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OUCH!!October 22nd, 2008My back went out this week. I feel like an old man, saying that. "OY…MY ACHING BACK!!!" I was at the gym, lifting some free weights–like the total jock that I am–and I thought I would just do a little multi-tasking. So I set my iPhone down between my thighs, on the bench, and continued to watch episode 2, season 2 of The Wire, which I had downloaded from iTunes. All the while, pumping extraordinarily heavy weights. Like 6,800 grams in each hand! Anyway, even though everyone raves about The Wire and says that it’s the best television ever produced, I beg to differ. And so does my back. With my neck tilted forward and all that weight heaving up and down, something tweaked. And I’ve been in bed for the last 48 hours. Every time I roll over, I grimace and moan and my cats look at me with concern. Because I’m macrobiotic, I can’t blame this all on the weights, or my position, or even The Wire (even though it’s soooo not Six Feet Under, or even a lousy week on The Sopranos). I have to actually look at this injury in terms of yin and yang. So here goes: We’re always looking at duality: up/down, front/back, in/out. So where is the back? Well, the name says all–at the back. And the backs of things are the more yang parts. Fronts tend to be expansive, backs contracting. And my back hurts in just one part–the lower part–also yang. Yang, contracted things gravitate downward, so it’s the yang part of my yang back. One more question: did the injury feel like a stretch or a squeeze? Definitely a squeeze. Anyone who’s ever thrown their back out ("Get out of here you dirty back! AND DON’T COME BACK!) knows that it all begins with a weird twisting that feels like a fist is squeezing the energy matrix on which the actual muscles rest. That twist gets the muscles all tight and bingo! Bed for two days. In terms of yin and yang, stretching is yin (opening, expanding) and squeezing is yang (tightening, contracting). Sooooo, I seem to have a yang injury (tightness) in the yang part (lower) of my back, which is yang to begin with. That means… drumroll… I HAVE BEEN EATING TOO MUCH YANG FOOD! Like salt and baked flour. And where there’s strong yang is usually strong yin (chocolate rice milk, anyone?) Plus, I’m not getting enough good quality yin, like vegetable dishes and lighty seasoned soups. The stomach meridian also runs down the back, so it might have to do with that, but I’m no accupuncturist, so don’t confuse me! The food stuff all makes sense, as I have been to many restaurants lately (salty) and was noshing on corn chips ad nauseum over the weekend. And yes, the chocolate rice milk too. Oy. BUT I DON’T WANT TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS! As my friend David Snieckus says: "I love macrobiotics! Everything is my fault!" And he’s only half kidding. Being macro means searching for the causes of things and because we eat more than just about anything else we do, there is usually a food component to the many physical issues we deal with. Sure, there are other factors, but food is always in the mix. So the back pain will teach me. When my lovely friend Sanae brought me homemade miso soup yesterday, followed by aduki bean tea, I felt much better immediately. I could sit in a position I hadn’t managed for the 18 hours previous. When my sister brought me lunch pre-made from the store, my mouth loved it, but my back suddenly tightened up again. Believe me, I’m not perfect. I will slowly arc in the correct direction from now on. It’s hard to give up yummy, easy, convenient food. Especially when it’s basically healthy. But the back will keep teaching and I will keep learning. And that’s cool. By the way, I will be teaching online cooking classes Wednesday November 5th, 12th and 19th. For details, click here. See ya, Jessica
Intro. to Macrobiotic CookingOctober 22nd, 2008The Theory, the Foods and Answers to your Craziest Questions
Even if you’ve been studying macrobiotics for a while, Jessica’s introductory class is refreshing, informative, and powerful. By explaining yin and yang from the galaxic scale down to a grain of rice, she makes macrobiotic theory come alive. Bring your questions.
