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I recently took my kids to Orlando, Florida. Normally my kind of holiday is a mediteranean beach with only rocks for company but my kids are about to outgrow each other so I thought I would bring them on their kind of holiday. The added bonus for me was hanging out with an inspirational, creative and gorgeous friend I havent seen in a long time.
There are so many people in the parks at first I found it overwhelming. The first day at Universal Studios my heart was pounding for most of the day. The Harry Potter Quiddich Ride is exceptional at creating thrills but the sheer number of people in Hogsmede all rushing to experience various exciting sensations was overpowering.
At the end of the day I was exhausted and I didn’t feel like me. At first I thought it was because I was experiencing things that just weren’t my everyday cup of tea but when I looked a little deeper at how I felt and how I was acting in the park I was not very comfortable. I found myself constantly judging everybody and everything……. Oh I like this, she shouldn’t be wearing that, that’s a rip off, he shouldn’t be doing that, they shouldn’t have put that there, I want one of those, they’re very fat, she’s very skinny, I like that dress I wonder what it would look like on me…
Constanly swinging from like to dislike, judgement to judgement to keep my own ground. By making judgements I was able to define who I was in this vast sea of souls but this constant pinning down of my reality was exhausting, I had three weeks of this so by the end I was going to be a control freaking nervous wreck. There had to be another way. So I looked to my language of Chinese Medicine to help me find and answer.
The universal truth in Chinese medicine is that everything is energy, constantly changing, constantly flowing. This includes solid objects such as rocks and tables. Eventhough they look unchanging, they are transforming all the time. Rocks change shape and erode over time and my kitchen table wont be here in 200 years. Through our short experience on the planet things look solid but only because our perspective is short-lived and therefore limited.
How we understand that universal energy is through Yin and Yang, which in our western language we would understand as relativity. We understand what is new because we know what old is, we understand hot because we know cold, we know up because we know down. Everything is described and understood through our own unique perception of reality, our own sensation of cold, our knowledge of up and our experience of old. We are our own, unique bundle of Yin and Yang, our perception of reality being relative to our earthly experience.
Within my swinging yin yang judgements I was trying to find a sense of me, who I am in this wave of theme park energy coming at me. In my everyday life I surround myself with the familiar, my comfort zone of quiet home living where I don’t have to re-establish who I am in relation to new incoming sensations or people. Most things under control in a regular pattern of family life but the reality is that everything can change on the turn of a dime. This safe and secure home life is only because I can’t see the bigger picture.
There is no pinning down my energy, no securing who I am. There are new unplanned experiences approaching, unscheduled events will appear, I will wrinkle, I will change and I will die. So there really isnt any point in trying to define who I am in relation to the world because it changes all the time. When I delved a little deeper into the feeling I could sense the fear that drives the judgements so rather than constantly trying to make things safe and trying to define myself I chose to open up to the thrill of the unknown and enjoy the ride of life.
Just like the rollercoasters that surrounded me in Orlando there would be dips and turns, ups and downs but I have to ride them, exhilerated, excited and open hearted in the knowledge that there is no ground, there is no stability.
While I was in Orlando I couldn’t help but spread the word of Conscious Cooking so my wonderful friend Faith organised a talk in the amazing workspace of Catalyst, where many creative and enthusiastic bodies share a working environment. I demonstrated a few of my favourite recipes, one of which was Watermelon & Feta salad which is fantastic for reducing summer heat and clearing any uric acid which may accumulate at the joints causing gout, heat and pain.
Quite a few people bought the book but where disappointed to find that this recipe wasn’t in it, so here it is for all you lovely people who are in hot sunny Florida and in need of the watermelon from a girl sitting on a cold beach, under a grey sky with a cozy fleece on.
Choose a watermelon that has wide spaces between the dark green lines – theyre sweeter that way. Chop it up into bite size pieces, I think triangles work well. Slice the red onions into thin half moons and sprinkle them along with the crumbled feta onto the water melon. Scatter the basil leaves and drizzle olive oil over the top to finish.
