Anti inflammatory Archives - Page 5 of 5 - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Tears of Joy and Breathing for Ayurvedic Living

When you get tears of joy (😂), your body is set in joy motion. You feel something and that can get you to move and take good action.

You get to experience freeing moments like you’re on top of the world, and your mind is joyfully elevated. This helps your mental health and outlook. And when your mind is happy, your body feels the connection. That’s Ayurveda in a nutshell.

Well… except it’s not that cut and dry (…I don’t think anything is these days). I wrote some personal notes below at the end of this post, from over a decade of intentional-balanced and healthy-minded living

I think it’s safe to say, we all have different body goals. One of mine is to stay looking young for as long as nature will let me. I can’t stop gray hairs from coming, but I can avoid the stressful grays that started in my mid-20s.

And our preferences are different, like in music…

For me and maybe for you, that can be in listening to a song that strikes a chord inside, like Adele’s emotional songs or the empowering words from a Lauren Daigle song.

Lyrics matter to me more now than they used to when I’d hum along to anything that had an upbeat vibe. It’s a good idea to be choosier about what we put in our minds (and body) if we want certain results.

And in modern Ayurvedic living, you choose as it’s not rules-based but certain practices work because the body is intuitive.

In other happy moments, seeing someone else happy can leave us smiling. Or when they have tears of joy, we do too.

And in another moment, that could be laughing out loud (does anyone even use LOL anymore…besides me? 😊).

And btw, I get a good laugh in watching The Great British Baking Show. I’ll spare you the witty, but clean jokes swirling in my head. But, that’s what sets it apart from every other baking competition. It’s standup (filmed) comedy or silly, tongue-in-cheek banter… oh, and beautiful bakes too.🍥

And it’s easy to love and relate to all the friendly contestants (and be glad you’re not under the pressure!). Read-dy?…Now Bake.

Just kidding. (I can’t say lol since I just called myself out on it).

But, anyway… in life, you’re usually witnessing your life from and with other people even if it’s through a computer or television. Even if we feel like we live in a bubble, our energy permeates through social media and our connections made. It doesn’t take a plane ride… it takes nanoseconds for our energy and atoms to travel.

And that’s the relational power we have in this life. Along with our connecting breath.

Next time you think about it, pair your tears of joy (or routinely adding daily eye drops) with a special breathing exercise called Pranayama, that’s a controlled way of breathing.

Here’s how you do Pranayama breath. Blow out all your air through your mouth. And then inhale breathe in a big gasp of air through your nose. Hold your breath for about 6-8 seconds. And then let out a big exhale through your mouth as you had started with. You can feel a burst of concentration/clarity in your mind. The mind fog is lifted (even if it’s temporary) and it can feel like you just had a shot of espresso or strong matcha tea.

In doing the breathing exercise, you’ve just relaxed and massaged your body from the diaphragm muscles to your vital nerves that impact your brain, breathing, and the body parts that regulate your stress. Sounds like a big deal… it is.

But we forget. And living in purpose is everything to intentional balanced living.

You get to feel alive! And that may be the that’s-what -I’m talkin’-about prescription you need, especially if you have constant stress in your life. You can try to find areas of life where you can shed tears of joy.

You can practice breathing purposeful daily wherever you are, so remember to do this regularly or when you next feel anxiety or a breather moment.

This can be another purposeful move where you step outside where you spend most of your day. Like when you’re out and see a work of art that moves your heart and stirs your soul. That can be from nature or something that is living and breathing like a baby-making cooing sounds or a dog with a wagging tail you see walking outside.

If you’re cooped up inside and have no errands to run (lucky you!), here are some outside ideas to get out of your nest: Continue reading “Tears of Joy and Breathing for Ayurvedic Living”

Organic Cold Brew Coffee Benefits

Organic cold brew coffee is the coffee you should drink regularly if you’re a cuppa joe in the morning type of person… and if you care about your health.

Regular coffee is one of the most tainted sourced ingredients in our daily lives. And while organic coffee can be a tad more expensive, what is your health worth?

