Anti-Inflammatory drinks are common and very good for preventing inflammation that can lead to some chronic diseases.
Like this special blue matcha ocean one that reminds us that we are small in calm chaos with climate change. This recipe is below.
To get in our calm we can make an ocean layered drink (recipe below)
…and watch changes
And yes, your dry skin eczema and other symptoms could be related. Check out the anti-inflammatory blue matcha tea drink below you can make to have a cool and inflammation-free day. 🧋
Look for heirloom, organic, or local farmers market produce as in-season (free of pesticides, good for us and the environment)
As we’re approaching warmer months, we like our soothing and cooling anti-inflammatory drinks. But that can depend on what helps balance our healthy Ayurveda body (and restore imbalances for our season).
Natural fruit-infused waters are usually a great option to flavor water, where you can simply add parts of whole fruits and veggies. Like orange, lemon, or lime peels for natural sweet-tartness. And are on a list of 200 anti-inflammatory foods you can checkout. 🛒
If you don’t have a home organic composting system (most people don’t), saving food scraps helps to cut down on waste before discarding in the garbage or the disposal. Plus, this eco-move prevents attracting unwanted house critters in warmer months.
For the little extra effort it takes, saving is so easy to do!
Take an orange. You can zest the peel of an orange that can substitute the “sugar” for your baking. Then use the skin and pith for your flavored orange water. It usually gets discarded even though it has higher vitamin amounts.
And of course, saving the best for last… enjoy the juicy orange slices for a snack, which is the only part that almost never gets tossed.
Now that’s a systemized orange habit 👏 where nothing gets tossed out, and you would reap all the healthy and other benefits.
These are some other Zero Waste-inspired anti-inflammatory drinks you can brew in a mason jar or recycled container jugs.
Kapha “Fire Up Cider” Anti-Inflammatory Drinks
Ideal Storage: Cool, dark cupboard or pantry
An off-balance Kapha body often has a need to intake fewer calories, especially if feeling heavy or sluggish after meals is a common natural symptom.
And when lacking energy, I love healthy fire cider drinks made with acidic ACV and lemon juice from a lemon. You can save the lemon zest and lemon pith and skin for lemonade. Or you can use pre-bought lemon juice.
Horseradish is the pungent ingredient I add in this fiery elixir, but that’s for you to decide if you can stomach it, and then top off with a kick of heat that can come from cayenne pepper. You can also sub the horseradish with garlic or onions.
And if jalapeno peppers are more your pack-a-punch vibe, that’s a good sub ingredient. You can also tone down the spicy twist with turmeric or a balanced hint of ginger.
This drink is good for Vatas too, but if you’re experiencing any slight Pitta imbalances, you’ll wanna turn down the heat!
Vata “Spice Digestion Elixir” Ayurveda Drink
Idea Storage: Refrigerator door or lower shelf in the fridge
An off-balance Vata can feel a sensitive or butterfly nervous stomach, and this drink can help.
Add Ginger, Cinnamon, Orange Peels, Allspice, plus your favorite spices and filtered water to a jar. Then shake up your mixture. Because of the peels, store this elixir in the fridge like juice if you plan on keeping it for longer than a week. These ingredients are anti-inflammatory.
I like to keep this in a repurposed plastic jar/container that was going to be sent to recycling (with a 9% chance of making its final destination… just sayin’ ♻️).
Pitta-Vata “Fermented Mother” Ayurveda Drinks
Ideal Storage: Cool cupboard or pantry (but not the fridge)
A Pitta or imbalanced Pitta can feel heartburn or upper GI tract symptoms. The ingredients in this drink all-in-all is a great elixir for high Pittas and Vatas.
Plus, this elixir is sweet and lasts in your cool cupboard with no expiration date!
Add organic ACV with “the mother enzyme” that looks like residue sitting at the bottom of the jar and mix with a few TBSPs of raw honey.
ACV improves digestion (increasing stomach acid production that tends to decrease as you age). Our internal body changes over time– a good message to share to younger friends and siblings who think they’ll stay the same forever! 😉
You can take a few spoonfuls of this before a meal and this helps glucose levels and prevents blood sugar spikes. The ACV smells can be off-putting to some, but the raw honey will smooth out the unfavorable ACV scent.
Honey is everything sweet in my opinion. So much so, here are some good storage tips:
Honey is best stored in a cooler, dark cupboard or sitting with a closed top in a pantry. By itself, raw honey never goes bad. It’s best not refrigerated or in changing (cooling) temperatures in a fridge that can speed up crystallization. And if you find the right honey and brand, it won’t crystallize at all in the right room temperatures.
Anti-inflammatory raw honey doesn’t have a hard rule expiration date that needs to be followed, as it has very low moisture content. I’ve never seen it go bad. But be sure to close the top or lid completely to eliminate moisture (and bacteria) in the air from entering over periods of time.
One popular honey dessert I remember was served up to many during my event planning days, is a dessert called Awamat, or Lebanese donuts, that is finished off with none other than honey and saffron as a glaze.
Because they looked more like donut holes they could be beautifully displayed as a croquembouche-style evergreen tree table display with a ‘lil engineering ingenuity and creativity… I’m sure recent GBBO contestants, Giuseppe or Juergen, could figure it out!
And besides food, “honey is medicine” as it’s an antioxidant and has antibacterial and antifungal (microbial) benefits. Our ancestors (the ancient Egyptians) and our modern Ayurveda practices have been using honey to prevent infections and help lower inflammation for ages.
