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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