Sharing my Heartbreak with Stuffed Squash

Sharing my Heartbreak with Stuffed Squash

Energy of Food Blog, Home, Recipes

The following excerpt is from my book Good Food Better Sex. It is possible to misunderstand the title of this book and think that it is about the physical act of intercourse but it’s not. It’s about being human, about being healthy, and about being in love with life. This month in Chi Flow with Jo, we have been practicing Chi Gong and acupressure for the heart. In these times of returning lockdowns, loss of friends, family, job and even a way of life it is possible to lose heart and to feel heartbroken.

I share with you the thing that broke my heart, it was my father dying. I was 17 and in the midst of a life that didn’t fit me. I was a rebellious, confused, obnoxious, drunk, little girl − lost, terrified and desperately sad. That was before he died. After he died I had an excuse to carry on being all those things. People just looked, they watched, they said, “ahh poor girl, her father just died.”

I remember the night my mum told my brother and I how he died, I felt the pain in my chest, like my heart was being ripped open, slashed apart, as if my chest was cracking and splitting from a large quake inside. That pain, the grief was like nothing I have ever felt since. I howled and I screamed. My cries let fly in an unstoppable, keening flood. He was my idol and I adored him. He wouldn’t be there anymore and I was out of my mind and out of my body, with grief.

“When my father died we put him
in the ground
.  When my father died it was like a whole library burned down” – Laurie Anderson

For over 30 years that grief stayed with me. I learned to function on a day to day basis but it was always there, just beneath the surface. It took a lot
 of organization to keep the grief hidden so I could function. As I grew up, I took on too much work, ran too many projects, all to divert my mind and emotions from the maelstrom swelling beneath the surface. I had it in a box, wrapped up at the back of my mind but if a memory unexpectedly cropped up with a smell or a song, I would be instantly inconsolable. Even as the years passed if someone asked about him, tears welled up and I became a vulnerable mess, unable to function, unable to run a busy house as a single mum. So, I didn’t allow the pain and the grief, they were too uncontrollable and I didn’t have space for them in my busy life.

Finally, I had had enough of being alone, of choosing thoroughly inappropriate and incompatible boyfriends. I chose men who weren’t available or capable of supporting me, physically, emotionally, or financially. I chose partners with whom I was never going to be able to completely let go. To be seen and supported in all my incapable, messy, debilitating sadness. I remained safe if I picked partners who were thoroughly inappropriate. More often than not, I was attracted to people who needed a bottomless pit of emotional, financial or physical support themselves. Their needs distracted me from my own which meant I was never vulnerable, I was in control.

In my 40’s I decided to seek a professional therapist
 to help me open up to the grief of losing my father so that I could fall in love again. I explored my relationship with him, warts and all, but most of all I began to let go. I gave in to the swelling waves of deep emotional agony, smashed down the boulders that I had put up as protection. I was raw, vulnerable and broken but I also felt soft and lovable. Slowly and gently I picked myself up and nurtured that delicate, fluid, new me. I learned that I was able to cope, I went shopping, cooked dinner, put the kids to bed, gave Shiatsu treatments but now I knew that no matter how much I experienced grief, I would survive. I could now access the deep love I felt for my father without the terror of the grief. I felt tender, loveable and his presence all around me.

This realization brought about freedom to love without defenses or fear. When we deeply connect with another it is inevitable we will lose them. There is no stopping death and loss. I know one day I will lose my present lover and one day my children will lose me. Touching that deep pain and catastrophic loss of my father broke down my defenses, now I feel more able to love without armour or superficiality. I can show vulnerability and sadness without the terror of loss overwhelming me.

“Grief and love are forever intertwined. Grief is the terrible reminder of the depths of our love and like love, grief is non-negotiable.”   – Nick Cave

The world can be desperately unfair. tsunamis, war, drought, famine, lockdowns, death all bring grief on a daily basis. Through the sorrow, and the injustice, keep your heart open, circulating, and in connection with the possibility of change and love. Be tender with your soft loving self, stay in contact with your emotions, checking in, finding a healthy outlet, and expressing yourself. This recipe from the book Good Food Better Sex can’t right the wrongs in the world but it can support you so that you don’t harden your heart to the grief and sadness of loss.

This blog is taken from Good Food Better Sex: my books are full of personal stories and experiences as to how I’ve used food as medicine for greater love in my life.  Learn to create a compassionate dialogue with your body together with me and the food you choose.

Stuffed Squash (Serves 3)

• Base of 3 medium butternut squash
• 250g cooked rice
• 2 tbsp. sunflower oil
• 2 or 3 leeks
• 4 tbsp. crème fraiche
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1⁄2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 150g strong hard cheese, (mature cheddar, pecorino or manchego)
• 2 tbsp. of thyme leaves
• 2 large handfuls of chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Salt and black pepper to taste.
• 1 mozzarella ball

Cut the top off the butternut squash leaving the bulbous base. Scoop out the seeds and set aside. Prepare the filling by gently frying the leeks in oil until they are soft and transparent. Take off the heat and mix the cooked leeks with cooked rice, crème fraiche, Dijon mustard, hard cheese, herbs, salt and pepper. Stuff the mixture into the cavity of the squashes, place on a baking tray, top with a mozzarella disk and bake for 40-50 minutes at 180oC. To test if thoroughly cooked, slide a knife through the side of the squash. It should slide in and out like butter when ready.
Butternut squash and rice will assist the stomach and spleen meridians, giving the body comfort and support. The cheese and crème fraiche can put the lung and large intestine meridians under pressure meaning they may clog with mucus but the mustard and cayenne pepper are warming and clearing so this should balance things out. The herbs will benefit all areas of the body but especially the heart and the heart’s protective meridians, making sure we do not lose the capacity for connection by overprotection.

