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.

A Wake up for the Liver for Spring

A Wake up for the Liver for Spring

Recipes

As Spring light grows brighter, it shows the dusty corners and the cobwebs that have gathered over winter it’s time to spring clean.  So why not treat your body just like your house and clear out a sluggish liver. In Western and Chinese Medicine the Liver is the organ and meridian system for detox and regeneration, clearing out and metabolise fats that have been stored during the winter and the liver is the organ to do this.

With its detoxifying abilities, it’s important that we make sure this organ wakes up with Spring so that we don’t suffer from stiff joints, high cholesterol, painful periods and even erectile dysfunction.

Blood has to flow smoothly through the body and if the liver can’t get rid of waste efficiently, the body will become painful and toxic. Emotionally, in Chinese Medicine, this leads to anger and frustration rather than flexible, clear-headed problem-solving.

    It’s easy to fix though.  Here are a few tips:
    1. Try not to eat after 6 pm or before 9 am.  After all, breakfast means breaking of a fast so try not to have snacks after dinner or grazing between meals.
    2. Cutting out milk, cheese, ice-cream and buttery spreads, replacing with olive oil or coconut milk in stews and curries, will ease the congestion on the liver.
    3. As the variety of fresh fruit and vegetable increase, try more salads and raw foods at the table.  Thinly slice courgettes, grate carrots and toss through with lemon juice, olive oil and a sprinkle of salt as an alternative to the hot, cooked dishes that got us through the winter.  These sour flavour dishes stimulate the liver and the raw element helps with the production of enzymes to digest and metabolize foods with ease.

    A favourite recipe of mine from my Good Food: Better Sex Cookbook, replaces heavy, refined carbohydrate pasta with light luscious courgettes.  You don’t have to have a spiraliser for this recipe you can use a potato peeler to shave thin slices then roughly chop lengthways.  Green is the colour for the liver in Chinese Medicine, it helps stimulate the gall bladder to produce bile to further help the liver break down a fatty rich diet.  So keep it clean, keep it green.

    Black Olive and Lemon Courgetti (serves 2)
    2 Spiralized Courgettes

    Dressing
    100g Black Olives
    80g Basil Leaves
    80-120g Flat Leaf Parsley
    1 tbsp thyme leaves
    5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    Juice of 1 Lemon

    Method
    Spiralize the courgettes whilst popping all the other ingredients into a blender and blitzing for 30 seconds so that the olives are still chunky.  When ready toss the tangy, zesty dressing through the courgetti with a fork.

    💗 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.