your favourite song and dance routine down pat.


I hope you can use some of these tips to open up your day a little more. Even if you are still doing the same amount of work adding in snippets of space will start to have a profound effect on the rest of your day. I’d love to hear how you add space and calm into your day.


Much love

T xx

the pros and cons of breathing

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Ridiculously easy and free ways to harness your super powers

Unleash your superpower
Unleash your superpower

 

Well let’s be honest the list for cons is short but the list of pros grows exponentially the better you breathe. I have an app on my phone (Mindful) that randomly alerts me to take a deep breath. My bf thinks it strange I need to remind myself to breathe but I think I’m a genius because whenever that alert sounds, I stop and take a big, luscious, deep breath in, an even slower one out and feel my whole body calm down. Before I talk about the breath itself let me give you a quick and very basic run down (I failed science btw so bare with me) on what happens when we breathe, prepare to be in awe of our amazing bodies.

How the breath fuels our body

Photo by Engin Akyurt from Pexels
Photo by Engin Akyurt

 

Every function of the body from digesting food to thinking requires oxygen. Breathing generally happens subconsciously, most of us unaware it’s flowing in and out of our bodies all day and night. When we take a breath in, the dome shaped diaphragm muscle that sits under our lungs flattens downward. This contraction forces the oxygenated air outside of our bodies into the lungs. As the air comes down our windpipe, it divides off into the left and right lungs, then again and again into thousands of airways until it reaches the air sacs. This is where the magic happens.

 

Once in the air sacs, the oxygen passes through super thin membranes into the capillaries. Voila you now have oxygen swimming around in your blood stream hitching a ride on the red blood cells. At the very same time, the carbon dioxide that has been dissolved in your blood, high fives the incoming oxygen (carbon dioxide is what boots the oxygen off your haemoglobin-very important), passes through the capillaries then squeezes out that thin membrane and into the air sacs where they travel out the airways on your out breath.

 

Your oxygen rich blood is carried to the left side of the heart where arteries shimmy it through your body. Meanwhile carbon dioxide in the blood is carried via the veins to the right side of the heart, back to the lungs where the whole process of oxygenation starts again. Amazing! This is only one of the reasons breathing is a pretty good thing to do. Unconscious breathing is what allows our physical body to keep on keeping on day in day out. Now let’s look at Conscious Breathing.

 

In one corner we have the sympathetic nervous system-SNS (think adrenal stimulation, fear, stress etc) which also creates short, shallow, quick breaths. The other is the parasympathetic nervous system-PNS (think slipping into a warm bath ahhhh) which promotes slow, deep, breaths. The way I remember which is which is the para from parachute. When you open your parachute you stop panicking – unless you’re scared of heights…

 

The lungs sit inside roughly the top two thirds of our rib cage and when breathed properly can expand in all directions. Unfortunately most people only breathe into the top part of their lungs which is a short, shallow breath (sympathetic nervous system/adrenal stimulation/feeling stressed). To take a full, deep breath takes longer, expands the lungs and surrounding muscles to their full extent. This not only supports better oxygen/carbon dioxide transfer (remember how important that is for basic functions) but stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, releasing our parachute and calming down the adrenals.

 

 

Conscious Breathing

 

Our breath and our mind/body are so interconnected that they influence each other in both directions often without us realising it. When we feel stressed it effects our breathing but the great thing is we can turn it all around by controlling our breath. Slow down the breath and the PSS is running the show. 

 

Conscious Breathing is exactly what it implies, breathing with awareness to notice how we are breathing and slow it down and expand it if needed. Learning to breathe consciously when we are in a calm state of mind will make it easier in the times when we aren’t so zen. Conscious Breathing not only stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, it increases oxygen absorption for a clearer mind and also gives the mind something more constructive to focus on. 

 

When we create this calmer space in our mind we can practice responding to events rather than reacting to them. Living in prolonged adrenal stress is not a good place to reside. It can start to damage our organs, leading to sickness and disease, reduces our clarity of mind and generally puts us in a much narrower frame of thinking.