It’s also a natural humectant, so whether you have dry skin or a dry throat when applied, it will also help with relieving symptoms. I can’t say enough about raw honey’s sticky goodness. 🍯
And you can add your honey to this calming anti-inflammatory butterfly tea 🦋🍵 drink that’ll sweeten your day.
coffee or black tea like English Breakfast or Early Grey
raw honey, optional
blueberries, optional
Instructions
Brew your blue matcha tea leaves for about 5 minutes in a mug. Be sure to use cooler than boiling water to not burn the leaves. Cool in the refrigerator.
Pour about 1/3 high tea to your drinking glass or rock glass for your "ocean." Add honey (optional).
Freeze.
Add a "sand" layer with coffee or black tea.
Freeze again.
Add milk or cappuccino froth for "cloud." layer. Zhugh with blueberries if desired.
Seasonal allergies is on the rise… and below is a checklist of home seasonal allergy natural health tips.
Have seasonal allergies got you? If so, you’re in good company and I have a list of natural above-the-neck soothing tips below.
False spring in global warming times like these seem to be against us, but we can use better, natural ways to combat our daily allergy feelings.
The tips I share and use started from feeling the seasonal allergy effects in 2015.
Before that, I never felt outdoor seasonal allergies living on the east coast. Now, they linger around year-round and I’ve learned to manage them.
Tree pollen (e.g maple, juniper, elm, oak, etc.) found in most U.S. areas is the main culprit for spring seasonal allergies start as early as February these days.
With wacky global climate changes and extreme fluctuating weather going from 70 degrees one-day to 40 degrees the next (and snow in some areas and summer temps in other regions), seasonal allergies are only growing. Adults who never had allergies before feel the effects today.
Your best bet is to prepare what you’ll do in advance, and spend more time indoors on severe days especially in the afternoon and evenings when pollen is higher in the spring.
Test different ways that work best for you and keep trying. Remember what you did that works so you can repeat.
Red bell pepper and squash are two ingredients low in histamine. Recipe for butternut squash spaghetti below 🍝. Pair with homemade pasta made from eggs and you have another low histamine meal.
You may have even thought about getting an allergy test as I did. So that’s what I did and here’s what I found…
I’m not allergic to anything or any tree pollens as the test showed.
I was actually kinda disappointed because that’s why I got the test in the first place.
But the test did end up giving me peace of mind. And an allergy test could for you too if you’re wondering whether allergy shots are a good idea.
I found that my common symptoms like stuffy nasal passage congestion and other irritations are just part of the climate allergy changes.
And for anyone, it’s a good idea to be aware and manage symptoms daily.
Because you don’t want them to escalate to chronic and recurring inflammations. Inflammation is the body’s way of naturally protecting and healing itself.
In my case, this started back in 2015. That’s also when I heard seasonal pollen-related allergies only last for 7 years, so that would make this year a bye-bye bang🤞
Allergies are your body’s annoying, but healthy response to your immune system working. 🌱
You can make the most of those heavy pollen days by feeling gratitude for the things you can do. Like with breathing exercises and that’s one of the better things when you’re stuffy: deep inhale and exhale breaths.
But still, changing your allergy perspective can test you. Because seasonal allergies are no fun and can affect the way you think, remember, and even see things on any given day.
So here are some practical tips to stay ahead and attack your symptoms:
These days, changing up your daily self-care routine helps.
Today you may be feeling exceptionally dry like you’ve never experienced before. And especially if you’re a natural Vata who usually has drier skin anyway.
I changed my moisturizing skin routine from once a day to a few times per day for heat rashes and shallow breathing from a stuffy nose. Yes, symptoms are related!
And sometimes the fix is simple like breathing, moisturizing, or drinking more water.
It gets easier once you recognize the patterns and you develop new self-care routines to stay ahead.
For head and nasal congestion, well… that’s another story.
Headaches, brain fog, and breathing more shallow awake or asleep are all common spring allergy symptoms.
You can feel like you’ve been hit by a windstorm on some days. And the wind is not a Vata’s friend. That’s like change on top of change.
Sneezing is actually a good way to rid of allergens in the body, but some days that doesn’t work. If that’s you, you can keep a black pepper tin nearby and peppermint essential oils are good to sniff and use in your steaming shower.
You can get through seasonal allergies naturally with occasional OTC allergy relief, e.g. if you’re gonna be outdoors. But you don’t want to rely on sinus decongestants or use them every day if you can avoid them.
There are homeopathy solutions that are popular in European countries and you can find in the vitamin stores in the States.
Also increase Vitamin C and bromelain. Pineapples are a good source.
You have a choice to stay indoors for high allergy days which is really the most effective way to dodge seasonal allergies. Try to do your outdoor walks earlier in the day. I know that’s still a bummer. So another idea is you can jump or stay in the pool. You may be able to pull it off like this unicorn making the most of it! 🦄
And when you’re indoors, stay further away from the open window if you’re super sensitive or keep the blinds semi-shielding.
You can always break out your filtered mask that will shield some allergens if necessary.
10 Tips For Seasonal Allergies
✅ Back indoors, change your clothing and take a shower as soon as you can or remember to. The steam will help you feel better faster. A night shower will help especially if your seasonal allergies feel worse in the afternoon or evening.
Sometimes you get a delayed effect on symptoms, feeling the effects the next day.
