Category: Good Living Cure

February 24, 2014

Oil Pulling

Good Living Cure, inflammation, Medicinal Food Cure, oil pulling

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When Delores, my utterly kind and professional dental hygienist, asks during my regular teeth cleaning appointments how often I’ve been flossing my teeth, I cannot lie.  It’s not that I’m incapable of lying, it’s that Delores is my across-the-street neighbor so she is privy to seeing debris stuck between my teeth on a regular basis.  She never shames me, but ever conscientious, she always, at every appointment, educates and reminds me to floss. To be totally honest, I’ve never been much of a flosser (except on the night before my teeth cleaning appointment) in spite of Delores’ very real concern about the inflammation under my 27th cusped and food trapping pockets between my back molars.

My teeth started getting the attention they deserved when my trusted friend and advisor on all things Ayurvedic, Maurine, gave me the scoop on oil pulling for oral care. I incorporated it into my morning routine after Delores gave me the thumbs up. She personally had tried it with sesame oil and liked it, and saw good results in her patients.

One of my favorite features of this method is that it is hands-free.  On an empty stomach in the morning, I dissolve one teaspoon of solid coconut oil in my mouth and then just swish it through my teeth for 10 -20 minutes while cleaning up the kitchen.  Grinding the coffee, swish, swish, swish; emptying the dishwasher, swish, swish, swish; sweeping the floor, swish, swish, swish.  Sometimes I have to remind myself to swish, which is kinda amazing since my mouth is bulging from the ever-increasing volume of saliva mixed with oil.  When that I’m done moment comes, I spit the pathogenic mixture into the trash, avoiding a solid mass of coconut oil from clogging up my pipes, then rinse and brush my teeth.  Smooth and glossy, my choppers feel very clean.

High quality sesame, sunflower and olive oil can be used for oil pulling, however I prefer organic coconut oil.  A known anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and inhibitor of Streptococcus bacteria, coconut oil is an inexpensive gentle warrior against gum disease and tooth decay. It acts as a cleanser and detoxifier and has the added benefit of whitening teeth.  Systemic health issues related to inflammation like sinusitis, allergies, infections, arthritis, skin problems and pain can improve from oil pulling.  Since our mouths house billions of bacteria, germs, parasites and toxins, I love the notion of pulling and expelling these potentially harmful buggers.

Desperately wanting my dental hygienist’s approval, I waited expectantly at my last dental cleaning appointment for Delores’ appraisal of my teeth and gums.  At last, after taking a very close look, she gave me kudos: a total lack of plaque on my teeth and reduced inflammation on my 27th cusped.  However, she reminded me that flossing is still beneficial for gum stimulation.

All right. All right.

 

 

 

February 9, 2014

Seed Swap

Community Cure, Good Living Cure, Seed swap, Urban Farming, vegetable varieties

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It’s the little things, the things that come in small packages, which often give me the most joy.

IMG_0998Today, Upper Rainier Beach residents, Iris and Dave, organized the first Seed Swap, an informal neighborhood event. Located in their dining room, it was perfectly little. As I browsed the table filled with thoughtfully categorized vegetable varieties, I was smitten; it wasn’t just the seed varieties that got my attention, it was how they were packaged.  Iris and Dave with typed labels on small plastic bags, gave clear growing instructions; Kim brought seeds in small paper origami packages, complete with a numerical key on a separate piece of paper; others, including myself, simply put the name of the variety on a label and called it done.  Kristen and Don brought their seeds in little plastic tubes. I took a sampling of their Purple Driveway, an otherwise unidentified purple lettuce that, you guessed it, grew alongside their driveway.

While some attendees perused the table making their selections, others exchanged gardening tips, lessons learned, and plans for their upcoming garden.  This kind of free exchange of information and resources, a little thing, an underground thing, has the potential, like in every seed, to nourish our whole community.

December 10, 2013

Laugh Medicine

Community Cure, Good Living Cure, Laugh Yoga, Self Care Practice

Tita2 Tita1jpegA few weeks ago, when I returned to work as an on-call interfaith chaplain at Harborview Medical Center, Tita, at the front information desk, exuberantly welcomed me back.  It had been three years since I last saw Tita yet her spirit shined as bright as ever. Some staff at Harborview practice medicine.  Tita is medicine.

Traditional Chinese medicine understands a person’s shen or spirit as integral to health; when shen is strong, eyes are bright, radiating spiritual and emotional well-being. Tita, stationed at Harborview’s ground floor entrance, not only shares information and directions, she, a practitioner and leader of laugh yoga, also shares joy, love and compassion.  And, of course, laughter is thrown in for free.

