24 Hours & Balance

by in Blog, Garden, Healing Balance, Knitting, Nine Star Ki, Sanae's Story 499♥ 0 Like

Every day, we have 24 hours.
24 hours is not enough time for my interests, the daily routine of what I must do, what I need to do, and what I should do. 
Especially from spring to summer, seasonal hand-work becomes active, and how to use time becomes an issue and Balance.

How do you all use your day?
How do you balance？

I was writing a diary blog about my spring trip to Japan in May, but I stopped on the 5th day.
Because I use my time for counseling and healing sessions for those who have been coming to seek my help at work has increased, and to balance my physical condition, I needed time to rest.

In addition, the chemotherapy treatment I received for stage IV Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2017 (you can read about it Only Weeks Live!) caused my bone density to decrease, so I started going to the Santa Monica yoga studio (where I became Yoga Teacher – my blog “Yoga for My Life“) again on the doctor’s recommendation to strengthen my muscles and bones.
(During the pandemic, I was doing yoga online, but it’s refreshing to go to the studio and do yoga with the teacher and everyone.)

As I was finishing my spring sweater (California Poppy/orange flowers and Blue Sky images), the weather got warmer.


I have been doing more garden maintenance – artichoke flower on my rooftop garden (first photo) and Native Wild Plating sign at my house sidewalk garden,

made Japanese umeboshi pickles and ume plum jam for this year,

harvested wild elderberry flowers in North Fork (Eric took care of all the trees felt in winter and weed whacking there) to infuse them for Autumn to Winter skin toner and oil,

finished the assignments for my watercolor painting class,

celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary and went to Getty Museum and new plant based restaurant “Planta” in Marina del Ray,

started a summer sweater knitting club at Wild Fiber studio in Santa Monica,

went to cheer on Eric at a SUP race with Kai,

made mosaic table with the wood table and tiles that we found in an alley while we were walking dogs.


In addition, my daily routine of making remedy drinks and having homemade macrobiotic meals, going walks, meditation, body scrub, listening to old records music, massaging my feet, and applying moxibustion treatment; plus, my friend’s dog stays for three weeks, take care of the garden and mailbox for two weeks while the neighbors are away, giving a healing session for our eldest dog, Lumi, and cat, Tintin, and making birthday cards for my sister and brother and sending their gifts to Japan, so on, and July came already.　There was no time to do Instagram/Facebook and blog.

Writing is one of my favorite things, so I think about it every day.
Writing takes a lot of time, so I feel like writing when I find decent time. Today while I thought of writing, I found time, so here I am.

 

Thinking about Balance.
I read my Nine Star Ki Astrology chart again since the last time I read it was at the beginning of this year.

I am “Nine Fire” in Ninet Star Ki Astrology.
It means I am in a year of relatively quiet time planning “Winter – water, floating, silence” this year.
Lately, in the morning, unless I have to, I wake up slowly and don’t act too rapidly, so I feel like I’m floating.
In winter, everything seems dead (sleeping) on ​​the surface, but much life and activity is underneath.
Similarly, it may feel like it takes time, but it’s important to focus on this time to reflect, review, and plan for the future.

It’s quite different from the traditional fiery Nie Fire character, so I feel a bit uncomfortable.
Still, it’s a time for the opportunity to explore the beauty of the infinite universe and the depth of my inner being.
From my experience, intuition increases as the material aspect loses meaning and becomes secondary.

Although my finances may decline, my spiritual growth will surely gain momentum, so it is an excellent exercise to remember to find a balance.
Remember that all things need contrast in order to find Balance, and quiet moments like this are necessary for me to regroup and dive within to find my next move. 

I have many activities physically and mentally most of time, so my balance method choices are “Take a good Rest” and “Vipassana meditation.”

Through deep engagement with existing spiritual practices and meditation, one can experience tremendous personal growth, a deeper understanding of one’s relationship to the universe, sudden flashes of insight, and heightened intuition.
I believe that if I put in the effort, I will discover the infinite wells of knowledge the universe offers.

So this summer, I teach only the Healthy Happy Holistic Care for Dogs and Cats class at the online Macrobiotic Conference and no other classes.

I will take time to finish writing my blog from the 6th day of my spring Japan trip diary, so I tell myself, “Let’s enjoy the moment to float without rushing.”
Love,
Sanae❤️

Healing Balance in Season – Late Summer

by in Blog, Healing Balance, Late Summer, Recipe 1416♥ 0 Like

The common season we usually know is four seasons.
I have been practicing “The Five Element” theory of five seasons since 1993.

Spring – Wood 

Summer – Fire

Late summer – Earth/Soil 

Autumn – Metal

Winter – Water 

as the principal elements of the material world. 

 

Each season has a different balance of our health with foods, ways of cooking, and lifestyles.

