Balancing Feminine ~ Dong Quai

Dong quai is a medicinally active root that comes from a celery family.

This root comes by many names – Angelica root, Dong Quai, Tang Kuei etc…. all referring to the same plant. It medicinal properties have been utilized in different parts of the world for thousands of years. The ancient Chines and Japanese have used this herb to help women get in balance with their cycle and well as to increase blood flow and libido. The root has a very particular pungent taste and can be made in a soup or steeped in a cup of hot water with some raisins (to help with taste) the tea has many amazing properties:

• supports balanced female hormones
• Helps maintain healthy estrogen and progesterone levels
• Provides tonic benefits for female reproductive health
• Promotes emotional balance to address PMS “blues”

Hormonal balance during a woman’s life may be influenced by a variety of factors such as nutrition, diet, lifestyle, exercise, stress, emotions, age and ovulation.

This herb has a whole range of healthy properties. The nutritional and healing components of Dong Quai include; Vitamins A, B3, B12, B-complex, C, E, Calcium, iron, zinc, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, silicon, tannins, resin, and volatile oil.

1. its great for digestion – easing bloating and gas pains
2. It’s amazing for the heart - a tonic in the east – it relieves stagnating effects, which can cause some types of blood clots. It increases circulation, improves coronary function and stimulates the production of red blood cells.
3. Cleans the liver and promotes its optimal functioning
4. Helps to relax muscles and joints – thus helping with arthritic and rheumatic pains, menstrual cramps <– one of Ayurvedic indications for the use of Dong Quai.
5. Nervous tension – due to presence of B12, Vitamin E and magnesium – Dong quai helps to relieve pressure that is exerted on the nervous system.

Ayurvedicaly Dong Quai is considered to be a ‘feminine ginseng’ and working on all tissues of the body as well as Tridoshic and balancing for all three doshas. Its actions are…

I like to make a cup of dong-quai tea when I’m fasting to give my body a cleansing and refreshing boost.

It’s best to take it in the middle of the cycle, or right after menstruation. if taken before your period it may help to speed up its arrival. This is not a recommended herb for any woman who is pregnant or has hypertension.

Calgary makes a step forward (and sideways)

“I’m Fresh” – Fennel wedges $8

So I have arrived to the capital of oil and gas and ‘Alberta grade A beef’ – truly a paradise if you are a vegan or raw fooder.

yayks… I tell myself when I’m here. Although my last visit after a very long two-year absence was only in March I am here and will be heading out to the more civilized mountains tomorrow. Calgary is a difficult place to eat if you are truly conscious about your body and diet and what you put in it. There are a few organic stores, and one decent vegetarian restaurant, but in a red-neck capital of beef, eating out if you are vegan or raw is not a possibility… with Joey’s Tomatoes, Smugglers Inn, Keg-house and Italian eateries, this place is full of bread, wine, beer and cheese and of course beef.

Today I went to my favourite old bookstore in Kensington – to find out that it is no longer my favourite, it too has changed, downsized and carries much less of the interesting materials it had before – as I was walking out the door back to my car I noticed a sign “Gratitude Cafe”  I went REALLY? and jetted across the traffic to the other side to see whats there…I was filled with hope that it is the very same ‘Cafe Gratitude from California that I heard has the best service and raw-food.

“I’m Thrilled” Raw-wich $15

A clean and simple decor with nothing particular to grab your attention, I walked up to the counter and looked at the menu – RAW~ VEGAN ~DISHES, among others that are cooked. WOW I was home… so I thought… I asked the lady behind the counter if she could suggest something from the menu for someone who is hungry and eats raw. She told me to look at the legend and keep reading, and made a suggestion that if I am hungry I should try their cooked dish.

Not being put off by this attitude I kept smiling with joy and delight that I found a real raw food place in the middle of the oil-field. I reached over again and asked her if they are the same gratitude cafe that is in California she remarked in a business manner “We are not affiliated”…. and that should have been my clue for leaving, and yet I stayed witnessing the worst service I have ever had anywhere in a LONG while!

You know I live in Latin America where being friendly is a statement – and most definitively in restaurants. By most part, people are chilled out. The latin vibe is incomparable and the warm and friendly smile can melt away any blues you have. With tons of tourists they have learned to be authentically happy to see you in their place and know how to get interested in what you have to share. Calgary usually has good service, this however was the opposite, cold experience from ‘the owner’s best friend’

I asked my hostess for a shake they offered on the menu and asked if I could have a tsp of coconut oil in it, I was told quite rudely that she is not going to open a new jar of coconut oil just for me and that this is not a possibility. Upon further investigation I was told that “we don’t have coconut oil just for customers to use” – as my astonishment rose and my desire to leave increased I found out that to have a fresh juice is not an option either as she pulled out a carton of orange juice that said on it “From Concentrate” and I was ready to run….

