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Coffee, tea & me

8/3/2018

2 Comments

 
Picture
Russian Tea Workers near the Black Sea, photo by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, early 20th century
I'm writing this while finishing my third morning cup of green jasmine  tea.  Why is this a big deal?  Because I'm a former morning coffee-holic.  I've been drinking coffee since I was about fourteen years old.  Of course, at that time (back in the 70s) my morning cup was made from Maxwell House instant crystals to which I added Coffee Rich (a non-dairy 'creamer' made of hydrogenated coconut oil, water and corn syrup, seriously) and sweetened with either sugar, or more likely, Sweet-n-Low (saccharine in that little pink packet).  What can I say?  I grew up in the era of laboratory foods: TV dinners, instant mashed potatoes, Stove Top Stuffing, Cool Whip, Velveeta--you get the idea.  I remember my parents trying to step up their game by emulating Mary Tyler Moore on her show by buying one of those hour-glass drip coffee pots (see below).  By the way, I spent much of my childhood salivating over that apartment! So cool.
Picture
The glass hourglass was a bust.  It produced watery coffee that took too long to drip and was cold by the time you could drink it, but home-brewed coffee was in its infancy.  The Mr. Coffee machines came on the market in 1972 and eventually we got with the program, but probably not until about the late 1980s.  The original plain $20 model is still very reliable for brewing a big pot.  Alas though, coffee--for the time being--is a thing of the past.

At the age of 53 this year, I've discovered that my "entering menopause" self cannot tolerate coffee.  My morning cups were setting off hot flashes which then resulted in stomach cramps and diarrhea.  I stubbornly clung to my morning joe, but finally had to say enough is enough.  Thus, I'm back to tea.

I have given up coffee before--for three full years to be exact.  When my husband met me I was in the midst of a stint drinking only green and herbal teas.  I was lean, healthy and running a lot and practicing yoga frequently.  I had plenty of energy and felt good with my tea.  I'd take a mug with me everywhere, including dinners and parties.  I never wanted my host to think they had to accommodate my desire for green tea with soy milk and stevia (my evening dessert tea).  I'd just BYOB.  Then my husband and I went on a trip, there was a coffee shop we'd visit every morning, and suddenly I was back on the coffee wagon--BIG TIME.  I'm not one for much moderation.  When I fall, I fall hard.  Suddenly coffee was a several cups a day thing.  My husband is Canadian, he teaches up there at a university, so trips up north invariably included multiple cups of Tim Horton's.  There is a Tim Horton's on nearly every street corner so opportunities were abundant.  Given all the research we've been reading about the benefits of coffee, I figured this was an alright obsession.  I was completely alcohol free and didn't ever drink soda, so what was the big deal?  Honestly, it wasn't a problem until MENOPAUSE.  Suddenly my beloved beverage was leaving me doubled over with cramps, sweating and feeling nauseous on the porcelain throne.  That was a problem.

Here's the thing, when faced with necessary change we have two choices.  We can either embrace with enthusiasm, or resist with resentment.  The first option produces a new experience and positivity, the second is merely indulging your inner brat.  I decided to lean into my new self and get serious about drinking tea not coffee.  What does this mean?  I bought a beautiful sky-blue china teapot, a tea cozy (essential for good brewing and keeping tea warm), a giant mesh tea ball to make loose tea brewing easy and less messy, and I am buying teas.  All kinds of teas: Jamaican butter rum black tea blend, organic green jasmine, lapsang souchang (a smoked tea that smells and tastes like a campfire), white tea with a rainbow of flower petals, Breakfast in Paris (an earl grey tea with lavender), and so on.  Each tea fits a different mood and presents a very different flavor profile.  I'm playing and experimenting.  And at night I have a decaffeinated lady grey tea with half & half and a few drops of vanilla stevia.  Yep, I'm back to my evening dessert tea--a comforting ritual.  

The lesson I've learned from this is that a dietary health setback or bodily change does not have to signal loss.  When framed in the right context, it can be an agent for pleasure and powerful change.  So, here's an exercise for you to practice:
  1. Identify something in your diet that isn't really working for you.  Sure you may like it, but it doesn't like you back!
  2. Think about how taking that thing out of your life will make you feel.  Will you experience profound loss?
  3. If loss or resistance is what you feel, then think about a healthy replacement.  It could be tea for coffee (as in my case) or La Croix for soda (even diet soda, which isn't good for you), or rye bread (very healthy) for white bread, or homemade salad dressing instead of gloppy bottled ranch, or soy milk for dairy (if you are finding you don't process lactose well), or peanuts for chips, etc.
  4. Instead of feeling burdened, jump into it.  Do some research, look for the best options.  "Eat This Not That" has good nutritional information and reviews of products.  Go with the best so that you don't feel cheated.
  5. Buy yourself the right equipment and make it cute or pretty.  My blue pot brings me cheer!
Finally, these lessons can apply to many life changes: jobs, money, relationships, location.  Accept change as necessary and exciting and you'll never be bored!

Artfully yours,

​Lisabeth
2 Comments

Ducks in a row

3/22/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
Mary Cassatt, Feeding the Ducks, 1895, from Wiki Commons
Ever hear of the phrase "get your ducks in a row"?  Well, that's what you need to be doing right now.  March and April are important months in which to set yourself up for a lovely summer and fall.  What that means is "cleaning" house--doing a proverbial spring cleaning, but you need to know what you are up against!  We are literally being dragged (often kicking, screaming and complaining) from cold, dry weather into cold, damp and wet weather, or temperature ups and downs, or extreme rains, or very high winds, or all of the above in the course of a week.  This plays havoc with our lungs and sinuses, bringing on colds and infections.  In my case, high winds mean fever blister breakouts on my lip. Others have constant runny noses, or watering eyes, or headaches.  You need to start to clean out that damp back-up meaning you want to go for lean and green foods and liquids.  Less fat, more bitter tastes (greens, herbs, teas, even sweeteners like molasses).  You're trying to sweep out the stored fat and any built-up toxins, physical or emotional.

