Home court habits

I just came home, from home.

I mean I just returned to New York (my current home) from Hong Kong (where I grew up).

My daughter meditating during a  hike in Hong Kong

Maybe it's the 13 hours of jet lag that is making me all confused and discombobulated, I wake up not knowing where I am, where home is.

Brooklyn, New York

Is home somewhere you grow up, spend your formative years? Or is it a place where you live? Or could it just be a place that you can keep returning to, over and over again, no matter how far or how many times you have moved away from it? A place where you'd rather be, more than anywhere else in the world, you feel you are yourself, you are home?

I am not a big fan of "vacationing". I am too much of a stickler for routine, traveling away from home takes me away from my yoga, meditation and green smoothies. Wherever I go, I do what I can to establish some kind of order. If I can't run, I walk. If I can't meditate, I try to find peace in nature. If I can't have a green smoothie, I order double portions of leafy greens at every meal. I practice yoga everywhere, in my parents' living room, behind the Christmas tree at my sister's house, on a boat at Halong Bay, Vietnam. You get the picture...I can only do what I can in any given situation.

Don't get me wrong, I love traveling and going to places. But there is something intrinsically unsettling when I am taken away from my "home court habits" -  the things in life that make me sane, the tools that I can always rely on to bring balance and peace to my life.

So could home be a "life style", a habit pattern, or even a mind-set? Because when I operate from there I feel most alive, most at home!

I came across the term "home court habits" when I read the book "Foodist" by Darya Pino Rose. It means setting up routines that eventually become automatic, permanently integrating better habits in your daily life so they become your "healthstyle". Say if you want to lose weight, get rid of a food craving or make some dietary changes, relying on willpower and self-control almost always fails you, because it is based on deprivation and suffering. Building home court habits takes willpower out of the equation.

I guard my home court habits like my child, no one can touch her.

When you travel, these habits might be quite an inconvenience to pack in your suitcase, but boy, are they worth the shlepp?

Juicing in Hong Kong

If you are familiar with bitter gourds, you would probably recognize this bumpy vegetable in the picture. But they usually come in green. A white beauty like this one I am meeting for the first time in my life!

My mom took me to an organic vegetable stand in Sai Kung (considered the countryside of Cosmopolitan Hong Kong) where the owners made fresh, medicinal juices from exotic fruits and veggies. This is a bittersweet concoction of bitter gourd and honey.  Bitter melon is supposed to be rich in iron, beta carotene, calcium and contains substantial levels of vitamins C and B. Its health benefits are endless - good for the liver, lowering blood sugar levels, has anti-tumor properties and is used to treat colds, coughs and fevers. 

She is the owner of the veggie stand. She is the Asian, slightly older version of Kris Carr, who was diagnosed cancer and juiced her way to wellness. Together with her daughter, she greets locals everyday with a big smile and sample shots of green, red and purple liquids that help with every ailment under the sun!

Meditating in space

I hit the 8 hour mark where I was exactly half way across the globe between New York and Hong Kong. 8 more hours to go - what to do?

My back started to feel sore, I yearned to stretch my legs and go for a run!  No one should be all cramped up behind  a reclined economy class seat for 16 hours. My agitation started to rise.....

Instead of watching yet another movie,  I closed my eyes. Somehow I remembered how I felt during the last days of my 10 day meditation retreat  - how I could just close my eyes and almost automatically I was able to access a deeply calm, comforting and quiet space in myself.

No more excuses! No more complaints about not having the time to meditate!

I sat up tall, rolled a blanket behind my lumbar spine, raised my feet on my carry-on bag, rested my hands on my daughter's neck pillow, closed my eyes again and started observing my respiration. Within seconds, I was in a completely different space. 

I am so grateful for this technique -  simple, versatile, portable and readily available!

Then the flight attendants started pushing the food cart down the aisle and it was all over......

Another recycled lunch

I am not a glamorous cook. I am all about efficient and sustainable cooking - which means I cook once, eat three or four times, and I can put any leftovers together into a decent lunch.

My lunch here is a SALAD WITH GINGER AND CARROT DRESSING and a COCONUT CURRIED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP with steamed cauliflower. Here is how I proceed.....