With some difficulty I ended up getting a simple banana strawberry shake with some almond milk and that apparently was $7.00 I could see that it was a difficult thing for someone to conceive to have a custom order vs, what was on the menu.

I stayed, because I feel hopeful that this raw food optimism will catch on and will continue and with some more heart and better customer service it will flourish. The most interesting thing to observe about the whole thing was that this woman had no idea that she was rude. To her she was being ‘informative’ and ‘educating’ me on how raw food places work, unaware that I have been to many raw food places and this is not my first time at a restaurant.

Menu

So interesting. The presentation of the dishes was simple.The prices were equal to Vancouver raw-food places, the ‘sandwich’ I had been decent, the fennel wedges were not quite for my taste at all, they were marinated too quickly and served with a tinny bit of frozen berries, they would have been excellent with marinated mushrooms and cranberries…

So… I have witnessed an attempt at raw food in Calgary – they have a potential to do quite well if they get interested in the customers and their needs, if they had real wholesome and heart centered raw-food-attitude, but instead and sadly not to my surprise the service sucked and was oriented towards the $$. The meal (smoothie, ‘sandwich’ and fennel wedges) was $30.98

So sideways and forward Calgary is moving towards more consciousness on the culinary scene… just next block a large beer tasting place… and a prominent Italian restaurant, so I take a deep breath in and hope that this place somehow will make it. More places like it are needed, and more healthy-food education is needed.

Gratitude Cafe in Calgary… I am grateful that you are making an effort at serving raw food – this lifestyle and people who eat this way takes some heart learned knowledge and wisdom. We make a choice to live in an alignment with the planet and that usually means its inhabitants, service is important. If I come back next time and this place is closed I’m sure it wont be because of the food, it will be because of lack of service.

Namaste

Medicine wisdom

I came to realize more last night the importance of home and what it means to me. I realize that there are things which i consider to be essential to my life, like medicine plants, and other things and i came to see really clear that any place that supports my essential needs is my home. Perhaps this may seem very simple or trivial to some. To me this has been a powerful realization. When i sit to contemplate this i realize how important it is to deepen the personal communion with self, to know my own needs and how best to meet them for myself.
Home to me is a place where i can be myself without agenda. It can be a geographic location or it could be in the hart of another.
Namaste

Sweet Peruvian Moments 2

So here is another photo-shoot-post of the connections and moments we had shared over the last little while. Sometimes its just easier to share the pics than to talk bout it all…

our resident donkey – Melek

Basia and I – I have not seen her in 5 years – it was a very joyous reunion.

Great Vegetarian Restaurant in Lima

Padme & aunt Pepe

Recently I became ‘aunt pepe’ – as my dear friends’ daughter calls me when she sees me – pepe means pepper (like the red hot chili ones)  which really is not that far from truth I dont know if I’m going to make a good mother, but in these Padme was not thrilled with me at all … and we all could not help but laugh at it all.

Back Home

I wrote this on April 4th (over a month ago) after I arrived in Lima from my recent trip I did to Canada.

I finished few of the insights, some I left empty to percolate later… It was nice for me to take a look at it and see just where my mind was a month ago Hope you enjoy.

Ahhhh… the Latin vibe…. there is nothing for me like being back home – the hot air, chilled-out atmosphere, light breeze, latin music, laughter and a BLUE sky.

It has been a month since I wrote anything here. A month packed with so much activity and happenings that it was hardly possible to have time to sleep let alone write. Now I am sitting 100 m away from the beach in Lima in nice hot weather and I can nearly let a sigh of relief go as I look back at the month I just had.

March  turned out to be an intense experience of checking my 2012 ‘to-do-list’. I spent the entire month in Canada and what  felt like to me a sub-arctic-weather. with snow and -4 C every once in a while I was wondering how I could have ever lived for 17 years in winter. Spending majority of my time with friends in Vancouver I came to realize without a doubt that I am a solar being and 7 days out of 30 with sun is not sufficient to keep this body and spirit going.

With an occasional healthy and well balanced meal I surrendered to all the things I love the most and while vegetarian I enjoyed ALL food.

I could probably write a book just on this trip alone, as many things came to the surface yet again to be examined and it was very interesting to experience places and people and the combination of above mentioned. Being blessed with the life I have and living in an amazing place on Earth, I do find that our external environment plays a huge role on our life and HOW we live it. I mean I understand why with cold weather and temperatures below zero people would want to move fast and run their lives at a speed of light, where as when I look at the warm Latin vibe in this heat there is no way to think fast or to move fast, the general atmosphere in the air is ‘relax’… and not in a slack-off way by any means but in a way that allows one to actually enjoy the present moment.