✅ Weekly, use a neti-pot to clean out nasal passages. This helps you get some relief naturally and prevents nasty sinus infections and your taking unnecessary antibiotics. That’s probably the best tip I can give you! Water is your friend away from pollen.
✅ Also, use a natural saline nasal spray to clear your nose as needed e.g. 2-3x per day for relief. Look for grapefruit seed extract with microbial properties that help prevent bacterial, viral, and fungal infections.
A reminder (or new) tip: antibiotics can work on bacterial infections but not effectively on viral ones (like a cold) and they hurt your gut. The confusion comes into play when you don’t know if it’s a cold, flu, allergies, or Covid. Prevention and reserving antibiotics for when you actually need them is key.
✅ Use a free-standing daily air filter machine with a HEPA filter for pollen (not just dust). Pollen kicks up in the afternoon and evening so it’s good to have the machine cranked up while you’re sleeping.
Change your house air filters as needed and vacuum the filters regularly as they will work better dust-free.
✅Use a desk humidifier or have one set in each room. Moisture like this works especially well during spring allergy season.
Like plants, humidifiers require some daily cleaning maintenance care, but if you’re stuffy this is a must!
✅ Keep eucalyptus or mint oil essential oil drops close at hand. They work well in the steamy shower. You can put a few drops in a small vessel of water and sniff. Unlike a nasal spray, the oil drops don’t enter directly into your nose.
The scented drop fumes indirectly help clear nasal passages that affect head congestion. You can also keep eucalyptus leaves hanging in the shower that will help you awaken especially if you’re stuffy.
✅ For foods, add fresh horseradish or spicy wasabi that’s great for clearing nasal passages.
Disappointingly, local honey doesn’t work the way we’d hope.
Honey comes from flowers, and tree pollen comes from trees so there’s no cross-pollination… or an ex-pollinating effect that would be helpful for spring seasonal allergies.
But raw honey is a good natural sugar substitute and a natural humectant that when topically used on the skin help prevent dryness and other light skin inflammations or itches. Yes, it works!
It also has other “anti” properties that are good for you… antioxidant, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal. So it helps in other ways.
✅ Keep up your vitamins and minerals, especially Vit C, D-3, Calcium, Zinc, etc.
✅ Drink teas. You can try a good green matcha tea or black tea (Vata preference) early in the day and then switch to decaf/herbal teas in the afternoon. You can do decaf all day if you prefer.
✅ Keep eye drops close by for dry eyes. You can wear blue-light-blocking glasses, so you don’t have to strain on devices that worsen dry eyes (and they help you sleep better).
✅ Keep cough drops nearby, in case you get a dry or itch in your throat. And menthol cough drops help to open up passages. They’ve been hard to find these days I’ve found, but I think you can find ’em if you look hard enough. 😉
Elderberry and zinc help for immunity-boosting, and lemon and honey drops are good for dry throats.
Seasonal allergies don’t have to be the daily annoyance that runs your life. You can have a much smoother season if you stay informed. And know, you’re definitely not alone.
✅ And finally, bring in more healthy anti-histamine foods such as squashes and eggs. One dish you can incorporate is a butternut squash spaghetti recipe. And add a cooked egg ontop or eggs in your homemade pasta. 🍝
It’s celebrational Easter holy week. I’m also happy to announce (my and) this 100th blog post lands this week. Double holy cow! I thought it’d be fun to celebrate by listing 100 best yoga poses 🎉
Easter and 100 blog posts deserve confetti sprinkles 🧁
But before mentioning the 100 yoga poses, I just wanted to wish happy birthday to anyone who already had a birthday celebration this year. I try to find an excuse to send a cake whenever I can 🎂
Even if it’s just an emoji. But sentiment and kidding aside, these days, it’s easy to be reminded with showering confetti “Happy Birthday!” emoji messages that bring us a ‘lil joy.
I think of the ultimate birthday as those who have reached the 100-year-old mark, who I think deserve their own special confetti emoji. That milestone is definitely worth commemorating. You’ve got to admire Centenarians who have endured and thrived through life’s marathon.
Besides seeing and participating in what their friends and families (young and old) are doing, some of the longest-living people have been naturally active and practicing yoga all their lives.
In some cultures, they get up and off the floor (or out of their sitting position) on a daily mat in one fell swoop as they did in younger years. And that’s just another reason for them to get back up and go out and appreciate the day.
Some Centenarians can even still remember facts and figures that younger decade folks can’t. And they can retell stories of their youth like a historical tale.
They breathe purpose daily (…and have breathed about 1.4 million more breaths than a 30-year-old).
And whatever age you’re at, you can too with your purposeful breath and yoga moves.
Here’s a list of 10 yoga articles to inspire your specific moves and journey:
Yoga is amazing because of the benefits for the mind-body connection: where the mind and body “talk” to each other. If we’re lucky and focused we pick up on the cues as a witness to our mind-bodies.
This is an area that traditional Western doctors aren’t necessarily trained on. It originated from Ayurveda, an eastern life science perspective, that’s made its way slowly to the Western world (and I started practicing in 2008 when I became aware).
Over the past decade, we’ve learned that the prevention of chronic diseases and inflammation in the body is connected to better mental health and less stress we carry.
And we can often tell by our anxious, irritated, or lethargic moods.
Sometimes it’s hard to do yoga until we get in a balanced mood, even though we know if we did yoga, we’d get there sooner. We can get in our way.