The lettuce leaves were pre-washed so all I need to do is to grab a big handful and put on the plate. I add tomatoes, carrots, avocado and the carrot ginger dressing I made three days ago. Then I pull out the coconut curried butternut squash soup I made also three days ago. I have some cauliflower I need to use before it goes bad, so I steam it, throw it in the soup and turn it into a curry dish . Too bad I am out of brown rice! But that's it! Everything is home-made and it has taken me less than ten minutes to assemble my lunch - only because I cook in batches.

Tips to make the carrot ginger dressing - I use olive oil instead of grapeseed oil. Add a little mirin to the dressing to sweeten it and to take the bite off the ginger.

soba noodle soup with enoki mushrooms

If you like noodle soups, enoki mushrooms are excellent for the slightly chewy and slimy texture that almost camouflage themselves into any noodle blends.

Soba from buckwheat flour is my favorite healthy noodle choice. I also put in baby bak choy and dumplings. Use chicken or a veggie broth of your choice.

An easy, heart warming lunch for cold weather days!

A super food smoothie, or is it a dessert?

This a an adaptation of raw foodist ​David Wolfe's super food smoothie. I adapted and shaved off about 10 ingredients out of the 16+ from the original recipe, including a bunch of Andean herbs and Chinese medicinal tonics. I guess the result is a less super food smoothie but still jam-packed with nutrients and anti-oxidants that is filling enough to be a meal, yet tastes unbelievably like a dessert, especially if you are a chocolate fan!

Step 1:​

A good blender. I don't have a Vitamix, but meet this little guy - ​Nutribullet. It is an excellent alternative if you don't want to spend over $100 for a blender. I used it to make almond milk this morning and it was fabulous!

Step 2:​

A base liquid. I am using the almond milk I just  I made. You don't have to do this! Wolfe suggests water, coconut water, any nut milk or tea concoction you prefer.

Step 3:​

Add chocolate and berries. According to Wolfe, cacao is the number 1 anti-oxidant. Cacao and berries together is like the marriage of a power couple whose union multiplies the anti-oxidizing, anti-inflammatory superpower of each other. I am using raw cacao powder, a mix of frozen berries and unwanted strawberry stems from my daughter's breakfast. I recently discovered the Chinese berries I grew up with, my mom gives me bags and bags of each time I go back to Hong Kong, are the Goji berries (fructus lycii)  everyone raves about these days. So I am also throwing those in!

Step 4:​

A dash of coconut oil to add body and hold it all together. Almond butter is also a good binding agent.

Step 5:​

A half to a teaspoon of maca - a high altitude crop from the Andes that is often compared to the Chinese ginseng. It is supposed to be an adaptogen, a herb that increases the body's ability to adapt to stress and changing situations. It regulates endocrine health and ​gives you the energy boost that coffee does without the caffeine. You can also sprinkle it on cereals, as I was told by a native Peruvian.

Step 6:​

Add honey as a sweetener.​

​Enjoy! Play with the proportion of the ingredients. Mine is not too thick, not too sweet, just the way I like it! 

Asako's Soba Making Party

This is one of the perks of enrolling to a nutrition school, especially in NYC. You get to meet ​people from all cultures who love food and are eager to share with you their cooking and very special dish from home. Thank you, Asako!

What do all Centenarians have in common?

My very youthful parents who are not quite there yet....​

​....but almost 80 and going strong!

Are you a vegetarian? A nutritarian maybe? Or a flexitarian? Ever considered becoming a centenarian?

I was at the Integrative Nutrition Annual Conference last weekend. Out of all the 15 plus amazing speakers ​ranging from MDs to nutritionists to life coaches, the one talk that really struck a cord in me was Dan Buettner's Blue Zones' Diet.

Dave Buettner was funded by National Geographic to travel to the Blue Zones all over the world - the regions that have the most Centenarians and uncover the secrets of their happiness and longevity. He nailed downed five places - the Barbagia region of Sardinia, Ikaria in Greece, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Okinawa in Japan and Loma Linda, a town 60 miles east of Los Angeles.​

Why am I so obsessed with the stories of these people?

