by Brianna | Jan 22, 2018 | Cooking with Intention, food is medicine, Healing, Healing Recipes
Herbal medicine is really the medicine of the people. Meaning it is for everyone. Fire Cider is an old elixir and one of my favorites to have on hand. It does take time to chop everything up and patience (because it takes about a month to come together) but I find all the effort totally worth it. This recipe is very forgiving (meaning lots of different versions exist), I simply chop up all the organic goodness and add it to a mason jar with organic apple cider vinegar. I riddle it daily after that – shake, shake, shake. Today’s Fire Cider version includes: Onion, peeled and roughly chopped Garlic, peeled and roughly chopped Tumeric, peeled and roughly chopped Ginger, peeled and roughly chopped Horseradish, peeled and roughly chopped Lemon Zest Rosemary (dried, from my garden) Cayenne Pepper Black Pepper Corns I don’t measure. I don’t worry about the veggies being chopped just so. I just fill the jar with the ingredients to a few inches shy of the brim and then add the Apple Cider Vinegar, covering everything in the jar. I close the lid and place it in the cupboard with my mugs (think cool and dark for its storage place). I store it with my mugs because that way I will see it every day and remember to give it a little love shake – I usually sing a little love song to it too. I believe in the power of intention and you can bet if I feed you something there is a message of love and light in the recipe too. After a...
by Brianna | Oct 5, 2017 | food is medicine, Healing, Healing Recipes
Kitchari is an Ayruvedic Indian food that is yummy, simple and good for you. Not only does it cook quickly, it is comforting, filling and easily digested – the perfect trifecta for days I practice and/or teach a lot. This porridge is a staple in Indian households and once you eat it you will understand why. To make it you will need Moong Dal (split mung beans). When something is “Dal” it means it is split in half. When the Mung beans are split they loose their outer skin making them even easier on the digestive system. I don’t know why but I have never seen them in a big box grocery store. Mung Beans, yes. Split Mung Beans, no. But your local Indian Grocery will have them or you can order them from a specialty shop online. Each person makes their Kitachari a little differently, here is the recipe I have been using lately: Fall Kitchari 1 Cup Moong Dal (picked through and rinsed – moong dal does not need to soak) 1/2 Cup Basmati Rice (white – because it is easier on the stomach) 5 cups water or vegetable stock (I default to veggie stock because it gives it a richer flavor but water works) 1 TBL ghee (clarified butter – it can cook at a higher temperature because the milk solids are removed) 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds 1 tsp fennel seeds 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp grated ginger 1 cup of carrots, green beans, zucchini, etc. (optional) First, in sauce pan melt the ghee on medium heat and add the spices...
by Brianna | Sep 5, 2017 | Cooking with Intention, food is medicine, Healing
If you have read my blog at all you know that I am a SUCKER for a delicious simple soup. I eat soup all four seasons of the year – I find it incredibly comforting and soothing, especially for my voice which is often stretched to its limit by my work. When I was a young thing and had a stomach of steel I use to love cream based soups. That time for me passed in my early twenties. One day to the next and cream based soups were no longer my friends. Has that ever happened to you with food? Onwards. There are so many wonderful vegan options and potato has been long known to create a cream like consistency (think Potato Leek soup). In this soup you use both coconut milk (don’t worry the flavor of the coconut doesn’t pack a punch) and potato. Vegan Corn Chowder: 5 ears fresh corn, cut corn from cob 1 can coconut milk 4 large potatoes, peeled and chunked 4 cups vegetable stock Salt and Pepper to taste LOVE – this is the most important ingredient In a large stock pot add all of the ingredients together. Simmer until the potatoes are soft (20 – 30 minutes). Use and immersion blender and blend about half the soup (or transfer half of the soup to a regular blender and blend) – by only blending half you will keep some of the texture of the potatoes and corn. Enjoy! Vegan Corn...