This is such a delicious salad for barbeques but it also goes well with thai curries and an indian dahl as the fruit, salty flavour combines well with spices. It also keeps well refridgerated in a tupperware – enjoy
Click here to become a member of Chi Flow with Jo → CLICK HERE
Or drop in for a class and feel it for yourself (sign up below). Join the Chi Flow with Jo community for live sessions, practice, and support.
Self-administered acupressure or Chinese Medicine is not a substitute for visits to qualified healthcare practitioners.
Knowing how to treat yourself and your loved ones with complimentary therapies like acupressure can be greatly beneficial and convenient. However, for serious and chronic conditions, you’ll want to visit an Shiatsu therapist / Acupuncturist or other qualified healthcare practitioner who can develop a treatment plan based on your unique medical history and combination of symptoms.
The information provided should not be considered medical advice.
All New Baldoyle Cooking Classes
Over the course of 6 weeks we will cook for all the organs, flavours and emotions by using the ancient wisdom of Chinese medicine. Following simple recipes we will look holistically at health so that food can nourish us emotionally as well as address physical conditions. Come, have fun and try new food ?
Wednesday 10.30-12.30 – Baldoyle Community Centre
Course Cost €30 (includes all six classes & all food eaten within the class)
Places are limited to 12 so call Heidi Bedell 01 839 5338 to book a place today
Reducing Cholesterol and Maintaining a Healthy Immune system
23rd Sept Lung & Large Intestine
Regulating Hormones and maintaining strong bones
30th Sept Kidney & Bladder
Detox effortlessly and improve flexibility
7th Oct Liver & Gall Bladder
Healthy Heart & Circulation
14th Oct Heart & Small Intestine
Stop those Sweet Cravings
21st Oct Stomach & Spleen
(Mid Term Break)
Balancing energy in the body
4th Nov Favourites
€4 Drop in Cooking Classes in Cuffe Street on Thursday Mornings will comence in October with dates to be confirmed
9th September – Malahide Library @ 6.45pm – 7.45pm
21st September – Baldoyle Community Centre @ 1.30pm with free buffet lunch to follow provided by Shaitsu & the Art of Conscious Cooking as part of the Health Day Show in Baldoyle
18th July 2015 – 10.30-12.30 Fairgreen Holistic Centre, 33 South Main Street, Naas
Cost = €15 includes food tasting
To book a place or for more information or directions simply call 086 607 0432 or email me at joannefaulkner@live.ie
Hayfever is a very yang condition. All the energy rises upwards and even outwards if you are sneezing a lot. Eyes, nose and mouth become itchy and the skin can become red and hot. The best counterbalance for this Yang is Yin. Cold dark rooms work best but who wants to shut themselves away from the joy of summer. Sunglasses desensitise but I have found that there’s no instant cure for an attack except anti-histamine. I find these cure the attack in the short term, but they leave me exhausted and less resilient to allergens in the long term. So I no longer pop the pills rather I look for yin and cooling foods that will soothe an overheated sensitive body.
Mint is fantastic for the body in the summer. It cools and relaxes muscle spasms. In tests has been shown to inhibit the release of histimines within the body. Fluids can be burnt off not only by the heat of a sunny day but by the internal heat the hayfever brings so drink plenty of water and finally fruits, full of vitamin C will also reduce any internal inflammation of the arteries and mucus membranes so reducing blood pressure or shortness of breath.
So heres the perfect tonic
Crush a handful of goji berries or rosehips or use a rosehip tea bag, add a large sprig of mint and pour over hot water, allow it to brew for 5 minutes for flavour and pour. Add summer petals for heart opening beauty.
Recipe taken from Shiatsu & the Art of Conscious Cooking and we will be tasting it at Naas and in the SunDay Class – Cooking for Sweet Cravings
Do you strive to eat healthily but get lost in cravings or habitual eating patterns? Do you eat plenty and still feel low in energy? Is there a sense of lack that cannot be satisfied in your life? In Chinese medicine this would suggest your stomach and spleen energy is out of balance. Energetically these are the meridians of the nourishing mother earth element, they are the time of harvest and abundance and their flavour is sweet.