Maybe it has something to do with turning 40, a few years ago. I have recently attended a few turning 40 big birthday bashes and am surrounded by friends and peers who are all of a sudden awakened by how big the number 40 is, although even a 4 year old can tell you it is only a number that follows 39.

What is so significant about the number 40?​

This is how I see it. We are standing at this junction - we can either do nothing, complain about the rapid decline and accept the inevitable demise, or take a turn to go the other way.

What inspires me about these centenarians is not that they live till a hundred years or more, sure who needs quantity if there is no quality? ​These people are happy, vibrant and healthy till their last breaths.

What are their secrets? If you ask them this question, they would think you are mad because none of them tries to live past 100 years, they just live. They celebrate aging instead of running away from it and they all have these in common: 

1. They move naturally. They don't go to the gym or run marathons. Physical activities are etched in their everyday routines.​
2. They all have a purpose in life. The Okinawans call it "ikigai" and the Nicoyans call it "plan de vida". Both mean a reason to wake up in the morning.​
3. They have great anti-stress strategies - ​prayers, ancestor remembrance, taking naps and (even) happy hours!
   
4. They eat a plant-based diet with beans and nuts being the cornerstone of their nutrients.
   
5. They stop eating when they are 80% full, eat the biggest meals early in the day and smallest meals or nothing  in the evening.
   
6. They all drink moderately (except the Adventists).​
7. They all belong to a faith-based community.​
8. They all put their loved ones first and maintain strong family ties.
   
9. ​They hang with the right tribe. They all have strong social circles that support the same healthy behaviors.
   

Maybe it's not too late to take the right turn? 

I highly encourage you to check out these cool, vibrant beings from the Blue Zones website.

My utterly non-glamorous but surprisingly delicious lunch salads

When it's about lunch time, this is what I do these days, I open the fridge, put together a salad from whatever leftover vegetables, grains and proteins I had the night before, with a few fresh add-ons.  The result is astounding - no matter what I do , it never comes out nasty, not once, even with the most unimaginable combinations. It requires no cooking, no prepping, only assembling!

Here is one example:​

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1. Massage kale with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt  (A fresh add-on!)

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2. Add left-over broccoli sauteed in garlic.

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3. Add left-over avocado and tofu salad dressed in sesame oil.

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5. Add millet.

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6. Finally top with hijiki with carrots.

There! It is utterly non-glamorous but essentially effortless, powerfully nutritious and surprisingly delicious!

Back to School!

Happy Spring!

With the arrival of a new season, the blooming of magnolias and cherry blossoms everywhere, I am also entering a new phase of my life - I am back at school, studying nutrition and getting certified to be a health coach.

When I was looking into courses on nutrition, a topic of study which I thought would enrich my skills as a yoga teacher, the term "health coach" kept coming up. What exactly is a "health coach"? Why do I want to make the leap from being a yoga teacher to a health coach? And how do I even know if I am healthy enough to tell people what to do with their own health?

What I have learned so far, a health coach is someone who empowers others to reach their health and life goals by making sustainable dietary and lifestyle changes.  It is sort of a cocktail of a personal trainer, yoga, meditation teacher, nutrition counselor, personal organizer all rolled into one. 

I love food, I have educated my daughter to like kale, I am obsessed with health, I practice meditation, I am a yoga teacher already and have been doing the work of teaching people to be well, so....why not?  And if I may just take a moment to reflect, I am in my mid 40's. I am definitely getting wrinkles and a few grey hair, but physically, I feel stronger than ever! Every morning when I practice my sun salutations, I ask myself "can it get better than this?"

Thanks to my yoga practice - the single most consistent and influential force in my life for the last 20 years.  Being a yoga teacher, I have had the luxury of time and space to practice self-care - exercising, meditation and eating well.

It is overwhelming how much there is to learn in the nutrition field, all the opposing dietary theories, new studies coming out every day telling you what the healthiest oil is or whether gluten is really so bad for you. But I also know that I know a lot already, almost intuitively, what it takes to be well, to get older and not have to be weak and sickly, to age vibrantly and gracefully.

Here is to Spring and an amazing year of health!​