So, in case you need to overcome that or need a dose of moving or getting going inspiration, I’ve listed 100 best yoga poses that are timeless reminders, challenging, and fun (I think so anyway!).
I included some quick encouraging words for each pose that come to mind. They include thoughts of when to do the pose, reminders, or intentions that could be useful for you as they are for me. Some poses are better done when you have more energy.
And it helps if have a known purpose for doing the pose, to help be motivated. We can all use a good metaphor reminder in our daily lives.
So here we go…
Standing best yoga poses:
1. Sun salutations – reminder: life is constantly changing, and you keep moving. This is a good series of poses to start the day with, like just before you have your first glass of water for the day
2. Warrior I – reminder: feel empowered to take on the day
3. Warrior II – reminder: take up more space
4. Warrior III – reminder: focus on moving forward
5. Sun Warrior – reminder: don’t forget to look up and stay open
6. Dancer pose – reminder: you’ve got this day with your calm and grace, and letting go of the past. Today is a new day 🌱
7. Tree pose – reminder: you’re resilient and unshaken even in uncertain times
38. Staff – do when you want to straighten your back and remind yourself that your back is an important part for your body’s support. (reminder: build strong abs)
Side best yoga poses:
39. Side angle – do when you need a break or stretch
40. Extended side angle – intention: stretch your mind
41. Side crow – do when you feel adventurous; one side is probably easier than the other and that’s your strength
42. Side plank – do when you feel strong
43. Falling Star – tip: like half-moon is great to do against a wall when you’re first starting out so you can lean further. Intention: feel free and creative
Front face down best yoga poses:
44. Cobra – reminder: you’re making progress
45. Sphinx – reminder: you can do anything you want
46. Upward Dog – reminder: you’re almost there!
47. Turtle – reminder: stay steady on the course
48. Bow – reminder: your hands, head, and feet are all closely connected
Lay down poses (starting with back flat on the mat):
49. Bridge – tip: use a block on the small of your back and feel grounded
50. Fish – reminder: relax and let go of heavy problems
51. Lay down spinal twist to one side – when you do this on each side, you see a different part of the room or space you’re in and is a good reminder that you have different options from different perspectives
53. Knees to chest (knee hug) – reminder: of self-love
54. Half locust with one leg slightly lifted: reminder -it can feel strange but still be helpful
55. Through the hole stretch – do when you feel tight like from driving or sitting, or when you feel uptight
56. Spider laying down – intention: holding onto your purpose but letting go of how you’ll get there
On all 4’s:
57. Inverted plane – reminder: great for bringing your shoulders back in mindfulness
58. Downward dog – intention: feel the day in earthly roots
59. Downward dog with one leg lifted – intention: enjoy the day by doing something new
60. Cat – do when you’re feeling fearless
61. Cow – good for feeling balanced
62. Balanced cat reaching out one arm and opposite leg
Back challenge: you can arch backward relying on all 4s
63. Backward Bend – do when you’re feeling energetic and youthful
64. Wheel – and you go higher to see and feel new possibilities
Front challenge: you may never do a full handstand, but you can get both feet off the ground
65. Crow – intention: strength (you’re stronger than you think)
66. Crane – and you can stretch higher
67. Peacock – reminder: you can get over the limitations you have
68. Firefly – reminder: you can do something different to light up the world. You may feel like a kid again doing this one (one of my fave poses and I have happy memories of catching fireflies )
Inversion best yoga poses:
69. Shoulder stand – do when you’re feeling moderately energized
70. Half shoulder stand – do when you want to feel energized
71. Plow – reminder: encouragement that you can take two steps back and come out ahead
72. Legs up the wall – intention: feel supported by the environment around you
Resting best yoga poses:
73. Child’s Pose – reminder: you don’t have to be doing something every minute of the day. It’s not how busy you are (something I had to unlearn)
74. Hare – intention: purposefully resting
Other inspirational best yoga poses:
75. Inclined plane – when you’re feeling like you want to get off the ground or you’re excited to start a new project
76. Plank – intention: building daily strength for any trials or difficulties you’re going through
77. Camel – reminder: let go
78. Dolphin – reminder: we’re born with natural abilities
79. Splits – intention: flexibly grow daily and watch progress
80. Happy Baby – do when you want to feel safe and carefree
81. Swan – reminder: have daily grace for those areas you can’t change
82. Hero – reminder: we can all be a hero in our ways in our lives serving and doing what we do
83. Neck rolls – intention: calming and releasing mind tension
84. Neck side to side – intention: take a moment to relax
85. Shoulder shrug – intention: be less stressed (letting the weight fall off your shoulders)
86. Frog – intention: feel youthful and free to spread out
87. Garland – reminder: take a break; good for when you’re feeling unsure or in between energetic and tired
88. Locust – reminder: try something different or take on a new project
89. Wild Thing – intention: let go of worries and enjoy more
90. Goddess – intention: feel ready for the world
91. Swan dive – intention: go with the flow
92. Cactus arms – reminder: take time off
93. Airplane – intention: feel free and in control at the same time
94. Spider with feet and hands on floor – reminder: you’re a beautifully unique creature
And then these sounds and breathing pair well with yoga poses and intentions:
95. Om – making the sound clears nasal passages along with mind and body. Try a variation by using your mouth to create an ah-oh-mmm sound sequence. Intention: peace and living stress-free
In yoga, breathwork is super important and great for calming. If you get heart palpitations from anxiety, these are good breath exercises to refer to and do.