You can’t buy my books in Shops, only here. CLICK HERE Have them delivered straight to your door and if you pop a delivery note when purchasing I can sign and dedicate them personally for you.  What a gift to yourself and any loved one.

💗 Ready to Join?

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.

Staying strong for the 2nd Wave

Staying strong for the 2nd Wave

Events, Home, Powerful Points and Meridian Flows

As we move into Autumn and probably the 2nd wave of COVID it’s important that we address the causes of a weak immune system and not just fix the virus by staying indoors away from every one, with a vaccine, or by wearing a mask when out and about. Whilst these are all solutions to treating the problem we also need to look at the cause and how viruses can take hold.

A weakened immune system in Traditional Chinese Medicine is often as a result of Chi Deficiency in the Lung and Large Intestine organs. Over-reactive immune systems that cause inflammation, allergies and allergic responses are often caused by an imbalance in the Spleen and Kidneys. Both can be caused by a poor diet, a hectic lifestyle, unresolved emotions or a genetic predisposition.

What Chi Gong, Acupressure and a 5 element diet do is to strengthen, tonify (bring energy to) and balance your system. You may notice improvements to other complaints that you didn’t realize where related to your immune system such as bad skin, joint pain, and fatigue. If you’re new to Chinese Medicine one of the key differences to Western Medicine is that it treats the cause as well as the symptom, which is why it’s a great complementary therapy. Even though it can treat symptoms such as colds, flu, eczema, diabetes, high blood pressure, as a practitioner I don’t ask you to stop taking medication or contradict your doctor’s advice. I help you to build up your system, addressing why these conditions occur not simply medicating signs of the illness.

TCM Solution: Tapping into Lung 1 & 2 and all along the collar bone will stimulate the Lung channel. It brings energy (Chi) to the lungs and improves oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange. It relaxes the muscles throughout the upper torso resulting in an energized feeling with increase alertness whilst at the same time feeling calm.  You can do this exercise any time talking long, slow abdominal breathes. This prevents shallow breathing which we often do when stressed. Use it before meditating, beginning a yoga practice, or even on a mid-afternoon tea break

Locate Lung points by finding Lung 2 in the depression where the clavicle meets the deltoid muscle. The depression is easier to find when the arm and shoulder is flexed forward. Lung 1 is a thumb width below and slightly to the outside of the body from lung 2 and can be quite painful when pressed.

Gather your fingers together to make a “cranes beak” and begin by gently tapping these points with your gathered fingers. Tap for 30 seconds increasing the strength and tempo of the tapping as suits you.

Then begin to tap along the bottom of the collar bone towards the sternum and then down the outside of the sternum where the ribs meet the outside of the breast bone.

Start to tap on the sternum itself which will help activate the thymus gland and the production of T-cells. These special cells are one of the major components of an effective immune system. They directly kill infected host cells, activate other immune cells, and regulate the immune response.

Here’s a video that incorporates the tapping with a Chi Gong Move called “Rooster Spreading Feathers” 

Every morning I practice Chi Gong with a great group of over 100 women (sessions recorded if you can’t make it and emailed with daily diet and self-shiatsu tips). We get fit, get healthy, and have the craic.  Live Q&A every morning to share your aches, pains, and problems, receiving support and solutions.  

Emotional Healing & Community Support

The weight we carry isn’t just on our hips, it’s in our hearts.
 Feeling like you “want to be minded” is your body’s cry for nurture, not discipline.

When you join Chi Flow with Jo, you don’t walk alone.
We move, fast, cook and heal together. That shared energy keeps you accountable and loved through change.

You don’t need to fight your bodyjust listen to her again.
Start with small rhythms: stop eating after 8 pm, massage Liver 13, sip lemon water in the morning, and join our January program to be supported every step of the way.

💗 Ready to Join?

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.

Easy Does It – How to Wear a Mask

Easy Does It – How to Wear a Mask

Powerful Points and Meridian Flows

For many people wearing a mask is uncomfortable and challenging and for some with underlying health issues, it simply is not possible. Historically some soldiers during WW2 experienced gas mask phobia which resulted in extreme agitation, claustrophobia and even removal of protective gear in dangerous situations so it was obvious they needed training. Even during my time living through the 1990 Gulf war in Israel, we were given guidance on how to wear the gas masks. How to put it on, how to take it off and how to remain calm during a bombing raid whilst the scuds and patriot missiles flew overhead. Now the Coronavirus is a much more silent killer. There is no siren to warn you to put your mask on and there is no training or instruction on how to remain calm when facing an invisible, viral enemy. So here I share tips based in Traditional Chinese Medicine and my Chi Gong Practice on how to put the mask on and how to remain calm when wearing it.

1. Prepare  
Don’t just jump right in, hurriedly putting the mask on and rush out the door. Take a minute. Check your posture. Are you standing up straight, are your shoulders down from your ears and your upper chest open. In Chinese Medicine, the lung meridian, which transports energy around the body just as veins transport blood, begins under the collar bone where it meets the shoulder and rotator cuff. Keeping this area open increases lung capacity, enabling more oxygen to enter and nourish the body.

2. Knock on the Chest
If our posture is upright and our shoulders are back, the chest will naturally open. Use the fingers to tap into the lung 1 point on the upper chest, continue tapping all along under the collar bone until you reach the hollows under the clavicle bone. In Chinese Medicine, the organs link to certain emotions. The lungs hold grief and sadness. When our shoulders hunch forwards, the beginning of this energy meridian can become blocked exacerbating emotions of isolation and despondency. So by tapping on the area and addressing posture our mood lifts and our breathing eases.

3.  Move it
The Chi Gong movement called “Rooster spreading feathers” will further open all areas of the upper chest and torso. The movement also moves the muscles and increases blood flow to the neck and shoulder area, where anxious tension, stiffness and stress can be held in the body, bringing on headaches, nosebleeds and migraines. Begin by bringing all the fingers together to a point and placing them into the Lung 1 point. The begin drawing imaginary circles, in a clockwise direction with the elbows, whilst still keeping the fingers stuck to the lung 1 point.

