by Brianna | Jan 10, 2021 | Healing Recipes
The perfect egg for me, is boiled for precisely 6.5 minutes and then cooled in an ice bath for 2.5 minutes. (remember to peel from the wider end after cracking it all over). My 6.5 minute egg sits somewhere between the line of hard and soft boiled. Key for me is that the whites are cooked with no translucent bits but the yolk remains soft. I am very serious about this. I set a timer when I make eggs like this. I stay present to what I am doing. I don’t pick up another task beyond the reaches of my stove. I eat these perfect eggs on toast, in soup, as a side of rice or a top a salad. Today I topped them with Chili Garlic Crack and the yum factor was ridiculous. I make them a dozen at a time and store them in an airtight container. The consistency keeps. Simple food – it seems so simple but it is also precise. I use cooking a lot in my practice of presence. It is obviously a wise choice to be present when you do things over open flame like boil oil. But the truth is that every act of cooking can be elevated to a profound ritual of awareness and gratitude. Food cooked with awareness and love tastes...
by Brianna | Jan 2, 2021 | Healing Recipes, Immune System
I made Chili Garlic Crack for the first time on New Year’s Day and I plan to keep it on permanent rotation. I made it for a Ramen topping but this stuff will be good on ALL of the things: starch, veg, meat. Beyond being YUMMY an added bonus of this wonder is that both Chili and Garlic are chalk full of nutritional goodness that support the immune system. Chili Garlic Crack 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil 4 garlic cloves, sliced as thin as you can muster 1 T Korean Chili Flakes – Gochugaru 2 T sesame seeds (I am all about the seeds. Tweak to less if you aren’t) 1 tsp salt (I like to use Kosher salt but any salt is fine) What is absolutely key to pull this recipe off is: Presence (this element is mandatory when you cook something like this for both safety ((grease fires suck)) and to get it to turn out. If you wander away or forget to stir it will catch-on and if the garlic burns/blackens it will be bitter). And of course not to make it all Yogic but – tasks like this make wonderful inroads for practice to become part of your lifestyle, the presence required pulls you inward to one pointed focus. This is when yoga rolls off the mat. Also, the straight up fact is that by paying attention you give your mind some peace while simultaneously making something d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s Heat Oil over medium heat and add in the sliced garlic. Stirring regularly for the duration of the time: cook the garlic until it beings to turn golden...
by Brianna | Dec 8, 2020 | Cooking with Intention, food is medicine, Healing Recipes
Simple food is my hallmark. I love soup because it is typically a one pot meal that can feed us for days. With covid I count my blessings that cooking is not just one of my useful life skills but a favorite pastime. However, even I have cooking fatigue and my food although always easy has become more and more simplified. This easy-peasy recipe came out of a recipe fail and is now in permanent rotation: Black Beans with Feta 2 cans of black beans 1 small block of feta 3 TBL of Harissa (this is a specialty blend and worth having on hand because it is delicious) 1 Onion, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 1 small red pepper, chopped fine 1 TBL of ghee (ghee has a very high fire point so I often use when cooking but olive oil is fine too) If you have a dutch oven or a pan that can go from stove top to oven that will make this a one pot wonder but if you don’t – washing two pans is worth it. Saute the onion in the ghee over medium heat. Once the onions have some nice color stir in the garlic and red pepper, saute until fragrant (be careful not to burn your garlic as it makes the flavor bitter). Add the harissa and beans and stir together. Turn off heat and nestle slices of feta into the mixture (this is the best part so tuck as much as you can in there). Cover and bake in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. Baked feta is revelatory....
by Brianna | Jun 9, 2020 | personal growth, Power of Thought, Reading
Our hope with this Anti Racist Literature List is that you are inspired to read one book. Read that one first. Commit to that and see it through. And then ponder. Noodle. Sit with it. “White privilege has nothing to do with you being a good person or a bad person. It is from the fact that you have been raised in a racialized society that you might not have been aware of.” Christina Desimone After reading and pondering our hope is that you will choose to read another or maybe it will inspire you to go down a rabbit hole of podcasts or documentaries (lists to come). But don’t wait on me. Google that shit and then do that. The thing is. Personal growth cannot be prescribed by anyone else. It is up to you to do it. You alone can cause the change. So as your own best expert. Look inwards. Push yourself to do this uncomfortable work. You will be imperfect and it will be awkward. Consider letting those mistakes become teachable moments. Remember those? Remember learning when you were young, how much repetition, how many mistakes, how many failures? It is only in agitation that we grow. IT is time. The time is now. I believe in...
by Brianna | Jun 9, 2020 | personal growth
Christina DeSimone provided a wealth of information about Anti-Racist Literature on our Instagram Live! I hope you were able to join us but if not you can view it here! Forgive the beginning – it was our first live (learning curve!) and all those packages chaos at the beginning are because: baby White Privilege has nothing to do with you being a good person or a bad person. It is the fact that you have been raised in a racialized society that you might not have even been aware of. ~ Christina DeSimone Some of you know and some of you don’t know that I was a librarian (Master’s from U. Pitt) and worked as a librarian for a decade. As a librarian I believe in the deep and abiding power of literacy. I believe that racism is rooted in ignorance. I believe that people have the ability to grow in knowledge and therefore change themselves. Without further ado (links go to Amazon but don’t forget your local library will have them too): Between the World and Me How to be an Anti-Racist (YA) Racing to Justice Was the Cat in the Hat Black Building Equity Culturally Responsive Teaching So you want to talk about race Moving Diversity Forward Tell Me Who You Are Two Fantasy/SCI-fi by African American authors, that Christina mentioned at the end of our conversation simply because I love this genre: Kindred Children of Blood and...