Tita described her daily self-cure practices to me: When I wake at 4:45 in the morning, I spend five minutes expressing my gratitude.  I say, “Thank you God for this new day, bless my day; it’s going to be a great day.”  I look at the sky and say, “Thank you for the beautiful day.”  When I take a shower, I laugh.  When I drive, I laugh.  When I am at work, I laugh. When I am in the bathroom, I laugh. You don’t have to have stress.  You don’t have to have other emotions.  You just have to celebrate life everyday.

I can attest from personal experience, Tita’s methods work.  During my chaplain residency, I often joined Tita at Harborview’s weekly laughter club.  At first, I felt awkward and silly, forced even, as I participated in the goofy group exercises. Soon enough the awkward silly me was cutting loose, my goofball self laughed like the most practiced in the room.  Not hard, really. At the time, those weekly laugh-ins became a self-care practice; an antidote to daily grief and trauma exposure.

We know laughter is an upper but beyond enhancing mood, there is also research showing laughter offers pain relief, immune cell activation, stress reduction, blood sugar regulation and blood pressure reduction. When I’m at Harborview, I inevitably gravitate towards the information desk and get in line for my daily dose of Tita.

Join Tita at Harborview’s Laughter Club on Fridays at noon in the resource center.

November 11, 2013

Switching It Up

Good Living Cure

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This weekend, I did the unimaginable:  I switched sides of the bed with my husband. Traditionally, I sleep on the right side of the bed, he, on the left.  Every two years or so, it becomes evident, when neck, shoulder or arm pain arises, we’re both ready to make the switch.   It’s baffling why my sleep position can become as static as some books in my nightstand, especially since sleeping in the same position, night after night, year after year, will obviously impede blood circulation and compress nerves. Waking up to my habitual sleep patterns is so difficult because getting into bed grants me permission to drop all conscious self-monitoring, letting the unconscious autonomic nervous system do the work of restoration.   Yet sleep, that delicious still yin time, can be a silent minefield of somatic bombs waiting to detonate if I don’t pay attention to my body’s signals.  That slight tightness in my neck and that insistent ache in my elbow and upper arm, all on the right side, are the signals telling me it’s time to unpin myself from the bed.

After changing sides of the bed, cleaning up every other part of our passive nocturnal den became an active imperative.  The dust under the bed: gone. The pillows that make us sniffle: gone. The previously read books and journals with no entries on my nightstand: gone.

Last night, while comfortably left lying on the left side of the bed, I resisted yearnings to turn back to my old right sided ways.  I reflected on how the yin-yang symbol isn’t a mere philosophical abstraction, it is a how-to diagram from one of the most ancient instruction manuals, giving direction for turning the knob on our life experiences.  If we are stuck in chronic self-harming patterns, in pain or polarized – switch it up, be flexible, and make changes.

This morning, waking up on the wrong side of the bed never felt so right (or, do I mean left?).

 

November 1, 2013

Scream Therapy

Good Living Cure

Haunted House 10At KUBE 93fm’s Haunted House, we three not-so-brave souls, Margaret, Machelle and myself clung to each other as we made our way through the Georgetown Morgue, a wicked chamber of calculated terror.   When the first mutilated woman jumped out at me with no forewarning, I smacked her in the nose, which only made her rear up again like a ghastly living nightmare.  Continuing to walk through dark corridors, we found floors collapsing under our feet and threat at every turn. We took turns being in the lead, pushing through dead bodies bundled and hanging in plastic body bags only to have to squeeze through rubber cots with bloody body parts splayed everywhere.  We recoiled from blood–smeared morticians, crazy clowns and tragic characters like scary mothers with dead babies, sick people in wheelchairs and disgruntled crime victims.  The whole time, we screamed our lungs out – so much so that my sides hurt. The continuous raising and lowering of my diaphragm, the unchecked shrieking and laughing, the clutching to the friend in front of me–all of it felt wicked good.  At the end of our tour, when a zombie goon chased us with a running chainsaw into the November chill air, we had to catch our breath. For the next few minutes, we laughed, coughed, spluttered and spit.  Our lungs had a real workout. Who knew terror was such an excellent expectorant?

 

January 18, 2013

Tea Time

Community Cure, Good Living Cure, Medicinal Plant Cure, tea

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Yesterday, my friend and neighbor, Jackie, knocked on my door to drop off a little bag of Souchong tea.  The day before she sat at my kitchen counter drinking ginger green tea while we shared very wifey topics like roasted chicken recipes and kitchen remodeling ideas; she also listened to me make a vow to use up and/or throw away all the packaged tea in my cabinet before committing to a very few selections of loose herbal and black tea.  In turn, she made some black tea recommendations, and generously followed up by giving me this sample to try.