4. Breathe Deep
When anxiety rises, the immune system lowers and that is precisely the opposite of what we want to happen when we are out and about, mixing and moving. The deeper we breathe the stronger our energy and the lower our stress levels. To stay calm and breathe deeply we need to build stability in our centre. The core of being in Chinese Medicine is located at CV6 on the midline of the body, 2 fingers below the belly button. This is the place to focus on before we put on the mask. Take five breaths, in and out, through the nose, sending the breath to this point. Where the breath goes the Chi Follows and you may find this area in your lower abdomen becoming fantastically warm and relaxed. As you breathe in feel your lower belly relax and as you exhale, your belly goes towards the spine. You can press into the point or hold your hands just below the belly button if this helps you to focus here. After five breaths or whenever you feel comfortable, with clean hands put on your mask by looping it over the ears. Remain where you are, don’t rush out the door, continue to consciously send at least 5 breaths down to your CV6 point, just below the belly button. Only when you feel relaxed in the shoulders and calm in the belly should you make a move to the outside world.

5. Smize
In Chi Gong, we balance the nervous system using breath, simple movements, and by the power of the mind to transform negative feelings into positive emotions. Studies show that feeling happy and relaxed boosts the immune system so don’t forget to smile under your mask. People see your smile through your eyes – its called a “Duchenne smile” or smizing. Practice engaging your whole face when you smile, think of things that make you happy, use all the muscles and remember how that feels so you can do it with ease as you pass people in the supermarket or on the street. This costs nothing and yet adds to your health and to those around you.

Let’s do it together: If you’d like to start your day right, emotionally and physically, come and practice Chi Gong at 8.30 every morning with me and have recordings sent to your email so you can repeat or catch up if you missed us. To subscribe visit Chi Flow with Jo or watch more videos on staying healthy with Traditional Chinese Medicine at www.joannefaulkner.ie

Emotional Healing & Community Support

The weight we carry isn’t just on our hips, it’s in our hearts.
 Feeling like you “want to be minded” is your body’s cry for nurture, not discipline.

When you join Chi Flow with Jo, you don’t walk alone.
We move, fast, cook and heal together. That shared energy keeps you accountable and loved through change.

You don’t need to fight your bodyjust listen to her again.
Start with small rhythms: stop eating after 8 pm, massage Liver 13, sip lemon water in the morning, and join our January program to be supported every step of the way.

💗 Ready to Join?

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.

Danger, Danger – Sugar for the over 40’s

Danger, Danger – Sugar for the over 40’s

Recipes

“In men, the risk of heart disease increases after age 45. In women, the risk increases after age 55. In people who have diabetes, the risk of heart disease increases after age 40.” * US Department of Health and Human Services

You don’t have to have insulin intolerance or diabetes to put your heart at risk. The more refined sugar we eat over the age of 40 the more likely we are to develop heart disease, high blood pressure, and a greater risk of stroke.

The spleen/pancreas is responsible for insulin production that enables the absorption of glucose sugars into the cells of the body.  Too much sugar means either the spleen cannot produce enough insulin (diabetes type 1) or the body becomes insulin resistant (diabetes type 2) Glucose that is unprocessed by insulin remains in the bloodstream damaging arteries causing high blood pressure and heart disease.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine each of the organs relates to a flavour.

For example, the heart likes bitter flavour foods such as lettuce, chicory, and herbs such as basil, thyme, and oregano.  Whereas the liver likes sour foods such as lemons and limes.

The flavour for a healthy spleen/pancreas is sweet, however, too much of a good thing can weaken these organs.

The 5element system of Chinese Medicine would recommend eating whole grains such as brown rice, millet and quinoa and starchy vegetables such as carrots, butternut squash, sweet potato, parsnips which have a naturally sweet flavour, to keep the spleen and sugar levels healthy.

 

These foods are complex carbohydrates that take time to release their sugars rather than refined carbohydrates such as white bread, cake, pastries and pasta that give quick sugar hits but are missing the fibre and minerals of whole-grains.  Healthy food doesn’t have to mean boring food, find recipes that are full of delicious, sexy scrumptiousness – if you consciously love your food, you love yourself.

One tip from Chinese Medicine is to CHEW CHEW CHEW your food.

In this way sugars are released into the mouth, broken down by the teeth and saliva, sending signals to the brain that this is sweet, tasty, comforting food.

So chew your food and improve digestion.  Reduce the cravings for sugars by not eating your food on the run. Slow it down and taste every mouthful.

Often we use refined carbohydrates and sugary foods such as chocolate, chips, cake and biscuits to soothe a frazzled system.  They are comfort foods giving us a quick hit of love and self-care, but in the long term using food to meet and emotional needs is unhealthy.

A chocolate bar can never really love us.  If we find healthy alternatives to refined sweet foods such as sweet potato falafel, millet muffins, or Pear & Cinnamon tea, that taste really good we are more likely to make a change to a nourishing, wholesome, healthy life. This is especially important as we progress through life and our bodies repair and regeneration take a little longer.

So be sugar smart, keep your blood sugars healthy, blood pressure down, and your heart pumping strongly.

IN THE EVER-EVOLVING PURSUIT OF LIVING LONGER AND HEALTHIER, we know diet plays a pivotal role. In recent years, scientists have also focused on the potential of intermittent fasting — a diet that hinges on when you eat, not what you eat.

There is Growing evidence, to suggest intermittent fasting can improve metabolic function, stave off certain diseases, and may even extend lifespan.

Beginning January 2023 running until the end of February 2023 – why not try Intermittent Fasting Chinese Medicine style together with all the members of Chi Flow with Jo.

