My Mind is Non-Stop When I Meditate!

A Meditation Reminder: my pregnant yoga student asked me this morning, "When I meditate, my mind is not still -- I'm thinking about work, and errands, and all sorts of stuff.  I don't think I'm meditating right if all that stuff's coming up!"

I told her, "You, in fact, are meditating correctly.  LET thoughts come up.  Think of meditation as a safe space, a sandbox, for your mind chatter to release.  You may think of all sorts of things: sad thoughts, violent thoughts, pornographic thoughts, angry thoughts, silly thoughts...let that all come to the surface.  The space you hold for meditation is a safe mental dumping ground.  You may find you have lot more thoughts...in this case, do more meditation.  Why else do you think people have a hard time relaxing or falling asleep -- a lot of times, it's the same thoughts swirling around as the day before!  The more you give yourself the opportunity to meditate, the more headtrash you clear."

Meditating consistently clears headtrash!

Meditation for Strong Nerves

Just wanted to share with you a meditation that I've been doing.  Practicing this meditation helps calm my mind, and I feel a zing of energy afterwards!  It helps protect you from irrationality.  Best of all, you can practice this meditation anywhere!

Instructions:

Mudra: Sit in Easy Pose with a straight spine.

Women: Hold your left hand at ear level, and connect your thumb tip and tip of ring finger.  Fingers nails don't touch.  Place your right hand in your lap, connecting your thumb tip and tip of the little finger.

Men: Hold your right hand ear level; connect your thumb tip and tip of ring finger. Fingernails don't touch.  Place your left hand in your lap connecting your thumb tip and tip of your little finger.

Eyes: The eyes are 1/10 open, looking straight out.

Breath: Long and deep, but not powerful.

Time: Start with 11 minutes and work up to 31 minutes.  To end the meditation, inhale deeply, open your fingers, raise your hands, and shake them rapidly for several minutes.  Relax.

Recipe: Green Smoothie

Inspired by my friend's green smoothie truck, I decided to try my own.  After all, the thought of eating my fruits and veggies via straw appealed to me immensely.  I looked over recipes on the web, but decided to make my own combo.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
5 swiss chard leaves (torn from the stem)
1 apple
4 frozen strawberries
5 frozen pieces pineapple
1 nectarine
a squeeze of agave nectar

Instructions:

Place all the ingredients into your blender, and blend!

Drink immediately!

Recipe: Tuna and Corn Baked Potato

Uh oh, I'm revealing one of my comfort foods that might gross out Americans.  It probably seems gnarly to you, but it's something I picked up while living in London.  If it makes you feel better, I used only organic corn, Albacore tuna, and vegannaise. If you're really not digging the topping, feel free to top your ordinary baked potato with anything that suits your fancy!  (Serves 1)

Ingredients:

1 baking potato (i.e., Russet)

1 can of corn kernels

1 can of tuna

salt & pepper

oil

mayonnaise

Instructions:

Pre-heat toaster over to 450 degrees F.  Wash your potato and pat dry, coating the skin with a thin layer of oil, then dusting it with salt.  Prick salted potato with fork several times, and pop on it a tray and into the toaster oven, cooking 1 hour.   

Once out of the oven, cut a cross into the potato, and push on all four corners: this will open up the potato beautifully.  

Mix tuna and corn together, with mayo (I substitute with vegannaise).   Top this mixture onto your hot potato, adding fresh pepper and salt to taste.  Serve immediately.

   

Recipe: Mushroom and Onion Quiche

I'm going through some nesting instinct here, so bear with me and all these cooking posts.  Always wanted to make my own quiche!  Sounds like labor intensive?  It's a lot simpler than I'd imagined....  This is made with what the French called duxelles.  For extra flavor, add 1/4 oz dried Italian mushrooms, soaked and finely chopped.  Or grated cheese.

Quiche Pastry
4 oz plain flour
1 oz lard (or vegetable shortening)
1 oz margarine or butter
a pinch of salt
cold water, to mix

Mushroom and Onion Filling
8 oz mushrooms, chopped very, very small
1 medium onion, chopped very small
1 oz butter
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
10 fl. oz heavy cream (cream is best but can be substituted with milk.  I use natural yogurt.)
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and freshly milled black pepper

This will be enough for a lightly-greased 8" quiche or flan tin with fluted edges.  Make up the pastry, then let it rest for 20-30 minutes in a polythene bag in the fridge.  Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F, with a baking sheet placed on the center shelf.

Heat butter in a frypan and soften the onion in it for 5 minutes or so.  Now stir in the chopped mushrooms and let it all cook gently (uncovered) for ~30 minutes or until most of the juice has evaporated -- giving it a stir quite often.

Then roll out the pastry and line the tin with it, easing any overlapping pastry back into the sides if you can.  Be careful to press firmly on the base and sides, then prick with a fork all over.

Bake the pastry case for 15 minutes on the center shelf, then remove it from the oven and paint the inside of it, all over, with some of the beaten egg to be used in the filling ingredients, and pop it back into the oven to set for a further 5 minutes. [On left-hand side: you can see the result of not pressing the pastry firmly enough into the pan -- it separated from the dish! My bad.]

Beat the eggs thoroughly, then whisk the cream into them and season with salt, pepper, and a small grating of nutmeg.

Transfer the filling to the tart with a draining spoon, and arrange it evenly over the base.

Pour the mixture over the filling and bake for a further 30-40 minutes until the quiche is set in the center and has turned golden-brown and looks puffy.

Serve straight from the oven, if possible (though this does reheat quite well).