Using your superpower

There are lots of ways to practise Conscious Breathing which I’ll cover in more detail in another post but for now try this ridiculously simple one as many times a day as you can. Set a reminder if you’re like me and get distracted, commit to practising at every traffic light or when your phone makes a noise or before you make that difficult phone call, when you pee, when you take a sip of water etc. The more the better especially if you are free falling with no chute.

 

First of all check to see how you are breathing, how long is it and how far down is it travelling, then slow down the in breath….fill up the lungs in all directions-he lower lungs so the belly moves out, the side ribs, front and back of the ribs, the chest….slowly breathe out….repeat. Try to breath through the nostrils if possible and focus on the cooling and warming sensations as the breath travels in and out the nose. Aim for a count of 5 in and 5 out for around 5 – 10mins. If you’re not driving a car or something else that requires your undivided attention, close the eyes and place the hands on the belly and side ribs to encourage the breath down.

 

 

After a few rounds see if you can lengthen the breath a little bit more each time, especially the out breath. If you notice your attention drifting back to the monster under the bed gently bring it back to the breath. Stop if you feel light headed.

 

Imagine all that oxygen recharging every part of your body, clearing the fog around your brain, lifting the corners of your mouth and evening out that furrowed brow.

 

 

We can all breathe in a more conscious way, it costs nothing, can be done anywhere and has amazing effects on the mind and body. Every single one of us is walking around with this hidden super power, when we learn how to use our breath properly we can positively effect any mental mind set. Pow pow!

Nature in Isolation

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Being inside four walls with your family for an extended period of time can be tough. As the late Ram Dass said,

 

“If you think you are enlightened, go spend a week with your family.”

 

Covid 19 has many of us living in close confinements with others and also ourselves which can be challenging to say the least and that’s without throwing in the stresses of unemployment and toilet paper shortages. So if you’re on your own or living with the Brady Bunch, here are some ways to connect not only to each other but to that wonderful thing outside that you may not be getting much of at the moment -mother nature.

 

Immersing yourself in nature has the amazing effect of calming the nervous system, promoting deeper breathing and allowing us to see the interconnectedness of all living things, which is how we avoid being selfish buggers.

Let yourself play in the dirt, lie on your tummy to stop and watch the insect world, look up at the stars or the wind in the trees but most of all, slowwww dowwwwn and breathe. Nature is always there ticking away, making magic happen even if we pay her no attention. She will blow your mind if you let her, just watch a Blue Planet episode.

 

There are lots of ways we can connect to the outside world from our own patch of dirt, especially with all the technology available to us. Become creative and see where it leads you. Taking the time to slow down and explore our natural world not only gives us a deeper appreciation for it, but brings our perspective inward so we see the finer goings on that we often overlook and take for granted.

Virtual Safari

  • Lots of animal interest groups have webcams set up so you can see the animals in different settings from zoos to the wild.

  • Some groups also require volunteers to watch the webcam footage to help document the animal behaviour for research so help out if this is up your alley.

  • Type into your search engine whatever animal you want to see followed by ‘webcam’ and it’s probably a thing. Prepare to lose hours of your life in a great way.

  • Melbourne zoo live webcams with feeding times (link).

  • Sea eagle webcam in Sydney (link).

  • Sea otter webcam in Atlanta, USA plus loads more animals (link). 

  • Explore has webcams from all over the world (link).

Bug Off

  • Choose an insect that makes your home or yard its home.

  • Connect with an entomology group on Facebook or the state museum to find out exactly what species of insect you have- good photos are key.

  • What are its life cycles and how long does it live in each stage? Ladybug babies are weird just saying.

  • What environment does it thrive in?

  • What does it eat? And if you want more of them in your yard think about upping their food sources.

  • What are its predators? Google ant aphid farming for a lesson in nature being amazing.

  • What is its role in nature and what would happen if they all disappeared? This is where you realise flies are way better than a world of rotting carcasses.

  • Oh and this video may turn you off figs but is so great (link).

First Australians

  • Who are the first Australians from the area you live in and what is their tribal name?

  • What area of the country did they call home?