by Brianna | Mar 31, 2020 | Healing, Immune System
Castor Oil Packs are simple, relaxing and a surprisingly powerful aid to the immune system. They seem like a lot of work but they are not. I am using them weekly as part of my I-love-you-routines and I personally find that they restore me in ways that are hard to fully express. Plus they help me slip into a deep meditative state and when I am relaxed I cannot be anxious. I love that fact. Castor Oil is a very old healer. Made from Castor Beans it has been used both internally and externally for thousands of years and for numerous reasons. It is a wonderful home remedy and simple to put into practice. Current research has identified castor oil as an anti-toxin and as having impact on the lymphatic system enhancing immunological function. G. Harvey, Immunomodulation of Castor Oil Packs There are two ways to offer yourself this healing tool. First and foremost you will want to be comfortable. Think cushion under head and knees comfort, cozy blanket. A few towels – castor oil will stain – so use the same ones. When I come to rest with a castor oil pack I find that I move into a very meditative space or I drift of to sleep. Either is fine. I do set an alarm to end the practice. The more traditional method: Cut a piece of cotton that can cover the upper right of your abdomen and a little more (liver area). Soak this cloth in Castor Oil (this is a lot of oil the first time, less as time moves on). Rest on a...
by Brianna | Mar 17, 2020 | Breathing, Change, Healing
This is a surreal moment. Anxiety is rampant. Fear is amped. And the worry. The repetitive worry absolutely mind bending. I made this video this morning and am sharing it with no edits and no bells and whistles. Just a simple 15 minute meditative and breath practice because now is the time. Now is the time to cultivate personal peace and reduce stress. You cannot be anxious and relaxed at the same time. It isn’t possible. So come on – peace out for 15. Obviously: Do not do this meditation while driving or operating...
by Brianna | Feb 7, 2020 | Breathing, Change, Healing Yoga Practice, practice, Transformation, Yoga
I love a good 40 day practice. I find that the challenge of maintaining pushes me to stay focused and affords a depth of understanding that I can’t achieve without repetitive commitment. 40 days allows me to really experience the impact of the “work” and investigate how it makes me feel in a myriad of moods and states. Here are a few examples that I have committed to over the years: Kriya Yoga Set (Current 40 Day practice – read more below) Journaling Chanting a specific mantra Seated meditation Abhyanga (Dry Brushing and Oil Massage) Sun Salutations (2, 4, 6 – what number is right for you?) 5 Minutes of Breath work Currently I am 7 days into a 40 day practice of a Kundalini Yoga Kriya called: Kriya to Make You Enchantingly Beautiful(KTMYEB). The name irks me. So dumb. The Kriya however is a favorite. One thing I always liked about KTMYE is that it is a perfect 20 minutes – the first 14 minutes are real intense – I am modifying three of the five postures – then you rest. Over the next 40 days I will get stronger. Modify less. Meditate More. There will be days I hate it. Days I love it. Days I don’t want to do it. Days I do it twice. There will be insight and boredom, excitement and drudgery. Times it will feel like three seconds and others that I swear were hours. What I find is that there is a lot of power in the experience of simply showing up and doing the practice. What type of 40...
by Brianna | Jul 17, 2018 | Healing Recipes
I love cooking. Its something I have enjoyed since I was a child and my mom let me cook by myself (oven and all) from the age of 5. Don’t judge – it was the 80s and the rules were definitely different. For the record, I never caught myself or the house on fire. My husband and I go to the farmer’s market in our town every Saturday. Its something that we look forward to and I really enjoy knowing the men and women who grow my food. This time of year the bounty is amazing. This weekend a friend gave me a ton of cucumbers because her garden was banging them out left and right. I had purchased beautiful garlic with all its imperfect colors that morning and decided to make one of my favorite things: Tzatziki – cucumber and yogurt sauce for those not initiated to its brilliance. Armenians love their plain yogurt and it is one of my cultures most important condiments. Make if for yourself and put it on everything or simply eat it with a spoon. Tzatziki: 2 cucumbers: peeled, seeded, dried and chopped (personally I like it chunky but you can make it super fine if you prefer) 2 bulbs garlic: roasted 1 clove garlic: chopped fine 1 large container plain Greek yogurt (a little fat is good) 1 lemon: juiced Salt Olive Oil Cucumber Preparation: Seems funny but the cucumbers need to be as dry as possible. Otherwise the sauce will be delicious and watery. First, peel the cucumbers, then slice them length wise and scrape out the seeds with...
by Brianna | Feb 5, 2018 | Healing, Healing Recipes, Tea
I love tea and I drink it daily. Usually multiple times a day. Photos of tea are a large part of #365daysofsimpleselfcare. Delano and I chatted about four of my favorite medicinal teas. What’s even better is that they are simple to make and taste delicious, I mean, super yum psst….Delano was in love with the Elderberry Syrup Tea! Elderberry Tea: Good for staving off cold and flu!!!! Recipe Ginger Tea: Good for when your belly doesn’t feel right! Recipe Tumeric and Honey Tea: Good for decreasing inflammation! Recipe Chai Green Tea: Good for metabolism and digestion....