If you have found dieting difficult in the past, why not try this easy to follow method, with the amazing support of the group.  At only €2 per day you have nothing to loose apart from your waistline.

Why not sign up for the Intermittent Fasting over 40 mini ebook and receive a Free Qi Gong Class at the end of the month 

💗 Ready to Join?

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.

Feeling flat? I can see the future

Feeling flat? I can see the future

Energy of Food Blog, Home, Recipes

What do we do when all plans are out of the window? Perhaps you had arrangements for this summer. Maybe you were getting married, going abroad on your dream holiday, finishing your leaving cert or celebrating a big number birthday but now all those plans are gone. Even as lockdown loosens and restrictions ease, we can be left feeling flat. Without working towards a hopeful future we had planned, we can feel despondent in the present.

Good news, Traditional Chinese Medicine with a focus on diet and acupressure points can help us appreciate this period of uncertainty and even guide us into a more balanced, happier future.

Firstly when you are lacking mental brightness and positivity don’t push yourself. Simply be where you are. Notice what is around you, name five things that you see or hear that are beautiful. This can be hearing birdsong, seeing how green the grass is or, sensing how the breeze moves the leaves in the trees. When you prepare food, do it with love. Arrange your meal on the plate so it looks beautiful, clear and set the table with care so you eat with appreciation. These are small simple tips that in Chinese Medicine that feed the heart.

This organ is the emperor of the body, it stores our spirit and is represented by a flame. Don’t let your fire dwindle, feed the flame and lift your spirit by seeing and creating beauty right here, right now. The season of the Heart is the summer so choosing all those fantastic summer foods such as watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, beetroot, tomato, radish and red peppers benefit the heart physically and emotionally. Try experimenting and put them together in a new way so you see your food as alluring and elegant.

A physical exercise to shift stagnant downturned emotions is to make loose fists and lightly pummel the front of the thighs. Bring the fists up and down over the quads, which are a group of four large muscles at the front of the legs between the knees and hips, for about 30 seconds. This stimulates the Stomach and Spleen channels, responsible for harmony and comfort in the body. So rather than reaching for something sweet to raise the spirits try a little light pummeling which after a couple of days, works wonders in lifting despondent spirits.

It can be hard to appreciate the present when the future feels uncertain but being in the heart in the present moment can transform tragedy to inner strength.  Be kind to yourself. I cant assure you there are better things on the way but there will be different things and if we can keep the eyes open appreciating the beauty in life, right here right now it will help glide us easily along the path to a bright, balanced tomorrow.

For more information on Shiatsu Conscious Cooking visit www.joannefaulkner.ie @joannefaulknerShiatsu on Facebook and Instagram
Buy the book full of recipes, tips and Chinese Medicine at www.joannefaulkner.ie

 Watermelon works well in a salad dish and complements a barbeque splendidly. In Traditional Chinese Medicine this ingredient cools summer heat. When your inner flame is burning too brightly and you are overheating, red in the face or sweating profusely, juice this fruit or munch on segments to move blood, reducing pain and heat around the joints, making this a perfect food for gout, arthritis and fibromyalgia.

1 medium watermelon
100g feta cheese
1 red onion
A handful of fresh basil leaves
2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

Chop the watermelon into bite-size pieces. Slice the red onions into paper-thin, half-moons and sprinkle them along with the crumbled feta onto the watermelon. Scatter the basil leaves and drizzle the olive oil over the top to finish.
Tip: Choose a watermelon that has wide spaces between the dark green lines – they’re sweeter that way.

 

💗 Ready to Join?

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.

Build a Defensive Glow as we Leave Lockdown

Build a Defensive Glow as we Leave Lockdown

Energy of Food Blog, Home, Powerful Points and Meridian Flows

As we come out of lockdown, beginning to mix and mingle with other human beings, albeit at a safe distance, our immune system is going to need to be stronger than ever. There are lots of opinions out there about how to strengthen our resistance to the Coronavirus and without doubt, bad diet is certainly one of the most frequent causes of poor immunity. Viruses usually enter the body via the lung and are detected in the main by receptors in the Large Intestine.

Eat Pungent Foods to Absorb Vitamin C

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Lung & Large are paired together. The flavour of the food to strengthen these organs is pungent, so food in this category include onions, garlic, ginger, chilli, turmeric, cayenne pepper, coriander, and cloves. Many of these foods are packed with selenium, zinc and vitamin C. Onions especially have phytochemicals that act as stimulants for Vitamin C within the body.

Vitamin C is the go-to chemical when we need a boost of energy or support the body getting through the flu or a cold. The pungent flavour, helps the absorption of Vitamin C found in many foods such as parsley, kale, broccoli, berries, tomatoes and red pepper. Remember the body cannot store Vitamin C so it’s essential to eat every day and mix it up with the pungent onion family that help with absorption.

Eat Naturally Sweet Foods to Boost the Immune System

The 5element system in Chinese Medicine is a holistic system that helps us understand and help our body to be the healthiest and happiest it can be. The Spleen-Pancreas is the mother of the Lung and the Immune System. It’s flavour is sweet which corresponds with western medicine as it is the Spleen-Pancreas that govern insulin and blood sugar.

If we have been overindulging in the sweet stuff during lockdown, which includes alcohol high in sugars, now is the time to address this as sugar significantly reduces the ability of the body to protect itself. Vitamin C and sugar compete to use insulin to travel around the body and into the tissues of cells. Usually, sugar wins and so there is less absorption and use of vitamin C to repair and protect the body.

White blood cells that protect the body against invading infections also have their defensive function significantly impaired by overconsumption of refined sugars. So instead of reaching for the biscuits go for naturally sweet foods such as parsnip, sweet potato, butternut squash and carrot. These help spleen function by releasing their sugars slowly and regulating insulin levels.