Learning these easy to cook recipes specifically for the Stomach and Spleen is a great way to connect with the body and soul’s need for sweet and comforting food without submitting to cravings for refined sugars and starches such as chocolate and bread.
On the menu is:
Come and unload the mental stresses and physical strains, have some fun and learn skills that can nourish your sweet self in everyday life
The cost of the day is €65, concession €50. This includes all food cooked and eaten on the day.
The day will run from 12 am til 4 pm and will be hosted in the light and bright kitchen at the Hunky Chunk House: Easy parking and the Bayside Dart station is a 2 minute walk away. There is space for 6 participants so book early to avoid disappointment.
To book a place simply call 086 607 0432 or email me at joannefaulkner@live.ie
My twin boys are growing up, they’re becoming men, transitioning from cuddles and tantrums to spotty faces and smelly armpits. Unfortunately this coincides with a fear of water so showers are unpopular. Nevertheless the road to hygiene and increased hormone levels is upon us. So to celebrate and mark the occasion they have the sacrament of confirmation. In school they have prepared, on large sheets of coloured paper, their hopes and fears for the future; named the people they respect and the people they would like to become.
To emphasize the men they’re becoming they need the clothes to match for the confirmaation day. Shopping is not my favorite activity especially with three children in tow. The dreaded Sunday arrives and off we go to shop. Because they are transitioning it proves a very difficult 3 hours to find clothes that fit. Boys clothes are too small but mens clothes are too big. The boys are bored and unruley, I am frustrated and cross and loose my temper on more than one occasion. Especially when Sam, the twins younger brother, puts a waste paper basket on his head in the shoe shop and pretends to be a lamp.
All very funny in hindsight and with perspective but at that emotionally charged moment, rage enducing. Finally with bags full we arrived home and all breathed a sigh of relief I began to cook dinner and reached for a glass of red wine . Ahh I thought this will relax me, then I stopped, remembering that for an easter detox I had given up alcohol. So I left it in the bottle. I couldn’t use the sour flavour of red wine to relax an uptight liver and unwind after a stressful day, I was going to have to find another way. I played a board game with the kids and we watched a film, it was ok but it didn’t release any tension, it just established a status quo so when I woke in the morning my neck and left shoulder had become stiff and painful. The yang emotion of the anger and frustration had become a solid, stuck yin in my shoulder.
If you have my book you might remember that the spring is the time for regrowth and creativity. We see it in all the new shoots and green pushing through. Sometimes, however the regrowth can get stuck or blocked by plant pots or rocks above. But unlike me, faced with a shopping centre and three unruley boys, the new growth remains flexible and always finds a way around the immovable object.
| Flavour | Season | Meridians & Organs | Properties | Emotion | Colour |
| Sour | Spring | Liver/ Gall Bladder | Dynamic, Flexible and Effective | Anger, frustration or Creativity | Green |
I had tried to use the appropriate sour flavour in the alcohol to remedy and release the frustration but it’s not always good to rely on a substance for release which is precisely why I had decided to cut it out for a while to see how I managed the stress and frustration of everyday life. Not well it would seem because it has taken me almost two weeks to release the tension from the shoulder. I did yoga and stretches everyday. I grew and ate fresh sprouts and plenty of raw greens, yet it didn’t shift. In the end I needed outside help, one shiatsu, one hot stone massage, some wild woman dancing and a jacuzzi later, its finally shifted.
This has shown me how easily the passing winds of emotions can become physically lodged in our bodies. There are plenty of tools at our disposal to remedy physical conditions but I waited too long to use them. The day was full of “no, …….. don’t do that, …….stop doing that ……. Leave your brother alone …… no ….. stop ….. no…..” I needed to bend my way around the immovable object and find some yes, yes yes. A massage? Oh yes please, a night out dancing, oh yes please, taking the family for a walk on the beach? ahh yes.