Because this is your charge, March and April can be a tough emotional months and transitions to navigate. You're getting cabin fever, but the weather isn't going to allow you to lounge outside with that latte quite yet. Your beautiful yellow daffodils open up, only to be crushed by heavy snow. Your blossom trees freeze in an ice storm and you don't know if they'll set fruit or even survive. You're slopping around in mud and slush and it seems like your boots will never be clean and dry.  You always seem to have an open umbrella in the hallway airing out.  You may feel tired, blue and worn out just as the weather is starting to warm up.  You need a plan so that you can approach that fresh season with energy and high spirits.

The remedy: Embrace the change with some smart strategies and some positive thinking informed by the knowledge of what this spring cleaning time is all about.  This means "greening up" your diet (and no, that doesn't mean shamrock shakes or green beer), doing some detoxing, seeking healthy heat therapies, moving as much as you can, and getting some extra sleep to help adjust to the time change of Daylight Savings.  Let's start (but not END) with diet:

 Good Breakfast Choices:
  1. “Thai” Smoothie (apple or pear, ginger, natural peanut butter, coconut milk, almond milk, frozen banana, cinnamon)
  2. “Gingerbread” Smoothie (apple, frozen banana, ginger, almond milk, molasses, garam masala, cinnamon)
  3. Green Juice (Spinach or Kale, Cucumber, Apple, Mint, Celery, Grapes, Ginger & Lemon--any or all of the above are great)
  4. Fuschia Juice (Beet, Apple, Carrot, Lemon, Ginger).  Drink less often, but for a fun change of pace.
  5. Stewed apples/pears (cook an apple, chopped large, in a small saucepan with a bit of water or apple cider, and a few cloves, add a lemon peel.  Feel free to add prunes.
  6. Oatmeal with maple syrup or stewed apples
  7. Corn mush with maple syrup or stewed apples
  8. Chia pudding—seeds soaked overnight in almond milk with vanilla extract, dried cranberries, almond slivers and unsweetened coconut—add cinnamon and nuts upon eating, if desired.
  9. Green Tea 
  10. Everyday Detox Tea

Good Lunch Choices:
  1. Green Salad—lots of veggies/greens with a simple dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.
  2. Roasted or Steamed Squash, Steamed Greens
  3. Tonic Soup (broth with ginger and garlic) with Greens and mushrooms and green onions, add some buckwheat noodles
  4. Lentil Soup with greens
  5. Vegetable Stir-Fry with Quinoa
  6. Artichoke with lemon/olive oil, steamed veggies with brown rice
  7. Asparagus, asparagus, asparagus
  8. Edamame/Green Peas with brown rice, lemon, olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs
  9. Pureed green pea/arugula soup
  10. Fish, eggs or tofu for protein
  11. Green Tea
  12. Everyday detox tea
Good Dinner Choices: SAME AS LUNCH (or Breakfast)—these are all interchangeable!
  • Drink a cup of hot water with lemon first thing in the morning, followed by green tea throughout the day, a detox tea or lemon tea into the evening.
CLEAN A CLOSET! (OR A DRAWER, OR CUPBOARD) My daughter is even more hard core than me.  She really loves spring cleaning.  Closets are done and a mountain of clothes went to Goodwill.  No sentimental hanging on.  It feels great.  No books from book sales come in unless an equal number leave.  It's great karma and very cleansing and liberating.

MOVE!!!  Take a walk outside or do a walk/exercise dvd inside.  If it’s rainy then grab an umbrella.  Go for at least 30 minutes.  Take in the weather, landscape, sights, smells and sounds.  If it's just too depressing, then do indoor exercise but do not skip it.  Take yoga classes.  Bounce on a mini-trampoline.  Jump rope.  Lift weights--get a dvd for instruction, or look something up on You Tube.  No excuses, there are so many options nowadays.

HEAT THERAPY: to combat all that cold dampness, drink lots of hot/clear liquids and if you have access to a sauna or whirlpool bath, use it.  If not, then run a hot bath (if your skin is dry and itchy, add colloidal oatmeal to the water).  Or, if you cannot take a bath, run a hot shower and add a few shakes of eucalyptus oil to the shower stall.  Use body butter or massage oil on your skin afterwards to ward off dryness.  Soak your feet in a basin with hot water and Epsom salts, add an essential oil like lavender or eucalyptus.  If you want  an upgrade, buy a "foot spa".  I purchased a Homedics one for $39.99 on Walmart's site.  What's wonderful is that the water stays perfectly warm.  Marvelous and easy luxury!

SKIN THERAPY: My latest easy favorite, inexpensive Korean facial mask sheets, I put one on while having that hot bath.  Clean your face nightly with cold cream, it cleanses and moisturizes.  I also love a high quality face cream (my latest crush is Charlotte Tillbury's Magic Cream).  

SOUL THERAPY:  Find some good reading material.  Now is a great time to delve into a spiritual book you've always wanted to read. Something by the Pema Chodron, or Surya Rama Das, or Eckhart Tolle, anything that examines life and your place in the universe.  It's also a great time to dive into the work of a favorite poet.  Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Mary Oliver, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost---whatever you find feeds your soul.  I like to read a poem first thing in the morning while drinking my hot water, do it before opening email or social media.  My latest favorite is Hart Crane--an Ohioan who unfortunately killed himself at age 37.  He used language like no one I've ever seen.  So lyrical.

MORE SOUL THERAPY:  Visit your local botanical gardens (it really can be a salve at this time or year), the art museum, a natural history museum, a concert or lecture at the library.  Give yourself the gift of more knowledge.  Water and nurture your mind.