Reduce Cravings, Tension and Toxicity with Simple Hand Exercises

Connection and physical touch is really beneficial to this organ and reducing sugar cravings. Unfortunately, hugs and tactile behavior is the thing we may have been lacking during lockdown. Instead, we may have been filling this emotional hole with chocolate, cake and banana bread. As a Shiatsu therapist, I see how beneficial touch is for health. It helps relieve pain and tension. It relaxes the body improving neurological function, digestion, sleep and breathing while releasing fear, so something we all need as we move through uncertain times. Don’t wait for someone else to touch you, practice simple self-shiatsu, massage, beginning with your hands.

There are potent acupressure points around the body that have a direct effect on organs and well-being. Large Intestine 4 is a strong elimination point that helps if you have fatigue or the is body overloaded with sugar and toxins. It also helps reduce spasms in the colon that can come after eating or during times of stress.

Find the point by pressing the thumb against the side of the first finger to make a mountainous, fleshy bulge. At the top of the peak you will find Large Intestine 4 (LI4). Release the thumb from the forefinger, pressing and massaging into the point, with your other hand, until you feel it softening and supple. You mustn’t press too hard, you aren’t digging a hole and you don’t want to bruise your hand, you are simply connecting with your body. Feel your lungs fill with oxygen, your diaphragm moving and your intestines relaxing as you press into the point.
You have two hands so make sure you find LI4 on your other hand too. Rub and massage all over your hands, giving a squeeze to the fingertips to stimulate blood and energy flow. Clasp your hands together, rubbing and rolling the heels of the palms so all the bones and flesh of your hands flex and are physically manipulated.
This self- massage boosts spleen function sending the energy upwards towards the lung and together these organs form your barrier of defense. Like a glow surrounding your body this defensive chi-energy from these healthy organs will help protect us as we emerge from lockdown and enter the world.

For more information on Shiatsu Conscious Cooking or to buy the books full of recipes, tips and Chinese Medicine visit www.joannefaulkner.ie or find her on Facebook @joannefaulknerShiatsu where she offers Free Morning Chi Gong sessions at 8:30 am during lockdown

Do you want to understand your body and take control of all areas of your health?  Take the Online Courses to become more body confident, loving your food, loving your body and loving your life.

Courses include: 2 Online Consultations PLUS Copy of Conscious Cookbook sent straight to your door
PLUS 30 Days / 30 Videos – bitesize cookery programs, Chi-Gong exercises, and self-shiatsu acupressure points in your own home.

Choose from:

  1. Stopping Sweet Cravings
  2. Sexy Savvy Menopause
  3. Reduce Pain in Fibromyalgia  and Chronic Fatigue
  4. Good Food: Better Health
  5. Good Food: Better Sex

Emotional Healing & Community Support

The weight we carry isn’t just on our hips, it’s in our hearts.
 Feeling like you “want to be minded” is your body’s cry for nurture, not discipline.

When you join Chi Flow with Jo, you don’t walk alone.
We move, fast, cook and heal together. That shared energy keeps you accountable and loved through change.

You don’t need to fight your bodyjust listen to her again.
Start with small rhythms: stop eating after 8 pm, massage Liver 13, sip lemon water in the morning, and join our January program to be supported every step of the way.

💗 Ready to Join?

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.

Libido in the time of COVID-19

Libido in the time of COVID-19

Home, Powerful Points and Meridian Flows

Fight or flight? Survive, thrive and procreate, these are the two basic instincts of human behavior controlled by the Nervous system. The first stimulates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) which controls the body’s responses to a perceived threat by stopping digestion, triggering stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol plus prolactin, the celibacy hormone. It shuts down the lateral thinking parts of the brain, it contracts the vagina and releases the bladder. However, the second, parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is the opposite.  It controls natural balance in the body so it can relax, rest, digest, thrive and procreate.

At this time of COVID-19, most people seem to be falling into the first response section and procreating is the furthest from their mind. This flight or fight response is ok if you are under immediate threat but on a long-term basis, the body and mind will become unwell, causing the very situation that you were trying to avoid. So how can we calm down and replenish joyful love into everyday living? In my last blog, I described how to bring romance back to life with spontaneity and trying new things. But maybe you aren’t there, perhaps there has been too much change and you are feeling terrified in a world that doesn’t seem so certain anymore. Attending to your libido seems the furthest from your mind and that’s ok right now. You have to dig where you stand and take action in a way that suits you. So rather than forcing your sex drive to kick start, begin by simply increasing calm and focusing on relaxation, good health will follow.

The Kidney and Bladder are the organs in the 5element system of Traditional Chinese Medicine that govern the nervous system. Working on these meridians can release tension from the muscles, relax the organs and improve the breathing so that oxygen can feed the body and the mind. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we use food, acupuncture points and Chi Gong exercise to balance and relax the body.  The good news is that it is relatively easy to help the body switch to the parasympathetic nervous system where all parts of the brain are in use, heart rate slows, digestion, absorption and elimination of food happens. It also allows the erection of the penis plus lubrication and opening of the vagina to take place, all you need to do is breathe.

Many practices blend body and breath such as Chi Gong, Ujjayi breathing, Yoga and Tai Chi. Here I share a couple of simple breathing exercises from Good Food: Better Sex.

The first exercise – place your hands on your belly, just below the navel. Take some large breaths. As you breathe in feel your hands rise and as you breathe out feel your hands fall. The belly will decrease as the diaphragm pushes the air out. Focus especially on the out-breath. Breath out as long as possible, right to the end of the breath and hold it for three seconds, let the in-breath take care of itself. Do this at least ten times. Taking your attention along with your palms to the area just below the belly button.

