Has this ever happened to you? You are practicing a pose and your expression of it doesn’t look or feel like anyone else’s. You feel awkward and off balance and maybe you are struggling a bit to get the shape right.
How to make Turmeric Paste & Golden Milk
I have been making and sharing turmeric paste recipes for many years now. I have made it a few different ways and I’d like to share with you what works best for me. You really can’t get this wrong. You can adjust to your tastes and preferences.
Some of the benefits include:
reducing inflammation
reducing joint pain
increasing immunity
general well-being
***check with your doctor if you are taking medications or have health issues.***
Turmeric Paste
1 cup filtered water
½ cup turmeric powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
Additional water as needed
Combine water, pepper, and turmeric in a small saucepan.
Stir constantly over low heat for approximately 7-10 minutes until a thick paste forms.
Add small amounts of water as needed to retain a smooth consistency.
Cool completely.
Store in an airtight glass jar in the refrigerator. Mine has kept for about a month. I usually use it up by then and because I’m just funny about keeping anything too long, I will toss it after a month if there is anything left and make a fresh batch.
Golden Milk
1 tsp turmeric paste
2 cups almond milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp unrefined coconut oil
Sweeten with honey or stevia.
I add a little cardamom and clove sometimes.
Stir well and adjust to your taste. You can also add the additional spices to your turmeric paste if you want to. Just adjust the recipe to equal parts. I leave them out because I like to cook with it and don’t always want those particular spices in every dish.
More ways to incorporate turmeric paste into your diet
One of my favorite ways to use turmeric paste is in a morning latte. Blend your turmeric paste and spices of your choice into almond milk or whatever milk product you prefer and steam it as usual.
Make a tea by adding to hot water and include the spices and sweetener of your choice. Adjust measurements for taste.
Other ways to get this into your diet is to add it to dishes you are cooking. It is great with rice, curries, and sauces. You can also add it to a smoothie or juice.
Finding Contentment in the Simplicity of Everyday Tasks
Mindful Living from my Kitchen
Frozen Coffee Cubes
What does this have to do with mindfulness?
It is just a matter of paying attention to and treating with value the resources we have available. Maybe looking at things a little differently. Treating everything as though it has value. Instead of throwing something away, how can you create something else of value?
Good coffee is one area of my life that I do not skimp on. Caffe' D'arte out of Seattle is one of my favorites. I have it delivered to my home in Tucson, Arizona.
Every morning, my partner makes me a foamy latte with sugar free vanilla syrup and soy milk. He serves it to me in a big, beautiful white cup. I look forward to it every day and allow myself time to enjoy the experience fully before I transition into my work. Sometimes I will also savor a french press in the afternoon or a decaf in the evening.
I used to pour leftover coffee down the drain or just save it in the refrigerator for maybe making an iced coffee later. I usually forgot about it, or if I remembered, the ice cubes watered down the drink and it would end up down the drain anyways.
I contemplated this small act of wastefulness enough that I finally came to a solution...just freeze the leftover coffee in ice cube trays, then put them into an airtight container to use later. Now my iced coffee tastes better and lasts longer.
I have since used the same idea for my homemade prickly pear juice, and small amounts of leftover fruit. These remnants go into cold blended drinks or smoothies.
I feel better about producing less waste, and my dollar goes further.
What are some ways you practice mindfulness in your everyday life?
Being mindful
PRACTICING MINDFULNESS FOR CHANGE
Do you find yourself multitasking and running on auto-pilot a lot?
Are you accomplishing as much as you would like to?
Do you have a sense of peace and well-being as you go through your day or do you feel stressed, anxious, and constantly in a hurry?
Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present moment, which has the effect of calming and balancing the central nervous system.
It helps you to be more aware of your thoughts, feelings & habits.
When you are more aware, you can then make conscious choices to facilitate positive change.
This gives you the flexibility and freedom to be the person you want to be and live the life you want to live.
If you are ready to live a more mindful life, schedule your private session with me. Sessions are available in person, or virtually.
I will take you through some very simple exercises designed to bring you into the present moment, creating a sense of peace, calm, and clarity. You can use these techniques every day to create the change you wish to have in your life.
Multitasking with Purpose and Clarity
I am in my backyard working at home today in my bikini!!! So grateful for this beautiful Arizona sunshine and the life I created for myself! I started my day with a few moments of meditation to set myself up and get clear about the day before me. I gave thanks. My second load of laundry is now in the wash. I then tackled the messages and online stuff. As I am writing this post, I plan to revise it into a story to submit later this week to a life coaching company I write for. We will call this a first draft. :) I will share this on my personal blog and send it out to my email list too. My hot wax pot is heating up and I just received an invitation to see a friend play drums tonight. I have three events to facilitate this week, one in the Pacific Northwest, and a few personal clients to see (in person and online) before I catch my plane in a few days. I am approaching it all systematically and mindfully. I know exactly what I need to do and when I will do it.
If you read my task list way down there below, you will notice it includes various things in different quadrants of my life. I make sure to be conscious of this as I plan my days to lead a balanced life. The quadrants are listed in a particular order of importance to me. From my life experience, I have found that by prioritizing these things in this order, it works best for me.
The quadrants are:
Gratitude
(observe and give thanks)
Spiritual
(stillness, meditation, quiet time)
Emotional/Mental
(relationships, fun, creativity)
Physical
(self care, health, and beauty)
Work/Money/Freedom
(follow up, follow through, be prepared, do the work)
Gratitude
(observe and give thanks)
I start each day with a little quiet time to ground and center myself. I give thanks for my blessings. Then I focus on my relationships with family, clients, and friends. With my spiritual and mental stuff taken care of, I can focus on some physical things with a clear mind. The money and freedom...It’s a by product of getting the other parts of my life in order first. Yes, I listed gratitude twice. I begin with gratitude and express it throughout the day, and it is the last thing I do as I am laying my head down to go to sleep.
On my list today:
Take some time for stillness, meditation.
Return messages.
Confirm client appointments.
Marketing/Website/Social Media/E-mails
Make sure I am on track with my income goals and pay bills.
Write at least one story.
Work on my tan.
Be prepared for facilitating Yoga tomorrow.
Be prepared for a private Yoga event next week.
Put together items to facilitate a wedding next week.
Wash my sheets and towels from the previous week’s bodywork clients.
More laundry.
Restock my supplies.
Start packing for my wedding trip.
Make a list of what I still need to get.
Attend a rock show to see my friend playing drums.
Communicate with at least one person I love.
Wax my legs.
Tidy up my house.
Prepare a healthy meal.
Drink my green tea.
Practice guitar.
Do something on one of my art projects.
Nurturing Relationships
With the ease and convenience of electronic communication, and the ridiculous amount of time I spent running my downtown business for 5 years, the most important things in my life slowly began to slip away. I have felt pieces of myself get chipped away and fall to the ground where I thought I could retrieve them when I wasn’t so busy. Important relationships took a back seat to the less meaningful tasks of attempting to keep a business going that wasn’t even nourishing my soul the way my family and friends could.