I lost perspective, let my anger take me over and to show how badly they had behaved I carried on being angery. Its not ok to for the boys to try shoes on that are way to big for them so they look like clowns, its not ok to throw shoes at each other and its not ok to get distracted by toy shops when suits and shoes are the focus but sometimes boys will be boys, I will say no, set boundaries and enforce consequences. But I don’t have to be a furious, hair pulled, put upon, screaming haridon of a mother just to prove a point.
Seeing the humourous aspect of my childrens behaviour helps and of course breathing. It’s the breath on which we can place the emotions – feel them, breathe, count to ten, get perspective and see the emotions come and go like passing clouds. They are not who you are, they don’t bring power or re-enforce who you are, they are just a way of expressing how you feel. The Liver is linked to the eyes so rather than see through the red mist of anger Im going to look from different angles and see the funny side. My kids are hilarious and they wont be kids for long. The lightness of laughter can relieve the tension of the body and the frustration of the liver. Laughter doesn’t come easy when you are tired and overworked so ask and look for the support you need. Say yes, yes, yes when it comes your way, especially if it’s a Shiatsu massage.
We offer a free class at the end of the month so you can try Chi Flow before you join.
Membership is only €39 per month, with over 20 classes included each month.
After three months, your subscription halves to €20, making it the most affordable Parkinson’s-friendly Qi Gong programme available online.
You are warmly welcome to practise with us and discover your own flow.
Click here to become a member of Chi Flow with Jo → CLICK HERE
Or drop in for a class and feel it for yourself (sign up below). Join the Chi Flow with Jo community for live sessions, practice, and support.
Self-administered acupressure or Chinese Medicine is not a substitute for visits to qualified healthcare practitioners.
Knowing how to treat yourself and your loved ones with complimentary therapies like acupressure can be greatly beneficial and convenient. However, for serious and chronic conditions, you’ll want to visit an Shiatsu therapist / Acupuncturist or other qualified healthcare practitioner who can develop a treatment plan based on your unique medical history and combination of symptoms.
The information provided should not be considered medical advice.
29, 30 & 31st May Bobbio Centre, Magheramore, Co Wicklow
In our lives we come across so many forms of anxiety and stress that cause problems for the heart, which are often ignored or only treated by medication. This weekend aims to care for the heart in a holistic way, using knowledge from the kitchen table, yoga mat, ancient Chinese medicine and the power of the mind to help reduce our reaction to stress, alleviate anxiety and high blood pressure, lower cholesterol, insomnia, and muscle tension and return you home to a sense of joy in your life.
Friday
5.00 Check In – you are welcome to come down before check in, have a cuppa and take a walk in the stunning grounds or to the secluded beach
6.00 Supper
7.00 Welcome Session
Saturday
8.30 Heart Yoga with Uta Kaiser
10.30 Breakfast
11.00 Conscious Cooking Class with Jo – How to build the shen in the body – calming the nervous body and anxious mind
2.00 Lunch
Free time for optional body work with Uta Kaiser, napping, reading, walks in the grounds or a swim at the beach
6.30 Supper
7.30-9.30 Evening meditation and Personal Visioning Activity
Sunday
9.30 Body wake up with Shiatsu Stretches
Breakfast
11.00 Conscious Cooking Class with Jo – Looking at the relationship between healthy liver and healthy heart
12.30 Tea break
1.00 Walking Meditation
1.30 Main Meal
3.00 Closing Ceremony
Cost: €275, There are a number of single rooms which will be allocated on a first come first served basis. This workshop is for 12/13 participants max.
Price includes all food, accommodation & tuition. Bodywork with Uta is an optional extra
For more info and a booking form contact: Joanne Faulkner who specializes in the energy of food in Traditional Chinese Medicine runs a Shiatsu Practice, Cookery Classes and caters holistic events and workshops. 086 607 0432 joannefaulkner@live.ie
You may pay for the whole workshop now using the donate button below however if you only wish to pay the €75 non refundable deposit which secures your place then enter that figure when asked by the paypal instructions.