  • Did they travel to certain areas at different times of the year and why?

  • What language do they speak and can you learn some of their words to incorporate into daily life?

  • Do they recognise the same seasons that we are taught?

  • Was this area known for a particular item that was used in trade with other groups?

  • What were some of the signs they saw in nature to tell them of season changes, time to move to another area etc.

  • What was the impact on these people with white settlement?

  • Connect with local indigenous language and cultural groups to learn more.

Light My Fire

  • Can you light a fire without firelighters? What about without matches?

  • If it’s a safe time of year and you can get outside, learn the art of lighting a good campfire, it’s a sexy skill to have.

  • Now uplevel and learn how to do it without matches and newspaper.

  • Most indigenous cultures had their own way of lighting fires with the natural resources they had available – flint stones (yes it’s not just a really old cartoon), fire sticks etc. They even had incredible ways to carry the embers of the fire with them to the next camp spot. Check in with your local indigenous cultural group to see if they can help with any tips or give it an online video search.

  • If you’re into competition give your mates two weeks to find what they need and to master the chosen skill then have an online Zoom meet up to watch each other and laugh.

Love Letter, Love Letter

  • Choose someone to write a good old fashioned letter to.

  • You can also join online pen pal websites to connect with people from all over the world if your family and friends are slim pickings for a good conversation.

  • What’s involved in sending your letter to the recipient after it is picked up from the postbox?

  • How were letters sent before planes and what other ways were messages sent: smoke signals, telegrams, Morse code, pigeons etc

  • Here’s a video on the history of carrier pigeons (link).

  • There’s also some great vids out on how to make your own morse code buzzer if you have kids or are a big kid.

Prepping

  • Grow or make something you’d usually buy.

  • Start a sourdough culture, brew a beer, make yoghurt and then labneh, buy bulk fruit and make jam or better still find someone with a loaded fruit tree and spend a few hours picking – make sure you return with a thank you in a jar.

  • Invite friends to do the same and once you’ve perfected it and the restrictions are lifted you can have a book club of sorts to sample each others wares and chat about your new found homesteading skills.

The more distracted we are from nature the less inclined we are to want to save it.

Learn, connect, protect.

Am I the Only One Digging the Solitude

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Alpine hills surrounding the farm

As I watch the rest of the world climbing the walls in isolation hell, I must say I am one content human right now. After spending two and a half months travelling in a caravan across the southern part of Australia at a very chilled pace, we found ourselves in Melbourne city as the Covid 19 shit got real in this country. Staying with friends was a refreshing change to only each others company for so long but we both knew we could only handle the rat race for a few weeks before needing open spaces again. We also needed to find work but with everything closing down including borders between states, things became a little stressful. Even the camp grounds were closed so we couldn’t even ride this thing out in the bush.


I was humbled by how total strangers stepped in to offer us refuge but even better, a job as well, just when things were getting dire. So here I sit in northern Victoria on an organic dairy farm surrounded by the rolling Alpine hills, nature and fresh air. We have a little house to self isolate for 14 days before being allowed to help with the animals but are kept busy making this little house and garden shine.


Despite all the illness and deaths across the world, it’s as if the Earth has let out a long held breath and is slowly taking in another one, deep, clean and full of hope with what we may learn in our ‘time out’. Earths’ naughty children have been shut in their rooms to have a good hard think about their interactions with her. Hopefully we make the most of this slowing down and start to look in and see what is truly important to us and whether or not we are living in alignment with these beliefs.


Be kind to yourself, be kind to each other. 


Working on this farm gives me an even greater appreciation for nature and her cycles. Keeping life simple and trying to use the time to navigate back on course, remembering my ‘why’ and hoping there are millions of people across the world doing the same thing. It’s not often the entire world is affected by the same issue at the same time, and my wish is that this is the wake up call we all need to start to live within not only our own means but that of the planets’. We need regeneration, wisdom and creativity right now and that doesn’t happen without giving yourself the space to let it in.


Here is that time and space we have all been asking for. What will you do with it before the door is opened and you’re allowed back out to play?