by Brianna | Sep 1, 2017 | Breathing, daily practice, Healing, practice, smudging, Transformation
Geez-Louise what a week. I have had personal things go wrong. I have had personal things go real right. I have had professional things go wrong. Then right. Then wrong. All in a week – up and down, down and up. You spin me right round, baby Right round like a record, baby Right round round round ~ Dead or Alive I have been having a difficult time not blaming this roller coaster on Mercury in Retrograde – Ryan (my super cute husband) teases me about this – but between you and me, I am pretty sure that this week’s turbulence is its fault. What to do? What to do? First, I practice (yoga, chanting, Reiki, breathwork, meditation – every damn day) and then I smudge a lot, often multiple times a day. I started the practice as a way to clear my living space, than it moved into my office. I have even been known to do it outside under the watchful gaze of the sun and the moon. I believe that by bringing the smoke of sacred herbs, resins and woods around me I am able to clear my energy field. And so I do. It is a simple ritual that anyone can employ. Many cultures have used the burning of sacred herbs or wood in some form for millennia. Anthropologists believe that the practice of using sacred smoke for medicinal and spiritual practices dates back to prehistoric times. The Native Peoples are known for their use of white sage in medicinal and spiritual practices. At Catholic Church the priest enter the sacristy with Pontifical Incense (a...
by Brianna | Jul 24, 2017 | Affirmations, Breathing, Change, Chanting, Healing, healing footstep to footstep, Healing Yoga Practice, Maine, practice
I have loved the word bittersweet since I first encountered it. I find that it describes the ebb and flow of life – also known as the flipping roller coaster of life – perfectly. So bitter that it bites. So sweet that it is like the first taste of nectar on the tip of your tongue. Life is more often than not a balance of opposites. Laughter through tears is something that I have experienced more times than I can count. So many feelings. Like a friend said to me once: “Brianna, you have feelings about your feelings.” July started with a beautiful bang. A book tour the length of the Maine Coast with workshops, readings and signings. My husband and I having downtime in between. My beautiful dog in her favorite place. My parents. My healing house. All good things. Delicious things really. But then life tilted and my ground shifted. In the very midst of all this beauty, joy and gratitude I had to put my beloved Shanti-dog down. One minute soaring, the next on my knees. I will write more about my Shanti-girl at a later point. She deserves her very own post but, I know you hear me when I say: its all too close right now. My grief is too heavy on me to really do her powerful being justice. This post is about the choice I had to make about my own behavior. It is always a choice and it is mine alone to make. Two options were clearly in front of me when this drama/trauma started. I could have either gone kicking...
by Brianna | Mar 24, 2017 | Change, Chronic Fatigue, Cooking with Intention, Five Minute Yoga Practice, Healing, healing footstep to footstep, Healing Recipes, Healing Yoga Practice, Maine, Moving Meditation, Power of Thought, practice, restorative yoga, silence, Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease, Yoga
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 24, 2017 Brianna Bedigian Quiet Winds, LLC 240-409-2722 info@briannabedigian.com Spend An Afternoon with a Healer Book Signing and Sound Healing with Crystal Singing Bowls Saturday, April 29 in Davidson Davidson, NC (March 24, 2017): Local author and healer Brianna Bedigian will be hosting a uniquely restorative reading of her book Healing Footstep to Footstep at Main Street Books in Davidson on Saturday, April 29 from 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm. During this offering, Brianna will interweave excerpts of her writing with the pure sound of crystal singing bowls, aromatherapy and guided meditation. Crafting a multi-sensory healing that will leave guests refreshed from the experience. William Rollow, MD, MPH from the Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine had this to say about Brianna and her book, “How do we heal? Although each path is different, some footsteps are common: intention, acceptance of responsibility, turning toward the eternal, practice, support, doubt and darkness and pain and fear. Brianna knows how we heal.” Healing Footstep to Footstep is for anyone suffering with an illness – emotional, spiritual or physical. The willingness and intention to heal despite exhaustion and pain are often absent in stories of healing journeys. The reality is that healing begins one step at a time, often slowly and with acceptance of the self. Through storytelling, recipes, yoga lessons and meditation exercises, Brianna takes us on a journey of Self, where all healing begins. Available April 25, 2017 on www.amazon.com. About Brianna Bedigian Brianna Bedigian is an author, artist, teacher and healer who utilizes her personal journey, and years of formal...