What’s on the Menu:
Brown-Rice w/ Chestnuts
Miso Soup
Stirfry w/ Tofu
Fruit Kanten
5 Element Theory of MacrobioticsOctober 21st, 20085 Element Theory is the heart and soul of macrobiotics. In order to truly support your own health it’s necessary to understand how the 5 elements work in the kitchen and in your life. This class explores a cooking style from each element and Jessica explains how to select and cook foods throughout the year. What’s on the Menu: Simple Greens - Spring Macrobiotic ThanksgivingOctober 21st, 2008You will never eat store-bought Tofurky again! Jessica’s simple, delicious Tofu Turkey recipe will inspire you to try it for your Thanksgiving dinner this year. Along with other holiday recipes, this class will make you thankful and hopefully spare a few turkeys. Thanksgiving Menu: Tofu Turkey Yin and Yang, babyOctober 16th, 2008As you watch the Dow drop like a lead weight, do you expand or contract? I mean it: upon hearing that the world is flying even more rapidly to Hell in a cute little handbasket, does your body relax or get tense? It’s a very important question. Crisis is yangizing. Which means contracting. When you hear that the economy is collapsing, you get tense, which is a form of contraction. Fear causes contraction. So if that’s what’s happening inside the body, what’s going on outside? Same thing. The economy is literally contracting–less money, less confidence, less expansion. It is shrinking from all the contraction. Yang force. Now let’s keep in mind that this is what economies do–they expand and contract–like all things. But this time, the contraction is mighty because the expansion was mighty. Predatory lending allowed the economy to reach way beyond its natural limits, and now we’re experiencing the realest form of karma; what comes up must come down. Or better yet: people who can’t afford $400,000 homes generally stop paying the mortgage. I know you didn’t come here for a lesson in economics; believe me, I know less about the whole thing than many friends of mine, but I am looking at the whole thing through the yin/yang lens, which is what macrobiotics is all about. And my study of yin and yang tells me this: When one force goes to its extreme… it becomes (or creates) its opposite! “Necessity is the mother of invention” is another way of saying “yang creates yin”. How cool is that? In other words, just as all those sub-prime loans turned into foreclosures, all this yang contraction should be turning into yin expansion sometime soon, because it’s pretty extreme right now. But does that mean money will just fall on your head from the sky? I doubt it. The expansion happening now is occurring on subtle, but very powerful levels. So as you get squeezed materially, look for ways in which you are opening vibrationally: Is your mind opening up to new ideas and possibilities as opposed to running along its old, comfy channels? Is your creativity generating new ways to conserve, or to share? Is your heart opening up to people in a new way–feeling your interdependence? Is your spirit expanding as you reach to God, or the Universe, screaming: “HELP ME PAY THE FREAKIN’ BILLS!!” Although this transition may not be comfortable, as we relax into it, we may see ourselves changing in quite positive ways. It’s a time for our spirits to expand. An economy flooded with wealth feeds the illusion that we are separate, that we don’t need each other, or the natural world. We each hang out behind our computer screens, buy “food” created in factories, move “money” around in cyberspace and generally lounge in our egos. But massive global economic contraction challenges all that and eats away at the delusion of separateness. As the material self (stuff) erodes, our vibrational selves (minds, emotions, spirits) are forced to intermingle. And that’s good. Because the truth is we’re all one, we’re all in this together, and it’s about time we figured that out. Today, call a friend or family member you haven’t spoken to in a while and feel the wealth of human relationship. Calling All VegansOctober 8th, 2008I spent this past weekend in Austin,Texas, at a Center called Casa de Luz. It’s a macro joint, although it doesn’t sling that word around too much–which I understand; the more I practice/teach MB, the more “macrobiotics” sounds heavy, scientific, oppressive. Considering what MB does for you, it should be called “GREAT SEX!!!” Anyway, fun was had by all. I gave a talk called “Macrobiotics for Vegans” because veganism is JUST SO COOL these days and there is about a 95% overlap between the two practices–at least potentially. If you’re vegan and eating only white pasta, tropical fruit, diet soda and sugary desserts, you’re not macro. BUT, if you’re practicing macrobiotics without eating fish (which is only a tiny part of the diet), you’re vegan. And if you’re in the former category, it’s easy to be vegan and end up sick. Ironic that a person makes a lifestyle decision to end the suffering of others and ends up suffering herself. That’s neither good nor necessary. You see, macrobiotics is not organized around a “no suffering” stance; instead, the macrobiotic diet is geared at helping the individual harmonize (on a cellular level) with nature, which reduces or ends unnecessary suffering on many levels. Many macros eat fish occasionally, but the diet can be followed without it as well. So, considering so many people are choosing to go animal-product free these days, I figured it would make sense to help them learn how to stay in balance while they do it. So here’s a summary of the lecture (without the jokes): If you’re practicing a vegan lifestyle: “YYAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!” You are doing an enormous thing; helping your body, helping animals and helping the planet. You are reducing your carbon footprint SUBSTANTIALLY. Being vegan is good for your soul. However, by cutting out meat, you are taking a lot of the yang out of your diet. Remember, meat, salty cheese, baked flour and salt are all really yang. That leaves you messing around on the yin sides of things: sugar, fruit, white flour, soy “milks” and “ice creams”, chocolate, and if you’re a partier, alcohol and drugs. Without the yang, and with too much yin, vegans can get weak, anemic, depressed and isolated. Not everyone, but some. So, it’s important to keep some good quality yang-izing foods in the diet. They are: Whole grains. Nice and tight and compact, whole grains deliver a very stabilizing and centering energy. Sea vegetables. Yes, seaweed. Soooooooo rich in minerals. They keep your blood strong and alkaline. Miso: Try making your own miso soup a couple of times a week. UNBELIEVABLY FREAKIN’ GOOD FOR YOU! (p.s. Japanese restaurant soup is not) On the yin side of things, try to use rice syrup and maple syrup instead of white sugar or cane juice. Try whole grain breads and pastas. Eat fruits that are grown locally. This will help you to stay more centered. If you have no clue what I’m talking about with the yins and the yangs, time to read THE HIP CHICK’S GUIDE TO MACROBIOTICS!!! Cool-looking trees. I love how they mingle with each other:
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