Ah yes, the birds are chirping, the bees have been busy, and the yellow fields have been greening up as spring is here upon us in the prairies and foothills. Hooray for spring! In Traditional Chinese Medicine, spring is the season best associated with the liver, as TCM practitioner Efrem Korngold states,
“The organ that shares the character of this season is the Liver, tasked in Chinese medicine with the job of instigating movement and arousing the mind by allowing tension and pressure to build. As spring signals the rising of sap in the trees, so the Liver lifts the blood upward and spreads it outward. Alternately gathering and releasing our rivers of blood, the Liver modulates the intensity and force of all body movement and process. “
I like to think of tea and herbal brews as necessary (and delicious!) tools in one's medicine chest. And so, in the spirit of the season, we will look at some liver loving brews you can add to your food arsenal, in order to best support this hard working organ. This is the perfect time of the year to do so.
Read moreI am not going to lie to you. I love coffee. I love my morning cuppa. I look forward to it, I relish it, I miss it when it isn't in my routine. We often travel with our thermos-like french press, ready to make good java on the road at any point in time. I really really love my cuppa joe come morning time. I love the heat of the mug, the creaminess of the cream, the chocolate-y tones to the darker roast. I love how satisfying this mug of goodness is. I love my coffee so much that whenever we go on holidays, it is one of the first things we do when in a new town: we scope the place for the best cup of joe. We're not afraid to ask around. Two of the best cups of coffee I've ever had in my life were in Madison Wisconsin at a little cafe off the beaten path, and the other in Bath, England at a little corner cafe, where the cool stone benches were a welcome respite from the sweltering summer heat, a few blocks from the historic Roman Baths. I love me some good coffee.
For today's Monday post, I aim to go over some things to think about if you love your cup of joe as much as I do. If you're looking for optimal health, that is.
Read moreThis post is for those early birds who are regular consumers of smoothies come morning time. This next in the series of #mondayhealthbasics goes over some basic easy steps you can take in order to make that smoothie really count and nourish you from head to toe. Today's tip will ensure you are better able to digest your morning elixir, and what kinds of things to add in order to make that breakfast smoothie sustain you for longer periods.
Read moreWelcome to Monday. This week is St. Patrick's Day, and as I have some Irish roots, I did indeed aim to think green for this week's #mondayhealthbasics blog post. My week got off to a roaring start with a thoughtful gift from one of my sisters, a book from boreal herbalist wunderkind Beverley Gray called The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North – a Guide to Harvesting, Preserving and Preparing. Oh the joy. Oh the possibilities!
Leafing through the book last night, I zoned in on the Stinging Nettle, or Urtica dioica. Yes yes yes, the same plant that gives you the very intense zing-like needling you would experience were you to chance upon a patch without knowing it. This perennial plant runs wild in almost every nook and cranny of this planet where there are wetter areas or where the soil has been disturbed. It loves rich damp soil. And seeing as spring seems to be just around the corner, it will be one of the first wild plants that will pop up for early harvesting.
Read moreThe ninth in this blog series of weekly easy upgrades for better health is a pretty simple one. It takes all of 3 minutes of prep once every two weeks, and a little forethought every night before hitting the hay. We're talking the pros of starting your day with a glass of lemon water.
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