Remember, May is around the corner, leaves will bud and open, flowers will bloom, sunny days will arrive, heavy sweaters will go back into the dresser drawers.

March into spring like a gentle and wise warrior!
Happy Greening---

​Lisabeth
1 Comment

skincare for skinflints

11/1/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Linda by Chuck Close (1975) from Akron Art Museum website
Today's topic is skincare--CHEAP skin care.  Why?  I've suffered from skin problems for much of my life, but my skin's been much better in recent years due to being smarter. I'm sure that in the past I've spent thousands of dollars on hopeful products that would solve my skin woes.  And finally, I'm tired, tired, TIRED of seeing "stories" of beauty editors who tried a 10 or 20 step routine for a month, and gee, there skin is soooooo much better.  What these stories represent is pure and simple product placement ads. They are what used to be called "copy complimentary" articles  in magazines (that was where a writer would craft a piece on aging skin, and voila, what do you know there'd be an ad for an anti-aging cream on the facing page).  

The painting above was produced in the 1970s by artist Chuck Close. Close is known nowadays for his very mosaic/pixellated portraits--often of famous personages.  However, he made his reputation on photorealistic large portraits painstakingly created using a detailed grid and various paint techniques including an airbrush.  The details of the skin, both superficially good and bad, are beautifully captured and bring personality to the portrait.  So, my first proclamation is to love your skin and the personality it reflects.  It is truly sad when an aging individual decides to get "work done" to counter the effects of growing older.  They usually end up with a lopsided, strangely molded face that is fooling no one.  Age with grace and acceptance.  I also like to think of people in the spotlight who have become MORE attractive with age.  I'm thinking here of Glenn Close, Jamie Lee Curtis, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, Barbara Kingsolver, Richard Gere, Sean Connery, Ted Danson--just to name a few.  

Good skin at any age requires commitment to two things: processes and products that are sensible. There's no need to spend hundreds of dollars (unless you want to enrich the coffers of cosmetic companies) but there is the necessity to devote yourself to regular practices that attend to the skin.


My recommendations from my experience:

1.   Make-up Removal--I must admit, I'm a sucker for good old-fashioned Pond's cold cream (well under $10, and able to be purchased at drugstores).  If you are looking for a more natural solution, coconut oil works well (but turns liquid in the summer).  Never, ever be too lazy to remove makeup.  A wet wipe (like you use on a baby's bum) is fine for removing foundation.  And wash your make-up brushes well, preferably once a week.  I now apply foundation with a blunt brush--I literally use a pea-sized dollop.  So much better for the skin and the effect is sublime.

2.  Cleansers---for those without issues go with drugstore Cetaphil (under $15).  However, my problem skin has changed with the addition of sulphur-based soap.  I buy my bar from Amazon for under $7.  There is nothing luxe or fancy about it.  It is a hard yellow bar that comes in a plastic jar that seriously looks like something your vet would hand you to get rid of Fido's hot spots.  It lasts a very long time and travels well in that plastic jar.  

3.   Toner--Dr. Thayer's Witch Hazel (under $10).  It's pure, it's a classic, and I love the old-fashioned bottle.  You can get it infused with rose, aloe or lavender.  All are great.  I use this in the morning as a refreshing cleanse.  

4.   Facial Mist/Essence--The Heritage Store's Rosewater.  Inexpensive and can be purchased in a spray bottle or a big refill size.  Based on the teachings of Edgar Cayce (I think some wacky stuff) but this is good stuff for a song.  Again, it comes infused.  I love the plain, the lavender infused, and the rosewater and glycerin is great to have on hand at the office for the winter months when central heating plays havoc with your skin.  I tried the jasmine infused, hated the smell.  Just my opinion.

5.   Serum--A Vitamin C/Hylauronic Acid is great to use a couple of times a week for skin refreshing.  Here's a tip--look for one marketed to men!  It will cost half as much for a big bottle (I paid $17 as opposed to $35 dollars).  It's the same stuff, women are gouged, what can I say?  Use just a pea-sized amount and spray liberally with rosewater before and after to activate it.

​6.   Jade Roller--you can use this tool to work in your moisturizer.  Can be purchased from Amazon for $6-7. Use upward strokes--great for moving fluid and diminishing puffiness, and to stimulate the thyroid on the neck.  

7.  Moisturizer--depends on the time of year.  In the summer, when my skin is oily, I'm not as frequent and I use Neutrogena's Hydra Gel ($18).  In the depths of winter, I like Weleda Calendula Baby Face Cream.  Under $11 a tube and a little goes a long way.

8.  Face Mask Sheets--I buy inexpensive Korean face sheets on Amazon.  They are less than $1.50 a piece. Korean women are known for being meticulous with skin care.  I just find these fun.  They're moist (face masks should never be allowed to dry on your face), and easy (no mess), and relaxing.  I use them before bed as a treat every now and again.  Once a week would be great.

9.  Spot treatment--Lavender essential oil is great for this.  A drop on the fingertip can hit any problem areas on the face.

10.  Body lotions--I love Dr. Bronner's Orange Lavender lotion, less than $12; and for deep moisture, Tree Huts Shea Butter Body Butters.  The Honey Almond smells like a wonderful almond croissant--truly decadent! Around $15, and again, a little goes far.  

Lifestyle counts too!  --

11.  Hydration--water, water, water

12.   Sleep--at least 7 hours

13.  Good diet--veggies, fruits, legumes, nuts & seeds, quality dairy, whole grains, and  only occassional meat.  
https://bluezones.com/

​
And, don't forget to get out and walk.  Circulation is great for the skin.  Sunscreen if you're going to be out for a long period of time, if it's a half hour, then skip it so as to get the Vitamin D.  Twenty minutes to half an hour after dinner is a nice habit to get into whenever possible.

