Inner Guidance On A Stormy Sea

Inner Guidance On A Stormy Sea

Recipes

The world is beginning to open up, there’s cars on the road, kids in the park, hustle and bustle is back. But where is our place in a new world order?

There’s so much information about how to behave and how to act it can be hard to find what fits for us. It can seem that everybody else is coming out of lockdown, meeting friends, smiling easily and taking everything in their stride and perhaps it doesn’t feel like that for you. Perhaps you feel unsure about this new way of interacting.

Do you embrace friends, Do you have to share a cuppa outside or is having tea together inside ok? Can you stop and talk to strangers, passing the time? Can you go on dates? Mask or no mask? Even though there are written guidelines, how do they apply to your life? Where does lockdown end and normal life begin? I miss smiles with random strangers in supermarkets and on the street. I know the masks are necessary I just feel uncomfortable.

Everybody else seems fine, head down, no contact, keeping distant, getting things done without connecting and heading home. It feels like everyone is getting it right, easily adapting and slotting right into this new way of being. But that’s just a big case of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) usually applied to social media, this is where everyone has great kids, tidy house, perfect house and the sun is always shining.

However, that’s never how it is. The truth is everyone is finding their own way. So how can we use Chinese Medicine to help rediscover our internal compass?

Don’t multi-task: Doing too many things at once can mean we become overwhelmed and lose sight of our purpose. The ultimate goal is to be happy and at peace. By taking things slowly we can experience our feelings. Are we at peace and happy or are we ticking off a to-do list that we “think” will make us happy? You have to enjoy the journey not just the destination. So slow down, don’t bite off more than you can chew, you will become irritable and tense, scattered and exhausted.

Touch is often overlooked as a way to feel well but it can simultaneously ease pain, lessen anxiety, promote healing and help you to take the obstacles in life in your stride.

Try this point to calm the mind and release tension.

GOVERNING VESSEL 24.5 – Yin Tang point

This point is often instinctively massaged by people to relieve headaches and eyestrain.

In my book Good Food: Better Sex I use this point for regulating the endocrine system but it can also be used for any facial pain, including those related to sinus congestion.

Find in the midline of the body between the eyebrows.

Close your eyes, rotating and pressing into the area for 30 seconds every day.

Combine it with rubbing your checks and massaging your jaw to release tension in the whole area, relaxing the neck, shoulders, upper chest and clearing the mind.

Slow Food Down: In Traditional Chinese Medicine excessive worry and insecurity is the emotion of the spleen and the stomach, these organs are associated with the earth element.

So eating foods that support these organs such as whole grains, root vegetables, fennel, butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, pumpkin, sweet potato and peas, will help the body navigate the specific emotions that arise.

Try a new twist on carrots by cooking 500g in boiling salted water until soft, then mashing them with a fork and mixing in the following ingredients:

1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp. salt
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground black pepper

Aesel to sad sing to arize handfuls of baby spinach leaves to the hot, mashed carrots so that it wits before serving The stomach and spleen don’tlike raw food so even wilting spinach means tis softer on the stomach for digestion.

The grass is rarely greener when we jump the fence so it’s healthier for the mind and body to find things we enjoy right here, right now. Even if we are uncomfortable in this new world, find things that you are thankful for will help. Keep a list, on the fridge, on the table, or even make a gratitude jar, adding at least five things to it every day.

Maybe its that you have food in your fridge, air to breathe, fingers to feel, or a tongue to taste, there is always something to feel grateful for. Be easy on yourself, take time for things to unfold and know that everyone is navigating the same sea just in different boats.

For more information on Shiatsu Conscious Cooking and to buy the books full of recipes, tips and Chinese Medicine visithttps://shop.joannefaulkner.ie/#books

Follow @joannefaulknerShiatsu on Facebook 

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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.
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You are warmly welcome to practise with us and discover your own flow.


💗 Ready to Join?

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You don’t need to have it all worked out.
You just need something gentle to lean into, one day at a time.

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.

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.