For all of us, staying mindful of breath gets us in a good reminder habit to be healthy-minded. And when you get a good breath of air you can send that energy through your mind and body, to help improve both mental and physical health.
Your nose acts as a natural filtration system. If you regularly breathe through your mouth when you sleep or if you have nasal congestion and obstructed nasal passages, you may want to look for solutions to help you breathe out of your nose regularly.
And these are the special breath exercises you can do with yoga:
96. Sounding breath – this includes long and slow breaths while laying down, so is good to do when you’re getting in and out of bed. Reminder: you’re alive and able to take purposeful breaths
97. Breath of fire – while sitting, exhale out short and quick breaths from your nose (like a fire-breathing dragon that doesn’t exist) until all your air from your diaphragm feels expelled. And then fill back up gradually like a balloon. Daily reminder: you’re a miracle with automatic breaths. You can control your breathing using your respiratory muscle, your diaphragm, that sits just below your two life-giving organs: your heart and lungs
98. Bellows breath – do this one when you’re in standing mountain pose with hands at heart center (optional). Full inhale/exhale from the mouth. This is a good one to do in the morning when you’re first waking up
99. Sufi Mother’s Breath – this is a simpler version than the Pranayama 4-7-8 version. Exhale through your nose, then inhale through your nose for a count of 7, and then exhale again for a count of 7. This is great and simple to do on a walk where you’re staying present and observing your surroundings
100. Alternate Nostril Breath – take one hand and rest a middle finger on the forehead, thumb from the same hand rests on the closest nostril temporarily closing the airway, light ring, and baby finger on the opposite nostril. Then, inhaling through the open nostril. Intention: notice details about how each side feels as the air circulates more intently to one side of the body from your head to your feet. Reminder: how the air affects our body at and in this moment and how we affect others and the community around us with our breath
So there you go… those are my best yoga intentions and recommendations.
And one last thing that I wanted to mention…
Each week I bake and participate in an inspiring home baking challenge with a community of enthusiastic bakers.
And some could probably go on The Great British Baking Show.
As for me, Iwon’t be applying to be a contestant anytime soon, even though I’m pretty sure I’m one of their biggest fans in my area. 😊
But since watching the show, I’ve learned a thing or two.
Like this last season with German Week…
I’ve learned a sweet bun or two from The Great British Bakeoff show 🧡
And so, this week’s challenge is Hot Cross Buns, an egg-cellent choice for Easter. 🐇
I’ve never made the buns before, but I did make cinnamon buns for the first time this year. No matter how these hot buns turn out I’ll show you a photo in an upcoming blog post.
…And since I’m putting myself out there, maybe that’ll encourage you to stretch your mind-body and challenge yourself to a new yoga pose or two if baking isn’t your thing.
And if you need a ‘lil more gentle nudge, just send me a note (on the blog home page under “Contact”) letting me know what muscle pain or soreness or intentions you want to work on, and I’ll send back 5 yoga poses that would be good for you this season to bring back some fun. 🧘🏻♀️
Wild Thing Pose is one of the most interesting name yoga poses. And it’s a beautiful pose like this wild natural artwork up the side of a bridge.
Sometimes you just need to let your hair down. So today I’m sharing two yoga poses that let you do just that, and maybe give you a few minutes of creative joy if you haven’t felt that in a while. One is called Wild Thing pose.
You may know the pose (or vintage song titles 📼 with the same name). The Wild Thing pose helps unleash your creativity, especially if you feel like you’re in a rut or ready to pivot. This pose can help you feel a little happier.
…On Fridays especially, don’t you feel like a little weight has been lifted off your shoulders from the weekly grind?
With more freedom where you can express your more fun side, in friendly conversation, wearing fun clothing, or even get around on different wheels 🛼 🛹 🚲
People on the receiving end are even in a better mood if you work in customer service. Friday makes up for Monday when stress is highest.
And it’s not easy to be creative when you’re feeling stressed. So, you may need to unwind between the two opposing moods.
If you feel irritated, anxious, or resistant (that’s Vata, Pitta, and Kapha all rolled up in one in varying degrees), then your body may be playing detox wellness catchup. There’s a delay in the mind-body connection.
So whether you’re ready to try the Wild Thing pose has a lot to do with how you’re feeling. Relaxed, calm, and a bit daring is a better time. It’s also a great pose to do after you’ve fully woken up and taken a shower to stretch your body and mind.
When you’re present in this moment, then this is a great way to celebrate. If say you’re still rehashing what happened or how a day or a happening could’ve gone better, then you’re probably better off to calm your mind down first and wait until later to do this pose.
And when you’re ready and refreshed, then you can start with a blank slate that works best for most creative endeavors.
At corporate work and public environments, they love rules, structure, and close-ended goals. In creativity work, it’s a white piece of paper or canvas waiting for you to come up with something new and unique.
So, the Wild Thing Pose is a great way to get in the spirit of your creative intention. Especially if you’re a content creator or share artistic expression, and today is a creative day. Anything goes.
You ready?
How to Do the Wild Thing Yoga Pose:
Basically, the Wild Thing pose is a backbend and you decide what it looks like. It can be easier said than done…
One foot, two feet, and one hand or on all fours. It’s up to you. One way to find your Wild Thing pose, is starting in Downward Dog and then you peel one arm off your mat and look up or face up to the ceiling or sky.