So, there you have it.  Cheap skin care and please know that I'm not on the payroll of any of these companies.  These are my preferences, truly.

Be healthy, be frugal, be artful--

​Lisabeth 
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the magic of multiples: Part One, Habits

6/14/2017

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Picture
Marilyn by Andy Warhol, image from artnet.com
Even if you aren't an art historian, you likely recognize Andy Warhol's repetitive renditions of Marilyn Monroe as pictured above. Warhol knew the cultural and artistic power of repeating an iconic image--with color modifications added to each one for visual interest.  He knew that the human mind was hard-wired to see repetition as good (think how many times you make the same dish, or order the same thing at a restaurant). Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, also understood the power of repetition.  He purportedly said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Greatness is not an act, it is a habit."  He was trying to educate the youth of Athens on how to become true leaders by letting them know that a single showboating act was not what made greatness, but rather taking care of business, ethically, day after day. I want to use these pioneering examples and play with that idea of repetition in terms of developing our own good habits and desired behaviors.  
Let's examine this idea of doing things repeatedly.  How many times have you tried to start a habit: flossing daily, meditating, exercising, journaling, drinking more water, reading, saving money, etc.?  So many of us have tried to instill a daily habit only to fail, despite our best intentions.  I'm going to suggest a new strategy--set a goal for more than once a day with your desired behavior.  Now, I know exactly what you are thinking. If I can't manage to do something once a day, why would I try for more than that?  Hear me out.

Last month I was reading Sara Gottried's Younger, a book about genetics and aging, and she had a section on flossing.  The advice was to floss several times a day. I immediately thought, "Ha--I can't even remember to do it once, are you kidding me?"  Then I decided to challenge myself by setting the goal of flossing twice a day (anything more seems excessive to me).  Forget all the recent debate on flossing's efficacy (the recent study that has all floss haters loving life simply stated that not enought proof of flossing's benefits had yet been amassed, which is not the same as it not being worth anything).  Anyways, I decided to go for twice a day and bought myself more Peppermint "Glide" a smooth tape style floss (worth the extra money, I swear, trust me on this).

How did I do?  I don't floss twice a day everyday, but now I DO floss at least once.  See what happened?  By setting a higher goal, I've assured myself that I'll hit a minimum of a daily habit.  I'm now mildly disappointed with myself when I ONLY floss once, and as a result, I floss at least once, and often twice, daily.  Once I framed it in this context of multiples, I was able to incorporate the habit into my life.  Had I not recontextualized the issue, I'd have remained an occasional flosser at best.  

Now I'm thinking about how I can use this strategy to accomplish other goals that have eluded me.  For example, if I challenge myself to a brief morning AND evening meditation, will that work?  What if I scheduled two forms of exercise a day?  What if I made two deposits a month to my savings account?  You see where I'm going with this?  Instead of asking ourselves to do the minimum, ASK MORE OF OURSELVES.  I know, this method is not a guarantee of habitual success--after all, if you're willing to blow off one exercise session, why not two? However, I think there's real potential here because we think differently about a commitment that seems more pervasive, constant and therefore important.  Think about the things you already do repeatedly that you never have to remind yourself about (checking email, Instagram, Facebook, eating several meals a day, changing clothes, brushing your teeth, saying "I love you" to your partner, family and friends--I hope that one is in there, if not, there's your first target!).  We have the blueprint for success already built into our lives, we just need to figure out how to extend it to areas where we'd like to improve.  

I hope you'll take me up on the multiple challenge.  Below are some ideas for how to achieve your goal:
  • If you want to become a flosser, buy more floss and put it all over the place (one for your purse, one for at work, one in each bathroom--you get the idea).
  • Set daily alarms/reminders like "time to meditate" on your phone, or your electronic calendar.
  • Stick post-it notes in visible places (like your bathroom mirror)
  • Make your "equipment" accessible.  For example, I might start using my mini-trampoline every morning, which means I'm going to pull it out into view to try to establish the habit.
  • If you're looking to save money--set up two auto-transfers per month, or auto deposits to your retirement and investments.  Mine comes out of my paycheck before I even see my paycheck in my account!  Maybe increase the amount, see if you can work with less so as to have more later on!
  • If you're looking to pay down debt--pay the most you can (or even the monthly minimum) TWICE a month, not once.  You'll owe less in interest and pay down more quickly.  I used this one many years ago.
I'm sure you'll have even more ideas.  Please feel free to share or let me know how a habit works out with this challenge in the comments section.  You'll notice I said "The Magic of Multiples: Part One"  -- I'm already thinking about how to apply this concept in different ways.

Live artfully!
Lisabeth
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March Madness

3/14/2017

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Picture
Image from Boston's WBUR, Snowstorm of 3/12/17
March, despite the arrival of Spring Equinox within it, can be a very difficult seasonal transition for the body and spirit.  Most schools (including mine) have their "spring break" and yet the weather often does not cooperate.  We're ready for sunshine, light jacket weather, and blooming bulbs.  Unfortunately the weather is often mercurial with snowstorms, heavy rains and ice.  In Northeast Ohio, we had temperatures in the high 60's in February (I hiked in a tank top one day) which encouraged the bulbs to pop up.  The snowstorm that hit the eastern half of the U.S. the past two days has certainly taken care of those.  And so it goes--we get a little lift, and are smacked back down into the cold, gray and damp of late winter, sort of like that old "whack a mole" game.  And then there's Daylight Savings Time--an hour lost!  This is March Madness after all.  Not the basketball kind, of which I know very little, but rather the winter to spring, cold to wet (before hot and dry) kind of madness.  