Our conversation about tea went something like this:

Me:  “I’m sick of looking at tea bags at the bottom of cups – they’re so ugly – like afterbirth.”

Jackie: “Yeah, they kind of look like an herbal tampon.”

Aesthetics is part of the reason I want to make this change. Saving space is another. Probably the most important reason is because my cabinet of teas has become one of those messy bulging avoidant areas, usually found behind doors or in drawers, which has become dreadfully stagnant. I’m not sure why I’ve had such a block to throwing out those 3” by 5” boxes, which neither I, nor my guests, ever choose.  Maybe it’s because all those colorful boxes give the illusion of having choices, and I’ve been choosing illusion over reality.

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As I write this post, I am sipping on the Souchong tea and it’s good, I guess. I have to admit: I’m not very discerning when it comes to tea. If a tea has a medicinal benefit then I usually can convince myself to like it but I’ve never had strong preferences based on taste alone.  I know I don’t like fruity teas but beyond that I couldn’t even pretend to have an opinion on a tea’s qualities, never mind its aroma.  Which is probably why I have been buying packaged tea.  And I must admit the teas I buy are usually geared towards what’s on sale versus its ingredients.

As I begin the gradual emptying of my tea cabinet, I’ll also have to ready myself for filling the void. Probably the only way for me to feel more connected to my teas is if I actually grow, harvest and store the leaves and flowers in glass canisters of my choosing.  That’s a lot of work.  And so is cleaning out a teapot every day. But that’s how I roll. I suspect my lack of involvement in my tea collection has kept me indifferent and distant all along.

A few years ago, my friend Lizzie actually gave me the tea plant, Camellia Sinensis, which grows well in the Pacific Northwest, but I wasn’t ready for it then and sadly, it didn’t survive.  I’ll have to try growing it again, and perhaps start foraging for other tea ingredients, but in the meantime, come on over for tea.  Right now, I have quite a selection!

January 15, 2013

Doggie Daily Self-Cure

dog health care, Good Living Cure, skin brushing

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When Craig comes home from work, he opens the door, and before greeting me, he first gives attention to our beloved companion dog, Golda, who awaits him every day. After setting down his shoulder bag he puts on a rubber dog-grooming glove, and with all the care of a skilled masseuse he gives her a vigorous skin brushing. The glove is dimpled, similar to those old-style doormats that are emblazoned with the word “welcome. Should Craig be distracted momentarily from this duty when he arrives home, Golda follows him around the house, nudging him with her nose as a gentle reminder that he has a job to do. When he gets down on the floor with her, he makes sure to brush not just her torso but each armpit and leg too.

It’s this act of doggie daily self-cure (and her daily raw chicken liver with kibble) that I believe has kept our arthritic Golda on her paws.  It’s also an act of daily self-cure I personally  partake in because in both humans and animals alike, skin brushing stimulates blood and lymphatic circulation. For an old dog like Golda who is no longer active, and cannot scratch or self-groom, this kind of friction massage is very therapeutic.

In all the seventeen years she has lived with us, veterinarian visits have been very few and far between. Now, besides diminished hearing and vision, her back legs sometimes fail her when she mounts steps and she often struggles when both getting down and rising from the oak floors so we occassionally give her a lift.  Our old gal has had a few fast growing growths that were removed from her paws and larger undiagnosed tumors remain in her abdomen.  She sleeps for most of the day, but still looks forward to her daily walks, two bowel movements, supper, and of course, skin brushing.

A few months ago, after Craig built a ramp so she could still get in and out of the dog door on her own, we knew we were entering into doggie end-of-life care. Our Golda, even in her old age, is still a beautiful and serene creature.  Through the years, we have covered a lot of ground, and gone the distance – together.  Her comfort is our comfort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 29, 2012

Winter Garden Food Tour

Community Cure, Good Living Cure, Urban Farming

 

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This morning seven of us women started at Parsley Farm, had a good look around at the winter crops, and then mosied over to Mary’s who is also utilizing every square inch of her yard to grow food.   Mary shared her folksy water storage idea using plastic bladders from wine boxes.

We moved on down the road to check out Anna’s expansive first year garden, and learn her trick of digging her food waste right into her garden beds.  We crossed over to Val’s and learned about her goal of making a wildlife habitat and then ended at Annya’s place where she taught us how to pack in lots of fruit and veggies in a small space.

