Our Internal Garden needs some Lovin'

When I started this blog, I made a committment to myself to blog every 1-2 weeks. I thought that there may be times when I was busy and that target may get blurry - but I never thought that the time between blogs could possibly stretch to 2 months! I also never factored in how unsympathetic technology is to your goals and aspirations. I would appreciate it if someone could give my smartphone a good talking to (Lord knows I have). For 2 months it refused to upload my photos to my computer - I tried many ways and spoke to quite a few people to try to fix the problem - but nothing seemed to work. Then yesterday my lovely step-daughter took pity upon this poor old technophobe and in about 10 seconds had fixed my previously unfixable problem! Bless her! So here I am - back and ready to go.

Walking on the creek on Wednesday got me thinking - what is going on with this weather? I looked to the south and I saw this:

 I walked a little further and then looked north and saw this:

There were two seasons competing with each other - winter in the south and spring in the north. "That's just Melbourne", I thought, "Four seasons in one day, etc". And then I saw this:

 
And I thought, "That's right, wattle blooming in July. All very normal". But what is going on with this?

The daisies in my front garden are going bonkers! That only ever happens in spring - not in winter as far as I can remember. Feeling mildy baffled, I checked the current temperature for the northern suburbs and discovered it was 18.4 C! That doesn't sound like a usual Melbourne winter to me.

So with all this conflicting energy competing in our external environment, how is it affecting our internal environment - our general health and well-being?

Recently I have been seeing people in clinic with skin irritations, disturbed sleep and hayfever. All these symptoms are connected to Kidney energy (that is put under stress in winter) not being strong enough to ground the Qi and subsequently allowing the Liver energy - which governs Qi and can become imbalanced in spring - to force the Qi to the upper part of the body. I usually see these symptoms in spring, so obviously they have been exacerbated by this unseasonal weather.

How can we create some balance for our internal garden? A great way is to begin by nourishing the Kidney energy through:

• Going to bed before 10pm
• Spending some time each day just finding a quiet place and watching your breath
• Walking in nature. Slowly
• Eating healthy, nourishing, grounding foods such as lentil soup, fish stew, chicken soup, barley risotto, miso glazed fish - all with lots of vegies (especially the root variety) and wholegrains

The next step is to harmonise the Liver Qi by:

• doing gentle exercise such as yoga, dancing, qi gong, walking
• having fun
• eating foods that are cleansing and support digestion - focusing on leafy greens, wholegrains, legumes and seeds
• avoiding overly rich, greasy food that puts stress on the liver

Balance. That is the key. A bit of movement, some nourishment for the body mind and spirit, and you have a simple equation that adds up to a sustainable and healthy life.

And when I think of nourishment, a recipe I have been making lately for my beloveds comes to mind. It is a dish that warms the belly and when eaten in good company, the heart also. It is a traditional Iraqi pomegranate stew called Shorbat Rumman. The version I cook is from British food writer Mimi Spencer. Traditionally it is made with yellow split peas, but I find them hard to digest so I subtistute them with French puy lentils. Try it and feel it warm you down to your bones!

SHORBAT RUMMAN

(Iraqi pomegranate stew)

2 tsp olive oil                   1 litre vegetable stock

1 large onion, diced              100g brown basmati rice

2 garlic cloves, crushed          1 cup of kale/chard, chopped

1 cinnamon stick, broken          2 spring onions, sliced

1 tsp ground cumin                1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp fenugreek                 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

pinch of saffron strands          salt and pepper

100g puy lentils, washed,         handful of coriander, chopped

soaked and drained                handful of mint leaves, chopped

1 vegetable stock cube           

Heat oil in a large saucepan and saute onion until softened. Add garlic and spices and cook for a further few minutes, then add  puy lentils, stock cube and stock, and simmer for 45 minutes or until just cooked, stirring occasionally to check the stew is loose and and not sticking (add some water if so). Add rice and cook for a further 20-25 minutes, again watching the consistency. Stir in kale and chard, wait for that to soften and add spring onions, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses (this makes it special, so don't forget it!), salt and pepper. To serve scatter with coriander and mint and a final twist of cracked pepper.