I always find it fascinating to see how i get triggered and affected when I am out of my element. I also love to see what are the tools, techniques and things I do that help me maintain my inner balance. This trip was like a ‘western-surviver-show’ for me personally as I do not like to be out of Peru for SUCH an extended time like a MONTH 10 days is plenty.

so as i am sure I could sit and ponder more on how and what I could eloquently put down in this post, i figured lets just get it rolling in this steamy Lima hotel and before I hit the beach here is a quick list of observations i have made in the month in Canada.

1. I love the Rockies – I did a circle in Canmore with a group of beautiful women, and had the nicest of my Alberta experiences there. To be surrounded by the mountains and with very conscious people who are truly interested in cultivating mindfulness and living from a space of truth and innocence was a refreshing break in my trip.

2. Innocence is the Key

3. Angelic realm – yes they do exist and are eager to help.

4. Light gives me perspective – not having sun for a month is not a way of living for me. I can handle a lot but I must have the SUN. It was a powerful reminder for me not to have sun – or I should say I had 7 days (not consecutive) of sun. Yayks.

5. Mom’s the word – It was so wonderful to spend time with my mom. I have not seen her in 2 years and to have some time to share together was lovely. I spent my birthday with her and we celebrated together 20 years of our immigration from Poland… I have a full life!

6. True Friends last forever - there is something great about my friendships that I have. Some of them have lasted for years! We have quite literally witnessed each other go through heaps of things. WOW… so grateful for the authenticity, and even if distance is between us we are in each others hearts and having a chance to visit – we always pick up where we left off without missing a beat… and all the flaky ones… have dissolved.

7. Influence – Energy – Mind

8. Abuelita – medicine – an insight – I heave learned on this trip that its my own work my own medicine that speaks to my heart and gives me strength, that was such a powerful discovery. Really to see deeper how this medicine brings each person closer to who they are and their own nature and their own heart.

9. A bit about Intentions – how to set, what necessary circumstances are there, the solidity factor, spine, the driving force. letting go of circumstances. Intention, Intention Intention… there is a difference between intention and expectation – that is what i have been learning, but man it has been so wonderful and thank you for the fascination Universe!

10. The story – please finally drop it! – arriving back in Peru is always like getting a HUGE zoom-out on a situation and a perspective change. there is something about being here that does it for me. One thing I have observed is the stories that people chose to live in. Sure we all have a story of our lives, and events and choices we have made, and yet some of us chose to associate with it and others don’t. I found it quite amazing to see the stories that people chose to be in, perpetuate, complain about, and continue. With an excuse for everything why they can not do things differently. It was so incredible to watch sometimes. Glad to be out of the stories and into my Vida – Peru!

11. Energy is in numbers – as the global consciousness is shifting and more people are becoming awake and aware, I have definitively observed the ‘group-effect’  of the collective belief/conviction on myself and others. Arriving in the western world I feel often the rigidity of that world and thinking and perhaps this time I have noticed a softening? I do have to say that I like my medicine community in and out of Peru. Kudos to all the brave souls who chose this as their path to self realization.

It was a super month of many old re-connections and profound reflection about the past. I had an opportunity to do and revisit places  that I have not had in 2 years or more. I spent the entire month in Canada and while working and getting done my normal traveling things i also did a few things that were LONG overdue.

And next trip is just around the corner. Gypsy life continues.

2 cups of coffee…

Today is the first weekend I have off in 2 months. I have been working, traveling, and doing workshops non stop. I some times forget the intensity and high energy life that I lead. It’s so much that when today arrived at my door I found myself with a lot of sadness. It’s good for me to be in this space of reflection. It gives me a perspective and is a reminder of how everything passes. Life is a constant wave – contractions and expansions and all weaved through with our breath. When I have a totally clear and quiet day (or 2) I see what kind of work I have done.

My move to Urubamba has been a good choice as I now have an environment that supports my expansion. I have quiet that I need and peace and acceptance that I was looking for. At the same time having have spent 2 months with people non-stop.

I found the presence of an alone moment today not very welcoming. I used to enjoy so much solitude, and now today for a first time I found myself going  ’yayks’. This year has begun with my sister being here and the last 4 months I have been sharing my space with her and it has been very amazing experience, to nurture and to share and to do all that for her, while at the same time being able to manage my crazy busy life. I have been living on Coffee and I have been eating out a lot in the past month, which is not the best thing for me to do. preparing a meal at home today felt foreign in some ways like  part of me that went asleep. I look forward in the next couple weeks – before next trip – to have some nurturing kitchen time and to see how that side of me functions.

