Nurture Newsletter June 2023
| Food as Nourishment Hello again & hello to June! Gemini season is upon us, the fast paced, curious twin who loves nothing more than stimulation of mind & great conversation. The Gemini sun will be reflected by the Sagittarian Full moon on June 4th, asking us to step back & expand our minds to the possibilities for our lives. Sagittarius, the truth & justice-seeking sage is ruled by Jupiter, the great expander which literally brings abundance to whatever it touches. This is actually in the sign of Taurus for the next year, so see what ideas come to mind at the start of the month about your security, your earthly pleasures, your food & nourishment, your love & belonging. Taurus wants us to be grounded & secure while Gemini keeps bringing fresh ideas, so it will be an interesting month of being pushed into the new, while also being asked to go steady. What we choose will be for the long haul though, so choose wisely. At Rest & Reset the theme of the month is very Taurian also, as Carina brings us her workshop “Let Food be thy Medicine” on Wednesday 14th. Our food choices have a massive impact on our physical & mental health. Carina is a wonderful example of someone who nourishes her body with good food practices as part of her treatment while living with stage 4 cancer. While the medication can do it’s work on the cancer cells, Carina’s choices help eliminate the toxic load on her body & keeps her life force & energy strong. This concept of our life force is talked about in many cultures, especially eastern cultures where the “chi” or “prana” are considered to flow through everything. The chi or life force of the food we consume therefore has a knock on effect in the life force of our body. Processed food lacks chi, while fresh, local produce has an abundance of chi. This can be felt in the body if you contrast your energy after eating a frozen pizza or that of a bowl of fresh vegetables. We also know that the nutritional content of fresh produce is much higher than that of processed food because every process reduces more nutrients. So here are some tips for you to consider when working with your chi: Temperature matters: If you feel very hot then choose cooling foods & vice versa. If you are feeling the chills, eat hearty warming meals.Rethink your grains: We have become overly reliant on grains in the western world & this means the grains we consume have become mass produced, difficult for our bodies to digest & nutrient poor. Some alternatives that are easier on the gut are quinoa & millet.Eat the rainbow: See how you can add an extra bit of colour to your plate. Choose an extra portion of veg, have some berries to hand, carry a banana in your bag instead of having that chocolate bar. My favourite after dinner sweet treat at the moment is a regular old date or a mandarin orange. It works to curb the sweet craving.Think taste: The five tastes are spicy, sweet, sour, bitter & salty so notice how you can vary it up by incorporating the 5 tastes into your day.Keep it moving: Fibre is fantastic for moving your food along, as well as your chi so be sure to include fibrous foods into your diet. I hope our theme this month inspires you to enhance your nourishment through food.To help you along the way a little more we have collaborated with The Habit Store who have kindly offered 10% off their delicious produce to our subscribers, just say you are part of the Rest & Reset community to avail of your discount this month. We are also meeting up at The Habit Store for the Mayo Organic monthly meeting on Monday June 12th at 7.30pm so feel free to come along & meet us there. We look forward to sharing some good food ideas over the month ahead so hope you can join us along the way. Eat well & be nourished, Vivianne. |