Quick examples: 

Summer is a hot season, and you eat cooling food with quick-cooking.

Lifestyle is active. Wear light material clothes and open the window. Use fun or AC to cool down. 

Winter is a cold season, and you eat warm food with longer cooking, presser cooking, stewing and baking. 

Lifestyle is time to slow down, wear warmer and thicker material clothes, close the window. Use a fireplace or heater to heat our house.

 

I live in Santa Monica, California  – the northern temperate zone is in late summer season right now. Late Summer begins around the third week of August and runs through the Fall Equinox, which is late September.

Do you know what to eat for late summer?

According to the five elements, it is Earth/Soil season.

Late summer is around 3 pm of the day when we take a little rest to have tea and something naturally sweet.

For whole grains, sweet rice, millet is supporting us in late summer – earth/soil energy organs of spleen/pancreas and stomach.  And round vegetables (cabbage, kabocha squash, cauliflower, etc.) are recommended to eat.

One of my self-published cookbooks, “Love, Sanae” has more details on what foods support each season, not just grains and vegetables, page 88~91. I hope you check them up!

 

I want to share late summer season balanced whole grain millet recipes today.

Millet is rich in plant-based protein, whole grain and fiber, nutritious, non-glutinous (non-sticky), and not acid-forming foods, thus making them very easy to digest when you learn how to cook.

Millet supports pancreas and spleen organs which need to focus in late summer.

I showed how to cook millet in my cooking classes every late summer:

Millet and Kabocha Squash with Roasted Pumpkin Seed 

MAKES 4 SERVINGS 

1cup millet

4 cups purified water

1 cup kabocha squash, cut into about 1” dice

1 “ kombu kelp

1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

1. Wash millet: 

1) Place a strainer into a larger bowl and fill it with purified water. Wash millet gently, stirring with your hand in a counter-clockwise direction when you want to be more energetic or in a clockwise direction when you want to be more relaxed. 

2) Drain the water (reserving it to water your plant later) and repeat the washing step three times or until the water is almost clear. 

3) Strain the millet and cook as it is or soak or roast, depending on your health condition. 

2. Place 4 cups water in the large pan and bring to boil. Add millet and Kombu kelp. Reduce heat to low and add Kabocha squash and cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, rinse the pumpkins seeds and strain them, and roast on a skillet.

4. When millet and kabocha are done, remove from the flame and allow to sit another 5~10 minutes.

5. Take the cover of millet and kabocha. Use wood rice paddle or spoon that has moistened in water to prevent sticking, stir gentle from outside.

6. Serve with the roasted pampering seeds.

7. Itadakimasu (bonappetit)!

Here is youtube link how to make “Millet and Kabocha with Roasted Pumpkin Seed”,

 

Creamy Millet with Fresh Parsley Sauce

MAKES 4 SERVINGS 

1 cup millet

5 cups purified water

pinch sea salt

Fresh Parsley Sauce

To make the millet:

1. Wash millet: 

1) Place a strainer into a larger bowl and fill it with purified water. Wash millet gently, stirring with your hand in a counter-clockwise direction when you want to be more energetic or in a clockwise direction when you want to be more relaxed. 

2) Drain the water (reserving it to water your plant later) and repeat the washing step 3 times or until the water is almost clear. 

3) Strain the millet and cook as it is or soak or roast, depending on your health condition. 

2.In a large saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add millet and sea salt. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Remove from the flame and all pan to site undisturbed for another 5 to 10 minutes before you remove the cover.

4. Serve with Fresh Parsley Sauce.

5. Itadakimasu (bonappetit)!

 

For the parsley sauce:

2 table spoons kuzu*

1 cup purified water

1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped and squeezed of excess water

sea salt

To make the parsley sauce:

  1. In a small saucepan, combine the kuzu and water/ Stir well until kuzu is completely dissolved.
  2. Place the saucepan over a medium flame, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes.
  3. Add the chopped parsley and cook for another minute. 
  4. Serve over the Creamy Millet. 

*Kuzu (kudzu)-A white starchlike extract made from the wild root of kuzu vine; used for thickening soups, beverages, desserts and sauce. Also used for medicinal purposes.

 

One of my self-published cookbooks, “Love, Sanae” has more millet recipes and also shows what kind of whole grains, vegetables, beans, sea vegetables, cooking style and many more for each season. 

If you want to purchase my book from me directly, please email me at sanaehealing@gmail.com

 

After surviving two different cancers and a near-death car accident, healing balance is vital to know. 

Knowing what foods support us each season takes time to learn. 

I also realized our health has seasons.  Finding out which season your health is in is critical—and understanding what and how to apply your health seasons is the key to heal yourself.

I hope to share what I have learned from my experiences with you when the time is right.

Love, 

Sanae ❤️