Reach that arm up in the air. The other arm is grounded on the mat or floor. Then you decide how you position yourself and the rest of your body. There’s no definite structure. This is a common start. And you can work on your Wild Thing (but it shouldn’t feel like work).
For a present awareness move, then plant the foot already closer to the floor flat down. And you could rest the other leg out with the outer foot touching or resting on the floor.
There are no limitations or rules. And you can also get into this pose from Wheel Pose. Gymnasts do really well with these poses as it helps to be flexible. But not needed for home or studio yoga.
One thing’s for sure though… in the Wild Thing pose, you will definitely get off your mat, a metaphor for thinking outside the box. You get to express freedom and creativity.
And if you have a chance to look around at another Wild Thing pose like I did in a yoga studio and saw other Wild Things in the class, you see how differently wired and designed we are as unique humans. Use your Wild Thing pose as your creative expression that stretches your body, sides, and mind.
And when you’ve had enough of your Wild Thing pose, you may not want to stop just yet. You can find your Falling Star pose from there.
A falling star has a curvy trajectory so you could model after that. Like these curves made with chili pepper flakes for a chocolate granola snack. I made the star from beetroot powder that’s a great balancing ingredient.
Falling star beet granola recipe below. 🌟
In the Falling Star pose, like the Wild Thing pose, you choose. You can slightly adjust your Wild Thing pose into a Falling Star to get pose variations. Vatas love that 😊. You can stay on the floor with your legs and arms widely spread out… or leave just one foot and one arm touching the mat.
When mindfully present, this is a great way to empower yourself and use your body and yoga pose to show off your intention in case you’re wondering what practical application this pose has.
And you can also choose to start over in a grounded standing position. Start in a Five-Pointed Star Pose where your two legs are spread wide apart beyond hip width, two arms stretched out to the sides. And your head makes up the fifth-star point.
You are a star! ⭐️
For your freestyle Falling Star, maybe you’re leaning or swaying even if ever so gently to one side, comfortably balanced, and letting go of the opposite leg and foot from resting on the floor beneath you. You don’t need a mirror to feel lighter and to trust your instincts.
This is a good metaphor for how letting go can be freeing in your life. You can fall away from getting in your own way of anything holding you back.
Letting go of outcomes is one of the hardest things in life I found. It’s not easy to let go of something you want to happen, especially when all your life you’ve been groomed to be in control. But that openness allows for something better to come along.
Sometimes we’re not thinking big enough. So in those times especially, being in a Falling Star yoga pose can be therapeutic and a good reminder.
Another Falling Star variation is to sway and bend your torso to the side a little or a lot (like how a palm tree can bend to withstand tropical storms). 🌴
You can also reach your helicopter arms out or up to help you balance. It’s not about how bendable you are. It’s that you’re willing to even try it!
You’ll get more flexible as you stay in the pose longer. It’s your unique Falling Star creation. 💫Just be sure to have fun! 🌟
And you can do that with this fallen star beet granola pan you can make in minutes with a few ingredients.
Combine dry ingredients and then mix in wet ingredients.
Bake granola for about 25-40 minutes at 325°F or until toasted.
To make chocolate topping. Prepare chocolate on display pan you will be using. Take a piece of plastic wrap and put on top. Add melted chocolate and pour onto plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chocolate is hard. After granola is baked and cooled, you can pour into the pan and then add the hardened chocolate ontop removing the plastic.
To make beet heart: take a star stencil or make a star cutout with cardboard. Add beet powder to create star shape. For fallen star effect, use tweezers to pull out the yellow pepper flakes (found in crushed red pepper flakes) to make a fallen line.
Kitchen food pantry is a must whether it’s shelves or bins if you want to maintain a healthy eating lifestyle and not have to run out to the grocery store every time you need an ingredient 🤔
And if you want to make a recipe like cinnamon rolls below, your ingredients are cupboard and pantry ready or can be subsituted.
The 2020 Pantry that started it all. It wasn’t all healthy, but then gradually as the world became more social healthy so did my kitchen.
It’s smart these days to have a running house kitchen food pantry, especially with all the grocery store shortages and shipping dilemmas.
What you store in your kitchen food pantry ends up being part of your diet (the same concept as: what you bring home from the grocery store or delivered ends up on your plate).
So, I started a household kitchen food pantry at the start of 2020 because I’m a planner and that makes food conveniently available in real-time.
Real food is a basic need, and no metaverse can change that (zero taste would never last on our planet 😊).
Plus, having a personal kitchen food pantry lets you bypass the panic buy waves that seem to run rampant.
And you can find yourself cooking and baking more, just in case you’re looking for homemade-cooking inspiration.
But even if you’re not a planner, the checklist below can help remind you of healthy pantry food items to stock up on when you’re running low.
Cinnamon bun recipe below 🍥 👇
One recent item I found interesting that made the trending grocery shortage list along with chicken is cinnamon buns.
They are easy to bake (I think) and I have a delicious and fast recipe bake below
🥮 that’s gonna keep you smiling and healthy. It all starts with having cinnamon spice on hand (and one of my #1 go-to sources for adding a little sweet to bakes, foods, and drinks). Cinnamon I think I sweet, and no heat, but if you’re not used to it, can kinda feel that way.
Ceylon cinnamon is the kind you want to add to your healthy beverages. The regular or traditional cinnamon is Cassia cinnamon that’s often used in baking.