If you experience brain fog or less sharp short-term memory, it’s worth the switch to organic cold brew coffee.

These are just a few organic cold brew coffee benefits:

☕️ You can make and drink cold brew coffee faster than you can wait for hot coffee to brew (and wait for it to cool).

☕️ Cold brew also has health benefits. It’s less acidic than regular hot coffee or espresso (from the cold brewing process. Of course… I’m telling you all this because I’ll show and describe to you how you can make your own below in case you’ve never done before.).

☕️ And because of less acidic benefit, you may not need to eat your first meal first before your first cup. Many of us wake up groggy and we want our coffee, but first need a soft pillow food that’s not the easiest when you’re not quite ready yet for eating because you eat later (prolonging fasting from the night before) or aren’t yet hungry.

☕️ If coffee tears up your stomach or gives you heartburn, then cold brew coffee could be a good option if you don’t wanna give it all up. Or if you want a lighter cup of coffee in your day, this could be the way to go!

☕️ Cold brew coffee is great for hot weather days as your coffee is served cold after being refrigerated.

For the past 2 years, I switched to only cold brew coffee that is starting to catch on. You can find a small section in your grocery store that offers cold brew selections. But I think you can make it easily at home, and it can be a mindful, relaxing activity.

If you knew me, you know I like to zhugh up any food or beverages (probably from my catering background), so I’ll share how I do that too!

What you need for basic cold brew coffee:

-Ground coffee

-Mesh catcher (with a lip or rim)

-Coffee filters

-Spoon

-Water

-Deep bowl at least 6” high/deep OR pitcher with a large opening almost or just slightly larger than the mesh catcher diameter is ideal (but as long as most the mesh catcher sits inside the pitcher, it’ll work).

If you use a pitcher, you won’t need another pitcher to pour your finished coffee into as your cold brew coffee can go straight into the pitcher and fridge.

Setup:

Bowl: Find or buy a right-size mesh catcher that works comfortably for your cold brew coffee prep setup, where the coffee filter fits in easily.

Rest the mesh catcher to then rest on top of the bowl.

Set the coffee filter to sit in the catcher as flat or parallel to the table surface as best it can, so you don’t have coffee and water in the filter dripping or tipping over. Then you have your bowl setup.

Or…

Pitcher: You can put your filter/catcher ontop of a wider-opening pitcher. If you use a pitcher, you want most of the bottom half of the catcher to sit inside the pitcher so your coffee brewing doesn’t spill over in the sides.

cold brew coffee

So then you have your setup from one of the options above. Good job!

Next, you can bring on the coffee. I like to make cold brew coffee in the morning to get a good whiff of the coffee grounds, and as a relaxing mindful activity.

You can even pull out your setup the night before if you just want to make a cup in the morning. Mind you, the fresh-made coffee will be warmer than if you refrigerated but that’s actually better for you in the morning when you’re getting your day started. Your stomach prefers room temperature liquids.

In choosing the coffee type, use ground coffee. It’s better to use a mix of superfine ground coffee and a coarser ground coffee so the grounds don’t filter through the filter. They’re grounded 😉

Coffee Choices:

I’m a Vata who prefers variety for coffee choices. I like to mix it up (maybe that’s you too?) and that helps for satiating preferences, seasonal cravings, and help restore imbalances.

I might use a bag of finely grounded coffee, and a coarser ground coffee. Any ground coffee will work but some work better than others.

I didn’t grow up drinking coffee, and maybe you did and you like the one you grew up with, so you can go with that or try a new one.

BTW, they say people like to use the same clean linen laundry detergent they grew up with, but I think that’s just certain people as we have so many options these days. Who’s they anyway? I actually like the evolving, improved formulas that have light citrusy or no fragrances. To each her own!

I re-use those finished coffee containers and bags for my green recycling house projects. I may send some out idea vibes on how I repurpose grocery plastic containers in the future as I don’t like waste 😊

Anyway, where was I?