March is an important month to set yourself up for a lovely summer and fall.  What that means is "cleaning" house--doing a proverbial spring cleaning, but you need to know what you are up against!  We are literally being dragged (often kicking, screaming and complaining) from cold, dry weather into cold, damp and wet weather, or temperature ups and downs, or extreme rains, or very high winds, or all of the above in the course of a week.  This plays havoc with our lungs and sinuses, bringing on colds and infections.  In my case, high winds mean fever blister breakouts on my lip. Others have constant runny noses, or watering eyes, or headaches.  

Just as important, March can be a tough emotional transition to navigate.  You're getting cabin fever, but the weather isn't going to allow you to lounge outside with that latte quite yet.  Your beautiful yellow daffodils open up, only to be crushed by heavy snow. Your blossom trees freeze in an ice storm and you don't know if they'll set fruit or even survive.  You're slopping around in mud and slush and it seems like your boots will never be clean and dry.  You always seem to have an open umbrella in the hallway airing out.  

The remedy: Embrace the change with some smart strategies and some positive thinking informed by the knowledge of what this Month is all about (after all, it is named after the Roman god of war).  This means "greening up" your diet (and no, that doesn't mean shamrock shakes or green beer), doing some detoxing, seeking healthy heat therapies, moving as much as you can, and getting some extra sleep to help adjust to the time change.

 Good Breakfast Choices:
  1. “Thai” Smoothie (apple or pear, ginger, natural peanut butter, coconut milk, almond milk, frozen banana, cinnamon)
  2. “Gingerbread” Smoothie (apple, banana, ginger, almond milk, molasses, garam masala, cinnamon)
  3. Green Juice (Spinach or Kale, Cucumber, Apple, Mint, Ginger & Lemon)
  4. Fuschia Juice (Beet, Apple, Carrot, Lemon, Ginger)
  5. Stewed apples/pears (cook an apple, chopped large, in a small saucepan with a bit of water or apple cider, and a few cloves, add a lemon peel.  Feel free to add prunes.
  6. Oatmeal with maple syrup or stewed apples
  7. Corn mush with maple syrup or stewed apples
  8. Chia pudding—seeds soaked overnight in almond milk with vanilla extract, dried cranberries, almond slivers and unsweetened coconut—add cinnamon and nuts upon eating, if desired.
  9. Green Tea 
Good Lunch Choices:
  1. Green Salad—lots of veggies/greens with a simple dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.
  2. Roasted or Steamed Squash, Steamed Greens
  3. Kitchari (seasoned yellow lentils) and Greens
  4. Tonic Soup (broth with ginger and garlic) with Greens and mushrooms and green onions
  5. Vegetable Stir-Fry with Quinoa
  6. Artichoke with lemon/olive oil, steamed veggies with brown rice
  7. Edamame/Green Peas with brown rice, lemon, olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs
  8. Pureed green pea/arugula soup
  9. Fish, eggs or tofu for protein
  10. Green Tea
Good Dinner Choices: SAME AS LUNCH (or Breakfast)—these are all interchangeable!
  • Drink a cup of hot water with lemon first thing in the morning, followed by green tea throughout the day, a detox tea or lemon tea into the evening.
MOVE!!!  Take a walk outside or do a walk/exercise dvd inside.  If it’s rainy then grab an umbrella.  Go for at least 30 minutes.  Take in the weather, landscape, sights, smells and sounds.  If it's just too depressing, then do indoor exercise but do not skip it.

HEAT THERAPY: to combat all that cold dampness, drink lots of hot/clear liquids and if you have access to a sauna or whirlpool bath, use it.  If not, then run a hot bath (if your skin is dry and itchy, add colloidal oatmeal to the water).  Or, if you cannot take a bath, run a hot shower and add a few shakes of eucalyptus oil to the shower stall.  Use body butter or massage oil on your skin afterwards to ward off dryness.  Soak your feet in a basin with hot water and epsom salts, add an essential oil like lavender or eucylptus.

SKIN THERAPY: My latest easy favorite, inexpensive Korean facial mask sheets, I put one on while having that hot bath.  

SOUL THERAPY:  Find some good reading material.  Now is a great time to delve into a spiritual book you've always wanted to read. Something by the Pema Chodron, or Surya Rama Das, or Eckhart Tolle, anything that examines life and your place in the universe.  It's also a great time to dive into the work of a favorite poet.  Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Mary Oliver, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost---whatever you find feeds your soul.  I like to read a poem first thing in the morning while drinking my hot water, do it before opening email or social media.

MORE SOUL THERAPY:  Visit your local botanical gardens (it really can be a salve at this time or year), the art museum, a natural history museum, a concert or lecture at the library.  Give yourself the gift of more knowledge.  Water and nurture your mind.

Remember, April and May are around the corner, leaves will bud and open, flowers will bloom, sunny days will arrive, heavy sweaters will go back into the dresser drawers.

March into March like a gentle and wise warrior!
Happy Spring--

​Lisabeth


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Tolerance

11/23/2016

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Picture
"You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead if it makes you feel any better. I'm an easy target." -- Del, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987)

This is one of my favorite holiday movies--I'm sure it makes many peoples' lists.  I'm thinking particularly about it this year since so much of the film is about learning to accept someone who is not like you.  The first time I saw the movie, I'm certain I identified much more with Neil (Steve Martin's character) than Del (John Candy).  However, as I've aged, and matured, I think the tables are turned.  Sure, people can still irritate the you-know-what out of me, but I'm much more sympathetic to Del's dilemma of finding a place where he fits in.  Neil's annoyance, cruelty and blatant distaste seem more obnoxious each time I watch the film.  This parallels the shift in my thinking, and the emphasis in my work over the past several years, regarding diversity and inclusion.  

Seeing others as being just as valuable and worthy as yourself (and those like you) is not an easy mindset shift because generally we are raised in insular environments.  Our experience of difference often comes only in the form of entertainment, sports viewing, or news reporting.  As such, we get a skewed vision of what others are like since we only see them as performers, athletes or criminals.  