So, anyway… Here’s a kitchen food pantry idea list that can come in handy (from my pantry to yours maybe?):
✔️ Nuts, Seeds, and Dried Fruits (ex: raisins, craisins, dates, papaya, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds) come in handy as snack fillers between meals. You can make a trail mix or use them to bake with.
They’re dry ingredients so they water down baking, that’s working to dry what’s baking in the oven. If you have temperature-sensitive nuts like macadamia or Brazil nuts, you can keep them in the fridge to give them a longer life.
✔️ Canned Beans and Other Legumes (ex: white beans, black beans, peas, edamame, chickpea-garbanzo beans) you can use for every meal or straight out of the can.
You can run water inside the open cans to rinse out some of the preserving salts/sodium, or you can use the can liquid for soups and dips. You can even use the chickpea aquafaba liquid as an egg white substitute. There are no rules. But once cans are opened, it’s smart to refrigerate and use ’em within a few days.
✔️ Packaged Fruit (or what I call pantry shelf fruit, ex: unsweetened applesauce, cherries, pineapple) come in handy for baking.
Btw, I try to buy the unsweetened (or unsalted) versions if there’s a choice for all food goods ready-to-eat or for baking. ‘Cause then you can choose what sweets or salts to add back in, and control how much. And that’s part of the benefits making your own bakes and dishes.
✔️ Canned Proteins (ex: tuna, sardines, clams) make great snacks and lunch meat. You can add to almost any carb meal.
✔️ Shelf-ready Non-dairy milks (ex: almond milk) are good to keep around, plus a can of coconut milk and evaporated milk for easy baking or soups. Best expiration dates are usually over a year out.
✔️ Comfort Food Boxed Pasta make a pantry shelf look organized (that probably wasn’t your first thought, lol). There seems to be a new pasta shape out every year and in panic-buy shortages, the whole aisle empties fast (and ends up in pantries!).
So it’s good to have a couple of uniform boxes with different pasta shapes on hand. Larger pasta surfaces like shells will hold onto sauces better when you’re deciding what shapes and types to go with (ex: traditional spaghetti, macaroni, whole wheat).
Veggie pasta doesn’t need a fancy sauce and can taste light and elegant with the right EVOO.
✔️ Canned Tomatoes or Tomato Sauce go hand and hand in your pantry for a weekly Italian meal. But the cheese doesn’t belong there and I agree with the Italians that parmesan (America’s cheese) is not high quality once you get a taste of the better stuff.
You can opt to store nutritional yeast as a dry, cheesy alternative. It’s called “nutritional” because it’s full of nutrition (vitamins and minerals).
✔️ Slow Cooking or Old-Fashioned Oats and Grits. Good for breakfast but they can be substituted instead of flour for some bakes, and if you want to do gluten-free.
✔️ Other Whole Grains: (ex: brown rice, quinoa, barley, farro). Just look for “whole” in front of grains.
✔️ Drinks: (ex: unsweetened cocoa for baking and hot cocoa and ground coffee.) Even if you don’t drink these often they come in handy for occasions. You can always make healthy cold brew coffee if you don’t have a coffee machine.
The best drink for your body (water) isn’t in the pantry.
✔️ High Bran/Whole Grain Cereal: Processed cereals (including fortified ones) have gotten a bad rap. Some you may have heard we grew up with are even linked to having traces of weedkiller.
But if you find the right fortified cereal, that can be a good daily fiber source and a possible better sweet substitute.
✔️ Chocolate chip morsels: You can always find some chocolaty-way to bake them in or enjoy in a no-bake trail mix.
✔️ Salts: (ex: kosher, coarser sea salt, regular sea salt). Kosher is good for some bakes while coarser salts are a great finishing touch for veggies (almost like a salt garnish).
They allow you to appreciate your foods better at the moment when they activate on your tongue ...remember the different taste regions on the tongue?
Coarse salt on Brussels sprouts can change your opinion of the healthy veg.
✔️ Vinegars/Condiments: (ex: apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire, and soy sauces).
These are versatile ingredients you can use to dress up your dishes, dressings, and sauces.
✔️ EVOO: keep a medium and a lighter version for cooking vs. baking (if you like the scent and taste, chances are you’ll love it in your dishes).
✔️ Flours: all-purpose, whole wheat, bread, corn, gluten-free (ex: almond, coconut, and buckwheat can be used in baking). Gluten-free flours are better preserved in the fridge than in a pantry.
✔️ Baking agents: cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda-the orange box in your fridge not to be confused with slightly different baking powder in baking, yeast packets for breads, sugars sparingly used for baking (ex: powdered sugar, monkfruit sugar, and brown sugar). You can learn to add less sugar and crave less.
✔️ Soup: before 2020, I used to buy canned low-sodium soups, and learned to cut down the sodium even more by making soups from fresh and my kitchen food pantry ingredients.
With fresh and root veggies, you can almost make any kind of warm soup you want. Same concept with fresh fruits where you can make any no-added low-sugar cool juice you want.
✔️ Variety of anti-inflammatory herbs and spices: for every day you want to have a variety of spice such as: oregano, turmeric, cayenne, cumin, black pepper, cinnamon.
For Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, you want to take a look at your spice options, and add spices such as thyme, rosemary, nutmeg, anise, allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger if those aren’t fresh.
✔️ Loose leaf and tea bags: from an herbal list, peppermint is always good to have on hand for aches.
Floral and fruity tea is also favorable. Black (ex: cinnamon, Earl Grey, chai), green, and red/rooibos are antioxidant wonders.
