Happy New Year?
We hope the start to 2021 has been mostly smooth and that this finds you safe and healthy.
For February’s digital care package we’ve selected some resources to KEEP YOU WARM, which in turn will SUPPORT YOUR IMMUNITY! Some tips about how to dress for cold weather and some recipes to help stoke your digestive fire and build strong qi-blood.
And as always, we have a lovely selection of articles, music and films to help your regulate your nervous system, increase your range between “fight, flight or freeze” and “rest and digest” as well as transporting you to far off places from the comfort of your own home :)
Stay warm, socialize safely and don’t wait for Valentine’s Day, tell your friends you love them, all the time <3
- NPR: Don’t Let The Pandemic Winter Get You Down: 9 Creative Ways To Socialize Safely
“Isolation and particularly quarantines and lockdowns have been associated with increases in distress, depression, anxiety,” says Dana Rose Garfin, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine’s Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing. - From the Atlantic: Put On a Hat, Please
Yes, this still applies to the snowless, but cold-damp PNW conditions here in Victoria.
And if Christina ever has reminded you to NOT go outside with wet hair, this is for the same reason!
“As the Scandinavians say, there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes. “I’ve been warm down to negative 50 [degrees Fahrenheit] because I was dressed appropriately, and then I’ve been cold at 30 because I was not dressed appropriately,” KattiJo Deeter, a dogsledder and an owner of Black Spruce Dog Sledding in Alaska, told me.“ - An On Being interview with Katherine May about How ‘Wintering’ Replenishes
- A massive treasure trove of free guided meditations from Insight Timer to suit a variety of needs and faiths.
- Sounds of the Forest, Tree.FM
“People around the world recorded the sounds of their forests, so you can escape into nature, while in lockdown or unable to travel,” they say. “Use this site to chill, meditate, or do some digital shinrin-yoku.”
Most sound bytes are only about 1 minute long, so here is also a 3 hr long Nature Therapy soundtrack available on YouTube. - A West African Soundtrack:
Toumani Diabaté with Ballaké Sissoko “New Ancient Strings”
Rokia Traoré – @ The Festival Les Suds in Arles
Ballaké Sissoko with Vincent Segal – au Centquatre
Sona Jobarteh & Band – Kora Music from West Africa
Ali Farka Toure – Niafunke
Oumou Sangare, Live in London, July 13, 2019 - Curated by RAVEN Trust (Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs) Top 10 Indigenous Movies/TV Shows
Christina highly recommends “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open” and please do check out RAVEN’s important work in environmental protection and Indigenous governance. - Christina shares a simple and nutritious soup from her childhood, Chicken & Dumpling soup
As someone who prefers summer temperatures over winter and who following surgery struggled with digestion and appetite issues, soup has been a regular staple in my life. It is also a great opportunity to reconnect with my roots. I know at least that a 1/4 of my blood consists of all the herbal chicken broths I was raised on as the child of Hong Kong Chinese immigrants, bonus if it was made with chicken feet ;) - And for our plant-based folks, Vegan 1-Pot French Onion Soup, by the Minimalist Baker
Traditionally, this soup is made with a beef and onion base and topped with cheese and bread. The following is our plant-based take on the concept that doesn’t skimp on flavor or heartiness!