Most of us were also raised to believe in the Myth of Meritocracy.  It goes something like this: If you work hard, you will succeed.  You will get what you deserve so long as you put in the effort.  People, especially those with privilege, love the Myth because it places prosperity firmly in their realm of control.  Here's the problem: It isn't true.  For anyone who has ever spent any time in poor environments, the old "bootstrap" myth is a pile of bull.  Everyone has some story of a distant acquaintance who managed to scratch their way out of poverty, or homelessness, or an abusive environment.  But can intelligent people really fool themselves into thinking this is the norm?  Well, yes--I see it all the time.

Neil, the advertising executive who is stuck with Del, the shower ring salesman, definitely buys into his Myth of Meritocracy.  If only everyone (including Del) were as well-dressed, as proper, as fastidious and as upper-middle class as he, the world would be a better place.  Thus, he reviles Del's loud banter, his beefiness, his tacky clothes, his smelly feet and his inexplicable cheery disposition.  Neil's an uptight a-hole.  And you know what, so many of us are too.  We stereotype, assume, pontificate, and--in some cases--allow our vitriol to head into the territory of slurs (racial, ethnic, sexual, socio-economic, you name it).  

Let's make a pact.  For Thanksgiving, and the Holiday Season, let's all try to be more like Del.  Cheerful, optimistic, loving and accepting.  We'll all feel better for it, and so will those with whom we come into contact.  A few suggestions:
  • Take a media fast (too much emphasis on separation and conflict)
  • Buy less, donate more
  • Spend time with elders, even if their attitudes or habits sometimes annoy you
  • Smile at every cashier and server, treat them with respect and politeness
  • Write someone you love a letter of appreciation. Tell them what you love about them.  It will be a greater gift than anything you buy.
As Del says in the second part of the above quote, "I could be a cold-hearted cynic like you... but I don't like to hurt people's feelings. Well, you think what you want about me; I'm not changing. I like... I like me. My wife likes me. My customers like me. 'Cause I'm the real article. What you see is what you get."

Let's spend the holidays being tolerant and being the "real deal"--

Artfully and gratefully yours,

Lisabeth

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Four days in November

11/2/2016

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Picture
Arcimboldo's "Fall" a sixteenth century painting--and such clever collage!
That granddaddy of all feasting holidays approaches us soon--yes,Thanksgiving is almost upon us and our guts will be busting.  My challenge to you (and to myself) before the day of gorging arrives is to do a four-day cleanse.  I know that I'm desperately feeling the need to "clean house."  Even though my eating and habits have been good, they can always be a little better. More importantly, a four-day intentional cleanse allows the body a break and starts the holiday season off right.  Seasonally, we are transitioning to winter and this is a perfect time to prepare the body (and mind) with a focused program that feels gentle and restorative, and yes, cleansing.  Here's the plan:
  1. Breakfast: Oatmeal, or Warmed up Pumpkin (with coconut oil and maple syrup) or A Spice-filled Smoothie (Almond milk, cinnamon and nutmeg, 2 dates, and a banana). Chai tea​ for a bit of caffeine, and more healthy spice.
  2. ​Lunch=Quinoa Pilaf, Steamed Greens, Warmed Pumpkin or Roasted Squash)
  3. Dinner=Soup (Chicken Vegetable  is a nice choice), oatmeal with maple syrup.
  • You sip hot water throughout the day, and drink 60 oz. of room temperature water as well.   
  • Avoid nuts, dairy, and gluten.
  • Foods are whole and simple.
  • Keep yourself to three meals, if you get hungry, warm up a cup of almond milk with turmeric  and maple syrup.
  • Meditation is welcome.
  • Hot baths with Epsom Salts are rejuvenating.
  • Showers with massage oil applied while skin is wet are restorative.
  • Light exercise: Yoga and walking.
  • Quiet, introspective time resets your body clock and calm.
  • On the last evening drink a glass of prune juice to help "empty out."
We have much to be thankful for this holiday season, including the ability to exercise some restraint.  Give yourself that gift and your body will thank you!

Gratefully,
Lisabeth



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school is cool

8/16/2016

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Picture
School of Athens by Raphael, from wikiart.org
It's August, and that means back to school!  As a teacher, this is a time of year filled both with excitement and anxiety. What I love is the sense of possibility that lies at the front of a new endeavor.  Bad habits, negative patterns, and poor attitudes have not yet had a chance to establish themselves. The slate is truly clean and the world is everyone's oyster. The above painting, The School of Athens by renaissance painter Raphael, captures the energy of intellectual pursuits. Notice how the groups of philosophers, dramatists, scientists, mathematicians and artists are mostly depicted in active clusters.  They're leaning into the toughness of challenging themselves, tradition, and one another with new ideas, theories and opinions.  

Raphael was a darling of the Vatican who rarely challenged anyone and his paintings were always well-proportioned, balanced, and ultimately, pretty.   His rival for Vatican commissions, the infamous Michelangelo, hated him bitterly.  He saw Raphael as unwilling to bring passion to the canvas--too measured and eager to please.  Michelangelo himself was a firebrand who often angered the papal power with his stubbornness, irreverence and defiance, but thankfully popes like Julius II knew talent when they saw it.  Julius endured the artist's temper and as a result had some of the most famous art created for his commissions.  The artists' rivalry was not a lifelong one because unfortunately Raphael died young, perhaps on his birthday, at age 37. Sixteenth-century art historian Vasari claims his death was a result of a night of excessive sex with his mistress. Whatever the cause, the world lost an irreplaceable talent far too soon.  