✔️ Breads: Where is the best place to preserve bread longer… pantry, fridge, or freezer?
It’s the freezer. The fridge hardens and dries out your bread, but a freezer will keep it from undesirable changing properties after 2-3 days at room temperature.
You’ll know when freezer bread has eventually turned stale as it has a freezer-burn, cardboard-like but that doesn’t usually happen for months or longer.
If you’re wanting to freeze bread, slice it up at room temperature first before freezing, so you can pull out the slices you need without de-thawing the entire loaf. Pop frozen toast in your toaster, and it’s just as fresh.
And here is the no-refined sugar but refined cinnamon buns 😊bread recipe:
You can make these with no guilt and pantry ingredients!
Low-Sugar Delicious Cinnamon Rolls
For sweetness, I recommend adding honey in the dough and as a final glaze. Also, add a load of Ceylon cinnamon spice in-between for the sweet. Of course.
You can add sugar or monk fruit sugar if you wish and if you have a younger eating audience that’ll appreciate the sugar. Your older guests (and maybe you) can appreciate your sugar in moderation healthy baking gestures.
Healthy fat is used in this recipe. Keep in mind: if you use a healthy fat like light EVOO, it won’t be like the bakery and store-bought cinnamon buns you’re used to.
These cinnamon buns’ bite will be moist, and a little different than a flaky butter finish, but still uber-delicious.
Flour: Bread flour (or a mix with whole wheat flour) does the best for cinnamon buns in my opinion, but you can definitely substitute with crumbly gluten-free “healthy” flours and add natural xantham gum or other binders.
But I like no-fuss or muss, so this bread prep can be done in 5 minutes by hand mixing 5 ingredients: warm water, flour, yeast, plain yogurt (or condensed milk if you want to use kitchen food pantry only ingredeints), and salt. Plus, honey for sweetness. And no proof waiting time.
The enriched dough rests for a few minutes, and then you can roll the buns and watch the magical oven work while pursuing other hobbies 😊 …that’s how I Cinna-roll in this delicious-on recipe.
1/2tspinstant yeast (if you use active yeast add to warm water to activate first)
1/2tbspsea salt
1/2tbspraw honey
1/2cupplain yogurt (Greek yogurt recommended) or a can of evaporated or condensed milk, or coconut cream
3/4cupwarm water (+ more)
cinnamon spice (to taste)
Instructions
Make bread by mixing flour, water, salt, yeast.
Let proof for at least 1-2 hours.
Roll into a log.
Cut into even slices with cooking thread.
Set on baking tray and bake on 350°F until golden brown. Optional shine: Add egg wash when almost done baking (or glaze after baking and cooling).
Cinna(MON)-Roll Bread Buns
Ingredients (for 8 rolls):
8”x 4” (or 9”x5”) pan
2-1/2 cups total flour (you can mix bread flour, whole wheat, gluten-free bread)
1/2 tsp yeast (if active yeast add to warm water to activate first)
1/2 Tbsp sea salt
1/2 Tbsp raw honey
1/2 cup plain yogurt (Greek yogurt recommended)
¾ cup warm water + more
Directions:
Mix ingredients in a bowl adding just enough warm water until all the flour is incorporated. Some of the dough will be stringy dough pieces or crumbs, and not a smooth dough (not like a baby’s bottom 👶).
Let rest for a few minutes (or leave overnight covered in the fridge).
Bring the dough out and lay it on top of bench flour (any baking flour will work. I like to stick with the same ones I’m using in the buns or whole wheat flour). Roll out dough (not too thin to about 1/4-1/2″ thick) into a rectangle shape and then cut strips with a pizza wheel cutter (or knife), saving the dough scrap ends.
Roll out the remaining dough and combine with the dough scraps, to make 8 total long pieces about the same size. These will be your buns.
Healthy Version:
Then brush light EVOO (good for sweet baking) or ghee (clarified butter) on each strip. And then layer and fully cover a generous dusting of cinnamon spice (Ceylon cinnamon suggested and the amount based on your preference).
Bake time will vary depending on flour choices, dough thickness, baking pan, and oven. As a guideline, bake until a little darker than golden brown as the outside is browner then the inside that can still be a little moist/unbaked.
Suggested time and temperature: Bake at 350 °F for about 45 minutes. Pull out halfway and brush more EVOO. Then reduce oven heat to 200 F for another 10 minutes. That’s what these in the photos were baked in.
If you find the outside looks too dry, you may want to brush with EVOO again. You could also substitute with an egg wash (about half way through) for a ‘lil moist shine, but I prefer another way after cooled…
Cinna-roll looks pretty cool with the tea bath, huh?
Because the bread dough is pretty dense after cooled, I then add sweet orange zest, and raisins ontop, so it looks a little like a pain aux raisins. Then I pour brewed warm (but not hot) tea over the cinnamon bun, that softens and plumps up the raisins (like you may have heard to add to your Earl Grey tea and that mellows out the brisk taste). Well… the raisins and zest here add sweetness and the tea bath adds the mellow. The fruit-forwardness comes through.🧡
For the pouring tea, I suggest using a black tea: like cinnamon, chai, or Earl Grey. Then when you wanna enjoy it, you’ll have a sweet, warm, and lightly moist bread experience. Yes, please! 😋
Have seasonal allergies got you? If so, you’re in good company and I have a list of natural above-the-neck soothing tips below.
Cinna(MON)-Roll Bread Buns