Back to coffee-talk ☕️ … next, to start making cold brew coffee pour your ground coffee mix (about 1/2 cup to ¾ cup total coffee grounds total) in the filter (that’s already sitting in the catcher and bowl/pitcher).

A good tip is, mix the ground coffees up in your filter with a spoon before you pour in water to possibly prevent fine ground coffee from filtering through your filter like I mentioned above.

Once you have selected the ground coffee and setup: Continue reading “Organic Cold Brew Coffee Benefits”

Thanksgiving Spices Healthy Rainbow Variety and Za’atar Recipe

Thanksgiving spices are afterthoughts to the big day 🦃… after deciding where you’ll be, how you’ll get there, and even scoring the turkey food table star.

The weeks before Thanksgiving builds up anticipation. And even the day before, it’s still not too late to craft up an Ayurveda beneficial and spice-filled menu for a Happy Thanksgiving, created with an inspired rainbow color and variety tasty feast in mind. 🌈

That can linger on year-round after the holiday week has come and gone.

I’ll never forget the memories when I had family come over and there were very few recipe sites. Today, it’s completely different!

I still reference Martha Stewart. She used to have a television show… I don’t know if you remember or know about it, but I was a fan. 🎉

I’m still a fan, but the show has long moved onto YouTube and Instagram videos! But back in the day, my raving fan energy was elevated when I got to actually visit the live television set.

The crew even sent us home with one of the show guest’s cookbook… Clinton Street Baking Co. Cookbook (that has become a big deal in the Big Apple).

How did they know that was the perfect gift for moi? They must’ve known I was coming 😅

And that weekend, they opened up Eataly (the first in the U.S.) in the Flat Iron NYC district. Those were the days when I was working in marketing and event planning for a popular Spanish restaurant chain in my area (La Tasca owned by a large U.K. restaurant company). Some good foodie memories there 🍽 and so fitting for my attendance as I had spent years in hotel catering and restaurant food party planning.

This year, is completely different. Your Thanksgiving plans may have changed but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a meal that knocks it out of the park! You can have punchy flavors using Thanksgiving spices you may not have considered.

And even in the Martha Stewart days, it was still traditional thyme and rosemary spices.

Since Thanksgiving is usually a home food event, so it’s a good excuse to crank it up a notch if you want, and maybe even try different, healthy Thanksgiving spices that pleases your tastes and creative desires. And wows your family and guests. 🤩

I know you’re probably like this… you have your favorite Thanksgiving foods and can be a ‘lil scared to try something new.

But I’m hear to encourage you to rainbow spice it up and I have some original blend ideas below!

So let’s go!

First, here’s a way to get your food senses heightened the week before turkey day (this Happy Thanksgiving). For starters, you can test and sniff your spices in your spice rack or cabinet. This will give you a week or two to get the ingredients you need as Thanksgiving spices become less potent or pungent.

And you can sit on which ones could work with you. Probably any of them, since they are in your cabinet. 😁

Remember, most Thanksgiving spices (and year-round spices) have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits (preventing free radicals that can spike disease/cancer growth), so whatever you use, you and your guests will be healthier.

Thanksgiving spices (ground or whole from seeds) and herbs (plants) can be the secret ingredients you add to a new dish. And how you can create your own spectacular eye-pleasing food art at the end as some have some pretty cool colors like purple and red. I love how spices and herbs have unique colors that you can find in a 96-Crayola crayon set.

Here are 11 Thanksgiving spices (listed in rainbow color order). I also have dish enhancement ideas from my party planning experiences below.

1.Red: Saffron (bitter, sweet pungent):

The thin strands are good-looking and tasting on ooey-gooey honey desserts. Did you know saffron is a mood lifter? …so if you have an imbalanced Kapha to feed (…maybe yourself?), this is an amazing addition.

Year-round: Add saffron to your seafood bisques and Manhattan Clam Chowder. It’s not just for paella Continue reading “Thanksgiving Spices Healthy Rainbow Variety and Za’atar Recipe”