The second exercise – sweep your arms up overhead to gather the energy all around you as you breathe in. As you breathe out, bring down your palms over the front of your face and body, as they come to your belly take them to the back, over the kidneys, sweeping them down the backs of the legs and up the inner legs. Come to rest with your palms holding just below your belly button. Do this ten times and feel your body relaxed, kidney’s restored and nervous system reset.

In the book you will find more exercises including breast and testicular massage, practiced to increase health and longevity, plus beneficial acupressure points and food medicine. https://joannefaulkner.ie/product-category/cook-books/

You don’t need a partner to have Good Food: Better Sex you simply have to be your own best lover. Put your health and wellness first and good things will follow. It is perfectly normal that libido changes especially during times of an unforeseen pandemic and hormonal shifts. Don’t begin to think there is something wrong with you or your relationship. Just breathe, and know that all this will pass.

If you would like to work with me to increase your vitality and energy, to connect with your body, balancing hormones and jump starting your libido – why not book a 1-1 session with me  and I can help you access the innate health of your body, to tune-in with your sexual energy which in Chinese Medicine is at the core of feeling well and ageing slowly.

Emotional Healing & Community Support

The weight we carry isn’t just on our hips, it’s in our hearts.
 Feeling like you “want to be minded” is your body’s cry for nurture, not discipline.

When you join Chi Flow with Jo, you don’t walk alone.
We move, fast, cook and heal together. That shared energy keeps you accountable and loved through change.

You don’t need to fight your bodyjust listen to her again.
Start with small rhythms: stop eating after 8 pm, massage Liver 13, sip lemon water in the morning, and join our January program to be supported every step of the way.

💗 Ready to Join?

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.

Good Food, Better Sex during Lockdown?

Good Food, Better Sex during Lockdown?

Energy of Food Blog, Home, Recipes

Maybe you made promises to have and to hold, love and cherish your partner till death did you part but I wonder if that included lockdown situations?  With the occasional burst of entertainment, mixed with long stretches with no other company, you may not be so beguiled by each other.  Nowadays you can Netflix and Chill every night, but I wonder how that is working out for you, how is your relationship now that you are living together 24/7? Are you trying new things or has the boredom of lockdown seeped into the bedroom?

One area in which people do seem to be trying new things is in the kitchen. On social media, it seems like we are all experimenting with food. Everyone is posting their banana bread, buttermilk scones and sourdough starter.  There’s lots of playing with food, experimenting and trying new things. With time on our hands, we are changing and adapting to our new situation by refreshing our menu and falling in love with food all over again.

 

I can teach you how to understand your body and take control of all areas of your health.  How to become more body confident, loving your food, loving your body and loving your life.

Courses include: 2 Online Consultations, regular Q&A check in’s, PLUS Copy of Conscious Cookbook sent straight to your door
PLUS 30 Days / 30 Videos – bitesize cookery programs, Chi-Gong exercises, and self-shiatsu acupressure points in your own home.

Choose from:

  1. Stopping Sweet Cravings
  2. Sexy Savvy Menopause
  3. Reduce Pain in Fibromyalgia  and Chronic Fatigue
  4. Good Food: Better Health & Sexual Energy
Romance is something that is on the table at the beginning of a relationship when two people are learning about each other.  Couples take each other out to dinner.  They cook for each other, curious to discover the other person’s likes and dislikes. Shared food is a shared pleasure, all the more exciting when things are new. However, romance becomes stale when you get stuck in a rut.  When you get up at the same time, do the same things, cook the same food, watch the same TV, go to bed with the same routine, and even lovemaking can become repetitive.  However allowing change, even promoting change within the relationship will keep it alive.  So just like trying new recipes, embrace this COVID-19 altered pace of life during lockdown by trying new things in your relationship.  Base your love upon the fundamental truth that everything changes. If a relationship can change, it can remain fresh and romantic.
Perhaps this is why there has been a sharp rise in sales of the book Good Food: Better Sex.  This book mixes the health benefits of food in Traditional Chinese Medicine with sexual health practices found in Tantra and Taoism.  There are fun simple exercises with food such as blindfold play with home-made chocolate covered strawberries. There is a recipe for natural lube with guidance on how to use it, and plenty of practical exercises to bond you and your partner from different ways of touch and ways to say yes and no.

Good Food: Better Sex focuses on how the body responds to food using flavours, colours, seasons and the senses. It makes it easy and straightforward for you and your partner to try something new and exciting with food.  

So instead of eating your dinner in front of the TV together, why not bring back the romance and surprise each other by trying something new? When we emerge from Lockdown, you can look back at this time as having enjoyed deepening connections, Good Food and hopefully Better Sex.

Then there is the food.  With over 100 different recipes to improve all areas of sexual health, try tasting something new together from watermelon and beetroot juice with its viagra effects, to the gentle spices of onion pilaf and Kashmiri cauliflower which boost immunity and ease the digestive system.  Try the oat milk pancakes with pecans and natural yogurt for a perfect Sunday brunch to calm the nervous system, boost fertility, and raise libido.

Oatmilk Pancakes (page 97 of Good Food: Better Sex)

• 100g oats
• 100g buckwheat flour
• 350ml milk (almond and brown rice milk also works well)
1 egg
• Pinch of salt
Liquidize the oats, buckwheat flour, eggs and milk so that it becomes a milky mixture. Make sure there are no lumps before leaving to rest for at least half an hour.  In a large non-stick pan, melt a nob of butter and coat the pan with it. Pour a ladleful (approx. 50ml) of the prepared pancake mixture onto the pan, tilting it so that it covers the base with a thin coating. These are a crepe style pancake rather than a thick American pancake. When bubbles begin to form on the top of the batter in the pan, flip and cook for another couple of minutes. Slide from the pan onto a plate, dolloping natural yogurt on top with a drizzle of maple syrup and sprinkle with chopped pecans.

💗 Ready to Join?

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.