These kinds of informal, small scale, neighbor to neighbor sharings really make my day.

Even though it’s our time to rest, just like our garden beds, here are some resources if you get to thinking about next season’s garden.

Excellent organic seeds at a good price:

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/

King County’s Free soil testing program:

http://www.kingcd.org/pro_far_soi.htm

King County’s manure share program:

http://www.kingcd.org/programs-farm-manure.htm

Year round Garden Hotline:

www.gardenhotline.org  206-633-0224

December 24, 2012

The Cleaning Cure

Good Living Cure, non-toxic cleansers, Recipes

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Have you ever had the experience of waiting for those precious few days when your partner will be away, and then finally you are alone? This morning Craig left to visit Indian Bob over the Christmas holiday so finally I had the solitude I’d been waiting for to start rewriting the first chapter of my memoir.

Well, of course, instead of sitting down to write, I had to clean the space first.  That’s not too avoidant, it’s practically a norm for writers to clean their space as a first attempt to clear their head before banging it up against their subject matter. But when I decided to make DIY household cleaning supplies, I knew I was really getting off my mark.

The reality is I’ve been putting off making these simple, totally non-toxic, effective and inexpensive cleansers for about as long as I’ve been putting off rewriting chapter one.  As it turned out, spending the very few minutes it took to make an All Purpose Spray Cleaner and a Soft Scrub cleanser, using Seattle writer Raleigh Briggs’ very cool book, Make Your Place, affordable, sustainable nesting skills, triggered an all out, clean every white surface in sight siege.  Raleigh Briggs offers excellent non-toxic solutions for household cleansers so her book is a small and very worthwhile investment.  She uses basic and inexpensive ingredients like baking soda, vinegar and essential oils among other simple ingredients, and enough practical hands on tips to make all conscientious homemakers succeed at using non-toxic cleansers as a first choice.

This is my favorite recipe for making a soft scrub for cleaning bathtubs and sinks:

1 c baking soda

3-5 drops tea tree oil (other oils are fine too – lemon, eucalyptus, peppermint)

¼ c liquid castile soap

2 aspirins, powdered

Mix all ingredients together and add enough water to make a paste. Keep in a shampoo bottle or small Tupperware container.  To use, apply with a sponge, scrub and rinse thoroughly.

Now back to the clean white page.

December 7, 2012

Rice Currency

Community Cure, Good Living Cure, Medicinal Food Cure

img.phpSouthend Sake for sale this Saturday (Dec. 8th) at the Rainier Beach Community Club Holiday Bazaar located at VFW, 6038 S. Pilgrim Street, Seattle, 10a.m.-2p.m.

A few years ago we came under the tutelage of sake master, Ten Ridlon.  Ten passed on all the technicalities and timing of adding the primary ingredients (water, rice, koji and yeast) over a forty-five day period.  When rice and koji are introduced gradually into the fermentation, at repeated intervals, the yeasts produce alcohol at higher concentrations than any other type of fermented alcohol. It took awhile for us to acquire our own mastery over these few ingredients, but now we are making consistent delicious batches of Shiboritate Namazake Genshu Nigori Sake.

Let me explain these Japaenese terms:

Shiboritate means that it was just pressed.  The sake we are selling on Saturday was pressed on Thursday night.

Namazake is a sake that has not been pasteurized.  It has a live culture of probiotics, which requires refrigerated storage and has a shorter shelf-life than pasteurized sake.

Genshu is undiluted sake.  Most sake is diluted with water after brewing to lower the alcohol content, but genshu is not.

Nigori is cloudy sake.  The sake is passed through a loose mesh to separate it from the mash.  It isn’t filtered thereafter and there is much rich sediment in the bottle.  Before serving, the bottle is shaken to mix the sediment and turn the sake white or cloudy.

Unlike beer, sake, fermented rice wine, tastes more nutritive, and its sparkly, clean disposition reminds you that it is very much alive. I only drink it in tiny sips due to its high alcoholic content however; Craig enjoys sake with most meals.  As grill master, he especially enjoys using it as a main ingredient for his moistening marinades for fish, pork and chicken.  I use sake kasu, or sake lees, the remaining solids that were pressed from the liquid sake, for pickling, and experimentally in cooking.  I also use it as a face mask.

In 8th century Japan, rice grains were traditionally used as a commodity, a means of currency.  At Parsley Farm, we would like to continue trading in grain and we encourage our neighbors to develop their own mediums for currency so we can have a very vibrant and alive marketplace in Upper Rainier Beach.