Vieques PR is an island about the size of Nantucket. One difference between these beautiful islands is that 50 years ago half of Vieques was cleared of long-term and indigenous residents and used as bombing target practice by the US military. Another difference is that in spite of its tortured history, Vieques is home to one of the most bioluminescent bays in the world.
I’ve just returned from Vieques with a group of herbalists and healers who went to the island to communicate with the dinoflaggelate (pyrodinium bahamenses) occupants of the bay though a Shamanic practice we share called Plant Spirit Healing.
Pam Montgomery, Plant Spirit Goddess
In my newsletter this month I talked about this amazing little organism and the very specific ecology it needs to shine. The bay is calm, saltier than the ocean, and 4 different types of mangroves feed the dinoflagellates with a B-vitamin rich nutrient cocktail. There have been periods of time when the ecology got disrupted when the bioluminescence didn’t happen. I can relate!
Spending time with the these little guys, who need lots of darkness and agitation to be observed (remind you of anything?) got us all exploring what we each and collectively need, in order to bioluminate (which humans do!). What is the ecology surrounding and including you, that you need in order to shine?
As we pondered this together, and did Shamanic journeys and shared in sacred circle, we each reported what we need to be our full selves. As we shared together, something familiar (to those who hang out in spiritual spaces) happened. We bonded and elevated. It feels like falling in love. It is falling in love.
To complete our time together, we created a Shamanic landscape. This is a mandala-like natural work of art/prayer that includes all the plants each of us connected with and the flowers we enjoyed. It represents the collective energy of each of us who gathered together for this week in the sun. As you can see, it’s beautiful. We called it the flag of #Ensparkleation Nation.
In this time of chaos and uncertainty, of occupying the time beyond the tipping point (and I think this is why everyone is acting so crazy – we are going insane because we have pretty officially destroyed our planet and everyone feels that destabilization), we need to seek out connection. The ability to laugh together, to smile together, to feel connected is our medicine today.
What you can do to help the whole of humanity become creative enough to somehow solve this impossible problem or adapt to what is coming, is to find out the ecology you need to shine. For me, working healthy boundaries have been hard, painful and ultimately really excellent work (I’m working to make it less painful, and mango is helping me!).
If you are feeling overwhelmed by the darkness around you, fear not. If despair is creeping in, fear not. Fear not. You need that darkness in order to shine. You otherwise would not be seen. So, what do you need to say now? What is hyper-true for you? What do you need to do to allow that unique and perfect light inside you to shine a little brighter?
What a time for the great practices of radical non-attachment, of taking the next right action regardless of the outcome! Maybe the outcome doesn’t matter, not in this one moment.
Join me, my friend. Breathe, smile and be, and take whatever next right step feels right for you. Join Ensparkleation Nation and shine with me.
Since I’ve been blogging regularly, I’ve somewhere, somehow gotten on the radar of a number of book publicists. As a lover of books and authors, I’ve been overjoyed, and have a stack of the latest greatest by my bed. Sadly, there are not so many that I can recommend to you, my beloved tribe. Yet I read on, and there are definitely gems coming out every day. Here’s one! Curvy Yoga. Love. It is beautifully produced, good to hold, well-written, contains needed messages, and features a great author.
As a nutrition clinician for decades, I’m seeing body hatred on the rise. It seemed that there were a few years when women (and men!) were feeling better about their bodies just as they are, but the last few years have felt like a bit of a backlash of the media-perfect. Too, I’ve crossed the 50-year-old mark and going through menopause was a powerful experience, not only within my own body, but sensing (while I feel fantastic and at the top of my game) that I was plopped into some less valuable category by…many. So I am sensitive, yet not too, methinks.
It takes no small amount of courage to show up as you are these days, but Curvy Yoga is a manual to do just that. If you find yoga too….whatever, here’s a read for you. In fact, if you’ve been injured in a yoga class, or can’t find a yoga class, please take a read before giving up on yoga. If you wonder if you belong in the spandex-wrapped perfect-yoga-body competitive yoga world (you don’t!…neither do I….or most people for that matter) here’s a book for you. And if you, like me, used to be a flexible yogi, and find yourself less so, but still interested in having yoga in your life, check it out. Curvy Yoga focuses mostly on the integrative how of practice, focusing on accessibility from a physical, mental and energetic perspective. You’ll get to know the author, with personal stories of how yoga has impacted various areas of her life. As an author of a book in a similar genre (Every Bite Is Divine – it’s the food companion to Curvy Yoga) I feel a definite kin-ship sisterhood with this author. This book, as I think of it, is a lovely companion to Yoga & Diabetes.