Healthy Heart – physical foods and emotional tips

Healthy Heart – physical foods and emotional tips

Energy of Food Blog

During this time of uncertainty and fear, we may be experiencing insomnia, dizziness, chest tightening, shortness of breath, palpitations, or unexplained rashes and temperature fluctuations. These anxiety-related symptoms, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, point to the heart. Every organ in the body is in service to the heart and it is central to our wellbeing. So at this jittery time, it is essential to keep it calm and healthy. Here are a few tips to keep the heart pumping easily and the blood flowing smoothly.

In Chinese Medicine, red foods benefit the heart. It is the antioxidant anthocyanins, that give foods their red and deep purple color, which together with bioactive polyphenols, help detoxify the blood ensuring easy distribution. Good circulation and easy flow of blood are essential at times of high stress to prevent a rise in blood pressure.  Good blood flow makes sure all your organs, tissues and muscles are oxygenated reducing inflammation and heat. So up your intake of red peppers, beetroot, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, Chinese red dates, goji berries, watermelon, rosehips and pomegranates.

This can be in a mixed fruit salad or a summer lettuce salad but for something different try mixing pomegranate with a carbohydrate such as bulghar wheat and flat-leaf parsley. Use a squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of olive oil for a wonderful warm salad.  Recipe on page 200 of Good Food: Better Sex. All these red fruit and vegetables contain high doses of vitamin C. Most people are aware of the health properties of Vitamin C for the immune system. When we have a cold we reach for the orange juice but did you know Vitamin C can do more than just protect us from the common cold. It helps convert cholesterol into bile and prevents gallbladder disease. It destroys free radicals in the bloodstream, which are responsible for cell damage and the obvious signs of aging. It helps the body absorb Iron, it helps us burn off stored body fat and most importantly for the heart, it helps to rebuild damaged tissues and arteries which transport the blood to all parts of the body. It helps synthesize collagen which keeps arteries flexible and flowing reducing blood pressure, shortness of breath and chest pain.

 

Tomatoes are perfect heart-friendly food. They even look like a heart
with their blood-red outside and cavities inside. In the 5 element system of Traditional Chinese Medicine where organs have a colour, a flavour, an emotion and a time of day to keep them tip-top healthy, it is the bitter flavour that serves
the heart. In western medicine, the tomatoes high lycopene and potassium content dilate and protect the blood vessels, meaning lower blood pressure and reduced risk of heart disease. Unlike other vegetables that lose their minerals when cooked, lycopene is more easily absorbed by the body when cooked. So a tomato sauce with plenty of red onions, red peppers and sweet potatoes, would be perfect heart-healthy food to keep us in the pink.

Then we come to the emotional aspect of the heart. The element for the Heart is Fire so don’t let emotions feed the flames so they overwhelm you, leaving your heart damaged and your spirit overwhelmed. Take a little distance from events. Just for ten minutes allow yourself to settle. Park thoughts and feelings that are occupying your mind. Allowing ten minutes of solitude. When you sit in silence, without distractions of the news and external events, something begins to happen. At first, you may feel frightened and alone but gradually, with practice, you will hear only your heartbeat which helps develop a sense of deep unwavering internal rhythm. By establishing a sense of self you won’t be swept away on the tsunami of other people’s panic and fearful outcomes. Your heart will a peaceful home in which to rest.

Try this next exercise either whilst sitting in silence or when you feel overwhelmed and anxious. Open and close both hands into fists. Make sure your fingers curl down to touch the palms of your hands, then stretch out to fully expand the fingers. Use the middle fingers to find the calming point in the centre of your palm. Open and close your hands at least 15 times and feel the circulation. Try doing it with your arms open wide for extra expansion and blood movement. This increases blood supply to the heart and distracts the mind from overthinking and worry by bringing the attention back into the body and our peaceful, steady heartbeat.

If you’d like more food medicine tips, take a look at the books.

Why not try a free class with me at the end of the month.  Register here and I’ll send you the recording if you can’t make the live.

Emotional Healing & Community Support

The weight we carry isn’t just on our hips, it’s in our hearts.
 Feeling like you “want to be minded” is your body’s cry for nurture, not discipline.

When you join Chi Flow with Jo, you don’t walk alone.
We move, fast, cook and heal together. That shared energy keeps you accountable and loved through change.

You don’t need to fight your bodyjust listen to her again.
Start with small rhythms: stop eating after 8 pm, massage Liver 13, sip lemon water in the morning, and join our January program to be supported every step of the way.

💗 Ready to Join?

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.

Avoid Family Tension and Hang on to your Mojo during COVID-19

Avoid Family Tension and Hang on to your Mojo during COVID-19

Energy of Food Blog, Home

Everyone needs to eat but these days when we are all inside, we may not be eating from hunger but to pass the time.  Grazing and overeating is a real problem when we can’t get out and about.  Perhaps your daily commute, striding trips to the shops or taking a walk with friends has disappeared.  Here are some tips so we don’t exit cocooning with more problems than we went in with.
Love your food but don’t overindulge.

Think of your food as a special lover, keep it sexy.  

Remember sexual energy isn’t about sexual intercourse.  it’s about keeping your passion and joy for life, making sure the Chi is metabolized and flowing.  So keep food light and tactile.  Eat food that won’t slow down your body’s digestive systems such as red meat, cheese or heavy cream.  Rather go for grilled mackerel with poached eggs or a tactile tomato and onion salad with a tangy lemon dressing.  Mix your carbs into a salad so that elements of your diet are raw.  Try the Bulghar and Pomegranate Salad on page 200 of Good Food Better Sex.

These types of food support the liver and detoxify blood so that it flows easily, nourishes organs and maintains libido energy.  To increase intimacy, eat using your fingers including plenty of eye contact with your partner over a table.  Even though the meal could be a chaotic throng of kids and grandparents, your partner will know you are thinking just about them and the delights to come later.  If you are cocooning alone savor your mealtimes and your food.  Turn the TV or radio off.  Enjoy the silence and relationship you have with the food that will become your energy.  Eat your salads with your fingers, take your time, there’s plenty of it.