In contrast, Michelangelo lived to the ripe old age of 88. That's an accomplishment today--it was even more so back in the 1500s.  During that time Michelangelo produced scads of drawings, important frescoes, and, of course, sculpture.  Even though the Sistine Chapel frescoes are some of his best known work, he viewed himself first and foremost as a sculptor and saw painting as a second rate form of art (a huge debate during the Renaissance).  In fact, he only took on the commission of the ceiling so as to secure money to buy marble for an ambitious sculpture project.  Those ceiling figures, however, capture all of the emotion, energy and passion that Michelangelo poured into his art.  The figures are over-sized, over-muscled and twisted into emotional poses that speak of the difficulty of being human.  And Michelangelo felt this toughness himself. He was cranky, temperamental, and afraid of eternal damnation.  

Each of the amazing artists has lessons to teach us.  Raphael got along well with others.  He was charming, smooth,  and polished.  He knew how to sell himself and how to politic. His work, with its balance and calm, reflects his demeanor and working style.  Michelangelo, full of angst and passion, presents very differently in his art.  He's full of torrid dynamism and he made his relationships difficult as a result.  Raphael was a team player, Michelangelo a tortured loner.  Ideally, one would like to exemplify each of these geniuses when the situation calls for their unique qualities. Being well-liked, amiable, and slick can come in quite handy in one's work life, but so can being difficult, determined, and definitive in one's mission.  It's all about matching the right qualities to the situation.

As you approach this fall, think about where you could be more cooperative, and where you should shake things up. Are you holding yourself back by not being a good team player?  Or, are you holding yourself and your organization back by not being daring enough? Make a list that includes:
  • Your three best qualities
  • Your three worst qualities
  • Your three best accomplishments
  • Your three biggest failures
  • Three short-term goals
  • Three long-term goals

Despite their failings, both of the artists accomplished so much.  Raphael's various depictions of the Madonna are truly lovely and emanate a real human quality.  His works grace the most beautiful buildings in the world and adorn the halls of so many museums.  Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling is one of the top tourist attractions in the world, as is his magnificent David statue displayed in Florence.  Their art has become synonymous with the ideals of the renaissance: a focus on the awesomeness of human achievement, a quest for realism and knowledge, and an overall aesthetic of beauty and polish.  Make your lists and make your life a work of art as well!  

As fall approaches, consider too our fall special "Fall in Love with Autumn".  This package offers three-months of contemplation and lessons covering September, October and November.  I've priced it at $49 for a limited time.  Get into the school spirit.  Sign up and discover the coolness of school.

Artfully Yours,
​Lisabeth

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Summer solstice: Read, Rest, Rejoice

6/18/2016

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PictureJ.M.W. Turner's Stonehenge, from the Tate.org.uk, painted in 1838






​
​Grim stones whose gray lips keep your secret well,

Our hands that touch you touch an ancient terror,
An ancient woe, colossal citadel
Of some fierce faith, some heaven-affronting error.
Rude-built, as if young Titans on this wold
Once played with ponderous blocks a striding giant
Had brought from oversea, till child more bold
Tumbled their temple down with foot defiant.
Upon your fatal altar Redbreast combs
A fluttering plume, and flocks of eager swallows
Dip fearlessly to choose their April homes
Amid your crevices and storm-beat hollows.
Even so in elemental mysteries,
Portentous, vast, august, uncomprehended,
Do we dispose our little lives for ease,
By their unconscious courtesies befriended.  

--Katharine Lee Bates, 19th century poet, educator and author of they lyrics to "America the Beautiful".

Summer Solstice officially arrives this year on June 20th, and will be marked by the unusual dual occurrence of a full moon.  I love the change of seasons and this one promises to be especially special with the lunar event.   I try to always note, and often celebrate, the celestial change of seasons, however I won't be donning a druid's robe and traveling to Stonehenge.  I should think that summer solstice would be the worst time to visit the ancient monument--far too many people looking for spiritual fireworks.  The above watercolor, by one of my favorite painters, British painter J.M.W. Turner, and the poem by American poet Katharine Lee Bates, both reference the supernatural allure and lore of this arrangement of monoliths. Archaeologically speaking, the site is spectacular, but the evidence indicates that the site was used over the centuries for a multitude of purposes.  It served as a site of worship, burial and even as a spa offering specially healing waters.  And it continues to serve as a tourist destination and "bucket list" stop for many.

I find summer solstice to be the perfect time to truly sink into summer. It's when the reality of another academic year having come to a close fully starts to set in and my body goes into a more relaxed state.  I will admit, it takes me a while to get there.  If you are having trouble transitioning, you may need to employ some special techniques to get you into an appreciative mood of the new season.  Many years ago, I had a real problem with this transition.  I had just finished my doctoral studies and had been awarded my degree and had finished my second year of full-time teaching.  I had literally used every day off to finish my dissertation and I was emotionally and physically spent.  After school let out, I found myself in a deep funk.  For weeks--I'm talking five weeks--I sat in a chair on my screened-in porch staring at the woods.  I had zero energy to tackle anything.  Occasionally, I would think I should at least watch some television, but would then realize that getting up, turning it on, finding something of interest--it was too much.  This post-dissertation depression is fairly common.  The extraordinary effort required to finish and pass is often followed by a period of letdown and lethargy.  But this sort of funk could happen to anyone following a major event, or even as a result of expecting a summer filled with fun and excitement.  Maybe you just don't have that in you!  

Here's how I pulled out of it.  I started reading a book series: Jan Karon's Mitford series.  Karon tells the story of a pastor living in a small town in the Blue Mountains who, at age sixty, finds his whole life changes.  Just as he's gearing down for retirement, his circumstances shift dramatically. The book pulled me in, and then I was out searching book outlet stores for the various volumes in the series.  The story, the quest, it all pulled me into someone else's world and gave me some purpose.  Most importantly, it afforded me a respite from my own circumstances. Sometimes we need that.  So, if you are needing a way to shift over to summer, give reading a series a try.  My husband and I will be traveling to Iceland in July, and so for the past several weeks, we've been reading Arnaldur Indridason's murder mysteries featuring the detective Erlendur. They have provided us with a description of the country and a distraction from the end of a very crammed, and unfortunately traumatic, academic school year.  