Life keeps showing me and supporting me letting me know that what I need is right in front of me all the time. A good friend contacted me a couple of weeks ago and we met up in Cuzco. I have not seen her in 5 years and to hear how she found me and made that connection with me was very special and re-affirming that in every moment I am exactly where I need to be. I hope to spend the next days creating new things, jewellery for my upcoming trip and other things. I’m open to creation flowing through me and beautiful manifestations taking place.

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The last weekend I spent with a group that came to do medicine in Peru at Machu Picchu. We had a very special opportunity to do Wachuma ceremony and to really take the energy of this sacred place.Amazing experience that we share with this group of responsible seekers. Guided by our friend and native Peruvian
shaman Don Kucho the experience left everyone connected deeply to their hearts. It’s now the time to watch the fruits of this labor to flower and bloom.

I realize how lucky I am to be traveling sharing my work and to visit these sacred places and experience them with even more depth using the ancestral shamanic practices. It’s an honor and a privilege to do this work and I feel blessed to choose to realize myself through this type of venue. So many insights came to me while at Machu Picchu and its incredible to see that this place is here on Earth. Quite a spectacular and miraculous place. The wisdom that the ancient civilizations had astounds me. In comparison we know very little. These people knew every star in the sky, the precise movement of the sun and moon and how it impacted Earth, without internet and technology as we have it now through their inner wisdom and attunment with nature they were able to create this magnificent place for all to gather and to admire for generations to come. Three different cultures lived and utilized Machu Picchu, it’s really a miraculous place. This was my 4th visit and 1st one while partaking in the Wachuma ceremony. Indeed a blessing!

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Today is Full Moon – and also few days ago we begun another month in the Mayan Calendar. 11th month of the 13 month cycle. This month is guided by a totem animal of a serpent and we are being asked to let go of the old and to shed our skin. the following months will be a preparation to enter the new cycle as it will being towards the end of July. It’s good to see how our patterns like to repeat themselves and what things need to be released in order to bring in the new.

Lee Harris this month has something similar to share in his May Energy Forecast – he calls it flushing out the old history. Read more here.

Biking, hiking, traveling and golf…

So now April is almost gone and I have yet to write and share of my trip I had in Canada in March.

I am watching my life flashing in front of my eyes – it feels like I am moving at a speed of light. I have had my sister with me the last 4 months and soon she is embarking on her adventures to Europe – to raise $10,000 dollars for Literacy Canada while biking through Europe. Recipient Of The 2012 Bicycle Touring Pro Travel Scholarship my sister will be traveling for 2.5 months to raise the money. Ride to Read you can go and check it out for yourself and help support this amazing cause.

As I cheer her on from Peru I will have a moment of time to see how I actually envision my life yet again. This time spent with my sister has been very special and although we both took a month ‘off’ (while each working intensely) from each other it was so nice to reconnect back home in Peru. For her visit in Peru I have manifested my intentions and even surpassed them. I wanted to nurture her and give her an opportunity to experience my medicine life while doing the things that she loves and connect her more to the Earth here and to see her grow and to have time to spend together. I also wanted for us to have a nice place to live and a good home and I manifested that as well in beautiful Urubamba with a very feminine and loving community of K’anchaynuny. It’s been great. It’s been really really great and although she is here another 10 days I feel already like her soul is in Spain and on the bike across the continent. This trip she is undertaking is also born out of Peru and our work here with an amazing midwife/counselor Leonie. The medicine life has definitively imprinted on her. Medicine journeys, treatments, trips, hikes, Machu Pitcchu as well as amazing Peruvian food and I see a much more grounded and wiser 23-year-old woman in front of me. Also we have been sharing the time these past days with Kasia’s boyfriend Andrew Fischer from the States. Andrew works as a personal trainer for Bubba Watson – and if you’re not familiar with golf, Bubba has just won the Masters – the highest level of achievement in professional golf tournaments. Lots of celebrating and good time.

I feel so blessed to have shared this time with my sister, Andrew and good friends and I wonder “Who’s next coming into my life?”

In the hustle and bustle of travels, work and family and animal life (I have a new kitten ‘Jasper’ – more to come) I feel like I had just managed to remain with my practice. Morning pages – check – they are amazing, yoga about 70% of the time – meditation has become a daily reminder of watching my breath and staying present and then there are these precious moments on Earth sitting and enjoying the sun watching the donkey and the dogs play together and as I stretch my hands out to the sky and feel the green grass under my feet - all I can say is – Thank You Great Spirit for all that you give me.

I look forward in the next few weeks before my next travels to peace and quiet and time in solitude to regroup and reconnect with my personal stillness and quiet space and to see what can be found in that.

Ride On!