In Chinese Medicine, the Liver is also responsible for flexibility and frustration.  So to make sure you stay calm with kids, avoid confrontation with teenagers and maintain your libido avoid other liver straining foods such as alcohol.  Create mocktails instead. Using fresh juice, add sprigs of mint or use a potato peeler to create cucumber slivers so the drink becomes a treat, not a chore.

On a practical note try watermelon and beetroot, as these foods contain vitamins and minerals that aid erectile dysfunction and reduce vaginal dryness.  (more info: Good Food Better Sex)

When everyone is inside, finding space for intimate moments can be tricky but it’s important to remember that sexual intercourse begins way before the bedroom.  Great intimacy requires connection so set a timer for 10 minutes and listen to your partner as they tell you their thoughts and fears.  Maybe they are unsure about the CoronaVirus or the future.  Maybe there’s a particular thing you are doing that’s annoying them.  

Listen to them without comment or interruption as they tell you how they are feeling.  You may encourage them with phrases such as “tell me more” but don’t judge, try to fix or explain yourself.  Then turn the tables and you talk. This requires really deep listening and acceptance for the other person’s opinions and beliefs.

You can use this technique with any family member or a person you are sharing space with, it relieves tension and aids communication. If you want to take this to the next level, set the timer again but this time ask them where they would like to be touched and how they would like to be touched.  This can be done via skype or over the phone.  It can be sexual or sensual. 

You can describe how you would like to be stroked, it is with a feather or fingernails, which part of the body and for how long.  Or you can simply ask to be held and rocked. Honest communication is key to healthy, happy life full of love.

You can also do this exercise solo.  Your pleasure is never someone else’s responsibility and remember:  Outercourse comes before intercourse

I hope this insight into how you can use Chinese Medicine to complement your health by simply using food as medicine.  To keep the body active, join me Facebook Live every morning during lockdown at 8.30 for Chi Gong and Makka-Ho meridian stretches

Emotional Healing & Community Support

The weight we carry isn’t just on our hips, it’s in our hearts.
 Feeling like you “want to be minded” is your body’s cry for nurture, not discipline.

When you join Chi Flow with Jo, you don’t walk alone.
We move, fast, cook and heal together. That shared energy keeps you accountable and loved through change.

You don’t need to fight your bodyjust listen to her again.
Start with small rhythms: stop eating after 8 pm, massage Liver 13, sip lemon water in the morning, and join our January program to be supported every step of the way.

💗 Ready to Join?

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.

Store cupboard tea for immunity

Store cupboard tea for immunity

Energy of Food Blog, Home, Recipes

STORE CUPBOARD TEA FOR IMMUNITY

Always make sure to have these two store cupboard ingredients that will always help to keep you healthy. I also share a recipe that puts them all together in the best flu-busting, immune-supporting, inflammation-reducing, spirit-lifting, tasty tea, I know.

 

The first ingredient is ginger. Traditionally the rhizome (root) is used in complementary medicine all over the world but the flowering plant originated in China and is closely related to turmeric and galangal.  Ginger has been used for over 1000’s of years in Chinese Medicine to treat nausea, chest infections, digestive conditions, colds and flu.  
At the moment in the treatment of COVID-19 wild ginger (Xi Xin) is part of a compound which has been very useful when treating the virus.*1  Wild ginger can only be prescribed by a Chinese Medicine physician as it can be toxic if not used properly.  However, there are no such worries with regular ginger.  We can all use it in large doses to strengthen the immune system and keep the mucus from settling on the chest.

The pungent flavour in Traditional Chinese medicine supports the immune system with foods such as garlic, ginger, and any of the onion family such as scallions, leeks and regular onions.  These ingredients in Chinese medicine disperse phlegm that builds up in the lungs and helps to strengthen the immune system.   Which includes our next ingredient turmeric.

 
In Chinese Medicine, turmeric stops blood stagnating and coagulating thereby reducing pain, swelling and stiffness all over the body. It helps the gallbladder produce bile, aiding the liver’s detoxifying powers, invigorating blood and moving Chi in all areas of the body.
 
In the abdomen, it reduces cramps and the pain of slow-moving menstruation blood and in the lung, it keeps passageways open aiding breathing.
Cinnamon is another fantastic ingredient. With its gentle Christmas spice flavour it warms the lungs and allows flow. With its sweet flavour it also supports the spleen, which according to the simple 5-element theory is the mother of the lung.  Out of balance, too much sugar creates internal dampness, which clogs the lungs, making conditions such as pneumonia even more difficult to treat. So whilst the maple syrup in the tea is a good alternative to refined sugar as it contains minerals and antioxidants it is still a sugar and will cause problems if taken in large amounts.

(Page 309 – Good Food, Better Sex)

(BUY THE BOOK)

•750ml water
•1⁄2 a lemon, sliced or rough chopped rind included
•2-inch ginger root, roughly chopped
•1 tsp. freshly grated turmeric
•1 stick cinnamon
•1 tbsp. maple syrup (more or less to taste)
Put all ingredients into a large saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 10-20 minutes. Strain and serve. Once strained I like to keep this in the fridge, filling half a mug and topping up with boiling water when I want a hot cup. It’s a very pleasant drink to take warm in the winter or cool in the summer. Feel free to change quantities of ingredients depending on your taste or illness.
Ginger and Turmeric can be kept in the fridge or freezer to be grated or chopped when needed.

 

Your journey to health and balance is unique, and embracing the wisdom of TCM can help you achieve lasting freedom from cravings. Be kind to yourself, listen to your body, and enjoy the process of nurturing your health.

Until next time, stay balanced and be well.

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.