Some other ways to soften into summer:
  • Pick a poet and follow them daily.  I'm really into Amy Lowell (another 19th century female Massachusetts poet like Bates) right now.
  • Take up a practice--I've gotten back into yoga and am feeling my body and attitude soften from the hard shell I built up over a tough year.
  • Walk after dinner.  In Italy, passeggiata (an after dinner stroll) is a tradition.  No speed walking here.  This is a leisurely walk meant to help the digestion and to socialize with family and friends.
  • Eat cooling and easy foods.  No elaborate prep.  Salads, fruit and cheese plates, yogurt, cold chicken.  Keep it simple.
  • Sit outdoors and just be.  Sipping a cup of green tea, watching the birds, the squirrels, the chipmunks--it's entertainment enough for me.
  • Play--frisbee, badminton, catch.  Nothing formal, just fun.
Rest, Read, Rejoice.  Summer will be arriving in a couple of days with a strawberry full moon. Savor the beauty and the peace.

Artfully yours, Lisabeth

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Feeling Slovak

4/2/2016

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Picture
Turn of the century painting by Adrian/Marian Stokes in Slovakia High Tatra Mountain region .
Last week I had Easter dinner at my parents' house, my folks are of Slovak/Czech background, so we had stuffed cabbage and potatoes.  My mother makes the absolute finest stuffed cabbage, and that is not just bias speaking. Hers are beautifully crafted with the tough cabbage rib cut back and only the softest, greenest leaves used.  They are expertly rolled tighter than a Gauloises (the famous French non-filter cigarette that resembles a handrolled) and bathed in a rich tomato gravy punctuated with just the right amount of sauerkraut.  She served them alongside boiled golden potatoes tossed with butter and chives.  Roasted whole carrots completed the meal.  I found myself enjoying that food more than any I had enjoyed in a while.  It was a reminder that our bodies carry within them the genetic and mental memories of our ancestral foods.  In the past I have flippantly remarked about how awful Slovakian cooking is, but I think in my more mature age I now have more of an appreciation for it.  It makes sense that our bodies respond to that which they've been programmed to know.  This isn't to say that I don't enjoy the food of other cultures (I love all sorts of ethnic cuisines) but I have noticed that foods from other areas of the world--while I love them--don't always love me back.  Nothing enervates me more than an Indian meal.  Chinese food makes me thirsty and sometimes even itchy (MSG?).  Too much cheese (French), no thanks.  Bangkok curry that's too hot? I wasn't built to handle it.  And so on . . . 

Having had the privilege to travel to Slovakia many years ago, I know that while the food was not gourmet, I had some very interesting items.  I remember the bean and meat soups being fantastic--truly first rate.  Salads consisted of lots of colorful purple cabbage and corn.  Potatoes were tasty. Poultry with velvety sour cream/paprika sauce can be sublime.  I'm thinking now about how I might incorporate more of the foods of my heritage into my diet in a healthful way. After all, my ancestors were sturdy farmers.  No one was skinny--they were barrel-shaped and strong because they needed to be. In the New World, and as later immigrants who were reviled by American-born citizens and other immigrants, they worked the steel mills and coal yards.  As a privileged academic (Slovaks quickly became committed to educating their children), I don't need the starches and calories they did to get through tough weather and harvests, but there are certainly things I might borrow.
  1.  The veggies most used: Roots (potatoes, carrots, radishes, turnips, beets), cabbage (green and red), onions and garlic.  And tomatoes and cucumbers in the summer.
  2. Fruits most often eaten are grapes, stone fruits (cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines) and apples.
  3. Dairy tends toward sour cream and soft cheese: Greek yogurt and cottage cheese would be healthful subs.
  4. Meats are most often pork, beef and chicken with lightly fried fish on Fridays.
  5. Sauerkraut and pickled beets, berry jams are popular too.
  6. Paprika: Hot, Sweet and Smoked offer great color, flavoring and variety.  Dill and caraway are also popular.
  7. Nut rolls and poppyseed rolls--Walnuts and chia seeds added to fruit and yogurt are a nice remembrance.
  8. Raisins--golden and dark, are popular too.  So many uses for these.
  9. Honey--especially used at holidays
It's interesting to me that the fruits I listed above are the ones my body truly likes best. Same with the vegetables--I digest them easily.  And all of those spices agree with me too. No hiccups or heartburn from too much heat.  My plan is to pay more attention to this.  To experiment more with using those spices, a dab of yogurt to cool my body, and the earthiness of those root vegetables in place of other starches (breads and rice can be too drying for me and lead easily to weight gain).  And like my sturdy ancestors, I benefit from walking/hiking and lifting weights (emulating the work of the field).

Every now and again, my mother will get the urge to make a pan of cooked lettuce with a light brown gravy.  It sounds odd to the modern American, but it takes her back to her childhood watching her grandmother cook and eating in her kitchen.  My mother still grows tomatoes and herbs and remembers her grandfather starting tomato plants under an old glass window--having collected the seeds from the fruit of the previous year.  She also claims their cabbage roses were unlike anyone else's--her grandmother would put broken china pieces in the ground to feed the soil.  

Think about your heritage and how the foods of your folks might feed both your body and soul.  What did they eat?  When? Why?  What spicing was used?  What occasions demanded special foods?  You might not practice those same rituals, but certainly there are ways to revise and borrow and bring some of your personal history into your life daily. As a history teacher, I'm enjoying rethinking my family's origins and how I can keep them alive and make myself more healthy in the process.

Take a happy culinary tour of your own history!  Lisabeth
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    Lisabeth Robinson

    I have been an educator for 20 years.  I create, I play, I guide and I grow.  I want to share that with you too!

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