Ms. Guest-Jelley provides a collection of aids for doing various yoga postures with a round goddess body and using props including (my favorite) a wall to support your safe and effective practice.
If you haven’t purchased a yoga book in a while, and you’d like a lovely and accessible guide written by a fresh voice, here you go.
I love this recipe for pumpkin custard! Quick, easy, tasty, healthy. Boom.
My recipe was developed for the Natural Health Expo in the fall with the intention of having a healthier holiday. I wanted to make a no-bake vegan pumpkin pie recipe, and this fits the bill. It uses the amazing product, cashew cream (a DIY product, that is). I’m excited to continue to play with it through the spring & summer.
You could sub cooked sweet potato or any yellow squash for the pumpkin if you’d rather roll that way. Too, changing the spice profile to include other sweet spices like cloves and cardamom is certainly in my future.
My recipe for a vegan maple pumpkin custard was developed for the Natural Health Expo in the fall with the intention of having a healthier holiday. I wanted to make a no-bake vegan pumpkin pie recipe, and this fits the bill.
Course Dessert, Snack
Keyword custard, pUMPKIN, Vegan
Equipment
1 Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
1cuppumpkinorganic from can
1/2cupcashew cream
1/4cupmaple syrup
2tspfresh gingerminced
1tspcinnamonground
1/2tspnutmegground
1/2tspsalt
Instructions
Blend everything together and serve up daintily. Keep refrigerated.
Notes
We find that eating this in small tasting portions tastes best. More serving ideas: Serve over graham cracker crumbles or crust, top with candied nuts.Click here for the recipe link for Cashew Cream
I’m happy to let you know that in 2017, I’ll be reaching beyond my beloved teaching home of Kripalu, and working in different ways with different organizations. You’ll still find me there, teaching and offering programs, just a little less this year.
One offering I’m thrilled to tell you about is that I will be opening a telehealth private practice this spring. Telehealth means that I will beam into your home via the internet. While I am still evaluating partners in this (there are a number of groups that offer HIPAA-secure platforms), I’m happy to see how reimbursement has evolved in the last few years.
I am planning to take Medicare (I believe you’ll need an MD referral, details to come), and right now I am thinking I may put off taking other insurance (though I will use what they call a superbill, so if you get the OK from your primary care doc, it should be easy to get reimbursed through your insurance).
How could I as an RDN not be aware of the wide coverage for nutrition now available?! I believe (I am still learning) that through Obamacare (while we have it), one or 2 well-care nutrition visits are covered by insurance. Many nutrition-related diagnoses are covered, from eating disorders to high cholesterol to weight.
In order to get reimbursed, you will need to be referred by your primary MD. I’ll have step-by-step how-tos on my site with everything you need to get referred, and to make submissions for reimbursement easy.
I’ll be offering my unique blend of whole foods, plant-based systems-oriented mind-body nutrition with a little yoga therapy rolled in when called for. Read more about my health and healing philosophy here. I plan to initially offer a schedule of two afternoons plus one evening weekly, and we’ll see how it goes from there.
The Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics (AND) has done a good job reporting about how cost-effective Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) is for Medicare. It clearly reduces health care costs and improves the lives of people who use it. MNT is an evidence-based process of addressing health and medical conditions with nutrition.
So, you’ll be hearing more about MNT and how it can benefit you as my practice takes shape. A few of you have asked me how to make appointments – I’ll let you know that too, as soon as I decide on my system.
Let’s make 2017 the year of nutritional skill for health and healing.
Let’s talk lentils. Easy and quick to cook (20-30 minutes and don’t need soaking like other beans and pulses), lentils are the short cut to more plant protein in your diet. Nutrient dense, they are also rich in fiber, folate, and other nutrients. They are low digestive gas-producers relative to other beans and pulses. I’ve heard that if you drop them into boiling water they produce less gas but I have not yet put that to the test. I also like to use a thumb-sized piece of the seaweed kombu in the water – it adds minerals and reduces gas.
Lentils absorb the flavors in which they are cooked, so what you cook them with is key to what you have in the end; tasteless mush or tasty mush. It’s all in the seasoning.
Here’s a recipe I developed over the holidays, using French green lentils, but feel free to substitute any lentil you can get your hands on.
10 min to prep
40 min to cook
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lentils (I used French green lentils)
1 1/2 Tbsp ghee
1 large onion, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped, or 1/2 c tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp cumin or curry spice
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
3-4 c water
Directions
Place chopped onion and ghee in a large pot over medium heat until the onions are soft. Add other ingredients and bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium-low and simmer 20-30 minutes until lentils are soft.
Makes about 3 cups.
Serve warm with rice, steamed vegetables, or roasted winter squash.
Here’s one! 
